CHAPTER II
Distasteful

He examined her. She was like an open book. That wasn’t even accurate. She was like a comic book. He need not read her to understand her. He only needed to see.

He noticed something different, however. She was a new comic book. Different than the one she was before – a week ago – when she had accused him of cheating on his tests.

A week had passed and they had entered the second half of the semester. And he was now seated beside her. In front. In the far left. According to the rankings.

He almost immediately knew she was going to hate the new seating arrangement. After all, it was evident that she despised him. Down to his core.

But if she did hate the seating arrangement, she wasn’t letting it show. It was as if he needed to read her now in order to understand her. How could she have done it? Evolve within just a week? He was more impressed than he was willing to admit.

As the literature teacher went on to discuss about Kafka on the Shore, he found his eyes drifting to her. It was very evident she was keeping interactions with him to a minimum. He almost felt disrespected. Almost.

Shin Mari. Shin Mari. Her name rolled off his tongue like waves slamming off the beach. He tried to jog his memory for anything about her. And a lot came, unsurprisingly.

Top student since first grade, it seems. She came from a crazy rich Asian family – The Shins, who owned hotels and bars. She probably lives in a mansion uphill in the grandest neighborhood – surrounded by her maids and butlers, most probably. She also probably knows how to play the piano. Every Sunday, she was at church, attending mass and playing.

He waved off the thought. She already felt toxic in his mind. The change was probably always there, he had just failed to catch it.

Nothing here. He dismissed, in his head.

X O X O X O X O X O X O X

Baekhyun was a firm believer that everyone was interesting. Whether simple minded or thought deep – everyone was bound to be interesting. But he refused to acknowledge this girl.

Was it because of her known hatred for him? Probably. Was i