"Take care, dear." Harin's mother said before giving her schoolbag to her. Harin then walked towards the bus stop. Upon stopping at her bus stop, the bus arrived just a few seconds later after she sat down. Fortunately, it was not too packed for Harin to have to resort to taking a cab or having to wait for another bus.
Upon reaching the bus stop that is a few distance away from her school, Harin paid the fares and got out. "Harin~" A voice called her name. Looking to where the voice came from, she saw her friend, Meiru, running towards her before trying to smack Harin's neck. Harin moved away as soon as she noticed what Meiru was trying to do, making her friend also stumble.
"I see your reflexes have improved." Meiru said as she let out a chuckle. "Don't you ever do that, Mei. I swear to god, you literally don't understand how it is to feel like your head is being pulled off." Harin said
"What, you're saying you could detach your head?" Meiru asked. Harin was flustered by her question, not expecting any answers to that. "U-uh... whatever. Come on, let's go and see which class we're in."
—— "Have fun being alone~" Meiru said as she pretends to cry. Harin laughed seeing how Meiru was pretending to cry a few minutes ago when she sees her class does not have Harin in it.
As she enters the room, Harin said 'hello' to her classmates, some responding back to her. The moment she took her seat which is written on the board, 2 familiar teens approached her. "We meet again!" He said.
"Uhh... you're both the guys who were in a phone store and at an outlet selling the school uniform. Right?" The teen nodded in agreement.
"I'm Haechan Lee. Just call me Haechan. This guy right here is Jisung Park, or Jisung. Hey, stop giving that same stare again. You're literally making her uncomfortable." Haechan said as he lightly smacks Jisung's arm, seeing Harin side-eyeing Jisung. He then whispered something to Haechan which made him stare at him in shock.
"All this time you've been staring at her crazily was because she looked like your ex-best friend Saebyul? At least tell her why you stared at her." Haechan screamed in low volume before pushing Jisung near to Harin. "Fine, I'm sorry for what I done. Please forgive me!" He said as he tried to kneel on the floor, to which Haechan grabbed him and got him up to stop what he was doing.
Harin let out a laughter, making Jisung and Haechan looked at her confused. "Ms Lily! Saebyul called me crazy!" Harin said, trying to copy Jisung's younger self's voice.
"So it really is you, Saebyul!" Jisung said loudly before pulling Harin close to him to hug her. Other classmates and Haechan were looking at them after hearing Jisung screaming randomly. Harin stood there, trying to process that Jisung had just pulled her into a hug. "Okay let's stop now, Jisung. We're in class right now." Haechan said, seeing Harin eyeing at him to help her out.
The moment Jisung let go of her, Haechan stuttered for a moment upon seeing Jisung tearing up. Harin was surprised upon seeing his reaction.
—— "That was a weird interaction you had with your old friend." Meiru said as she giggled, imagining how Jisung cried after seeing Harin right in front of his eyes. Harin stayed silent for a moment, playing with the food and at the same time looking at her surrounding as if she was looking for someone.
"From the way you're acting right now, it seems you're thinking whether you should apologise to Jisung or not. And you're looking for him, just to be sure he didn't sort of avoid you. Am I correct?" Harin hummed in response to Meiru's statement.
As soon as they finished their conversation, Haechan walked towards them with Jisung and another person behind him. Both of the girls were in deep in their own self that it took Haechan a few seconds before deciding to lightly poke Harin's shoulder. "I'm guessing you and Jisung are old friends, from how he acted just now?" Haechan's friend said as he placed his tray of food on the table. Harin nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Meiru was staring at him, expecting something from him.
"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Renjun, Huang Renjun." Renjun said before lifting his cutleries to eat his food. "So do you mind telling me why Jisung acted like he had never seen you for years?" Haechan asked Harin.
"I'm pretty sure Jisung knows the reason why, but oh well. I was basically bullied by two of our schoolmates who are apparently siblings and both have a crush on Jisung and one of our seniors which is... Jeno, if I'm correct." Harin said.
"Wait, but there's no way bullying could lead you to switchin- "
"Clearly you do not know how it feels to be bullied, Chan." Meiru said, interrupting Haechan. Haechan went quiet and allowed Harin to continue explaining.
"One of them, Hajin? Haru? Hujin? I forgot her name. She's in the same class as me back then. All I remember is that the moment Jisung left for some sports event for a few weeks, she and her sister tormented me every single day. Not once have I ever went to school without getting myself milk or leftover food on my shirt, getting blood all over my shirtand bruises on my body." Harin added on as she stayed silent for a few minutes trying to gather back what she remembered.
"I think at one point when they were bullying me. I just can't stand it anymore. Was it because her sister held a scissor right in front of my face and just swings it in the air? Or was it because I just couldn't stand their bullying anymore? One of it was the reason why I decided to switch schools." The group went silent, except for the noises from the other students in the cafe.
"So basically, I've never kept in contact with Jisung for about like... 4 to 3 years? We only met each other today." Harin stated.
"Incorrect, you both met each other a few days ago. In the phone store and the outlet selling the school uniforms." Haechan said.
"By meeting up, I mean like knowing who we are. We don't even know each other that day, so that's not considered." Harin answered back. Haechan opened his mouth but zipped it after a few minutes of processing what she had said.
"C'mon, our class is starting soon. I do not want to get scolded by our form teacher for being late." Renjun said as he got up from his seat, followed by the others.
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