A Shiny Future

Chapter 19 | Succumb

LUCKY NUMBER 7!

The words hung above a crudely drawn picture of two stick figures in what can only be described as a compromising position. While most stick figure drawings are subtle in their childishness, this one was anything but. It was not difficult to discern what the figures were meant to be doing nor who they were intended to be, considering one had brown hair that fell just below the shoulders and the other had a tuft of green at the top of its head.

I scrunched my nose in disgust. "What the fuck?" I mumbled, as I continued to look at and read the dozen or so notes of derision around the figures.

Gonna make new kid an official member of the harem tonight?

What disease is getting him in?

Happy VD, new kid!

Does he know you're the school slut yet?

Slut. That word was repeated over and over again, in phrases or just by itself with no further commentary.

Who's gonna tell him?

Remember the condom! Don't want to taint him all up just yet.

Doing anything special to new kid tonight, slut?

If he knows what's good for him, he'll wrap it up.

Filthy slut.

I felt a mix of disgust and confusion. Why the hell was I getting dragged into this? And I was still perplexed as to why anyone would call Mirae a slut in the first place. She spent so much of her time annoying me, a totally unwilling participant platonically, let alone romantically or sexually. So when would she have even had time to be some sort of beguiling siren whose sole goal was to seduce others into sexual situations? More to the point, I'd been witness to her approach techniques, and this girl made mere introductions and attempts at making friends awkward. I couldn't even imagine how much more graceless any seductive or sexual advances she could make would be.

The longer I stared at the paper, the more my thoughts and (strangely enough) emotions began to swirl and befuddle me. Before I even knew what was happening, I'd violently grabbed the paper, crumpled it back up into the ball it should have stayed in in the first place, and pushed it deep into the small trash can on the wall that was intended for discarded paper towels. I covered it with the used paper towels that already resided there, wanting it to be completely hidden. There was absolutely no reason anyone else should have to look at it; least of all Mirae again. Or me.

After washing my hands, I pushed the bathroom door, then promptly jumped back as it was pulled open from the other side. Suddenly, I was face to face with bench guy. His eyebrows shot up as he observed me. I can't imagine what type of look was on my face, but I did know it wasn't anything pleasant.

"Uh," he said, as we both were momentarily frozen. "Yoongi, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm – "

"A friend of Mirae's, yeah."

He blinked in surprise. "Yeah. Did she – "

"No, I've just seen all of you around."

"Ah. Well, I'm Jungkook. It's nice to meet you."

"Hmm," I hummed, trying to move past him.

"Are you alright?" he asked, eyeing my face curiously.

I tried to ignore him, but he wouldn't move. I sighed, annoyed. "Just trying to get to class."

"Oh!" He moved over slightly. "Sorry."