Chapter 5 - Bullying

The election turned out to be the worst thing that happened to the Student Org Club. It didn’t only prove the elite’s superiority but also the fact that they were nothing but sore figureheads. As if they already knew they would win, the elite group rejoiced in a calm manner when they got the highest vote while Min Jung and the club members moaned in defeat. One by one the students left the auditorium where the election was held. Before walking away, In Na turned to them and folded her arms in front of her chest.

"If it were me, as an Elite, I wouldn't even consider this poor, cheap election. You should know your place. The war has not yet ended, it has just begun."

Then she left them an evil smile that could last a lifetime.

* * *

The school's News Club member who took their photo expressed his sympathy for the club in not winning the election. He gave the picture as a souvenir instead.

"I really wanted you to win but... we all know that the elites will always have their way."

"Go! If I knew, you voted for them too!" The Vice President snatched the picture from his hand and shooed him away, closing the door.

The atmosphere was gloomy and they were all low in spirit.

"What I worry about the most is what that Hyena (In na) said before she left. She'll surely make our semester a hell!"

That remark made everyone gasp hopelessly. No one seemed to care about the picture so when it was passed to Jeong Won, he slipped it in a notebook lying on the table.

Wanting to escape the gloomy atmosphere, Jeong Won went out of the room to get some air. He went down to the third floor where the seniors' rooms were located and as he passed by the hallway, one room at the end of the floor caught his attention. The special section for elite students. His feet led him there and he found himself observing what their class was like, and it was everything one would expect for elites.

His eyes scanned the room and finally found the one he was looking for. Sitting at the last row beside the window, there she was, scribbling in her book.

That image became a fixed idea in his mind. That even in the following day, when the bullying started, he couldn’t admit that such a girl was leading a pack of werewolves. He could still remember how everything looked so soft around her, and how she chuckled when the teacher cracked a joke in their class.

Because of the bullying, some members left the club and even close friends maintained a distance from them to avoid the elite group's wrath. From small acts like bumping into them causing them to drop their drinks or foods to making sure that there won’t be a table available for the group in the canteen. The elites really meant it when they said that the war had just begun. A losing war.

One interesting and ironic thing was, most of the students who bullied them were not at all part of the elite group. The elites themselves rarely laid a finger on them, instead, they remained on the sidelines laughing and mocking them.

Jeong Won wasn't spared from the bullying. While under the shower after playing soccer, his clothes were stolen. He had to stay there for a long time, screaming for help, until someone who happened to pass by, came to save him in this predicament.

“I couldn’t stand this anymore!”

Jeong Won quietly observed Jin Ae the next day. He believed that she could do something. Rarely alone, Jin Ae spent time with her core group. The only time she was not accompanied by some of the elites was after class. When most of the elites waited for an expensive car to fetch them and some in cool motorcycles, Ye Jin used a bicycle instead just like ordinary students.

Tae Pyung decided to use that time. He took his bicycle out of the parking lot and waited for Ye Jin. Being naturally cautious, Tae Pyung usually inspected his bike before riding on it, but before he could do that, Ye Jin suddenly passed by. Taking the chance, he started his bicycle immediately to keep up with her. Little did he know that his bicycle was taken care of by some bullies.

"Jin Ae!"

Jeong Won called out loudly. Unfortunately, she had her earphones on and was keeping a straight face on the road.

"Yah! Son Jin Ae!"

He shouted while trying to cross the distance between them. When she still didn't notice him, he decided to overtake her, shouting and pantomiming to take her earphones off. Confused, she just squinted her eyes and ignored his request. She even pedaled faster instead. In return, Tae Pyung also pedaled furiously trying to keep his distance.

But then, he found himself unable to control his bicycle anymore.

* * *

Son Jin Ae was bewildered to see a male student on a bike keeping at her pace, asking her to take her earphones off. Being someone who didn’t follow orders from just anyone, she simply scoffed at his boldness. She could hear him calling her name faintly as an echo on the song playing on her mp3 player, which was ironically 'Close to You' by Carpenters.

Deciding to ignore him completely, she was about to increase her pace more when she suddenly noticed that his bicycle was swaying ruggedly. Turning her head when he failed to catch up, she saw him fall on the road.

"Aish! Jin Ae! Don't tell me you want to help him?" she said while frowning, deliberating if she should ignore or help him. Despite herself, she turned her bicycle around.

When she finally reached him, she crossed her arms in front of her.

"What's this?!" she snapped. But it was actually just a cold substitute for 'what happened?'

"Please stop bullying our club," Jeong Won replied to her instead. She lifted an eyebrow after hearing it.

"What?...you're already hurt but you-" She glanced at the bruises on his knuckles and at the graze on his left cheek.

"Compared to the bullying and abuse we get everyday, these are nothing. Stealing someone's clothes while in the shower and leaving just like that, what the hell was that?"

He stood up before her. He was so tall that she was just around his shoulder. His jet black hair was styled like most of the male students, but he was strikingly very handsome in it. The only thing unremarkable was, he looked hapless and sleepless.

"Ah! So you're a member of that club," she said, now putting her hands on her hips. Straightening her back and raising her chin to meet his eyes.

"Your group already won the election, so please stop these childish acts and leave our club alone."

Jin Ae smirked and frowned, then she stared at him straight in the eye.

"When you ignored the elite group and degraded our authority in school, haven't you pondered over its consequences? The elites weren't just any group of friends. Tell me, who was being childish now?"

Jeong Won was taken aback by her words.

"You did this to yourselves. I can't do anything," she said strictly then darted her eyes somewhere.

"'Fortunately, Jin Ae-sunbae came'... that was what the student in the park exclaimed when you saved him from the bullies that night."

Abruptly, Jin Ae returned his eyes back to his face, now she realized why he looked familiar, he was the boy in the park who mistook her as the one bullying the two boys.

"-I've heard so many things about the elites, about you... bad things... but, that night makes me think otherwise. And that's why I am here. It's not like you can’t do anything if you wanted to," he said, maintaining eye contact that could melt even the coldest of hearts.

Jin Ae withdrew from his stare. It’s the first time that someone actually approached her, trying to demand something. But she couldn’t get herself mad from his impudence, instead, she admired his courage. She shifted her gaze to study his bicycle and saw the cut in its brake wiring.

"So... did the bullies do that?"