Side effects

"I guess the lesson that you gave GG cosmetics previously was pretty useless. A few days have barely passed and they have forgotten all the repercussions and are being insubordinate again".

Ra-im muttered, she'd been addressing the recent fake news about the new facial scrub Seori's Dad had dedicated to his darling daughter.

"Don't worry, we'll teach them another lesson once Opalescent sky is open to the market in the next few weeks. The scent is outstanding, we'll completely hinder the sales of their Prune rush body spray".

Seori highlighted some points on the perfume's overall ingredients and handed back to Ra-im. If she doesn't head to the party soon, her Dad would notice.

"What are the highlights supposed to mean? You do know that everything has been concluded already, right?"

Ra-im hated Seori for one thing, her obsession with being perfect. Although it was one of the major reasons why the cosmetic brand of her Dad's company, he'd made her the CEO and she hadn't disappointed him even once. Xbeauty had come into the market two years ago and trashed all the other reigning products in the beauty industry.

"It's just to make sure everything is flawless. Contact the perfumer again, get him to refine the aroma and analyze further if Opalescent sky has any side effects to the eight major skin types. Judge the retention time of the fragrance and the change in color".

Seori pointed out the details to the sullen looking Ra-im. She had just spent the last month doing all that Seori had mentioned, meeting the aromatherapist and perfume appraiser was taxing but having to repeat everything was even worse.

She pressed her eyes shut and sighed heavily. At least Seori was very generous in her salary, she decided just to think about the huge wad that'll fall into her five zeros back account at the end of the month.

"Just think about the money Ra-im, just think about that".

Seori laughed at Ra-im's mumbling as she held up her sequenced long open back dress and headed towards the limo. It was going to be one very long night.

***

High society cocktail parties are always filled with a sense of loneliness and ostentation.

After Seori had indulged the few bigwigs her father had briefed her on earlier, she retired to a loveseat at the less crowded part of extravagantly adorned room.

Mario would be here any minute with the next chess piece in her revenge strategy and it made her quite content with the fact that things have been going quite smoothly so far. Because of that, the boring party filled with puffed up people didn't seem as suffocating as it usually was.

She swirled her wine against the narrow sides of the champagne flute. She knew doing so would enlarge the surface area of the wine contacting with the air, thus, aerating it and jogging out it's tantalizing fruity scent.

She moved the glass to her lips and smiled at it released it's aroma.

"Ah, the sweet smell of revenge".

Seori knew that with the crossroads she was at right now, picking revenge over forgiveness would only make out as a bad and bitter person. But she knew what she was getting herself into when she decided to come into the Bam family and work her butt off just so the day would come that she could plunge her nails through Wush Wong's throat.

Although, to her, there was a huge line distinguishing being bad and being immoral. She wanted to be a stronger person not a scum like Sophia, the girl had really gotten on her nerves earlier that day by bringing her unwanted attention. Luckily, that didn't seem to hinder her overall objective so she's gonna let it slide.

"Miss Bam".

The middle aged man with crescent shaped eyebrows and a flinty jawline acknowledged her presence.

"Oh, Mario. Where is he?"

"This way, Miss Bam".

She placed the nearly emptied glass on the table to her left, straightening herself up and following Mario to the secluded balcony.

"Hello, Miss Bam".

Seori smirked at her step number two looking her straight in the face.

"Do you remember what your role is in Trina's life?"

Seori had hired Logan earlier the previous year. He had all the qualities of a liar. A glib tongue, a gorgeous appearance and the cunning nature of a serpent.

He was a social butterfly, easy to mingle with but then he uses that to his advantage and drains you of all your money. Many girls had fallen prey to his infectious grins and syrupy tongue, it was how he made a living in this cruel world.

"Of course. Become the name on everyone's lips at Hargrave's middle school and get close to Trina White. I've successfully done that but she's really closed off, she doesn't really talk about herself but I've confirmed she has a crush on me from her best friend".

Hmmm...not what she was expecting. Trina was supposed to fall into his trap and start spilling little by little about her mother Wush Wong.

"Then use that to your advantage. Become her boyfriend, date her, make her trust you or whatever. Just ensure you get that document that made Steven to isolate Wush Wong. Don't come back without good news, you know better than anyone that you won't receive a single cent from me if you don't get your job done in time!"

Logan flinched slightly at the sudden raise of Seori's voice. He usually doesn't like being bossed around by her but when he remembered how much she'd helped him when he was ejected from his house, he overlooked it.

"Don't worry, I'll get back to you with good news at the end of next week".

She was slightly reassured by his statement. He had never been one who fails at the tasks she assigned him, she'll give him another chance.

"I'll be waiting".

***

Seori walked slowly into the school's hallway. Somehow she was glad that this wealthy private schools had uniforms. She was absolutely sure that if she'd walked in here yesterday in jewels and all, she'd never been able to blend in.

Hargrave was just like any other in the rumor spreading department. It had only been a night yet so many students, especially female ones, their eyes remained glued to her every move. She presumed the number of followers she had, had become public. There were times when she could sense their jealousy coming straight at her face, it felt slightly less potent than sulfuric acid but still strong enough to cauterize her to the bones.

She remained quiet at their lunch table, she was used to those kind of looks anyway but the primary objective of becoming transparent had completely failed.

She sighed.

Qinyi was still yet to get to their table because unfortunately for her, Sophia had been holding her up. She'd been picking and dropping back the avocado slices.

"Can't you just pick one and leave already?"

She wasn't in the mood for Sophia's petty shenanigans today. She just wanted to add some some tropical fruit rings and slices to her salad bowl and catch up with Krystelle and Seori. She glared at the Dramaqueen who stood in front of her. Her face, completely engulfed in makeup and over the top jewelry.

So... she found out she was going up against somehow rich and more popular than her and this is the best she comes up with? Qinyi almost laughed at the thought. Why were popular people so obsessed with remaining publicized? Well, that's something she'll never understand.

"Be patient Qinyi, I wanna pick up the perfect ones. Avocadoes make me look beautiful and I'd like to maintain that".

Her passive reply did quite a number on the thing called Qinyi's tolerance, once again Sophia had made something snap inside of her.

"You know what Sophia. Pretty accessories cannot cover the fact that your heart is ugly. If eating avocados can make you beautiful, you will still be ugliest person on earth even if you eat all the avocados in the world".

Qinyi walked away, she wasn't able to add some bananas and papaya slices to her bowl but she left anyway. You'd think that she's overreacting just a little bit, but it was like that when she transferred here too. It has been two years since then, the attention she'd gotten also seemed to tick Sophia off, who'd grown her popularity and influence since elementary school.

She received threat notes, was pranked on several occasions and even had strange rumors going on about her. She couldn't stand being quiet anymore, she beat up Sophia to a pulp, she even broke her nose. Both parents had to be summoned to the disciplinary committee that day.

Despite Qinyi being in the wrong, all witnesses claimed that Sophia had started it. They showed the evidence of how she'd humiliated Qinyi on several occasions. Sophia's parents lost most of the ground they had in the accusations against Qinyi and she was able to get away with it, with just twenty hours of detention and school cleaning. Sophia on the other hand, had twelve merit points deducted for her inhumane behavior.

Qinyi joined them at their table. She just wanted to forget the past and move on but despite all those punishments Sophia hadn't changed one bit.