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━━━ " 📂  " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝙍 𝙊 𝙈 𝘼 𝙉 𝘾 𝙄 𝙉 𝙂

! chapter one hundred
& twenty two ─── ʚĭɞ

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Miyeon's date was a success, to say the least. She had retrieved quite the amount of information from her informant, and after sending it all to Chorong - knowing that Seojun would be reading it over his shoulder - she had a feeling that the three of them had quite the chance of finding the webmaster that next day.

The Hwang girl dragged herself to school with the odd feeling of upset and general disappointment. She couldn't pin-point exactly where it came from, thinking about it made her brain hurt and there was clearly several sources to this emotion. Sooa's reaction, Soojin's betrayal and just the entire situation.

The day before had been admittedly a little exciting. From confronting Semi at Yongpa High and returning to confront Soojin back at her own school to her date to get information on the mysterious webmaster that the Kang girl claimed to be the only way to get the post deleted - it had been fun. Of course the reason behind all of these things happening was anything but fun, however the exhilaration that had pulsed through Miyeon's veins had given her a different sort of feeling than what she was used to.

And because of that, Miyeon was perhaps a little disappointed when Seojun practically pulled her out of her course to the classroom and into the wall. "Here, help me wipe these off." He said, gesturing up at the posters in front of him.

"Hm? Wipe what off?" The Hwang girl asked, glancing up at the posters and freezing. They had been graffitied all over, drawing over Jugyeong's face with crude comments and edits. "Ugh.. people are so horrible." She murmured, instantly getting to work beside the boy, standing side by side as they scrubbed at the posters.

"Why not just rip it off?" Looking up simultaneously, Seojun and Miyeon saw Suho stood in front of them, a collection of posters in his hands.

"Oh.." Seojun paused, glancing at Miyeon before taking her wipe off of her and pocketing it to throw out later. "How is Jugyeong?" He asked.

"I haven't been able to call her.. or text her." Miyeon frowned. "Is she okay.. do you know at all?" She really doubted that if the Im girl was so dutifully ignoring her phone that Suho would've gotten any text or calls, but there was always the possibility that he had.

But Suho didn't reply, the corners of his lips turning down slightly just for a moment as he reached to pull the next post down.

"The one who uploaded that video of her.." Seojun began, Miyeon's gaze flickering over to him in shock. Was he really going to tell Suho that his childhood best friend was the cause of all this? Of course he was, she should expect nothing else from him,

"I know." Suho replied, ripping down a poster.

"You know?" Miyeon repeated as Suho began to move again, tearing down the poster from in front of Miyeon's nose, nodding before leaving them both. "Well.. I didn't expect that." She commented, Seojun tearing down the poster beside him.

"Neither.. come on." He replied, pulling her by the sleeve of his leather jacket (Miyeon still hadn't managed to find one suitable enough for the weather and to keep her many layers under). "Chorong is still working on finding the webmaster."

"That's good.. I hope what I found out was useful." The Hwang girl replied, tugging her arm away from him and ignoring the expression on his face as he noticed it. She was still insisting on hiding those feelings away and focusing on something else.

They soon caught up with Suho, walking behind him as they entered the classroom and came to a faltering stop. Taehoon was singing to Sooa.

"You're too pretty, what do I do?" The boy sang, Seojun covering Miyeon's ears for her, muttering something under his breath before pushing them towards their seats in the back of the classroom.

"If I ever get like that, please punch me." The Han boy removed his hands from Miyeon's ears as they reached a range where the song couldn't be heard.

"Only if you get as cringy as that? Never any time before?" Miyeon challenged, eyebrow cocked. Seojun just glared at her, both of their gazes landing on Soojin for a moment before going back to Taehoon, whose singing was steadily growing louder. Behind him, Mr Han was entering the room.

"Guys, take your seats for the morning assembly." He was unsually subdued that morning, and Miyeon had a good feeling she knew why. Everyone hurried to their seats as their teacher settled at the podium, hand on either side of it as he surveyed the classroom.

"Once again, Jugyeong is absent today." Mr Han said, looking from Suho, Miyeon and Seojun just to check that they were all there and someone else wasn't filling their seats.

"Mr Han." A girl sat in front of Miyeon asked. "Will we be choosing a new face for the school." Muttering began, the Hwang girl gritting her teeth. "Kids have been wondering." The girl continued as others agreed with her.

"Exactly. How can Jugyeong be the face of our school?" Two seats in front of Seojun, another girl said her point, even more people continuing to agree.

"Is that why you ripped all her posters off?" Mr Han asked, Miyeon glancing over at Seojun and Suho, both of the boys folding them slowly on their laps and hiding them under their desks. "You know why she isn't at school today and must be aware of how she's feeling right now. But I see that no one's worried about her."

That part wasn't entirely correct, but neither of the three best friends sat towards the back of the classroom cared to correct him.

"I'm disappointed in you all. Your actions terrify me." Mr Han continued, his words having clear effect on those in front of him. "How can you laugh at a video of your friend being humiliated like that? Is the pain that Jugyeong had to suffer just a joke to you?"

It was obvious that not only did the words have profound effect on the students, but being pointed out for their behaviour made them downright uncomfortable. As it should do, and Miyeon's eyes flittered over the students, from a motionless Soojin to Sooa, bowing her head slightly in shame.

They sat in silence until the break between homeroom and first lesson, nobody knowing what to say or wanting to break the silence before anyone else. But eventually, the corridors filled with people again and chatter filled the classroom.

"Any updates from Chorong?" Miyeon had pulled her chair a little closer to Seojun and was peering over his shoulder as he texted the question to his best friend. It was clear that the two of them were steadily becoming more and more impatient, just wanting answers and to delete the page.

"If we don't know by the end of the day.." Seojun grumbled but never finished his threat, eyes landing on someone at the front of the classroom and nudging Miyeon. "Hyunwoo." He said, the Hwang girl looking up as the boy approached.

"Miyeon - hi." Hyunwoo smiled at her, not an inch of worry in there - so much different to how Miyeon had been feeling for thhe past twenty-four hours. "I was wondering if you had time to talk now?"

"Talk? Yeah, of course." Miyeon nodded, standing up and placing her chair back under her desk. "Let me know if he says anything?" She asked Seojun, who agreed and watched as Hyunwoo led her out of the classroom.

The Han boy couldn't help but feel as if there was something about that smile that wasn't as happy as Miyeon had seen it.