Chapter 1
Park Chaeyoung is a mere twelve years old when the love of her life comes hurtling into her life.
(Said love of her life is the new girl in her class, a poor schmuck who’s had the misfortune of moving schools smack-dab in the middle of the school year. To her credit, however, she is gorgeous - from clear porcelain skin and dainty features to a waterfall of shiny chestnut hair cascading down her shoulders, the girl screams future model - and Chaeyoung is sure that had this girl not moved at such an inconvenient time, she would have climbed the ranks of their superficial social hierarchy with practiced ease.)
As Chaeyoung observes the girl’s petite form struggling to support the weight of her oversized backpack as she flashes the class a nervous smile, she shakes her head in pity - the poor girl is a lamb headed to the slaughterhouse.
(It’s a well-known fact that their student body is highly structured, and those lurking in the lower tiers are perpetually waiting to prey on the weak - if the new girl shows even a moment’s hesitation, she will be quite literally be eaten alive.)
Chaeyoung is snapped out of her reverie as the teacher presents the girl as Kim Jennie, a long-term exchange student from New Zealand, and prompts her to introduce herself. Chaeyoung leans forward on her elbows subconsciously, her heart going out to the girl. She’s going to have so much to learn - maybe Chaeyoung will even extend her hand and invite the new girl to her lunch table.
But the moment Kim Jennie opens her mouth to introduce herself, Chaeyoung’s jaw drops, every one of her preconceived notions about the girl dissipating on the spot.
Jennie exudes effortless charm and confidence as she speaks, her dazzling smile playful and vivacious. Her introduction is succinct but memorable, her Korean accent impeccable, as every gaze in the room is trained upon her, utterly captivated.
Chaeyoung is blown away, to say the least.
From her peripheral vision, Chaeyoung can see queen bee extraordinaire Bae Joohyun texting under her desk - no doubt informing the vast network of students within her regime of Jennie’s existence. Her heart sinks as the girl closes her phone and observes Jennie with a steel glint in her eye, offering her a subtle nod of approval.
Chaeyoung guesses she can forget about forming any sort of friendship with the new girl now.
But Jennie - who seems to be dangerously confident in herself - turns a blind eye to Joohyun, instead making her way to the back of the room, and Chaeyoung can’t help but stare as this goddess of a girl dips her head in acknowledgement and purposefully chooses to take a seat next to her.
(Chaeyoung is in awe of the new girl’s gall. Or perhaps it’s just blissful ignorance. Either way, both of them are screwed with a capital S - one does not simply disregard the Bae Joohyun and expect to make it through the austere halls of their middle school without being drowned in a sea of scathing whispers.)
To Chaeyoung’s overwhelming relief, however, the rest of the class passes by quite uneventfully, save for some awkward introductory discourse with Jennie. As their teacher dismisses class, Chaeyoung hugs her books close to her chest and heads for the cafeteria.
She’s sure the (very untrue) rumors circulating about her are bound to reach Jennie’s ears soon enough, and that will be enough for her to permanently migrate (or dashi run run, in the words of her favorite boy band) over to Joohyun’s side - after all, it’s still not too late. Jennie is the new kid, after all - if she grovels enough, Joohyun just might allow the girl into her rank of mindless lackeys.
But being her exuberant - and unfortunately oblivious - self, Jennie immediately finds her way to Chaeyoung’s table at lunch, to Chaeyoung’s very bashful astonishment. As they converse, the two quickly discover their shared love for Jigglypuff - okay, but who doesn’t love Jigglypuff? It’s fucking adorable - as well as the national phenomenon that is the Jibooty, and Chaeyoung finds herself actually opening up to this gorgeous stranger.
The proverbial icing on the cake presents itself as Jennie - who is hell-bent on antagonizing herself for some convoluted reason that Chaeyoung will never understand, but will forever appreciate - defends her against Joohyun and her posse of ditzy wannabes. They proceed with their usual thievery of her lunch money - God, can her life get any more cringey 2000s chick flick? - and as Chaeyoung attempts to fork it over peacefully (please, she doesn’t need another Cupcake Incident, thank you very much), Jennie steps forward with a telltale gleam in her eye.
“Excuse me, but I’m pretty sure that the road to Basic Bitchville is that way.” Jennie jerks a thumb to her right, smirking, and the resulting dumbfounded expression that flashes across Joohyun’s face brings Chaeyoung an indescribable rush of joy.
“Pardon?” Joohyun flips her smooth hair in a single fluid motion, attempting to assert her social dominance. Jennie, however, is not one to be toyed with.
“That was your cue to leave,” Jennie whispers exaggeratedly, and Joohyun positively glowers.
“How dare you? Do you even know who I am?”
Jennie turns to Chaeyoung, the beginnings of a mischievous smile playing at her lips. "Is that the wind I hear?"
Joohyun huffs disdainfully - point: Jennie - and flips her hair yet again. "Girls, let's go. These plebs aren't worth our time."
Joohyun sashays away, and her subordinates trail after her dutifully like the spineless minions they are.
Once they're far out of earshot, Jennie shakes her head in disappointment. "Man, I hate people like that girl. I mean, what'd you ever do to deserve that kind of treatment?"
Chaeyoung chews her lip - a nervous habit she's picked up - and averts her eyes. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
Jennie quirks up an inquisitive eyebrow.
“They practically run the school,” Chaeyoung elaborates, her eyes obstinately fixated on her tray. “You still have time though, you can probably apologize and still gain some semblance of a social status. But it won’t be easy.”
Jennie’s lips part slightly, the cogs in her head whirring, as she analyzes the situation, and coming to a moral conclusion of some kind, she shakes her head, her mouth setting in firm line of resolve.
“I’d rather befriend someone deserving and be a social pariah than condemn myself to a life of being one of her brainless lackeys.”
Chaeyoung looks up sharply, aghast.
“You heard me. Did I stutter?”
Chaeyoung gapes. “But- I- are you sure?”
Jennie smiles reassuringly, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Believe me, I’m sure. And besides, I don’t really peg her as the Jimin-stanning type - I’m not about to lose a fellow ARMY to join the cult of some self-righteous diva with an ego the size of Pangaea.”
Ignoring the flutter in her chest, Chaeyoung manages a relieved smile, and Jennie plops back down in her seat, plucking a sweet potato fry off her tray and handing it her as a sort of peace offering.
"So, what was your analysis of the smeraldo flower's cinematic and literary significance, again?"
Chaeyoung's grin widens as she accepts the fry, her inner nerd - and fangirl - emerging, and proceeds to give Jennie a detailed explanation of the symbolism of the flower.
(None of which Jennie actually understands, but that's easily overlooked.)
Three periods and several surreptitious glances later, Jennie is Chaeyoung’s new best friend.
⭒🌹⭒
Chaeyoung loathes change with a burning passion. Seriously, change can go choke on some raw onions and cry.
Or, at least, that's what fourteen-year-old Park Chaeyoung likes to tell herself.
Her first day of high school is coming along just fabulously - she has absolutely no classes with her best friend, but miraculously happens to have all of her classes with her archnemesis.
Chaeyoung supposes that she must steel herself for a year of relentless bullying.
But she isn’t a pessimist - not yet, at least - and firmly believes in the positive: she still has lunch with Jennie, and if she remains mute and discreet enough, Joohyun is bound to ignore her eventually.
Right?
(When Joohyun ruthlessly massacres her favorite fineliner pack - in front of her own eyes, no less - Chaeyoung is admittedly less sure of herself.)
But Chaeyoung isn’t a quitter. She makes it a habit to step into first period Gen Chem with a bright smile on her face and leave seventh period Women’s Choir with a bounce in her step every day, her motivation stemming from both her slight obsession with her favorite boy band and her not-so-slight obsession with Jennie’s curved eyes and gummy smile.
And ignoring the Micron Ordeal, things go well - at least, until the night of Homecoming.
The night starts off surprisingly well, given her usual luck - Chaeyoung grabs dinner with Jennie and some of her friends before the actual dance itself, and arrives precisely half an hour late, as WikiHow instructs. The line, of course, is out the door - but that’s to be expected, it’s Homecoming - and to Chaeyoung’s overwhelming relief, they’re let in without a fuss.
Not even the speakers blaring the generic, bass-boosted EDM or the throng of sweaty adolescent bodies - say it with her, goddammit: every day is a deodorant day - crowding the too-small gym present any major issues for Chaeyoung, despite her general distaste for the setting.
Really, it’s only when she excuses herself to the bathroom that shit hits the metaphorical fan.
Chaeyoung pushes open the cheaply-decorated bathroom door to find none other than her archnemesis, the one and only Bae Joohyun, with her tongue shoved down some boy’s throat, her delicate hands scrabbling for purchase on his lanky body. She looks positively debauched - or, at least, as debauched as an inexperienced freshman can get. Chaeyoung can’t quite tell who the boy is, but judging by his height alone, she can safely assume that it’s Park Chanyeol, one of Jennie’s mutual friends.
Chaeyoung knows it’s not her place to stare - hell, she doesn’t want to see them - but it’s horrifyingly transfixing, and Chaeyoung finds herself frozen in (not so) mild appalment.
And then Joohyun sees her.
Their gazes lock for a few humiliating moments, Joohyun’s eyes widening in surprise, and Chaeyoung’s in terror, before the spell is broken. Chaeyoung turns around and stumbles out of the bathroom, her heart racing, and wants nothing more than to give her scarred eyes a thorough bleaching.
(Relieve herself, too, but that’s not presently her first priority.)
Chaeyoung invents an excuse to justify her departure to her friends - not having a tampon is serious, okay - and walks all the way home, running up to her room to hide from the world. Her heart is just beating so fast, and she can’t get Joohyun’s shocked face out of her head.
It’s awful.
As a girl who has never seen anything more than a PG-rated movie peck - thanks a bunch, overprotective parents - Chaeyoung feels like she has sinned, somehow.
But Joohyun’s wanton expression feels imprinted in her brain, and naturally, Pure Bean Chaeyoung is forced to do everything she can to distract herself from it.
Several Run BTS! episodes later, Chaeyoung hasn’t completely succeeded, but she’s too tired to do anything else about it.
That night, Chaeyoung dreams of kissing girls and chooses to forget before she wakes up.