I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. For the first time in my life, someone had stood up for me. It wasn't a teacher or a lifelong friend; it was the exchange student I had barely spoken to—the girl whose friendship I had just rejected with a crumpled note.
"C-Chaeryoung?" I whispered, my voice lost in the sudden silence of the room.
"Chaeryoung? What are you doing?" Ssatihs asked, her face a mask of pure confusion.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Chaeryoung replied. Her voice was like dry ice—sharp and freezing. "You boast about being so smart to your friends, Ssatihs. You sit right in front of me; I hear everything. Surely someone as 'brilliant' as you can figure out what's happening."
Ssatihs scoffed, trying to wrench her wrist from Chaeryoung's iron grip. When she failed, she pivoted to a sickening, condescending smile. "You? A princess like you saving a peasant like her? She's useless, Chaeryoung. Don't waste your energy. Sit back, relax, and watch me slap her. I'll even do it with style for you."
Chaeryoung let out a low, dark chuckle and released Ssatihs's hand.
"So... I should sit back and let you have all the 'fun'?"
"Exactly!" Ssatihs grinned, thinking she'd won an ally.
"You're right," Chaeryoung said, her eyes glinting. "I shouldn't waste my energy on useless things. And since you're so pretty, you shouldn't waste yours either. Let me do the slapping."
The class erupted in cheers. My heart sank. I should have known, I thought bitterly. She's just another bully.
"Move to the side, then," Chaeryoung said sweetly. "I want you to have the best view."
Ssatihs moved to my left, leaning in eagerly. Chaeryoung placed a gentle palm on my already swollen cheek. For a split second, our eyes met. She gave me a tiny, almost imperceptible wink.
"Count with me!" Chaeryoung shouted to the class.
"ONE!" the students roared. I heaved a sigh and closed my eyes.
"TWO!"
"THREE!"
SLAP!
The sound echoed like a gunshot. I opened my eyes, but the pain hadn't come. Instead, Ssatihs was reeling backward, clutching her face.
"Oops," Chaeryoung said, her voice dripping with mock innocence. "I think I slapped the 'wrong' person. But you were in the way, so I don't really feel the need to apologize."
Then...there it goes...
The Storm of Section Dream-5
"You bitch!" Ssatihs screamed, lunging forward.
But Chaeryoung was a blur of motion. She wasn't just tall; she was trained. She caught Ssatihs's arm, twisted it, and slammed her face-first onto my desk. The classroom turned into a battlefield. Kiro and the others charged, but Chaeryoung moved like a dancer—a roundhouse kick sent one girl flying across the room, and a precise punch to the nose left Kiro bleeding on the floor.
"Who's the weak one now?" Chaeryoung whispered into Ssatihs's ear.
"Why do you care?!" Kiro spat, wiping blood from his lip. "You don't even know this freak!"
"Because," Chaeryoung said, looking around the room at the students who had previously been laughing, "I'd rather protect someone being mistreated than stand by like a coward pretending I don't see it."
The room went silent. The "oblivious" students hung their heads.
"You'll regret this," Ssatihs hissed. "The rest of your time here will be hell."
Chaeryoung gasped, mock-trembling. "Omo! Jinjja? I'm so scared! What should I do?"
"Leave her," Ssatihs suggested, regaining her confidence. "Join us."
Chaeryoung's face went blank. "Hmmm... no. I'd rather be with a 'useless girl' than a group of mutated harvest mites. My mother told me not to play with feces. Your faces are okay—pretty, actually—but your hearts are so dirty no toothbrush could ever clean them. I'm just trying to stay hygienic."
Before the second wave of the fight could break out, the door burst open. Ms. Missouri stood there, fuming. "Guidance! All of you! Now!"
The Masterpiece of Deceptiom
In Ms. Pillarion's office, the air was thick with the sound of six bullies shouting over one another in a chaotic, unintelligible mess of accusations.
"ENOUGH!"
Ms. Pillarion slammed her hand on the desk. "One at a time. Ssatihs, speak."
Ssatihs put on her "Class President" mask, her voice trembling with fake sincerity. "Miss Counselor, they started it. We were just trying to maintain the reputation of our section, and they became unruly. I have the whole class as witnesses."
"Is that so?" Ms. Pillarion turned to us.
I opened my mouth to defend us, but a soft, broken sniffle stopped me. I turned to see Chaeryoung. Her eyes were red, and crystal tears were streaming down her face.
"It's just... not fair," Chaeryoung sobbed. "I came here to learn your culture. I worked so hard on my accent because I heard people here were kind. But they were so mean. They were... they were racist. I just want to go home to Korea."
Ms. Pillarion's expression shifted from stern to protective. "Is this true?"
"She's lying!" Kiro shouted. "She beat us up!"
"Proof?" Ms. Pillarion asked.
"Ask our classmates!"
"I don't need your 'trustworthy' classmates," the Counselor snapped. "Miss Song, do you have proof?"
Chaeryoung nodded weakly. With trembling hands, she began to unbutton her long-sleeved polo. As the fabric fell away, the room fell into a horrified silence.
Chaeryoung's porcelain skin was covered in deep purple bruises and angry red scratches. They stretched across her abdomen and down her arms. I stared in shock—had they really hit her that much? Then it hit me: the bullies had applied makeup in the restroom to look perfect for the counselor, but Chaeryoung had done the opposite. She looked like a victim of a massacre.
"They intended to hit only my body," Chaeryoung whispered, "so it wouldn't show on my face."
"W-wait!" Kiro stammered, pointing at his slightly red nose. "She's the one who beat us! Look at my nose!"
"Oh, please, Mr. Cunnington," Ms. Pillarion sneered, looking at the boys who looked perfectly groomed and the girls who were wearing fresh lipstick. "Your 'injuries' are non-existent compared to this. You look like you're ready for a photoshoot, while this poor girl is covered in marks."
"No! It's a lie!" Ssatihs screamed, standing up.
"Which part is the lie, Miss President?" Ms. Pillarion's voice was like a death knell. "The part where you abused a foreign guest, or the part where you thought you could lie to me?"
The girl went silent wh8ke glaring at Chaeryoung beside me.
Miss Song looks like she's been through a war. One week suspension for bullying... and another week for hurting a foreign guest. You are all banned from the premises for fourteen days."
"You b*tch!" Ssatihs screamed at Chaeryoung, her mask finally shattering. "If you hadn't played the hero, we could have just finished beating this useless girl and none of this would have happened!"
The room went deathly silent. Ssatihs's friends stared at her in horror. She had just confessed.
"Thank you, Miss President," Pillarion said with a terrifying smile. "For finally telling the truth."
The Weight of a Name
"Who is she anyway?!" Ssatihs lashed out, her voice cracking. "She's just an exchange student! Why treat her like a princess?"
Ms. Pillarion didn't yell. She chuckled, a cold, mocking sound. "Just an exchange student? Ms. Verbione, your ignorance is staggering. Chaeryoung is the daughter of the General and founder of Incheondong Military Power. She is the heiress to Incheondong National University."
The bullies froze. The blood drained from their faces as the Counselor continued.
"If her father finds out his daughter was maltreated, this school loses its primary foreign funding. You won't just be suspended; you'll be blacklisted from every reputable institution in this country. While you were playing at being 'queens,' you were attacking the one person who holds your entire future in her hands."
I looked at Chaeryoung. She had finished buttoning her shirt, her expression calm, almost bored. The "victim" persona had vanished, replaced by the quiet confidence of a girl who knew exactly how much power she wielded.
The New Path
After the bullies were forced to sign their suspension papers and were ushered out by Ms. Missouri, only the three of us remained.
"Miss Paramnesia, you may return to class," Ms. Pillarion said softly.
"Actually," Chaeryoung interrupted, her voice returning to its sweet, melodic tone. "Epione should stay with me. As the 'President' said, I interfered with their fun. I need to ensure she is safe. She is under my protection now."
Ms. Pillarion nodded, clearly impressed. "A wise choice. But Miss Song... regarding what happened, please reconsider leaving. I will ensure your safety."
"I will stay," Chaeryoung said, a small, mysterious smile playing on her lips. "But I have one request. I want to change my section."
"Of course. Which one?"
Chaeryoung looked at me, then back at the Counselor. Her eyes sparkled with a hidden intent.
"Section Dream-2."
I blinked. Dream-2? That was the section that had just been vandalized. It was the "rival" section of my bullies.