Daehyun kept knocking on the door, but she wouldn’t open up. Did she go to sleep already?

Actually no.

Hyomin sat down against the front door, listening to all of Daehyun’s excuses.

“I’m sorry for leaving... I got too distracted! I’m sorry for causing so much trouble to you... Please, open up, Hyomin!!”

When she could bear it no more, she opened the door. “You like her, don’t you?” She queried while glaring at him. Daehyun was too stunned by her question, so Hyomin, seeing he wouldn’t reply, slammed the door on his face.

“W-wait! Y-you’re angry because of that?” Daehyun yelled at her, “Please let me in and I’ll explain it all to you!”

Hyomin opened up once again, “I’ll give you a minute.”

“I-I... ” Daehyun couldn’t put his thoughts into words. He was frozen.

“30 seconds.”

“No, wait! C-can’t you give me some more time to-”

“20 seconds.”

“Yah, Kim Hyomin! Don’t be like this! Where else can I-”

“10 seconds...”

“Okay, I like her!!” Daehyun shouted out, ”I like Seo Joohyun; I’ve liked her since I was a kid, and I still like her now... Happy?!” Hyomin scoffed at him and walked back into the house, leaving the door open for him to come in. “Why are you angry because of that? Are you jealous of Joohyun or something?” Daehyun asked, once again, too bluntly.

Hyomin halted. She didn’t look back at Daehyun as she spoke, “What do you know about Seo Joohyun?” Daehyun was ready to pull out all of his Joohyun facts, but Hyomin continued, “Everyone in the school loves her, she’s so intelligent, she’s pretty, she’s perfect. Seo Joohyun is the school’s role model, but has anyone ever wondered what sort of problems she faces?”

Daehyun thought for a second. What the hell did she mean?

“Kim Taeyeon... She excels in both academics and sports. She’s pretty and kind to others. Everyone says she’ll have a bright future, but no one cares about what she really wants. Did you know she actually wants to be a singer? Her parents pressure her so much into something she doesn’t really love. She hides her true dreams every day. And Hwang Miyoung. Everyone admires her for being the hardworking cheerleader captain. Oh, and she’s American, how cool. No one cares about the fact that after classes, she works on two part-time jobs to support her family. She seems like the type who’s happy and carefree, so no one would ever guess what she goes through...”

“H-how do you know all of these?”

“I have my ways.” She finally faced him, “The point is I hate these girls and all of their followers. Hiding all of your struggles and putting up that cheerful mask when you’re really suffering... I hate it. I hate their gilded world.”

With that, Hyomin walked to her room, leaving a dumbfounded Daehyun... He would’ve never thought that girl could be so deep. All of what she said was indeed true, but what’s so wrong about it? Weren’t they facing their problems with a positive stand? Well, if the others were hiding their troubles, what were Joohyun’s troubles?

“Hyomin-ssi...” Daehyun slowly walked into her room. To his surprise, she was lying in her bed, still wide awake, “I-I’m sorry for leaving... I promise it won’t happen again. You don’t have to look out for me too. After all, I’m just a freeloader here.”

“Jung Daehyun...” Hyomin sat up, “What the hell are you?”

He gulped, “I-I don’t even know...” Hyomin looked at him with curiosity. “I-I can’t even remember the day I died... The last thing I remember is awaking at the funeral. There, Joohyun was crying right in front of me. I hugged her, insisting that I was by her side, but she wouldn’t reply. As I walked around the place, I saw my mother. She was crying too. There were tons of people crying there;  people who couldn’t see me...”

Hyomin once again felt sorry for him. How could she be so blunt and mean towards a person who had lost his life?

“I don’t even know why I woke up; I’d rather be gone, but I can’t...” To him, it was only that his miserable life wanted to keep torturing him.

Hyomin was awestruck by his confession. What in his life was so bad he’d rather be dead? Why couldn’t he go on? She thought of ways to comfort him, but couldn’t come up with anything...

“M-my mother...” She finally spoke up, “My mother died after giving birth to me... S-she was loved by many people, especially my father and my brother... To others, my existence is just useless... If it weren’t for me, Mom would still be alive...”

Why was she telling all of this to Daehyun? She had known him for less than two days, yet she trusted her sorrows to him?

Daehyun was quite amazed too. Kim Hyomin seemed like a strong, heartless person; however, she was just as, or maybe even more broken than he was. But then again, with such an attitude, he couldn’t expect her to live a rose-colored life, could he?

“Enough for today. Tomorrow, you’re not going to school with me, got it?” Daehyun frowned. His curiosity towards the troublemaker was now at peak, he just wanted to get into her mind and explore all its mysteries.

Before he left with a defeated look to his couch, Hyomin called him, “Is sleeping in the couch good enough for you? Don’t you want a bed or something?”

Wait, was she caring for Daehyun? “Umm... It’s fine...”

Still, Hyomin gave him some covers so he’d be more comfortable. For the rest of the night, for some reason, Daehyun felt unusually happy.

Next morning, Hyomin woke up unusually early, and for some reason, the early bird Daehyun overslept. Taking this as an opportunity, she left without him following her to school. Once she closed the door, however, Daehyun stood up.

*Operation: Follow Kim Hyomin, Start!*

At the school, Hyomin received more stares than she was used too *What’s wrong with these idiots? Look for someone else to bother!* She didn’t think much of the rumors about her, until...

“Kim Hyomin, please report yourself to the principal’s office.” The sudden announcement stopped the class. All of the sudden, the students gasped and started whispering about the troublemaker.

“Ooooh, this time she’s gonna be expelled!”

“What did she do this time?”

“Didn’t you hear? She’s a monster!”

While on the inside, Hyomin’s blood was boiling *I didn’t do anything bad, you stupid s!* On the other hand, the lost Daehyun heard the announcement too, knowing his friend was in deep trouble...

“What do you need me for?” Hyomin spat as she entered the principal’s office. On the outside, Daehyun’s ear was stuck to the door, trying to pick up some of the conversation.

The principal sighed deeply, “You did it again. Can’t you be a normal teenager for once?” He saw her confused expression and explained, “Yesterday, some students found you beating up a poor old man. Why are you always picking fights with others?”

Hyomin swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him how he was wrong, how she never started fights with no reason, but he wouldn’t understand. No one ever did.

“You know your brother pays a lot so we don’t kick you out of this school right? Why can’t you stop being an ungrateful brat and start concentrating in your studies?” the principal gave her his best intimidating look, but she didn't reply. ”Kim Hyomin, if you keep on giving our school a bad reputation, I’ll expel you.”

She couldn’t care less about being expelled. It was what she wanted actually. “Well, if you have nothing else to say, I’ll go back to my classes.” She told him in a rather sarcastic tone.

The principal understood that threatening to expel her meant nothing to her, “Kim Hyomin. Since you don’t mind being expelled, the next time you cause problems I’ll call your brother.”

She immediately froze, and the director smirked in victory. The Kim Hyomin wasn’t scared of anything.

...Except her brother.

“Now be a good kid and go back to classes.”

On the other side, Daehyun couldn’t believe what he heard. Had the principal always been this incomprehensive and manipulating? Hyomin beat up the guy in order to protect Joohyun! Why was it so unfair towards Hyomin? He didn’t even bother asking her for her version of the story! And what surprised him the most; she didn’t say a single word about Joohyun...

Hyomin couldn’t be more pissed. That explained why there were suddenly double the amount of stares and gossips about her. Didn’t people have anything better to do?

Just before the day ended, Hyomin found a note on her table, asking her to go to the old music room after classes.

*Who could it be? As far as I know, only Kim Taeyeon uses that room.* Once while aimlessly walking around the school, she stumbled upon Taeyeon’s magnificent voice. After that, she found out Taeyeon frequented the music room after classes, instead of going to her extra math lessons.

Despite her doubts, Hyomin did as told. Daehyun, who had been following her stealthily, accompanied her to the music room.

There, she found none other than Seo Joohyun...

“What do you want? I don’t have much time.” Hyomin urged, looking at the clock on the wall.

“I-I just wanted to thank you for saving me yesterday.” She bowed several times, “I’m sorry people are saying bad things about you because of me...”

“Did you tell anyone?” Hyomin asked.

Joohyun shook her head. “I didn't. Y-you told someone? D-did you tell the principal?” She asked, sounding nervous.

“What benefit would I get by telling it to others? Regardless of what I say, to them it’s just lies. Plus, if I had spoken, your reputation would be ruined.” Joohyun stared at her in confusion, why would Kim Hyomin care about someone else’s reputation? “People would start rumors of you if they knew, and for someone who cares a lot about her image like you, I guess it’d be bad. Just forget that yesterday ever happened, got it?” Hyomin simply walked out, leaving a dumbfounded Joohyun.

“Jung Daehyun, I know you’ve been following all day.” Hyomin spoke to the air as she walked home. Suddenly, Daehyun jumped out from a bush.

“I don’t get it.” She gave him a confused look, yet he continued, “Why is everyone judging you like that without wanting to hear your version? It’s unfair. And you won’t try to do anything about it! If it were me I’d feel-”

“The thing is,” she suddenly cut his words, “It’s not you. It’s me. I have that reputation, and it’ll follow me forever. Nothing can be done about it. Now you see why I hate that place so much? People only know how to judge others.”

Daehyun remained silent. It’s true that he’d never experience what Hyomin felt. He was a nobody, while she was the well-known troublemaker. He’d never been judged before because he never did anything to be judged. However, to him, it seemed better to be known for something bad than not being known at all...

He sighed deeply, “Who’s making the ramen tonight?”