─────── 𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑   𝟏𝟔 ───────

[20 | 02 | 23 , 11:11am]

Kim Sunoo hated it when the spotlight wasn't on him. Absolutely detested it. He was meant to be the main character, the school's protagonist.

And so he sat in drama class smelling of poignant jealousy, as his teacher announced Moon Soojin as the character of Lady Macbeth.

Sunoo knew she was going to shine in her role as the evil wife- maybe even brighter than him. And that troubled him.  Soojin was his one and only competition when it came to acting, he hated her. But she was oblivious to it because Kim Sunoo never showed any emotion other than oozing confidence and charisma.

"Congratulations Soojin!" everyone said in enthusiasm that sounded revolting to Sunoo.

Soojin took her seat next to Sunoo, as the second lead actress. She smiled at him, "Wow! I can't believe I got the role, I finally get to work with you Sunoo-sshi!"

She was younger than him, not by a lot. Maybe a couple of weeks, but the way she spoke to him with uttermost respect would make anyone think they had years of an age gap.

The truth was Sunoo was the one Soojin looked up to. Ever since she transferred to Pendulin Academy in sophomore year and saw him play the malevolent character of Hamlet at that year's showcase.

He smiled a fake smile, "Of course you did, your acting is better than most here."

"Not more than you obviously," she blatantly stated, making Sunoo's lips curl up.

Yeah never more than me, I'll make sure of that. Sunoo thought to himself. "Ani-ah, you're still very good though."

"Kamshamnida," she beamed proudly. Her idol just complimented her.

But in Sunoo's mind it was with different intentions.

[1:13pm]

"Man volleyball hits different when with Ayeong," Im Jiwoong stated, smirking at his friends. "She would always put on a show when playing."

Jake, who stopped behind them upon hearing the name of his late girlfriend, heard everything. And he wasn't happy. His fists tightened together as Jiwoong continued talking.

"I've always said she has the best body out of the girls. Too bad she died before I could make moves," he darkly chuckled, his friends joining in.

Jake marched up to him, pulling Jiwoong's shoulder back so hard that his body was facing him. Jake grabbed him by the collar of his polo, tugging him closer. "What the fuck did you say?"

Jiwoong wasn't scared, instead he smiled- testing Jake's waters further. "Ahh Jake I was just telling the boys how much of a lucky man you were to have gotten into Ayeong's tight-"

A punch landed directly onto Jiwoong's nose, a gruesome cracking sound resonation from the blow. Jake lunged at the boy who fell to the ground from the hit, and began to throw continuous thumps and pummels to Jiwoong's face.

Jiwoong almost became unrecognisable from the amount of blood and mushy flesh that overspread of his visage. He grunted with every pound he received, his chest heaving up in an inhumane manner before falling again weakly.

His friends watched in terror, backing away in case they were to suffer from the same misfortune. He was getting beaten to a pulp.

Jake could have almost killed him if it hadn't been for their volleyball instructor who walked into the horrifying scene, quickly doing his best to pull Jake away.

And he did successfully. Thank God. Otherwise, rehab and a criminal record could have been Jake's fate.

"Get off me!" Jake shouted, trying to break free from the teacher's hold. "I'm gonna fucking end him!!"

"Mr. Sim! Calm down!" his teacher shouted. "That's enough." He looked at the boys, "One of you guys go and get some help. Now!"

They waited for a couple of minutes before a group of the school's medical team arrived to take care of Jiwoong and the principal came to see what such commotion was about.

Mrs. Jang's gaze moved from Jiwoong's blood-stained figure to a restless Jake. "Mr. Sim, come with me."

Jake harshly pulled himself off from Mr. Lai, the volleyball coach, staring in anger at Jiwoong before gradually following behind Mrs. Jang.

As he exited the hall, he walked past his confused friends who had all rushed to the place after hearing some students shouting in the hallway. They all looked at him worriedly, but he didn't spare them a glance- walking straight off with that pissed-off expression never leaving his face.

"Whoa, I've never seen him this fucking mad," Jongseon said.

"That's so unlikely of him too. What did he even do?" Heeseung asked, finding it difficult to believe Jake would do something so bad that the principal would have to get involved.

"Look over there guys," Ahyeun slowly said, her eyes widened as she looked straight past Heeseung's shoulders. They all slowly turned, eyes landing on what she was telling them about.

"Oh my," Yeram gasped, hand clamping over her mouth.

"There is no fucking way," Hari crossed her arms, scoffing.

"What got over him to do such a thing?" Jungwon asked the question no one knew the answer to.

"Im Jiwoong is a bastard, he could have said anything overly absurd," Jongseong explained.

"It was probably about Ayeong then," Riki added, something finally making sense in his brain.

"I mean.. Jiwoong did have a thing for her for the longest time I heard," Sunoo commented, making the rest nod their heads.

Jiwoong's liking for Ayeong was widely known, due to the highly inappropriate statements he would say about her at every party he ever went to.

"Jake was a fool for not getting the hint earlier," Sunghoon said in disappointment.

Everyone always warned the Aussie, but he paid no attention to it since he didn't hear anything himself.

"At least he knows now," Heeseung chuckled. "I can't say that the jerk over there didn't have it coming his way."

"Oh boy, was it building up for a long time," Jongseong joked, making the pair laugh.

They watched as the seemingly still body of Jiwoong was wheeled away from their sights.

[3:27pm]

Ahyeun walked into her house at the sight of her step-mom, Geon, flirtatiously whispering something to her dad whilst giggling every now and then.

The couple paid no attention to her as she walked in and looked over at them. They were too lost in their own world.

Ahyeun walked over to them, "Hi dad, hi Geon."

Geon looked up, slightly in annoyance, but quickly fixed her frown to a cheery smile. "Ahyeun, love. You're back. How was school?"

"It was ok," Ahyeun nodded.

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Well nothing really, just Jake almost beat some guy to death," Ahyeun nonchalantly recollected the memory.

"Oh no," Geon dramatically gasped. "Wait- Jake? That cute Aussie? Blond hair?"

Ahyeun frowned, confused at her disclosure. "Uhm- yeah."

"Oo, how unfortunate for the guy, he's going to get punished for that for sure," Geon pouted in sympathy.

"Yeah, well he's suspended for two weeks," Ahyeun sighed.

"Poor boy."

"Yeah," she agreed, before turning to her father. "Dad, how are you?"

Mr. Rim smiled lovingly at his daughter, "I'm fine my girl. Go upstairs and get fresh. We'll be having lunch together."

Ahyeun nodded, "Hmm, ok."

She quickly turned on her heels, walking off to the main hallways and up the stairs to her room. She had time to take a quick shower, before getting dressed, doing her makeup and drying her hair.

As she was, brushing through her smooth brown lock, her eyes stopped on the polaroid picture of her and her mother stuck onto her vanity mirror.

It was the only picture Ahyeun had with her before she ran away with her snowboarding teacher to Italy. They lost all contact too and Ahyeun hasn't seen or heard of her in over 4 years.

She put her hairbrush down, smoothing down her hair with her palms and staring intently at her reflection. She had so much resemblance to her mom and she didn't like it. Her mother was a sinner. One she would never forgive.

[5:19pm]

Aera looked at the orange post- it note for the millionth time that day.

meet me at corylus tmrw after skl :)

No date, no name, no clue. Just those 7 words and a smiley face.

Anyone could have turned a blind eye to it but there was something about it that Aera just couldn't let go off.

She ripped the piece of paper off, sticking it to the whiteboard on her desk and closing the diary and putting it in her bag to give back to Yeram tomorrow.

She got into bed, staring at the setting sun that was out full and visible through her floor length window.

The wind blew gently, her silk curtains swaying.

"I miss you Dana," she whispered into thin air.

She hoped her message would've flown along with the winds, up into the dark sky and into the heavens.

———