Her Bully | PURINZ

022

Y U N J I N
—

My eye bags are heavy and dark as I walk through the hallways of my high school.

I didn't sleep a wink last night because of my phone's insistent vibration and blinking with the same text every five minutes.

Honestly, how did Chaewon manage to stay up the whole night?

And not just stay up—but text all night.

Did she like, leave her phone on autopilot and keep repeating the same message until I replied?

Because, god, was I tempted to tell her to stop saying sorry.

Stopping by my locker, I groan at the sketchy sounds of squeaky shoes echoing through the halls and the noises of mindless chatter.

I lean forward and feel my body give up as I rest my forehead against the cool metal of my locker.

I really want to sleep right now, and I'm considering going to the clinic to fake a bad cold.

But who am I kidding? I'm a terrible liar.

The noise dies down, reminding me that classes are about to start.

I huff and frown, wondering where Haerin is for our usual meetup, but I ignore it as I push myself off the wall and clumsily walk in the direction of my first class—well, drag my legs is more accurate if you ask me.

"Are you okay?"

My body stiffens at the sound of her voice coming from behind me. I nearly step on my own feet and fall down if I weren't already walking slowly enough.

I gulp and clear my throat, my eyes nervously scanning my surroundings to calm my beating heart. I bite my inner cheek and walk faster, ignoring her completely.

A scoff resonates in my ears.

"Aw, come on," she huffs, and I hear her feet following close behind me.

What day is it today? Oh right, Monday—we have morning classes together. Fuck.

I almost stop walking because, why is she talking to me in front of the student body? Then I realize mostly everyone has disappeared into their respective rooms already.

"Can you stop walking? I know your legs are long and whatever, but slow down. I'm a grandma when it comes to walking," she whines, and I roll my eyes, imagining her pouting and crossing her arms at me.

See? She hasn't changed.

I turn a corner and grip my books tight to my chest as I curse whoever the principal is for making my locker far from my first Monday class.

"Ugh, okay—I'm sorry!" she yells, causing my feet to stop moving. I stay frozen but decide not to turn to her.

I hear her exhale. "Well, of course, you know I'm sorry. I've been texting you about a million times," she hisses, causing me to frown deeply and huff.

Still the same.

So, with that in check, I adjust my backpack and continue walking down the empty hallway, counting the time before class starts.

I'm never a latecomer.

"What? What did I say?" she asks, her voice getting nearer.

Chaewon is such a baby.

I ignore her completely, trying to shut her out when I feel her grab my arm and spin me around, making my eyes bulge at the action.

I almost pity her when I see how much darker and bigger her eye bags are; it looks like she hasn't slept for a week.