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“Yunjin, could you take these papers to room 204? Ms. Park needs them for detention.” Yunjin nodded at the girl, Kim Minjeong, the student council president.
She closed her laptop for the time being, making sure to save the spreadsheets of schedules before she did so. “Sure, should I check on the other members who volunteered to monitor as well?” Yunjin offered, already standing up from her seat.
She stretched her limbs, feeling her muscles release the stress and numbness of sitting down almost the entire hour.
She checked the clock on top of the door. 5:24 p.m.
It was getting late. She glanced back at Minjeong, who was still busy, focused on her own laptop. “That would be great, thanks.” Minjeong said, moving back and forth between squinting at the device and shuffling through the papers on her desk.
Yunjin hummed an ‘okay’ before grabbing the papers and making her way outside the room. She was greeted by a chilling wind, most of the windows on the first floor hallway being open. As she made a beeline for the staircase at the end of the hallway, she noticed some lights turning on automatically as the outside became darker and darker.
The school was mostly empty. Only a few students like her who were part of a club lingered, a few random kids who liked staying at school better than home also roamed the premises.
She quickened her pace, not really one for wasting time, something her friends nagged at her for. Being the vice president of the student council, seeing her curled up in the council’s office when everyone else was resting or having fun wasn’t rare. Even if it wasn’t for the council, she would still be working, it was just in her nature.
Yunjin continued walking up the steps, nodding and smiling at the people she passed by on the way.
As she reached the second floor, she looked carefully at the room numbers of each door she passed. She wasn’t fully sure where 204 was and she didn’t want to miss it.
201, 202, 203...
Just before she could pass 203, though, she heard a noise that made her stop in her tracks. Looking around, she realized the 2nd floor hallway was empty. It came from a classroom.
“Shit,”
A girl’s voice.
Yunjin clutched at the papers tighter. A whimper.
It didn’t sound good.
Yunjin knew she needed to intervene, as vice president if not as a good person, but for some reason she was glued to her spot in the middle of the hallway.
She had no tolerance for bullying, but she really didn’t like confrontation either. Just then, she heard another cry, muffled, as if a hand was over the person’s mouth.
Gritting her teeth, Yunjin made her way to the room, first checking the windows. To no surprise, they were blocked by curtains from the inside.
She held up her hand to knock at the door, but hesitated momentarily when she didn’t hear anything from the room anymore.
Biting her lip, she waited for a few more moments. She felt her heart beat a little bit faster due to her nerves.
Just then, she heard a crash, like something falling off a table. That was her cue.
She rapped at the door loudly, making sure whoever was in there heard her. She heard feet shuffling from the inside, and yet no response.
She knocked again.
“I know you’re in there!” She warned, trying to muster up the most confident tone she had in her. She knocked once more, for good measure, before she went in.
Yunjin was about to grip the door knob, chanting to herself, *be confident, you’re in charge*, as she took deep breaths.
However, she was beaten to it. Even before she could reach for the door knob, the door swung open.
A girl stood in front of her, Yunjin didn’t know her name but she knew they were in the same grade.
With a quick scan, Yunjin noticed a sort of bruise on the girl’s neck, alarming her.
“Oh my god, are you okay? What happened?” Yunjin asked, immediately feeling more worried because of the student’s disheveled appearance, messy hair and loosened tie. “Did someone hurt you? Who are you with?” She continued asking, too focused on checking the girl for any injuries to notice that the girl’s face wasn’t scared or what’d you expect from someone who was just bullied at all.
Yunjin was cut off by a cough.
It was from the girl, “Um, I’m okay, thanks.” The girl muttered quickly, bowing her head down as she talked to her. “I’ll get going now,” she continued, adjusting her bag on her shoulder before walking past Yunjin in a rush.
“Hey, wait!” Yunjin tried to call out, but the girl was sprinting at this point, leaving the vice president puzzled and speechless as she watched the girl’s retreating figure in the hallway.
“Hey, Vice, you good?”
Another voice startled Yunjin. This time, an awfully familiar one.
She slowly turned her head back towards the room, the sight that greeted her was enough to double the pace of her beating heart.
“Chaewon.” She muttered, acknowledging the girl’s presence. The girl, in turn, nodded in her direction, eyeing Yunjin down as she usually did, an insufferable smile plastered on her face.
Yunjin dreaded her usual encounters with the girl, said encounters usually ending in her becoming very flustered and the other dying of laughter.
Suffice to say that in her years of being part of the student council, she’s had her fair share of dealing with and lecturing the infamous Kim Chaewon.
“What did you do to that girl? I know you like acting out but that crossed the line.” Yunjin asked, more straightforward, now that she knew who she was facing. “You know bullying could get you suspended right? Or worse, it could get you expelled. Not to mention that poor girl.”
“Will you calm down? It’s not what you think, alright?” Chaewon responded nonchalantly, chuckling in a way that made Yunjin feel small.
“Are you insane? I always have to assume the worst when it comes to you. And not just because I’m being petty or anything, you know your own track record, after all.” Yunjin rebutted, walking inside the classroom properly, shutting the door close behind her after once again checking the empty hallway, sighing as there was no sign of the girl at all.
“What happened? Tell me everything now if you don’t want to make things harder for yourself.” Yunjin said, no nonsense about it. She made her way to a seat, eyes focused on Chaewon who was standing near the teacher’s desk. Now that she was looking properly, she noticed that Chaewon looked a bit disheveled as well, some strands of her hair sticking out, her face in a red flush.
“I told you, it’s not what it looks like. God, you’re so fucking stubborn.” Chaewon argued, sighing loudly. Yunjin flinched lightly at the girl’s tone. Chaewon walked towards the side of the room, near the windows.
Yunjin watched as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her hoodie’s pocket. “I thought you quit.” She whispered softly, moreso to herself than to the girl, feeling a bit dejected.
She remembered the time Chaewon had told her she quit smoking, and what happened after. She shook her head to rid of the memory and the heartache it brought.
“Just tell me what happened, okay? I’m not accusing you of anything yet, but I saw a bruise and it sounded bad when I was outside.”
Yunjin looked back up at Chaewon expectantly, gaze softer. The girl was now leaning against the open window, blowing smoke out of it, eyes closed in relief. “You really think I would hit her?” Chaewon asked, opening one of her eyes to peek at Yunjin.
Yunjin didn’t answer, she didn’t want to.
She felt stupid, just moments ago she was ready to punish whoever was behind the classroom door, and now, finding out it was Chaewon, it only took a few looks from the girl to muddle her previous objectives.
“Look,” she started, getting up from the seat to approach the other girl, “just tell me what happened, it doesn’t even have to be a big deal. I’m just worried about the girl, anyone would be as well.”
Blowing out another puff of smoke, Chaewon turned to look properly at Yunjin. “I didn’t hit her, okay?” She said with a laugh as if it really was no big deal. “You know me.” Her voice was quieter now, a wordless understanding present in her tone.
“Then what happened? Because if I tell Ms. Park right now, who’s just down the hall by the way, that I heard cries in this room and it turned out to be Kim Chaewon and a girl with a bruise on her neck, she wouldn’t even listen to anything you would have to say. I’m giving you a chance.” Yunjin explained, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Wow, so should I be thanking you right now?” Chaewon asked sarcastically, snorting as she tore her gaze away from Yunjin and looked back out the window.
Yunjin didn’t answer, she just waited for the girl to continue talking.
“She asked me to meet her here after class, so I did. Nothing bad happened, and a few minutes later, you were knocking at the door like the lunatic that you are.”
Yunjin rolled her eyes at the girl’s nonchalant attitude. “Alright, then what was the screaming I heard?”
“She tripped?” Chaewon said with a sheepish smile, looking back at Yunjin now. “And the bruise?” Yunjin continued, eyes forming slits as she glared at the girl.
“She fell?” Chaewon fired back, now standing up. Yunjin watched closely as the girl flicked her shortened cigarette butt outside, leaving it on the window sill.
Yunjin snarled when Chaewon laughed at her serious expression. “Besides, do you really think the screams you heard were from her being hit? Are you really that naive, Yunjin?”
“What are you talking about?” Yunjin asked cluelessly, the conversation already tiring her out. She made her way to the teacher’s desk, opting to lean against it because she knew it would be long before Chaewon was done with her antics.
“Do you really want me to tell you what happened between us? I don’t think you’ll like it.” Chaewon asked, making her way to where Yunjin was as well, stopping right in front of her.
Yunjin scooted, sitting more comfortably on the desk, trying to leave more space in between them. “You reek of smoke, Chaewon.”
“That didn’t bother you last week, did it?” A coy smile graced Chaewon’s lips, and it took everything Yunjin had not to roll her eyes.
“I told you I wasn’t looking where I was going and I fell onto you by accident.” Yunjin said, gritting her teeth. Her ears turned red as she remembered the incident of her crashing into the girl in the hallway last week, ending in her hugging Chaewon for her dear life.
“Sure.” Chaewon winked at the girl, and this alone was enough to make Yunjin’s ears turn red in embarrassment, testament to how she always became flustered after every interaction with the girl.
“Can you just get on with what happened? Minjeong asked me to take these to Ms. Park, and at this point, detention will be over before you even start.”
“Ah, Minjeong. How is the little miss president nowadays, anyway?”
Chaewon asked this in a casual way, as if her and Yunjin were actually friends who were just catching up. This annoyed Yunjin for a reason she couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“Chaewon.” Yunjin warned, knowing the girl was changing the topic deliberately.
“Fine, alright.” Chaewon laughed, placing her hands in her hoodie’s pocket as she stepped closer once again to Yunjin. “First of all, it was not a bruise on her neck, trust me.”
Yunjin furrowed her brows at this, but didn’t object.
“Second, I could tell you how she got it.” Chaewon was walking closer to her ever so slowly, but Yunjin pretended not to notice. She focused her eyes on Chaewon’s, trying to ignore how the air around her felt hotter and how her lungs seemed to forget how to function.
Before she knew it, Chaewon was a few inches away, placing both her hands on the desk near Yunjin’s sides, one hand already playing with the hem of her skirt.
Chaewon lowered her head, leaning a bit to whisper in Yunjin’s ear. “But it’d be better if I showed you.”
Yunjin shuddered at the low register of Chaewon’s voice, her breath dancing around her inner ear. She found herself placing her hands on Chaewon’s shoulders on instinct, gripping at the cloth of her hoodie.
“Don’t mess with me, Kim.” Yunjin warned, trying to sound stern, but a crack in her voice betrayed her.
She felt Chaewon lean into her further. *God, she really does reek of smoke*, Yunjin thought, eyes shut, as a few strands of the girl’s hair wisped at her neck. *Maybe I like it.*
“I’m not,” Chaewon mumbled, the tip of her nose tracing Yunjin’s neck slowly. “You smell good, what is that? Jasmine?”
Hot. Chaewon’s breath was hot.
“It’s– ” Yunjin’s breath hitched as she felt Chaewon leave a peck near her pulse.
She felt the girl smile against her skin. *She’s enjoying this isn’t she?* “Yeah?” The girl spoke, breathing out once again.
“It’s vanilla.” “I like it.”
She gasped at the sudden feeling of Chaewon’s lips on her neck, snaking her arms immediately around the girl’s neck for support. As Chaewon leaned into her more, she felt her back slowly take up more space on the desk.
Yunjin found herself falling into old habits. How her toes curled when Chaewon nibbled on her skin, how she squirmed on the desk when Chaewon placed a wet kiss on her collarbone, how she pulled at the girl’s hair when she needed more, it was all too familiar.
And when Chaewon finally looked back up at her with those doe eyes, it was second nature for Yunjin to pull her in and place her lips on hers.
It only took a few looks from Chaewon to muddle her previous objectives; a few kisses, however, lured her in and hypnotized her completely.
She felt a hand on her nape pull her closer, and she obliged. Chaewon deepened the kiss, the scent of mint and cigarettes seemingly overflowing the classroom.
Chaewon leaned back, leaving a trail of kisses from Yunjin’s lips back to her neck. With one final peck on that one spot, Chaewon pulled away.
Yunjin’s body moved unconsciously, not wanting to be rid of Chaewon’s warmth. Her eyes fluttered open.
She was greeted by Chaewon’s hooded eyes, a lazy smile on her lips. Yunjin shivered lightly as Chaewon trailed her arms with her hands, ‘till she reached her destination and intertwined their fingers.
“That didn’t feel like bullying, now, did it?”
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