CHAPTER ONE
She's her 42She is her 42.
If Sana were to tell you their story, let her start from the very beginning.
Have you ever wondered what the answer to life, universe, and everything is?
As a child, Sana has always been curious. She always has questions and her mother would oftentimes dismiss her.
One time, she asks her mother “What will happen when an unstoppable object meets an irresistible force?” while watching a rerun of ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ on their very thick and very old CRT television. The television’s color display is a bit distorted because she once put a giant neodymium magnet on its side. It hasn’t worked properly since then.
It wasn’t her fault though! Bill Nye should be blamed for it. Young Sana was only curious. She explains this to her mother plenty of times, but her mother didn’t listen. The whole month, she was assigned to be their household’s plate attendant. It was more than torture having to scrub the plates you didn’t even use. More torture points if the dish was oily.
“You should be thinking of something that would contribute to our society,” her mother snaps at her. Young Sana opens but was cut even before speaking.
“The trouble of being uncured,” her mother shakes her head. It’s something adults often say to children. The words trouble, uncured, and children often belong in one sentence. Also, for some reason cured people are so obsessed with having the perfect society.
No one understands her, and she doesn't understand adults either. It’s like they’re at the both end of a spectrum that doesn’t connect in the middle, like a glitch in communication she could never fix.
(She’s on dishwashing duty for a week, and was banned from watching Bill Nye the Science Guy forever. No more Bill Nye the Science Guy~ Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! For her.)
There’s only one person who used to humor her. An imaginary (?) friend, you may say. Or rather a friend she was forced to forget. She entertains all of Sana’s questions and even asks some eccentric questions, too.
One afternoon, under the shade of a huge tree in a park where they always play, they both lie on their stomachs. Her friend doesn’t mind if her white dress is stained from dirt. She bites an apple and munches on it.
“Do you think is it okay to believe in fortune tellers?” her friend asks out of the blue. She sits straight up, her once spotless white dress is now smeared with dirt. Absentmindedly, she wipes the soil off but it eventually makes it worse. She flinches on her action.
Sana gasps in surprise, not because of the stain on her friend’s dress, but because of her question. “I haven’t thought of that!” Excitedly, she sits cross-legged and rocks herself back and forth. “Tell me what you think!”
“Well, do you know ‘fate’?” the other girl asks.
“F-fate?” Sana pouts. Her nostrils are flaring and her eyebrows are meeting halfway. She can’t recall school ever teaching her a word like that. “I only know ‘ate’ do you mean ‘ate’? Are you hungry?” she asks innocently and sticks her hand in their picnic basket, pulling out another apple from it.
Her imaginary friend chuckles and puts the apple back inside the basket. “No,” she shakes her head, and looks around.
She picks a flower and Sana gasps, “Can you do that?” but she ignores her.
“See this flower?” Sana nods. She doesn’t remove her eyes at the flower like it would be gone any second, but what her friend did next surprises her. Her imaginary friend crushes the flower in her palm and a gasp escapes .
“Imagine this is you and everybody else in the world.” Her friend opens her palm and the flower’s petals are all over it. Sana feels sorry for the flower.
“Which petal am I?”
“You choose.”
“Can I be this petal?” Sana points at the biggest one.
“Only if I could be this one,” her friend points at a heart-shaped petal. Sana lets out a defeated groan because she didn’t see that petal, and she wishes to be that petal now, but her friend has dibs on it.
“Fine, fine,” she sighs.
“Okay, now imagine this is us,” her friend points at their petals. “And these are everybody else in the world.” Anxious for what will happen next, Sana nods her head.
“And this is fate,” a wind blows, and the petals start to ride the wind. Sana yelps in surprise and rises to her feet. She jumps, trying to catch the petals one by one, but only manages to get a hold of one. Running, she goes after her petal, the biggest petal, but before she could grasp it, another strong wind blows and it rises to a height she could not reach.
She puffs her cheeks, sits right beside her friend, and lets out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, I could only catch this.” She shows it to her friend. “It’s your petal!” a smile escapes her lips. Even though she didn’t manage to get hers, at least she got her friend’s.
“Now, please explain what ‘fate’ is.” She hands the petal to her friend and crosses her arms.
For a few seconds, silence envelops them. Her friend inhales deeply and sighs. Sana’s getting a bit impatient because, well, what is fate? She wants answers already. Her curiosity is getting the best of her.
“I just did.” A bunny smile escapes her friend’s lips.
Sana looks at her friend in disbelief. “Eh?!”
“Miss Minatozaki?” the man in the middle asks her. She stops herself from remembering the memories that should not even exist in the first place. She should be focusing in the present, as in right now. Because if she doesn’t, her life would end up as a total rug as if it wasn’t one already.
“I-I’m sorry. Could you please repeat the question?” Hate. She hates herself right now. She should focus, but everything around her feels like it the happiness out of her. She has been waiting for this moment her entire life, but it feels wrong.
Ever since this morning, Sana felt like she should not be in this building. A teeny tiny voice has been telling her to run away while she still can. But run away from what, exactly? Run away from her only hope to escape poverty? She thinks the no.
The poorly lit room is made up of steel. In front of her are a panel of evaluators. A neckless woman sits on the left, her neck is barely poking because of her fat. Meanwhile, the woman on the right looks like her bones would collapse with a blow of strong wind. The man in the middle looks scary with his big-rimmed glasses and neatly-shaved beard.
On the far corner of the room, a table lies untouched. It’s covered with white clothing, but Sana could tell it’s an operation table base from its shape. She has seen it in movies before. She wonders if it’s the table they use for ‘the’ procedure.
Here’s the deal: When the United States of America declared ‘love’ a disease, the whole world was in panic. It was chaos. Bombs were dropped everywhere. World War II started, and violence was the new normal.
Love, they say, only brings pain and causes people to surrender to insanity, spiraling down to its never-ending consequences.
It was during September 1939, countries all over the world had split sides. Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria) and Allies (U.S., Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia). The two sides competed on who would develop the ‘cure’ for love first.
Months after, they officially named the disease as “amor deliria nervosa”. Love has become a touchy subject. Even from entertainment like movies, songs, and books, the topic of love was banned.
Six years later, the Allies found a cure for the disease. Many countries absorbed the new system and were eager to get a hold of the cure. South Korea was one of the first countries to get it.
The cure only works for adults. If you’re under eighteen, the cure wouldn’t work for you. You could end up with brain damage, partial paralysis, blindness, or something worse like death. Sana’s 17 now. Soon, she’ll have the procedure and she’ll be safe from amor deliria nervosa.
However, for the sake of reproduction and preventing humanity from going extinct, the government proposed that a male and female should be paired with each other. This is where the evaluation takes place. The one Sana’s going through right now.
Before undergoing the procedure, there’s this thing called ‘evaluation’. It is where a panel of professionals evaluate your worth and scores you out of 10. Once evaluated, if you’re a girl, the evaluators would send you a list of partners compatible with you to spend the rest of your life with. The better your score, the better your partner is. The better you score, the higher your chances are for being partnered with someone from the upper class.
A flickering light in the observation deck above the room distracts Sana. On and off. On and off. It was empty, but it feels like she’s being watched.
“Is the light bothering you, dear?” the woman on the right asks. “Our apologies.” She says, but her voice sounds sharp and cold. Rather than being sorry, she sounds quite threatening and her crooked smile sure as hell looks like one.
She can’t believe this, a while ago she’s doing well with her evaluation. Now, she’s butchering it. She could feel her guilt as she remembers hearing her mother shout “Bring home at least a score of 6!” to her before she gets out of their house. Her mother even gave her money for food.
She’s not so sure if she could still do that.
Sana really, really needs to do well in this evaluation if she doesn’t want to be with another stuck up person like her. She needs to do well so she could be matched with somebody who’s wealthy enough to get her and her mother out of poverty.
A while ago she was doing great. She’s not so sure now. If she continues being like this, she might as well kiss her dreams goodbye.
“My apologies if the light bothers you, but we have to continue with the evaluation.” The man says with a tight lip.
“Of course,” Sana sits straight up. She could feel the cold metal underneath her thin hospital gown a nurse gave her a while ago. Her feet feel numb against the tiles.
“So, my question is: Why do you think you were born?” his voice rips into the silence and echoes in her eardrums.
She gets it now. She gets what her friend meant by fate. Because she was fated to be there. Because she was fated to do something. She doesn’t know what yet, but she knows she’s born to do something, change something, save something.
feels like sandpaper. The word is itching like a dry cough. She scratches it, and she’s surprised by how cold her fingers are against her skin. It’s impossible, but she could physically feel the air’s molecules rub against .
The evaluators wait for her answer.
“B-because,” she slaps herself mentally. She should sound confident with her answers, but she sounds anything but confident. “Because the world needs more people to obey and work for the government.”
What is she doing? Clearly, what she said didn’t sound like ‘fate’ at all. It’s just one word, four letters. What’s so hard about saying that in front of them? What if the evaluators hate her answer? Maybe she should prepare herself to get a low score and practice saying “Good day Maam/Sir! Welcome to Papa John’s!” while wearing a chicken mascot.
Don’t get her wrong, she has nothing against low-paying workers. She’s also one. But like everyone else, she promised herself she would get her and her parents out of poverty, and now she’s breaking that promise. Her vision slowly fades into her sight.
But she’s taken aback with what happens next. Suddenly, the room feels lighter and the expressions on the face of the evaluators soften. She’s not sure if it was her imagination.
“Congratulations, Miss Minatozaki. You’ve finished your evaluation process. We’ll mail you your results.” The man says and pushes a button. A nurse enters and leads Sana to the dressing room.
She changes into her clothes: a pair of jeans faded from being over worn, a thin shirt she bought from a thrift store months ago, and shoes whose soles are too thin she could feel the floor against her feet.
The nurse guides her out of the room. The hallway feels so quiet she could hear her heartbeat. She couldn’t believe it. She just finished the most important interview in her life.
She leads Sana to the huge common room where a bunch of teenagers her age are waiting for their friends to finish their evaluation, too. “Congratulations,” the nurse lifelessly greets her before returning inside. Sana hugs herself from the coldness, whether from the nurse’s tone or the ac in the lobby, it doesn’t matter.
Scanning the lobby, she squints her eyes and tries to find her friends. “Sana!” a voice echoes. Everyone looks in the direction where the voice came from. The guards are alert on their feet, and are whispering to their radios.
Momo’s hand is still in the air while Jihyo is pulling her to sit down and Jeongyeon is covering . She grins and laughs at her friends as she makes her way to their direction. “Momo, I could feel the second-hand embarrassment.” WRONG, Sana doesn’t feel embarrassed. She’s amused by her friend’s shamelessness.
“Yeah, Momo, what was that?” Jeongyeon whisper-shouts.
“Did you see the guards? They were prepared to tackle you down!” Jihyo says while pretending to read a brochure about the evaluation like nothing happened.
“What embarrassment? What guards? Can we go home now?” Momo asks with her normal speaking voice. But her voice, like Jihyo’s, is naturally loud. Sana’s convinced the two of them either swallowed a whole- megaphone when they were a child or their mothers used to feed them microphones and speakers for breakfast instead of milk and baby food.
Jeongyeon face palms. Jihyo rubs her palm against her forehead. Sana couldn’t help but grin wider at her friends.
The three stands up. When they did, Jeongyeon whispers “Holy ,” and her eyes widen at Sana like she saw a ghost.
“What?” Sana asks. She checks the side of her eyes if she has any morning stars, but there aren’t any.
“Oh ,” Jihyo chimes in after, this time she’s looking past her. Sana looks behind her and sees six girls glaring at them. It then dawns on her.
“Keep your cool. Keep your cool,” Sana reminds them. EU, Onda, Sihyeon, Aisha, Mia, and Yiren are all watching them like an eagle eyeing its prey. Aisha looks like she’s ready to jump at all of them right then and there. She looks so tall and scary. Jeongyeon is tall too, but Aisha has good three inches to her.
“How can I keep my cool?!” Momo whispers this time. Her voice is shaking. “I swear to god, Jihyo, you get us into fights every damn week.”
“Well first of all, I am God. Second, they were bullying a freshman!” She defends herself. Jeongyeon signals them to start walking out of the building. As soon as they do, the other girls start to walk behind them, too. There are a lot of teenagers and guards. As long as they’re surrounded, they won’t be attacked.
“So you decided to put a gum on Yiren’s hair? You know how those girls are!” Jeongyeon says in a low voice. Sana could feel pairs of eyes on her back and the hairs on her nape stands up.
“Keep walking,” she tells the girls.
No one spoke after. The air is thick against their skin and they’re a few steps away from the huge glass door. They take extra big steps and pick up their pace.
Behind them, the other group of girls picks up their speed, too. Sana swears she could hear their big steps.
A meter away from the doors and Sana could feel goosebumps all over her arms. She swallows a lump in . Momo is unusually quiet beside her.
As soon as the automatic glass door slides open, Jihyo shouts “RUN!”
And they ran for their lives.
One thing to remember if you want to survive in an all-girls public school is: Every student can take two minutes off their time to kick your .
Sana wishes Jihyo had this in mind when she messed with those girls. She puts both her hands on her knees while trying to catch her breath. They just ran from the building to Momo’s house.
Momo opens the door and a mountain of used and unused clothes greet them. A bag of chips lies on their small coffee table that was once varnished but is now faded, thanks to years of spilling hot drinks and such. Next to the chips is a carton of fresh milk.
“Am I in a dumpster?” Jihyo has the audacity to say when she enters the house.
It’s a small one. The living room could barely fit all four of them, and the couch could only accommodate three. Usually, it’s Momo who always ends up standing or sitting on the floor, but not today because Jihyo owes it to her.
“If karma doesn’t hit you, I ing will.” Momo glares at her while picking up her sister’s clothes.
Her sister, Hirai Hana, brought Momo with her to Korea when she was still a child, aspiring to be a kpop artist. But she didn’t pass the audition. Now, she works as a dance instructor in a small entertainment company that’s barely making the ends meet.
Aside from being a dance instructor, her sister also does a part-time job in a convenience store at night. She barely had time for Momo then, and now she and her partner moved in with them, she completely lost time for her. Momo barely sees her sister because the entertainment company provides a dorm. Her husband on the other hand, works in a restaurant and the owner provides him a room to sleep in too.
Basically, Momo lives alone. But when her sister visits like she did last night to brief Momo for her evaluation, she only trashes the house. Momo always cleans her mess. Momo always ends up fixing her mess.
“There’s no food in here,” Sana whines and sits down on the couch. The couch’s foam is thin and she could feel the wood on her , but she’s used to it by now. She has been in this house long enough to remember how soft the couch was when it was still new.
“Yeah, so is yours. This is reality, Sana, not a ing dream. Everyone is starving.” Sana rolls her eyes at Momo who makes a painfully fair point.
“Not me, I’m DEHYDRATED.” Jeongyeon pushes Jihyo off her way and reaches for the milk. She chugs it all down in a gulp, not leaving a single drop. Her face looks crumpled and she makes a chewing sound with . “THIS TASTES LIKE COW PISS!” she shouts. A flock of birds flies away from Momo’s fence and a neighbor shushes them up.
“Oh, that expired already,” Momo laughs her off. Sana laughs so hard she’s holding her stomach and is nearly falling off the couch. The coffee table and cramped space are the only thing stopping her from dropping to the floor.
“Omg deserve,” Jihyo claps, her eyes are literally glimmering as she flashes her gummy smile.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Jeongyeon throws the empty milk carton at Momo who quickly dodges it.
“Relax, you drink our school’s tap water. You’ll be fine,” Sana reassures Jeongyeon, but that doesn’t remove the fact Jeongyeon drank expired milk.
“If my stomach hurts later, I will update you every time I go to the bathroom, Hirai.” Jeongyeon says. Momo fakes a huge smile, showing her full set of teeth to annoy Jeongyeon more.
“Can we talk about Jihyo? Is she still allowed to make decisions?” Momo changes the topic and sits in between Jeongyeon and Sana. She reaches for the opened bag of chips on her coffee table and tastes it. When she deems it still edible, unlike the expired milk Jeongyeon had drank, she offers it to everyone. Sana sticks her hand and takes a handful.
“Momo, whatever you do, I’m still the head in charge and you can’t do anything about it.” Jihyo says confidently. Momo and Jeongyeon simultaneously groan and roll their eyes at Jihyo. Sana’s too busy getting the chips’ crumbs at the corner of the bag.
But it’s true tho, Jihyo’s the perfect one to lead them. Jeongyeon is capable too, but she prefers doing the legwork than leading them. Jeongyeon was actually the first candidate to be in charge of their group, but she turned it down. She says she’d rather follow than lead.
If Momo or Sana led them, they would end up in a juvenile detention center a few minutes into action.
None of them wants that.
“As the hbic, it stands for head in charge Momo and Sana, in case you don’t know,” Jihyo points at the two of them. Sana rolls her eyes at Jihyo and Momo does the same. “We’ve gathered here today because of Sana.”
“Actually, no, Jihyo. We’re here today because of you.” Sana reminds everyone of what happened earlier after their evaluations. “I was supposed to tell everyone over text.”
“Well, time is gold and we should not waste it. Spill it already,” Jihyo crosses her arms and lifts her chin up to assert her dominance in the group.
“I got good news,” Sana grins at them and she gets all their attention. Momo stops pushing Jeongyeon who’s taking up a lot of space, and Jeongyeon stops annoying Momo for the sake of entertainment.
Jihyo’s eyes widen in excitement. “Is it a new job?”
“About damn time we get a new one. I’m so tired of having sleep for dinner.” Momo rises to her feet and raises both of her hands like she’s resigning herself to the universe. “Hallelujah!”
“Same,” Jeongyeon says, empathizing with Momo. Well, it doesn’t take a genius to know no one is NOT starving unless you belong to the middle or upper class. Apparently for them, they belong to the lower class.
Sana pulls out their so-called burner phone, a second-hand android phone they all worked hard for. They bought it from Shin Ryujin, a student who’s a year younger than them. She pushes the on button and a minute has passed but the phone is still off.
“Wait,” she knocks the phone on Momo’s coffee table a few times. “Finally,” the phone lights up.
“A student wants revenge on four of her schoolmates because apparently,” she squints her eyes and quotes “’they made me look like a fool in math class?’” furrowing her eyebrows, she looks at the girls. “What the , right?”
“Idk ‘bout you but that sounds like a brat to me. Like a Xavier girlie or something,” Jeongyeon tells them.
There are only two schools in their small town. Technically it’s four. One administration handles two campuses: one for boys and one for girls. Boys and girls are not allowed to be in the same class. The campus for boys and girls are at both ends of town, so they would not run into each other.
The public school where Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Momo, and Sana are studying is called Springfield Industrial School for Girls (for Boys if you are one). It’s, well, the literal definition of hell. They’re sixty per class and there’s only one restroom per floor in their building. In a floor, there are four classrooms, so there are approximately 240 students who share the same restroom.
Also, the girls in their school are known to be chaotic, more chaotic than Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Momo, and Sana combined.
On the other hand, the private school is the opposite of Springfield. It’s called Xavier Academy for Girls (again, for Boys if you are one). Their classrooms are air-conditioned. There are enough restrooms. There are water-fountains in contrast to Springfield’s faucet at the side of their building where everyone drinks.
But the students there are known to be spoiled-brats and such. Of course, they are. They do not know the struggle of having to boil a kettle of water because your family can’t afford a freaking heater or have sleep for dinner like Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Momo, and Sana.
“You’re right. The client’s from Xavier,” Sana confirms. Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Momo let out a collective gasp.
“We can’t accept that!” Jihyo tells them and enumerates all the reasons why they can’t do it. First off, they don’t look like a Xavier girlie. Second, they do not have it in them to blend in such a well-fed and born with a golden spoon type of crowd. They’re already having trouble blending in with kids from their class, what more of people who are the exact opposite of them? Hell no.
“I know I said I’m starving to death, but tbh I would skip this one.” Momo says, sinking into her couch dispirited.
“You’re saying that because you haven’t heard the price of the payment yet~” Sana says in a singsong voice. All their ears perk up and suddenly Sana gets their interest.
“How much is it?” Jeongyeon asks her.
“₩200,000” Sana says in a cheerful tone. Before the girls could celebrate, she raises her index finger and adds “each.”
“Holy ,” Jihyo holds on to the coffee table for support. She hasn’t held a money that big ever in her life.
“I know I said I’d skip this one, but I take it back.” Momo says, both her hands are gripping her hair’s roots, still dazed by how big the money is.
“I need time. Give me a moment to think about it.” Jeongyeon says, with her head hanging down. This is by far their biggest gig ever, and this is the first time Jeongyeon wants to back down.
Their former highest paying gig was when they locked someone inside the school bathroom because the girl spread a rumor about how the client was cheating in an exam. Later on, the school finds out the client’s name is clean and did not cheat.
They received ₩24,500 each for that one. Now, they’re offered with a request that’s ten times the prize of their highest paying one.
“What?” Sana looks at Jeongyeon.
“Why?” Momo slaps Jeongyeon’s knee.
“Just,” she clicks her tongue. She brushes her hair and grips her roots. The group rarely sees her frustrated. She’s more of like the chill type of girl who’s always composed. And she mostly only loses her composure when things are getting out of control. They’re not in trouble now. Things are in control. So the three of them shot her a concerned look. “Give me time, okay?”
Jihyo, Momo, and Sana exchange glances and silently agree. They didn’t push the topic further.
“But I need to fix it with the client already.” Jihyo says, and Jeongyeon nods.
“We’re the perfect team for this.” Momo says in a low voice while sinking into her seat, but everyone heard it. Both Jihyo and Sana give her a warning look. If Sana was beside her, she would’ve stepped on her foot already or something.
“Let me handle this from here,” and just like that, the HBIC in Jihyo is awakened.
Sana opens the door to her house and is greeted by radio silence. Like Momo’s it’s small and cramped. When you enter, you’re greeted by the kitchen on the right and the living room on the left.
On their small, three-person sofa is her mother who probably just got off work. She’s still in her uniform and it seems like she was in the middle of ing it but fell asleep while doing so. Sana lets out a heavy sigh.
She enters her bedroom to get her blanket and pillow and goes back to the living room. Carefully, she lifts her mother’s head and puts the pillow under. She wraps her mother with the blanket like a cocoon.
Signs of aging are visible on her mother’s features. The wrinkles on her forehead are more evident now. The white hairs are more visible now, too. Maybe her mother aged faster because Sana thinks she had a pure headache when she was a child.
She doesn’t want this. She doesn’t want any of this. She doesn’t want to see her mother exhausted. At this point of life, she should be living a luxurious life unlike the one they have now.
Sighing, she goes to her room. Under the pile of her neatly folded shirts lies a small box she has been hiding from her mother for months now. She opens it and rolls of money she’s been saving up greet her.
Sana pulls a crumpled won from her pocket and tries to strengthen it. Her mother gave it to her this morning. Her mother woke up late and told Sana to get breakfast on the way to the evaluations. But Sana had coffee before going and would rather save it for more important things like now.
She only needs a few more won to buy the bag her mother has been eyeing on for months in time for her birthday. If they pull their gig on Xavier well then, she’d have a few money to spare and buy herself a new pair of shoes because the soles of her current ones are thin now.
All her life, Sana longs for her mother’s affection. She couldn’t remember the last time she hugged her or the last time she held her hands. Her mother doesn’t even cook breakfast for her anymore. Ever since Sana learned to do things for herself, her mother has let herself be.
It goes like that for everyone who underwent the procedure. Every spark of warmness leaves their body and all that’s left is a cold robot-like human being wired to serve the current society they are in right now.
Sana hopes her mother could provide her comfort in cold days, that’s why she’s saving up for an expensive gift. Because she knows how materialistic her mother could be, and maybe, just maybe, she’d give Sana a tight hug or a pat on her shoulders, that way Sana could feel the warmth in her mother’s frozen heart. But Sana isn’t really expecting something big.
To see her mother’s smile is enough.
Her father on the other hand disappeared when she was ten. He used to work in Japan and sends them money every month. Sana had no idea what kind of work he did. Her mother never told her.
Until one day, her father stopped sending money and Sana doesn’t receive calls from him anymore. He disappeared like a bubble without a warning and left them to starve. Her mother had to work all day for the two of them.
The last time Sana saw him, she was eight. She still remembers what he said, and it confuses her until now. She often thinks about it.
“You will always be in here,” her father puts his hand on his left chest.
“You will always be in here,” Sana puts her hand on her left chest and taps it.
She wonders what he meant by that.
“Keep your miserable away from me,” Momo shoos a pouty Jeongyeon away from her and acts like she’s a disease. Jeongyeon frowns at Momo before rolling her eyes.
“Bad day?” Sana asks Jeongyeon and pats the space beside her. Jeongyeon nods and massages her temple. Sana feels sorry for her friend. “Want to talk about it?”
After a few attempts to convince her in the little time they gave her, Jeongyeon finally gave in. Jihyo and Momo did all the convincing parts. Sana knows how stressful this could be to Jeongyeon. Being there as a friend is the least she could do.
“No,” Jeongyeon says in a soft voice. Its 8:00 in the morning and Jeongyeon’s having a bad day already. Meanwhile there’s Momo who’s swaying her hips to their neighbor’s music Sana doesn’t know the title to while going through all the stuff Jihyo has brought.
“Jihyo, did you make sure Momo drank her meds today?” she turns to her.
“Nothing works for her anymore. I did my best.” Jihyo says sincerely while her hand is on her chest.
“Hey!” Momo stops and shoots them a glare.
“Sit down Momo, we have a long day today.” Jihyo takes the paper bag away from her and pushes her beside Jeongyeon who grunts as soon as Momo sits down beside her.
“Why am I always the one to suffer?” Jeongyeon says while trying to ignore Momo who’s showing her puppy eyes while puffing her cheeks.
“You’re always the best one to annoy,” Momo laughs her off at Jeongyeon who’s face is more wrinkled than Momo’s shirt.
“Enough of the both of you,” Jihyo claps, getting their attention. Her aura changes and that’s when you know the serious version of Jihyo is channeled. All of them sit properly, ready to listen attentively.
From the paper bag, Jihyo pulls out uniforms of Xavier. Momo and Sana let out an audible gasp. Jihyo smirks at the two of them.
She gives them one pair of uniforms each. Sana traces the lace of the uniform. The cloth used in this is thicker and the materials look expensive. Compared to their uniform, so thin you have to wear an undershirt so your bra can’t be seen or it’s so thin you have to wear multiple layers of long sleeves to protect yourself from the cold.
“On Saturday next week, Xavier will hold their annual foundation day. The security won’t be as tough, so the client has secured a way in for us. That’s when we’ll hold our operation.” Jihyo starts.
Each of them was given a white folder. “That’s our targets.” Sana opens the folder and is greeted by a beautiful girl. Her long, black hair looks soft and the moles in her face looked like constellations. Her face has soft features but she exhibits a strong aura.
“But she looks like a good friend,” Sana says. If Sana gathers up the courage to befriend her before crumbling at the sight of her, she would definitely do so. To Sana, the first target looks intimidating but fun to be friends with.
“Hey!” Jihyo snaps her fingers three times. “Put your head in the game, Sana. Do you want the money or what?” Sana pouts and sinks on her seat.
“That’s Myoui Mina,” Jihyo sighs and shakes her head. “I couldn’t get a gist of what she’s like from the client. The client keeps on saying she’s ‘the iest of the ’.” She massages her temple.
“Luckily Ryujin agreed to help. Jeongyeon, I’ll let you handle Ryujin. I haven’t texted her back yet.” Jeongyeon nods, her attention is still on the image. “According to her, Myoui Mina’s grandfather is the president of Myoui Inc. etcetera etcetera.” Jihyo gestures her hand in a random manner. “In short she’s rich and she’s a .”
“She got a student expelled from Xavier because they messed with Chaeyoung, her friend we’ll talk about next.”
“We won’t get expelled from Springfield, right?” Sana asks worriedly.
Jihyo scoffs in disbelief. “Of course, no way her power extends to public institutions.” She assures her. “Just- let’s just do our best not to get caught.” Jihyo fakes a laugh and chokes at her own saliva.
“You okay?” Momo asks.
“Of course, of course.” She clears and tries to compose herself. Sana and Jeongyeon exchanges suspicious look, but let Jihyo goes on.
“Next one is Chaeyoung,” they all flip their pages. Sana sees a young, adorable girl with huge eyes and a mole under her lips.
“But she looks so sweet!” Sana exclaims.
“Sana, are you here for friends or for money?” Jihyo frowns at her. “Focus!”
“Sorry,” she purses her lips together and didn’t say a word again.
“Chaeyoung is a bit,” Jihyo struggles for words. “Different. The client says she doesn’t know much about her except she’s different.”
“What do you mean different?” Jeongyeon asks.
“Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m here for money not to get to know some random Xavier girlies.” Jihyo replies. “But Ryujin says she likes unique things and doesn’t condone to societal norms. Says here she also likes to draw.”
“Can we move on to the next one?” Momo asks impatiently. Jihyo rolls her eyes at Momo before proceeding to the next one.
“Chou Tzuyu,” Jihyo says while looking at her picture. The girl has huge eyes and perfect features. All of them were quiet for a moment.
“She looks like an angel,” Sana says while admiring Tzuyu. None of them answers, their eyes are glued to her picture, admiring her beauty.
“She- she’s a model.” Jihyo pulls herself together. “From Taiwan, but she grew up here. She- woah” Jihyo couldn’t help but be amazed by her visuals. “No wonder she’s always booked with photoshoots.”
“Booked with photoshoots? She’s famous?” Sana asks.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know her?” Jihyo asks. “She’s THE Chou Tzuyu. Come on, everybody knows her.” But Sana remains silent as well as the other two beside her. “Jeongyeon? Momo?” Jihyo asks them, but the two shake their heads.
“Do you live under a rock?”
“Kind of,” the three of them answer in unison. Jihyo forgets all of them work their asses off and has barely time to pay attention to this kind of things. Let alone buy expensive magazines Chou Tzuyu models for.
“Anyway, she’s Chou Tzuyu aka the most beautiful face of 2019 according to TC Candler.”
“Who’s TC Candler?” Momo asks. Sana and Jeongyeon shrug their shoulders, unaware of whatever nonsense Jihyo is talking about.
“They publish 100 most beautiful faces every year and Chou Tzuyu ranked first last year.”
“Things like THAT exists?” Sana asks, surprised by what Jihyo said.
“Yeah, yeah aiishh!” Jihyo gestures wildly. “Can we go back to business?” She asks while raising the folder and her other hand is on her waist. The three of them zip their lips. Jihyo mutters her thanks and continues reading.
“According to the client, Tzuyu doesn’t talk much. She’s quiet but attentive in class which is why she hates her guts.” Jihyo frowns, trying to remember something. “Oh, she likes dogs.” She giggles. The three exchange confused glances. Jihyo seems to notice, so she clears and erases the grin on her face.
“Anyways, Chou Tzuyu the supermodel from Taiwan. Next.”
All of them flip the pages.
Sana feels something inside her spark.
It reminds her of that breeze during the last day of school before winter break. She couldn’t explain it. It’s like the well-deserved break you’ve waited for all year long. Her aura screams of warmth, comfort, and… home.
Something Sana hasn’t had for a long time.
But if she’s so unfamiliar with the feeling, why is she feeling it right now and towards a stranger’s pic at that?
“Kim Dahyun,” Jihyo starts. The name rings on Sana’s ears like bells. Jihyo shoots her a warning look, waiting for her remark. But honestly, Sana is out of words.
“She’s the student body president, top of her class, the perfect student they say.” Jihyo continues when Sana didn’t say a word. “She plays the piano, and she plays well. I heard she played for an orchestra once.”
Sana doesn’t hear what Jihyo says next, and doesn't know if Jihyo said anything after that. She’s too absorbed with Dahyun’s picture. She scans her profile and sees her favorite food.
Dahyun likes chocolate, Sana notes in her mind.
Her nickname is ‘Dubu’ because she’s as white as dubu. She takes another mental note.
She likes a singer named IU. Sana makes sure to listen to her later.
“Now we know our target, here's our plan,” Jihyo closes her folder. She goes on with the plan. Momo and Jeongyeon listen attentively.
Meanwhile, Sana thinks about Dahyun the entire meeting.
Jihyo slaps Momo’s hand away from the car’s power window’s button. “Don’t touch anything,” She warns Momo in a low voice.
“How come your car isn’t this clean?” Momo asks Jeongyeon who’s on the shotgun.
“Because it’s old and the three of you ride in my car, Momo. Now sit back.” Jeongyeon answers. Her silver manual transmission Honda Civic 2002 has been their getaway car during their work and random drives at night when they have enough money for gas.
In contrast to the expensive 2019 Sedan Jaguar XF they’re riding in right now, Jeongyeon’s car looks like trash if it weren’t already in the first place. Unlike the neat interior of this car, Jeongyeon’s car is filled with food crumbs and garbage. It’s not that she doesn’t clean it because she always does. It’s just that Jihyo, Momo, and Sana are REALLY messy.
On Jihyo’s left sits Sana who’s admiring the uniform the client gave them. It’s D-day today. They’re inside the car the client provided while wearing Xavier’s uniform.
All of them prepared for this day. Jihyo and Jeongyeon made sure everything was perfect and Momo and Sana knew about the plan. They couldn’t fail if they don’t want to get expelled from Springfield aka the only school that would accept them because there is NO way Xavier would let them study for free.
Sana made sure to scrub all parts of her body, even the spaces between her toes. She even applied a face powder and put a little bit of lip and cheek tint.
“Did you bring your cheek tint?” Jihyo whispers.
“Yes,” she whispers back. Jihyo asks for it. Sana gets it from her pocket. It’s nice to have a pocket again. Sana’s uniform from Springfield’s pocket has holes, and she still hasn't sewn it close. She hands the cheek tint to Jihyo who diligently applies it.
“Me too, me too,” Momo insists. Jihyo sighs and puts some on Momo. On the shutgon, Jeongyeon shakes her head.
The gigantic gate of Xavier greets them. Momo lets out a shriek and Sana couldn’t help but join her. Jihyo pinches the two of them while the driver glares at them through the rearview mirror. Jihyo flashes him a sweet smile, so does Jeongyeon. The driver shakes his head.
“What did Jeongyeon and I said?” Jihyo asks Momo and Sana. The duo purse their lips and sink on their seats.
The driver parks the car between two expensive looking cars Sana doesn’t know the model of. Jeongyeon’s the first one to get out. Jihyo reaches for the door on Sana's side and removes Sana and Momo’s seat belt for them. The duo mutter their thanks while Jihyo pushes them outside.
“Are we in a parking lot or a car showroom?” Sana asks. Momo goes to Sana’s side and points at a pink Lamborghini. The two of them gasps, admiring the car.
“Are we here for a mission or to slack off?” Jihyo snaps. “Focus!” Samo frowns.
“I still don’t like this idea.” Jeongyeon scratches her head.
“Don’t tell me you’re backing out now? Where’s the Yoo Jeongyeon I know?”
“It’s not like that, Ji. I-“ Jeongyeon lets out a deep, frustrated sigh. “Never mind. Let’s finish this ASAP.”
While on the way to the comfort room where they’ll prepare everything they need, the group once again go through their plan. In between discussions, they couldn’t help but admire how beautiful the institution looks.
Mostly it’s Momo and Sana overreacting, sometimes Jihyo would gasp too. Jeongyeon reminds them to calm themselves down and try to blend in. It’s getting a little obvious they’re not from there.
The hallway is marble, unlike in Springfield where they have to do floorwax every Friday to keep it shiny only for it to be dirty again in thirty minutes. The white paint looks new unlike in Springfield where the paint is peeling off and the walls are filled with graffiti. The whole aura of the school screams well-taken care of unlike in Springfield where, despite all their efforts, screams chaos.
The students look prim and proper too. No one is running on the hallways. No one is wrestling. No one is shouting. All of them walk in poise and elegance.
Momo gasps. “She’s wearing an LV,” she says with her eyes wide open. “to school!” A few students shoot them with confused looks. Jihyo and Jeongyeon ignore them. Sana waves her hand at them, which Jihyo immediately stops.
“Yeah, Momo that’s how rich kids are now shut your trap.” Jihyo says while holding Sana’s hand tightly. “You too, Sana. I expect you to behave better than Momo at least.” Sana pouts at Jihyo who immediately pats Sana and Momo’s backs.
“Maybe I’ll treat all of us at the diner if we pull this off successfully.” Jihyo cheers them up and the grin in Saba and Momo’s faces widen. Free food never fails to brighten their mood.
Good thing most of the students are in the field, enjoying their day. Their targets are probably there right now too, ignorant of the chaos that will happen to them later. Sana mutters her apologies in her mind.
If only she didn’t need the money, she wouldn’t have done this. The same goes for the other three. Karma should spare them out, but the universe is cruel.
They enter the restroom where the client prepared everything they needed to proceed with the operation. With their teamwork, they all prepare the things they need for their mission. Jihyo once again goes through with their plan, making sure they don’t fail.
“I take care of Myoui Mina.” Jihyo points to herself. “Jeongyeon takes care of Chou Tzuyu. Momo, Son Chaeyoung.” Momo nods while taking care of her things. “And Sana,” Jihyo turns to her. “Kim Dahyun.” The two of them say in unison.
Sana’s heart skips a beat.
Maybe she’s nervous.
“Yeah yeah, now we wait for the signal.” Jihyo nods, satisfied with everything.
Jeongyeon looks at her watch. “Any minute now.” The girls sit on the sink while waiting. The comfort room has three cubicles complete with bidet and toilet papers. The sink’s faucet is working too and there are hand soaps.
Sana feels jealous. In their school, you have to fetch a pail of water and carry it through three flights of stairs because their room is on the third floor. You also have to bring your own soap. Despite Springfield being an all-girls school, sometimes their restroom smells like pee.
A familiar bell rings and the three of them immediately stood up. Each of them takes the bucket assigned to each other and goes directly to the hallway they’re supposed to be in.
“,” Sana mutters under her breathe. She carries the bucket filled with ice and water with her two hands, but it’s too heavy and the wire is digging in on her palms, hurting her.
“Need help?” Momo asks, but didn’t wait for an answer. She uses her right hand to help Sana carry her bucket and uses the left to carry hers. Sana flashes her a smile and the two of them catch up with Jihyo and Jeongyeon half-running, half-walking.
The four of them go to their designated positions and wait. Jihyo and Jeongyeon keep on looking at their wristwatch, keeping track of their timing. “They should be here by now.”
They’re currently on the second floor of a building where no students can be found. Each of them has a window and bucket for their targets.
“There, there!” Jihyo whisper shouts. The four of them readies their bucket. Sana has trouble carrying hers, so Momo helps her.
“On my cue. Wait for it.” She says. Sana could already see their targets approaching, being lured into their trap.
“Now!” The four of them simultaneously pour the ice-cold bucket of water on each of their targets successfully.
With her quick reflex, Myoui Mina, the girl who seems to be their leader looks up and sees their faces. The four of them gasp and quickly duck below the window.
“Did she see us?” Jihyo asks.
“I don’t know but they sure as hell did,” Jeongyeon nods toward two men in black at the end of the hallway.
“Run!” and all of them did.
“HEY!” The men call them out.
“WHY THE HELL ARE WE ALWAYS RUNNING?” Momo shouts while sprinting as fast as she could. Sana isn’t much of a runner, so Jihyo and Momo are half-dragging her. Jeongyeon on the other hand stops when an intersection of hallways greets her.
The three of them finally catch up. “Let’s split up and text each other later.” Jeongyeon says while choosing the direction ahead of them.
“See you!” Jihyo chooses the left, and Momo chooses right. Sana was left alone, unsure of which direction she should take.
“Stop right there!” The men in black call out. For a split second, Sana felt like having a heart attack but didn’t have time to.
“Momoriinnggg!” Sana shouts before choosing the direction Momo went to. Momo is nowhere to be found, and Sana does the only thing she could think of right now.
She enters the nearest classroom and hides there. She locks the door and sticks herself to a wall below a window. Her heart is racing so fast it feels like it would beat out of her ribcage. She covers while trying to catch her breath. A bead of sweat falls down her finger.
Heavy footsteps could be heard in the hallway, and Sana assumes it was those men. She holds her breath. Sana prays she won’t get caught.
“Where the hell did that girl go?” A man with a deep voice asks. Sana closes her eyes tightly, and feels her heart beat faster if it’s even possible. She feels like fainting right there and then.
“You go that way, I go there.” Another man says.
Then, Sana hears their footsteps, implying they are going away from her location until she can't hear them anymore. She peeks at the window and relief gushes over her when she sees the hallway empty. She inhales and exhales heavily while fanning herself using her hands. Her knees are shaking and her lungs feel like it hasn’t had oxygen for centuries.
The cold floor meets her. Sana sits while trying to calm herself down. She remembers the breathing exercise her childhood friend taught her. Inhale through your nose for four seconds, hold it in for seven, and exhale loudly for eight. She repeats this method until her breathing steadies.
She wonders how her friends are doing and hopes they don’t get caught. Jihyo and Jeongeon can handle themselves and she’s sure they won’t get caught. Momo on the other hand has the equal chances of getting caught as her. But Momo is a good runner. Right. She can outrun those men. Considering the situation a while ago, the odds of Momo getting caught are low, which relieves Sana.
Sana stands up and looks around the classroom. She has always wondered what the classrooms in Xavier looked like. Now she’s inside one, she couldn’t help but be really jealous.
Instead of metal table and chairs that either has loose screws or needs welding, each student is provided with study tables made from wood and comfy office chairs. Instead of chalkboard, they use white boards that is either new or well-taken care of to look like one. They even have a computer set and a projector hanging from the ceiling.
She looks at the table in front of her, and her attention was caught by something under the table. Curiously, Sana pulls a white pencil case which has a doodle of a face smiling at the front. ‘Dubu’ is embroidered on the lower left of the pencil case.
“Dubu?” Sana gasps. “Kim Dahyun?” She gets the notebook under the table and checks for the name. True enough, ‘Kim Dahyun’ was written on the first page.
Coincidence isn’t real. At least that’s what Sana thinks so. She thinks everything happens for a reason and everything is connected like chains.
How slim are the chances of hiding inside her target’s classroom and finding her desk anyway? Sana doesn’t know the math but she’s sure as hell it’s slim.
Grinning, she flips through the pages of Dahyun’s notebook. Her notes look neat and aesthetic. She uses pastel-colored highlighters, does calligraphy, and writes in between the lines. Sana couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw a perfect score in a seatwork Sana doesn’t know the topic of.
At the back of her notebook, a few doodles could be found. A variety of small blocks with a smiley face similar to the one on her pencil case filled the pages. There are strawberries too with ‘Chaeyoung’ written underneath the drawing. Sana recognizes the green character from Star Wars and has ‘Tzuyu’ before it. Lastly, a penguin is drawn beside Mina’s name.
They must’ve been so close. Sana used to draw things like these behind her notebook when she’s bored in class. A puppy for Jeongyeon. Unicorn for Jihyo. Raccoon for Momo. Hamster for her. She laughs at the memory of it. It feels childish now she has seen other people do it.
Sana puts back Dahyun’s things to the way it was before. At the corner, she sees a white scrunchie and gets it. It must be Dahyun’s, obviously. By now, Sana assumes Dahyun’s favorite color is white.
She jumps a little when her phone vibrates. Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Momo bomb their group chat with messages.
HBIC HEAD BOOMER IN CHARGE (Jihyo): Lets meet at the parking lot
IGNORE AT ALL COST (Jeongyeon): okay.
YOUNG DUMB & BROKE //3 (Momo):
-HAVE YOU SEEN SANA
-DON’T TELL ME SHE GOT CAUGHT
-WHERE IS SHE
HBIC HEAD BOOMER IN CHARGE: YOU LEFT HER?
YOUNG DUMB & BROKE //3: IM SO SORRY SANA
IGNORE AT ALL COST: where did you last see her?
YOUNG DUMB & BROKE: SANA IF YOURE ALIVE PLEASE BREATHE
HBIC HEAD BOOMER IN CHARGE: TF WE GONNA DO NOW
Sana laughs before typing her reply.
Sana:
-IM OKAY
-I HATE YOU MOMO
YOUNG DUMB & BROKE //3: U R ALIVE
IGNORE AT ALL COST: You didn’t get caught?
Sana: LUCKILY NO
HBIC HEAD BOOMER IN CHARGE: Samo you remember the way to the parking lot
Sana: YEP
YOUNG DUMB & BROKE //3: DO YOU THINK IM DUMB PARK JIHYO
HBIC HEAD BOOMER IN CHARGE:
-lets meet in ten. The clients waiting.
- and yes think u r dumb momo
YOUNG DUMB & BROKE //3: YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE GATES OF HEAVEN
Sana pockets her phone and makes her way through the parking lot.
Hate at first sight is what Sana would call it. Bae Joohyun or Irene, like what she calls herself, stares at them judgingly from head to toe. Sana rarely gets pissed, but she is right now.
The client’s look isn’t very friendly. Now she gets why Mina decided to make a fool out of her in front of the whole class. At this point, she’s thinking Irene probably deserves it.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha.” Irene chuckles softly, then laughs loudly her tonsils are showing off. She looks like a Disney villain and it honestly alarms Sana. Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Momo, and Sana exchange worried looks. The client continues laughing, then stops to look at Jihyo straight in the eye.
Startled, Jihyo jumps a bit and her eyes widen. “Ah-ha-ha-ha?” she copies Irene’s laugh. “hehehe” then turns to Jeongyeon for help, but the girl only avoids her gaze. She then slaps Momo’s . Momo was about to say something, but Irene interrupts.
“Have you seen the look in their face?” No one answers. Sana doesn’t know about the others, but she didn’t even see Dahyun’s face and everything was too fast to make out the details of Mina’s
“It was magnificent! Priceless! Ah-ha-ha-ha!” she crosses her arms and laughs with her chin up. A grin surfaces on her face. Everything about her makes Sana’s blood boil.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha! Give us our money already before we shave your head. Ah-ha-ha-ha!” Sana snaps.
Irene rolls her eyes and opens her bag. She takes out a huge bundle of money. Sana could feel her eyes turn into star shaped. Momo lets out a gasp beside her.
“Here,” Irene hands the money to Sana. She panics because she isn’t a human money counter machine and it’s the biggest amount of money she has ever held. She passes it to Momo who passes it to Jeongyeon immediately, almost knocking out the air in her lungs.
Jeongyeon counts it. She stops and clicks her tongue. Irene’s eyes widen and her grin disappears. “Where’s our bribe?”
“Bribe?”
“What, you expect us to shut up and make it easier for you?” Jihyo butts in. She pulls her most intimidating gaze and hands her palm. “Five thousand won each.”
“Ah-ha-ha-ha!” Irene rolls her eyes. All of them remain silent and look her dead in the eye. “Wait you’re not joking?” Her eyes widen.
“And what will you do if I don’t want to pay?”
“Oh, a few things.” Sana says confidently. She hears Momo’s amused “Ooohh” and feels her slap her .
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, like something worse than what we did to your ‘friends’.” She says, emphasizing the word friends.
“Fine,” Irene groans and hands them the money. “This is illegal.”
“Oh, baby, trust me. We know the law.” Sana says teasing. She gets the money and raises it. “Ah-ha-ha-ha!” Sana laughs while waving the money. “Ah-ha-ha—ouch!” Momo elbows her. She sees all of her friends’ hands on their waist. She clears and hands it to Jeongyeon.
When Jeongyeon finishes counting, she slaps the money on her palm and it is music to their ears. “It was nice doing business with you.” Sana shifts the weight on her foot and bites her lips to prevent herself from squealing. She now has enough money to buy her mother’s gift and buy herself a new pair of shoes because the soles of her current one is already thin.
“If you know a friend who needs our help, please don’t hesitate to ring us.” Jihyo wraps up. Irene rolls their eyes at them and scoffs.
As soon as the client disappears from their sight, the four of them jump in joy.
Jihyo has always been passionate about singing. She used to join singing contests not only for the prize money but also for her talent and passion. They even call her Jihyonce. When their section is the one assigned for the flag ceremony, she's always the one to sing the national anthem and Springfield hymn.
But lately, she refuses to join contests. Sana thinks it’s because she wanted to join a band for real now. Jihyo has been talking about it for quite some time now.
And Sana was right.
One lazy afternoon in their classroom during their break, Sana was styling Jihyo’s hair into one huge braid while Jihyo’s reading a book. Beside her, Jeongyeon’s doing their Calculus homework. In front of Jeongyeon, Momo’s sleeping.
Then, Ryujin comes into their classroom out of breath. She asks for Jihyo, whose braid is still halfway done. Sana tries to stop her, but Jihyo says it could wait.
When Jihyo returns, she has a huge grin on her face. She looks so happy her undone hair doesn’t even bother her.
Momo looks at Sana and says “Has anyone ever told you, you can’t do hairs?”
“I did.” Jeongyeon pauses with the homework and looks at Sana. “You can’t do hairs.”
“Shut up, she looks cute.” Sana tells them while returning Jihyo’s smile. She chuckles with her nose scrunching and eyes smiling.
Little did they know Ryujin booked a band audition for Jihyo.
Now, Sana’s waiting for the group to pick her up and accompany Jihyo to her audition. She sits on the front porch of their house. While waiting, she feels a shiver down the spine. She thinks it was the wind and goes back inside to get her coat.
When she returns, she feels like someone was watching her. She hums a nursery rhyme and bounces her leg. She bites her fingernails and peels the soft skin around it.
The noise from their neighbor was not enough to distract her. She’s used to it by now, really. In their neighborhood, you’d be more surprised if a day goes by without people shouting at each other.
The houses in their neighborhood are small. All of it looks the same. Empty. Lifeless. Abandoned yet people still live in it.
She flashes a nervous smile to Shin Yuna, the child living in the house next to them. Yuna is playing with her plushie’s ears, ignoring her parents who are fighting inside.
After a few moments, she sees a familiar car slowly moving. Her heart starts to beat normally and she fills her lungs with air again. Relief rushes to her body. Seeing her friends make her feel safe and protected.
A few meters before arriving at Sana’s doorstep, she could already hear Momo complaining about how slow Jeongyeon is driving. Momo calls Jeongyeon ‘Grandma’ ever since she got her license and has always told Jeongyeon she’s slower than a turtle and Jeongyeon has always ignored her.
Meanwhile, Jihyo on the shotgun is already warming up her voice with those weird routines Sana never got used to. Plugged on the car’s stereo is an unfamiliar song Sana guesses would be Jihyo’s audition piece. She’s wearing a wayfarer with a new leather jacket she probably bought using their recent pay.
Sana couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of her friends. She always forgot how chaotic they look in the eyes of other people. But they don’t care as long as they’re having fun.
“I’m sorry we’re late, it was Momo’s fault.” Jeongyeon greets Sana.
“It’s not my fault I was out of food!” She punches Jeongyeon who didn’t even flinch. Six years of friendship makes you immune from your friends’ punches.
“It’s okay.” Sana tells Jeongyeon. “Did you eat already?” She turns to Momo.
“Yeah, I ate at Jeong’s.”
“Woahhh, our Jihyonce’s looking good!” Sana smiles at Jihyo who removes her wayfarer and winks.
“Did you already memorize your song?”
“Memorize?” She scoffs. “Of course! Let’s get it.” Jihyo removes her shades and punches the air. Sana chuckles at her friend’s energy. She better get in the band if they don’t want to see the wrath of Minatozaki Sana.
Or more like Jihyo better get in the band if they don’t want to see a whining hamster until they let her friend in.
Suddenly, it feels like someone’s watching Sana again. She stands up straight and looks around. In the house in front of hers, she sees a silhouette peeking through the curtain. As soon as she looks at it, the girl opens the curtain widely and flashes her bunny smile.
She never changed.
She still wears the same white dress and still has the same bunny smile. Her cheeks still look fluffy even after all those years. But the bags under her eyes look darker. She looks so tired but at the same time so full of life.
Sana wants to ask her how she’s been, but she can’t.
“Sana, you okay?” Jeongyeon looks at her worriedly then looks at the house in front of hers.
“Yeah,” Sana nods at Jeongyeon. When she looks back at the house, the girl was already gone.
“What the hell are you waiting for? Get in already.” Momo opens the door for her.
For the last time, she looks at the house, but the girl is nowhere to be found now. She sighs and gets in the car.
“Where’s the audition?” The three exchanges stare and look hesitant.
“Uhhmm, Golden Heights.” Jihyo says while scratching her nape.
“What?” Sana asks, surprised. She has never been there before because only rich people live there. And by rich people she means Xavier type of people. Bourgeoisie type of people. Those who do not care as long as they profit from other people and other people, meaning those who are at the bottom. Like them.
“Are you sure about this, Ji?” Jeongyeon looks her in the eyes. Beside Sana, Momo purses her lips and stays still on her seat.
Jihyo sighs. “Come on, girls. You know I’ve always wanted to do this.” She says in a whiny tone. “Besides, we can’t tell what they’re like for sure unless we meet them, right?” She looks at Sana because she knows Sana understands her the most when it comes to this.
Sana sighs and nods at her. “As long as you’re happy.”
A gummy smile etches on Jihyo’s face and a chuckle escapes her lips. “You’re the best, Sana.”
Jeongyeon shakes her head but eventually agrees. Momo agrees, too. Who are them to hinder Jihyo’s happiness, anyway? Jihyo has done everything for the three of them. Without her, they would literally starve and lose direction in life. This is the least they could do for her.
During the drive on the way to the location, the three of them were quiet. The only sound you could hear is the car’s stereo and Jihyo’s warm ups which were very loud by the way.
No offense, their friend has a really good voice. She probably has the most beautiful voice out of everyone Sana knows. But sometimes she could be really, really noisy. Like a megaphone is pointed directly at your ears.
Six years of friendship got Sana used to a lot of things but never to Jihyo's loudness.
“We’re here,” Jeongyeon announces.
Momo opens her eyes and looks like she just got back from the dead. “Thank the universe.” Sana immediately elbows her and wakes Momo up.
Compared to their neighborhood, this one screams RICH. The road does not have any bumps in it. The streets are clean, Sana can’t see a single litter. No one is screaming at each other’s throat, and the houses, although big, are devoid of any sign of life.
Sana is not thrilled to see such a quiet neighborhood. It screams wealth, but it also screams emptiness. She hates it.
“Oh, the house looks smaller than I expected it to be.” Jihyo says while looking at the bungalow. Although the house only has one floor, it’s still bigger than all four of their houses combined.
“No, not that.” Jeongyeon says. “That.” She points at the house in the other direction.
The three of them engage in a collective gasp. The house has two floors and each one could basically fit three to five of Sana’s. It has a mixed combination of black and white, and its architecture has a minimalist touch to it.
This is the kind of house Sana sees in magazines and newspapers whenever their teacher asks them to bring one for art purposes. It’s the type of house all four of them would stare at and admire first before proceeding to their art work.
It’s also the type of house they all fear because they assume that kind of house belongs to people who do... well who do things.
“They’re not part of a mafia, aren’t they?” Jihyo asks. No one answers, not even Jeongyeon who’s also mesmerized by the huge house.
Jeongyeon opens the door and gets out first. “Let’s go.” The three of them follow. Excitement immediately takes over Jihyo as she leads her group.
“I swear, girls, I’m having the time of my life.” She faces Sana and Momo and starts to walk backward. “First, we had that big mission. Then now I have this band audition.” Jihyo puts her wayfarer on the collar of her shirt and shows off her new leather jacket “I even rhyme! See what I did there? Mission, audition?” She chuckles.
“Nothing could go wrong.” Jihyo turns her back to Momo and Sana. As soon as she does, Myoui Mina shows up.
The four of them are frozen in place.
“Oh, aren’t you from our school?” Mina asks.
“From our school? Unnie her form says she’s from Springfield, did you forget?” Son Chaeyoung shows up followed by THE Chou Tzuyu.
“No, I’m pretty sure I saw them at our school.”
“What do you mean? I haven’t seen them before.” Kim Dahyun, the student council president, appears.
“I don’t forget faces especially those who throw a bucket full of water and ice at us.” Mina smirks.
All of them wanted to retreat. Even Jeongyeon who’s the quickest on her feet, couldn't say anything.
Sana does the only thing she could think of.
“Momo, quick. Code blue. Code blue.” she whispers.
Momo fakes a faint.
Jeongyeon and Jihyo rush to Momo. “Oh no, Momo. We told you not to eat the out of that jokbal all by yourself so early in the morning.” Sana says while brushing Momo’s hair. She looks at the other group. Chaeyoung’s hands are on . Tzuyu’s eyes widen. Dahyun’s eyes are wide and her hand is in the air, like reaching, but was too stunned to continue her movements. All of them look genuinely concerned except for Mina who’s still smirking.
Dahyun was about to run at Momo, but Sana signals her not to. The other girl frowns, but stays at her place. It was their first real interaction (and the future Sana wished she paid more attention).
“Our poor Momoring. We need to get her home already.” Jeongyeon joins the act.
“She had too much jokbal for breakfast, but trust me she’ll be fine when we get her home.” Jihyo explains to the other group without looking at them.
“Did it work?” Momo whispers then opens one of her eyes. When she opens it, she sees Mina towering behind Jihyo who’s kneeling beside her.
“Well, we’re ed.” At that moment Momo feels like fainting for real.
And just like that Jihyo had to kiss her non-existent career goodbye.
#
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