Make Him Pay

Nari was utterly surprised at what the geography teacher was telling her. She just kept on glancing back at the paper he handed her. It was her homework and it carried a lot of marks for assessment, so she couldn't believe that she actually got a D on it! She knew she wasn't all that smart and that she was never really good when it came to the subject but she would normally get a C or even a B once in a blue moon. She'd never gone below a C before, so how could she get a D now. She really thought that she understood the assignment and that it was easy. 'I guess I was wrong', she thought as she folded the piece of paper and stuffed it in her bag. She didn't even bother to go through it and shrugged everything off. After all, she only found out about the assignment a few minutes before the class began and did it in a hurry anyway.

She sighed once more before the geography teacher finally let her go. If things didn't go so well after this then she might actually have to end up studying! The thought alone made her shiver, 'Aaah my poor brain', she mused silently before she spotted Astrol exiting the girls toilet. Her eyes widened in surprise seeing that Astrol was no longer wearing their uniform but had put on her gym wear instead. Astrol quickly changed out of her uniform because she didn't want her friends finding out what happened. They'd already done enough for her. She was grateful to have met them but she also didn't want to burden them with her problems anymore especially not one involving a Kim.

Astrol briskly left the girls restroom but froze the instant her gaze locked with Nari's confused ones. Seeing that Nari was walking towards her, she quickly regained her composure. "Hey why are you still around?, didn't I tell you that I'd take long, and why the hell are you in your gym shorts?", Nari breathed all at once as soon as she stopped in front of Astrol. "Uhm...you see my school skirt got caught on something and ripped pretty badly. I thought that it'd be weird for me to wear the rest of my uniform with my gym shorts, so I decided to change completely", Astrol explained with a calm expression though her palms were already sweaty. She didn't like lying to her friends. "Sorry about that. I can help you fix it if you want", Nari offered as she attempted to take the bag Astrol was holding from her. "No! it's fine I can do it hehe", Astrol said with a forced smile as she tightened her hold on the bag. "Mm okay, let's leave then", Nari said pulling Astrol along, and Astrol let out a sigh of relief, thankful that Nari didn't press further on the matter.

...

Weeks had already gone by, and as expected Astrol was cruelly dealt with. There was nothing she didn't go through these past few weeks. She thought she was bullied in the past?, ha! Kim Minho made those look like child's play compared to what she was going through now. She got punished numerous times because her notes were constantly being torn apart, her locker had gotten infested with lots of disgusting insects that she had to start carrying all her books in her school bag back and forth especially during book check week.

Her assignments were also missing, her grades were dropping and she was down to the last straw before she completely lost her scholarship. Her bicycle was being constantly trashed as well so she had resulted to walking, and that was just to list a few. Her friends had noticed her struggles, no matter how much she tried to hide it, so she started leaving school early in order to avoid their questions. She would normally text them saying Nanny Yu was sick, and giving other well-versed excuses. It was easy for her to escape them because teachers had kept Nari busy while Xander and Bora were in different classes. There was nothing she didn't go through these past few weeks and she knew it was just the beginning. The notes kept on coming as well. Those were the worst ones and it was always signed...by him.

Classes for the day was over, and Nari had to wait behind again. It was the 5th time that week, and Astrol couldn't help but worry. She couldn't even help Nari with her grades since she was kept well 'occupied' these days. As usual, Astrol attempted to leave school as early as she could. Last night Bora had called asking her to come with her to her favorite pizza place. Astrol tried turning her down, but Bora kept on insisting. Nari was really busy with her dropping grades, so she was Bora's last resort. So, there Astrol was, trying to escape the meet up. She noticed Bora wasn't herself lately and truly wanted to accompany her but she just couldn't, not in the state she was in. What if Kim Minho tried getting to her when Bora was around? Bora would definitely not let it slide and might be pulled into her mess. She couldn't let that happen, not when Bora already looked so out of it.

In the end, Astrol failed at her attempt in escaping her. It was like Bora already knew she would do this and give flimsy excuses later. She could only sigh in defeat as she got into Bora's car and they headed for the pizza place. When they arrived, they ordered some pizza and talked for a while. It felt nice hanging out with a friend again after weeks of self isolation. Bora excused herself to go to the restroom, leaving Astrol staring after her. Astrol's gaze landed on Bora's phone. She'd noticed that Bora's expression became grieve the instant she read a message she had received a while ago. Worried, Astrol took Bora's phone to try and see if she could somehow see what the message was about. She didn't know Bora's password, but was pleasantly surprised to see that her phone was still open. She quickly clicked on the WeChat icon and her face turned dark as she read through the hurtful messages that Bora had received. She scrolled up and her expression became darker as she read the message 'You're it' along with the name attached.

Astrol immediately stood and went after Bora. Bora had been in the lady's restroom for far too long already, and just like she'd predicted, though she hoped she was wrong, Bora was sitted on the restroom floor, her face buried in her hands as she sobbed bitterly. Astrol knelt before her and pulled her into a comforting hug. Bora looked surprised and pulled away from Astrol, trying to think of a lie she could tell her, but Astrol already confronted her about what she saw on her phone and she realized that there was no point in lying. Thus, Bora sat crying while Astrol tried her best to comfort her. She didn't fail to notice the way Bora's hands were clutched to her chest, and she realized that she was holding something. She took in a sharp inhale on realizing that the object Bora was holding was the necklace Bora's dad had given to her before he passed away. Xander also had the same but his was a bracelet. She was even more infuriated seeing that it was broken. "Did...did that monster break this!", Astrol yelled. When she only heard Bora cry harder, she fisted her palms tightly, her veins popping. "That scumbag, how dare he?, how dare he?!", Astrol yelled louder. Hell no, he'd really crossed the line now and she was going to teach him a lesson...she was going to make him pay!