Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 448

449. Are We Friends?

With a sharp sound, the neatly arranged strawberries tumbled to the floor.

While a flustered Kim Ha-seon picked up the strawberries, Seol-rae walked to her desk.

She quickly flipped over her textbook covered in doodles and shoved her bag under the desk. Then, she raised her voice at Kim Ha-seon.

“Why do you always think only about yourself? When have you ever seen me eat something after coming back from school? I need to study and sleep, but if I eat, I’ll get sleepy and won’t be able to focus on studying. Are you going to take responsibility if my grades drop?”

“I’m sorry. I brought them because I thought you liked strawberries and might want a snack, but I was wrong.”

“It seems like you never listen to me. I told you not to come into my room, but you barge in without knocking.”

Seol-rae disliked Kim Ha-seon’s eagerness to please.

“Just leave me alone and live your own life. Why do you keep bothering me?”

“Lee Seol-rae!”

Lee Jae-cheon, who came out of the bathroom, having finished his business, heard his daughter’s words and entered the room, frowning. “What kind of way is that to talk to your mother? Is it so wrong for her to offer you strawberries? She’s doing it because she cares, you brat.”

“Mother? Who’s my mother? My mother isn’t here. Who are you calling mother?”

“……”

Kim Ha-seon told her husband to stop when Seol-rae raised her voice at her father, and she quickly left the room.

“Seol-rae? Can’t you stop this now? Your stepmother is trying to get along with you. Everyone in the family is trying, so please try a little too. I’m asking you as your father.”

Lee Jae-cheon knew that his daughter was still hurting from the divorce. He just hoped that she would open her heart a little and that the family could find some peace together.

“Asking me! Did I ask you to remarry? I told you I didn’t want you to marry that woman. But you decided on your own. Send me to my mom. I want to live with my mom.”

“Seol-rae? That’s not going to happen.”

Lee Jae-cheon hesitated for a moment, looking at his daughter who wanted to live with her mother, but then he said firmly.

“You do what you want, so why can’t I do what I want? Mom said the same thing when we got divorced – that we’d live together later.”

“Things are different now than they were then. Your mother has her own life and responsibilities. And I want to live with my daughter.”

“Then tell that woman to leave.”

“You brat. How can you say such a thing? I’m really going to get angry if you keep acting like this. You’re not a child anymore. When are you going to stop acting so immature?”

“Stop it, honey. Come on out. Seol-rae, I think your father had too much beer and got drunk. I’ll be more careful from now on. Sleep well.”

Kim Ha-seon, who had entered the room because the atmosphere was turning hostile, gently guided her husband out.

“Dad doesn’t understand anything! Right now, I’m……”

Lee Seol-rae, who was staring at the closed door, frowned and muttered to herself, taking out a small box from the front pocket of her bag.

Inside the clear acrylic box were small buttons, block pieces, and off-white round pearl fragments.

“Everything is annoying. I hate everything.”

Seol-rae, venting her frustration, took out a piece from the box. Then, she clenched it tightly in her fist and lay down on the bed.

After a while, Seol-rae, who had calmed down and gotten up to study, no longer had the piece in her hand.

* * *

The next day, Seol-rae went to school.

While the other kids gathered and chatted until the teacher arrived, Seol-rae studied alone.

Seol-rae, who ranked first in her class and in the top 10 in the entire school, was an excellent student.

The day before, she was reviewing the notes she had taken at her after-school academy when suddenly her head tilted forward, and her neck pillow fell to the floor.

“Oh! Seol-rae. Sorry.”

When she turned around, one of the girls in a group raised her hand and smiled. “My hand slipped.”

The girl next to her threw the pillow back and said the first girl’s name, also looking apologetic.

Ira-mi, along with Kim Chan-sol, Choi Su-ri, and Kim Ha-yeong, were a tight-knit group.

They were somewhat infamous at OO Girls’ High School, known as Ira-mi and her crew.

The word “infamous” attached to the group carried a negative connotation.

They were essentially bullies who did whatever they wanted, tormenting other students since the first grade.

Their actions were more brazen and cruel than one might imagine.

They sometimes extorted small amounts of money from other students to amass a larger sum, and if they didn’t like someone, they would take turns harassing them until they were satisfied.

In short, they were a group that engaged in school violence. But the group had never been formally disciplined or warned.

The reason was simple.

Reporting them to the teachers didn’t help. Also, the bullying could escalate if they did, so the students all kept quiet.

In fact, one student who had been bullied before reported it to the school, but nothing changed, and eventually, that student transferred to a school far away.

“Seol-rae?”

Ira-mi called out to the girl who was focused on studying again, and Seol-rae slowly turned her head.

“Seol-rae, since you’re already looking, can you bring me that pillow?”

Here we go again.

Seol-rae knew exactly why Ira-mi and her gang were doing this.

They had a designated target they were currently bullying.

She was a quiet and introverted girl, but no one knew why they had singled her out.

Often, bullies target others for no real reason, and the victims are targeted just as arbitrarily.

Ira-mi and her friends were making the girl run errands to the store, making fun of her, and hiding her belongings.

They claimed they were just joking around with their friend, but from the victim’s perspective, it was a living hell.

That day, the girl was surrounded by Ira-mi’s gang, being forced to imitate ridiculous dances from YouTube.

‘Ra-mi, can’t I skip this dance?’

‘Hui-yeong, are you refusing my request right now?’

‘No, it’s not that…….’

‘We’re putting you on a diet, so you shouldn’t ignore our good intentions like this, right?’

Goo Hui-yeong, who was being bullied, was a rather overweight girl.

She really hated dancing silly dances in the classroom where her classmates were watching.

She felt incredibly ashamed because her chest shook and her fat jiggled every time she moved.

‘Then who told you to eat so much and get fat? If you don’t dance now, I’m going to make you run errands to the boys’ high school next door. Which one do you want to do? Dance or run errands?’

In the end, Goo Hui-yeong, unable to resist the pressure, bit her lower lip and reluctantly started dancing.

The other students in the classroom mostly ignored them and continued doing their own things.

Seol-rae was also studying as usual. But for some reason, Goo Hui-yeong, who was being bullied, kept catching her eye that day.

They were just in the same class and not friends, but she was bothered by what had happened the previous day.

Lee Seol-rae was returning home after school when she realized she had left her workbook behind and headed back to the classroom.

She found Goo Hui-yeong, already changed into her gym clothes instead of her wet uniform, crying in the empty classroom.

Seol-rae grabbed her workbook and left without saying a word, but she couldn’t forget Goo Hui-yeong’s face as she cried so sadly.

Thump-

Seol-rae got up from her seat and walked to the back where the lockers were.

‘Wow! Our Pig-yeong [derogatory nickname combining “pig” and Hui-yeong’s name] dances so well.’

‘Look at her fat jiggling! So disgusting. She probably smells like a pig.’

‘Can you move!’

Seol-rae said to Ira-mi and her gang, who were surrounding and mocking Goo Hui-yeong. The girls’ gazes snapped to Seol-rae.

‘What?’

‘I said move so I can get my books. You’re blocking my locker.’

‘Ah! Is that so? Sorry. But can you wait a little bit? Our Pig-yeong’s performance will be over in just 1 minute and 30 seconds. You can watch with us.’

‘No! I need to study, so move.’

Ira-mi was momentarily flustered by Seol-rae’s confident words, but she soon moved out of the way.

And from the next day, Ira-mi’s gang’s target shifted from Goo Hui-yeong to Lee Seol-rae.

They put dirt in her locker and bag, tore up her textbooks, threw her gym clothes in the toilet, deliberately tripped her to cause injuries, etc.

Ira-mi and her gang bullied her in various ways, but Seol-rae was neither afraid nor intimidated.

That was what had been happening for the past week.

“Seol-rae, can’t you hear me? I said bring me that neck pillow.”

When Seol-rae stared at her silently, Ira-mi repeated her demand.

Then, Seol-rae took out her wireless earphones and plugged them into her ears as if to flaunt them, focusing on her studies.

“Ha! Isn’t she crazy?”

“She’s showing off just because she studies a little.”

“Ra-mi, we can’t let Lee Seol-rae get away with this, can we? Should we raise the stakes a bit?”

“I agree. We need to teach her a lesson.”

After a while, the homeroom teacher came in, and preparations for class were made. Class and breaks repeated, and soon lunchtime arrived.

Seol-rae was eating lunch and was leaving the cafeteria.

There were students who used to hang out with her and were considered friends, but they were now afraid of Ira-mi’s threats and avoided Seol-rae.

“Hey! Can you come with me for a second?”

“Let go!”

“Come quietly before you get hurt.”

Ira-mi and her gang grabbed Seol-rae’s arm and dragged her to a deserted garbage dump. Seol-rae tried to shake them off, but the girls were holding her tightly on both sides, so she couldn’t break free.

“Seol-rae, we’re classmates, so please do me a favor.”

“……”

“During English class later, me and the girls are going to sit right behind you, so write down our answers and pass them back to us.”

Today was the day of the English performance assessment.

The teacher would show a short video in English and have the students write a short essay in English about their impressions of it.

It wasn’t a big deal for Seol-rae, who was a strong student.

“You can do it, right?”

“Why should I?”

“Because we’re friends. Friends are supposed to help each other when they’re in trouble, right? Seol-rae, you’re smarter than us and study better, so you’re going to help us. Right?”

“Right. Ira-mi is so good at scheming, anyway.”

“We’re friends, right?”

Seol-rae stared intently at Ira-mi and her gang as she spoke.

“Of course, we’re friends. Aren’t we?”

“Do friends throw away each other’s textbooks and put dirt in each other’s lockers and bags?”

“Hey! That was a joke. Can’t friends even joke around? You’re so serious.”

“Lee Seol-rae, you only study, so you’re not very friendly. You’re supposed to become friends by joking around.”

“We’re not educated enough. Seol-rae, you should help us in the future. If you want to have a peaceful school life, we should help each other. So, I’m counting on you later.”

Ira-mi and her gang stroked Seol-rae’s hair, delivering a threat disguised as a request, and then left.

Tapping- Tapping-

Seol-rae, tapping the clear acrylic box in her school uniform skirt pocket, let out a long sigh and entered the classroom.

Behind the students who were bustling about, the bell rang to start class, and soon the English teacher entered the classroom.

“Okay! Today is the day of the performance assessment, right? Did everyone prepare well?”

“No.”

“Teacher? Is it very difficult?”

“It’s still a performance assessment, so it can’t be too easy to be evaluated.”

“No way.”

“Those who usually study will do well, and those who don’t won’t, right? Pass the papers back one by one.”

The English teacher passed the prepared papers to the students sitting in the front row.

Seol-rae, who was sitting in the back, also received a paper and passed it to Ira-mi, who was sitting right behind her.