Ubi Amor, Ibi Dolor

𝕺𝖒𝖓𝖎𝖆 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖘 𝕬𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖆𝖙

-

𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥

-

Returning to school was frightening for Lia, not only would the attention be bad enough, but she'd also have to deal with bullying getting worse most likely. Ryujin could try to help her as much as she could, but they were always outnumbered. Bullies never arrive alone.

They just had to ignore all of the students whispering about the incident in the halls and in class. Gossip is normal, but it's worse when it's about you or someone you care about.

Lia sighed, sitting with Ryujin in their first block. Suddenly she wished she couldn't understand Korean anymore. She gave Ryujin a lopsided smile and Ryujin tried to return it. Yeji and her group of nightmares weren't the only bullies in the school, they were probably one of the worst groups, but certainly not the only ones. At this point, everyone seemed like a bully to Lia and Ryujin. But at least they had each other.

"Omnia Mors Aequat." Ryujin told Lia as they walked to lunch together. The day was grey and felt twice as long as usual, but at least now they could eat. They decided to stay together and wait in line from now on. "Death makes all things equal."

Lia sighed, "I wish everyone went by that philosophy. I'm so sick of this society."

"You're coming with me to The States and things will be better, far far far from perfect, but we'll be away from the people here."

"I hope I do well enough on the exams. There's so many just to study overseas."

"We're studying together though, and we both passed the ones we've taken already. Hwaiting(keep going), Lia-ssi. Don't think about the stress, think about the reward. Being away from here, going to university. Loud dorms, crazy amounts of homework, debt." Ryujin took a deep breath and let it out, "Ahhh, chohayo(i love it)." she said with somewhat sarcasm. "But! There's many scholarships for students like us."

Lia and Ryujin were aware they were far from rich, they had to rely on their smarts and scholarships in order for any of this to work, and they were so close. Scholarships were already lined up for them.

"Hwaiting." Lia returned, holding Ryujin's hand tightly for extra energy.

They got their food and sat on the field rather than trying to find their own separate space. They shared Ryujin's earbuds and listened to her music on her phone. Neither of them were super big on the modern Korean artists, they mainly listened to foreign artists like Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Kehlani, Beyonce, and The Neighbourhood. Ryujin was big on alternative, rap, and hip pop while Lia was big on jazz, r&b, and pop.

Near the end of lunch, they finished their food and began just talking and listening to the music, until Kai came up and took Ryujin's phone from the bench. The ear buds were ripped out of their ears and Ryujin stood up, aggravated already. "Give it back, Kai!" She demanded, opened her hand for her phone back.

Kai smirked, backing away, "Come and get it." He taunted her, turning to run into the woods.

"Don't do it. It's so obviously a trap." Lia told Ryujin before the short haired one even stepped forward to chase him.

"It's my phone! My parents can't afford to get me another one. I'll have to, I'll go alone, it'll be okay." Ryujin assured her, beginning to run.

"Wait! Ugh, I'm coming with you!" Lia said, beginning to run right after Ryujin into the woods.