𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚 𝐭𝐱𝐭 × 𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

ten - the other one that knew

the other one that knew

"prez! wait for me!"

oh, how lia hated that voice. she forced herself to turn around, and forced herself again to smile at the bouncing image of beomgyu waving at her, garnering all the unnecessary attention that had goosebumps and nightmares appear all over lia's entire existence. then again, beomgyu was too loud, nice and enthusiastic to avoid.

ever since she attented yeji's parents anniversary party, lia had found herself rise in the ranks of respect while simultaneously fall in the ranks of nobodiness. i swear to god, these rich people are ruining my life. she could only wail internally.

"prez! is it true that we had chemistry homework? i fell asleep yesterday so i didn't note down anything," pouted beomgyu.

after spending three hellish days with this clingy puppy-personified, lia had learnt that beomgyu's biggest asset was his cute face and annoying ass. well, 'annoying ass' only applied to yeonjun while 'cute face' was to all except choi yeonjun.

"you can copy mine," but before beomgyu could throw his arms up and celebrate, lia quickly added, "only the questions." beomgyu's arms fell down and he pouted again. gosh. what do i do with this kid? "the teacher is specially keen-eyed on similiar answers, so you have to answer in your special way." she smiled at him, sardonically.

"fine." not like beomgyu had a choice. "but promise me that you'll help if i have trouble."

"okay, okay."

they entered school together, successfully making some girls' eyes pop out of their sockets in the process.

hmph. lia smirked to herself. while befriending the rich kids exposed her to the judgements of unasked and unwanted opinionated individuals, lia seldom found amusement in making them jealous. after all, everyone wanted to befriend the rich kids. they were what ran ace academy.

when lunch rolled around, beomgyu no longer bothered lia as he had been pulled away by soobin for some assignment. she could only wonder if the assignment had anything to do with their secret ghost hunting job or just taking pictures for the school bulletin. hopefully, it's the latter.

she took her time chewing, when a tray suddenly slammed on the empty space before her. she flinched and looked up to find shin ryujin breathing haggardly.

is she planning to sit with me? why?

the question would be answered immediately as ryujin took a seat and picked up her chopsticks. she began eating while across her, lia was going to die of curiosity.

"what's the occasion?" asked lia, going back to her food, feigning familiarity.

"has choi yeonjun ever told you anything about ghosts lurking in our school?"

a very, very uncalled for turn of events. lia almost choke but she downed a glass of water and managed to avoid embarrassing herself. "how- i mean. yes. but why are you asking?" she asked again, discreetly since people could hear and this was a secretive topic not meant for the unruly public.

"tell yeonjun i want in in the photography club," said ryujin, albeit it was more of a demand.

hearing this, lia frowned. "why don't you tell him yourself?"

"nah. the second we see each other we argue. my brain can't handle another nagging bastard. sign me up and if they don't want to, tell them that i know what they're up to. that'll make choi yeonjun panic."

after a moment of thinking, lia replied, "okay. but in exchange, can you tell me why you want to waste your time in this supernatural hunting activity when you should be attending prep school?"

"to piss off my father and avenge someone," said ryujin, forward and simple.

lia had nothing to say on that matter. she couldn't scold ryujin and lecture her about obedience and whatnot when she knew nothing of the latter's matter with her family. the same could be said for the 'avenge' part. instead, she simply shrugged and said, "fair enough."

the rest of lunch passed by rather quietly. lia was too occupied with her beans and thoughts she couldn't be bothered about the silence that engulfed her and ryujin until she was done eating. she lingered in her seat for a while until ryujin looked up and pressed her eyebrows together, asking, "aren't you finish?"

"huh? oh, yeah." lia began to blush, embarrassment suddenly kicking in.

"wait. are you waiitng for me?" before lia would open her mouth to come up with a lame excuse, denying the obvious just because of sheer embarrassment, ryujin cuts her off. "cool. hold on. i won't be long."

ryujin began to eat with gusto, surprising lia because she hadn't expected the latter to be so 'cool' with her not-straightforward way of suggesting they hang out. in lia's defense; she wanted to discuss some things' with the short-haired girl.

"is this about me wanting to join the photography club? i thought i've stated my reason," said ryujin as the two began to walk away from the lunch room, shoulder to shoulder.

"yes, and no. you've made a point but you haven't explained why you would willingly walk into a room full of ghosts," said lia.

at this, ryujin threw her head back and laughed. "gosh, prez. you're adorable and clueless. i have a feeling that you might have been dragged into this whole mess with clean hands."

lia frowned; what did ryujin mean?

"to be honest," began ryujin, sounding more serious than she had been, "i accidentally found out about the boys' entire charade two months ago. they weren't the best at keeping a low profile, running around school chasing air before school began or after. i usually stayed back because i dreaded going home. yeonjun, that loudmouth, explained everything to me after i threatened to expose his extracurricular activities to the dean. that fucking idiot," ryujin mused. lia didn't know whether to warn her to mind her language or not. it seemed like a good idea, but at the same time, not.

ryujin continued, "then i bullied choi beomgyu that idiot into keeping tabs on their activities because... why not. dead people has always been a certain topic of interest to anyone. i didn't care too much about joining their club back then. besides, yeonjun said they had this 'no girls' policy which i just learned was false yesterday. that fucking bastard. so i want in on the fun." she concluded with a rather proud dismissal.

it was lia who wasn't proud or amused the slightest. ryujin's narration had slapped a turbulent wave of reality right on her face. she had thought the entire incident to be a dream, a hallucination or perhaps even gotten over it. however, ryujin's mention of the photography club had snapped her out from her trance and suddenly, she felt ominous.