Association of Failures Twice x Female Reader

20: The OtHer

• The OtHer •

Y/n's POV

"Good morning, Y/n!* Dahyun greeted me looking incredibly bright and energetic. "Thanks for yesterday. Let's hang out again sometime, okay?"

I nodded. "Sure."

After talking with Dahyun I went to my seat.

"Did you spend your day off with Dahyun?" an icy voice asked.

"Yeah, I did. Dahyun wanted Mina's cooperation, so she asked for my help. I didn't have much of a choice..." I looked over at my neighbor and saw an expression on Tzuyu's face that I'd never glimpsed before. "What's the matter?"

She looked at me and furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you just had this really weird look on your face."

"Really? I didn't intend to make any kind of face. However, I will say that I admire how freely you've been moving. When I ask you for help, you're often reluctant, but when Dahyun asks you, you accept readily. I was calmly and discretely analyzing the difference between us."

She did not remotely look calm and discreet, though.

After homeroom finished for the day, Dahyun, Mina, and I went to the faculty room to talk with Ms. Irene.

Dahyun then explained that Mina was the witness of Jeongyeon's case.

After hearing Dahyun's words, Ms. Irene looked at Mina. "So according to Dahyun, you saw the fight between Jeongyeon and the others."

"Y-Yes. I saw it," Mina whispered.

Mina, true to her word, slowly gave us the truth. None of us, not even the teacher, spoke a single word or even moved until the very end.

When Mina finished narrating what she witnessed, Ms. Irene gave her a skeptical gaze. "I understand what you've said. However, I can't simply accept what you're telling me. Mina, why are you testifying now? When I reported the issue during homeroom, you didn't step forward. It's not as though you were absent that day, right?"

"Well... That's... I'm just not good at talking with other people..." Mina murmured.

"You're not good at talking with other people, and yet you've decided to testify now? Isn't that strange?"

"Ma'am, Mina is—"

"I'm speaking to Mina right now." Ms. Irene cut Dahyun off sharply.

"Umm... Well, it's because our... class is in trouble now, and... I thought if... if I testify, I can help..." Mina hunched and shrank away, much like a frog cornered by a snake.

As our teacher, Ms. Irene should have understood what kind of girl Mina was. She should have realized that merely by speaking up, Mina had made great progress.

"So you mustered up the courage to come forward, hm? Well if you are a witness as you say, naturally I'm obligated to relay that information to the school. However.*

*Are you really the witness, Mina? I think that it may be a lie made up by Class D because the students are afraid of receiving a negative evaluation."

"Ms. Irene, that's a horrible thing to say!" Dahyun exclaimed.

"Horrible? If you really had witnessed an event, you should have come forward on the first day. Also, considering that the witness is from Class D, it's doubly suspicious. Conveniently, a student from the same class happened to be in an infrequently visited building and happened to witness the entire event?*