In A Beautiful Way

Stuck With You

The following Monday, Haein finally returned to school. It took a lot of persuading from Seri that she couldn't hide or avoid both guys forever, but the ultimate weapon was reminding her that the term test was coming up in a week so she couldn't afford to miss any more classes. If there was something that motivated Haein more than money, it was maintaining her stellar grades. There was no way in hell that she would allow her position among the top three in class to fall.

Walking into school, she held her head high, pretending as if the incident last week had never happened. If she refused to acknowledge the whispering, what could they do about it? They would get bored eventually and find something else to talk about. She was Hong Haein of Queens, what good was that title if she didn't have the confidence to carry it?

Acting confident in front of gossipers was one thing, but facing Baek Hyunwoo was another. He was standing in front of the lockers when she entered, mid conversation with a friend when they made eye contact. Subconsciously, her eyes flicked to Seri who walked beside her.

I'm starting to see why Seri is your only friend in this school.

His words rang clearly in her head. She almost thought he'd said it again, but she realised that he wasn't even talking to his friends anymore, his lips hardened into a thin line. Wow, that was a first. He'd never greeted her with anything but a smile. He must still be upset.

Just then, they were joined by a third person whose loud shoes caused her to tear her gaze away from Hyunwoo's.

Haein, Hyunwoo and Eunsung stood in a vague triangle, tension sparking between them like electricity. Sensing the sudden change in atmosphere, Seri stepped back, her eyes wide. Haein had already caught her up on the story from last Friday so she knew that three of them had fought. Now, it seemed like the rest of the school knew too for they would be blind not to notice the obvious aggression radiating off the two boys.

Around them, students had started to crowd the corridor, curious to see what the fuss was all about. With the way they were glaring at each other, nobody dared to cross between them, fearing that they might get sliced by the invisible lasers shooting from their eyes.

Crap.

Whatever. If they wanted to fight, they could fight it out all they want. There were enough people here to hold them back and stop them from beating each other to death anyway. She was getting out of here before the crowd swallowed them whole.

Grabbing Seri's hand, Haein cut between the two boys with determination, weaving her way out through the crowd which parted slightly to let them through. It was too early in the morning for this, she really didn't want to think about it anymore. All she wanted was to keep her head low and get through the day without any more gossip-worthy incidents.

What she hadn't noticed was how both boys kept their gaze on her as she passed between them, their actions mirroring each other from opposite ends of the hallway. The gesture didn't go unnoticed by their audience, and whispers started flying through the air again.

...

"Ya! What was that? Did you see the look on their faces? I really thought they were going to start punching each other!" Seri exclaimed once they were out of earshot.

Haein sighed heavily. "I don't know what's wrong with the both of them. Why do they have to fight each other over nothing? Honestly, I don't even know how everything started, it's like watching animals fight for territory that they're going to forget about the next day."

"Oh my dear Haein, you really don't get it, do you?" Seri smirked. "They're not fighting over nothing, they're fighting over you."

Haein rolled her eyes in disbelief. Now that was the most absurd thing that had ever come out of Seri's mouth.