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chapter 42: ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
"what are you trying to do?" a worried san asks jihyun as the girl attempts to stand up only to be pushed back down by her shoulders. it had been four months and they were only two months away from graduating. finals are starting soon and the group, excluding jongho, were having a study session at youngmin's cafe, seonghwa occasionally stopping by their table to bother them for a minute then leaving to attend to customers.
if those four months weren't hell enough, jihyun didn't know what is. mina had been an absolute pain in the ass. whenever any of the boys weren't with jihyun, she'd grab the opportunity to torment jihyun, of course, with the help of her minions.
they beat her up whenever she was alone, threw nasty remarks everytime they see her and mina even threatened her through text in hopes of it being enough to drive her mad to the extent of losing focus in her studies.
jihyun didn't feel safe. though she had atleast one of then with her almost all the time, she knew she was being watched. mina always seems to know where she was or what she was doing. the only place she felt safe in was her own house because her parents were finally back, and the house was no longer empty, now being filled with multiple house maids.
"i'm going to go order myself another cup of iced choco, is there something wrong with that?" jihyun asks dumbly. yunho frowns at this, giving the girl an 'are you serious?' expression, the girl returning him a 'what?' expression.
"are you really asking that, ji?" yeosang raises an eyebrow at the girl who was still stubbornly trying to stand up. she slumps down against her seat, pouting when wooyoung places her crutches out of her reach.
"no, i'll get it for you. you stay seated." mingi states, grabbing her wallet and going over to get the girl her drink. she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "if you guys don't want me moving around so much, why'd you make me come here anyways?"
"um excuse you, last time i checked we were the ones insisting to come over but you were the one begging to study somewhere else," yunho replies, pointing an accusing finger at the girl. "i'm sorry i don't feel comfortable having friends over when my parents are back." she pouts, san pinching her cheeks in reflex.
"okay but guys please, it's been almost two months now and i can assure you that i'm much better now. i even walk around at home without my crutches, i'm perfectly fine. the only thing that's bothering me is how often it itches and i so badly just want to scratch it but i can't because the cast is in the way!" she complains in distress. she then snatches the cup of iced choco in mingi's hand when he returns, furiously sipping on it with a frown on her face.
"woah, what's up with her?" mingi asks as he returns to his seat. san snorts, knowing that the reason behind her outburst is dumb. sad, but dumb. "she's frustrated because her foot itches and she hasn't been able to scratch it."
mingi bites his lips to contain his laughter but fails, bursting into laughter with the rest of the group, the girl angrily and aggressively sipping on her drink while her friends laughed at her misery.
"it's okay, ji. you'll be able to get it off in about a week so just be patient because good things come to those who wait." wooyoung tells her, trying to keep a straight face on but ended up laughing at his attempt to advise his friend.
"okay but i'm still mad you didn't tell us she was bullying you. you really had to wait until this happened then you could tell us?" san asks the girl and she only looks down in guilt.
it was almost two months ago when they were having a joint p.e. with another class. unfortunately for jihyun, it was mina's class. the girls had to run a lap around the field as warmup while the boys were playing soccer since they had finished their laps.
jihyun was almost done with her lap when suddenly her body jerked as her eyes widened. time seemed to slow down as she waited for her body to hit the track. in the seconds it took her to reach the ground, she knew it was going to hurt real, real bad considering how her ankle twisted in a way she didn't think was possible. and she wasn't wrong.
pain shot through her whole body, starting from her ankle that had hit the ground prior to her whole body dropping down. she clutched onto her foot, crying out in pain. she sees mina at the side, smirking as she ties her shoelaces.
how dumb could i be? jihyun thought to herself. she had ran on the outermost lane and didn't realise mina was sitting beside that lane on the outside, pretending to be tying her shoelaces when in reality, she had a whole devious plan up her sleeve. right when jihyun passed by, she stuck out her foot, causing the long-haired girl to trip over.
mina initially wanted her to get a cut or something on her knees from the impact but she was surprised to see the girl lying down on the ground, crying her eyes out in pain. her surprised expression turned to a smirk, more than satisfied that her plan had caused even more damage to the girl.
jihyun stays put on the ground, her face closing in a grimace. her knees were scraped, a bit of blood oozing out but that was the least of her worries now. the girl couldn't get up at all. the pain was unbearable. her ankle was quickly swelling up.
from a distance, she could hear a familiar, comforting voice call out to her. she heard footsteps coming closer and she looks up at the person with teary eyes. "are you okay?" he asks frantically.
"i–it hurts. i can't move my foot at all. i can't get up!" she exclaims, more tears trickling down as she bites her lip to suppress the pain. soon a crowd gathered around the crying girl and the teacher rushes over to see what the commotion is about. san tells the teacher, before asking permission to bring her to a clinic nearest to the school.
the teacher allows and san, almost immediately, crouches down beside her again, putting one arm below her legs and the other behind her back, carrying the girl bridal style, quickly making his way to his car.
after that incident, mina had stayed low in harassing jihyun in school as she had been suspended because of that. a few students witnessed her tripping jihyun on purpose and she was suspended for a week while jihyun didn't come to school for a week, too, as she had to rest.
though mina and her friends stopped doing all that they've been doing to her in school, mina continued threatening her through text, jihyun having no idea how she always manages to get through again when jihyun swore she had blocked her at least eight times.
"okay guys i'm sorry for keeping it to myself, okay? i didn't want to burden you guys. i'll tell you guys everything from now on." she smiles at them, feeling a tug at her heart because she just lied straight to their faces.
but in her defence, she knew mina wasn't going to act upon her words. she was only trying to get in her head however jihyun has successfully mastered the art of giving no fucks about her and her seemingly empty threats.
a/n: tired asfucc but im updating because i love you guys and sorry for the shit chapter hhhhh
