章節 4: The Girl and Her Unwanted Popularity

"Lee Cheonsa! Lee Cheonsa!"

A few boys gathered in front of the school gate, waving their hands wildly as if trying to catch someone's attention.

A peculiar and helpless expression crossed Yeo Ri's face.

As she neared the gate, she politely greeted them. "...Good morning."

After her greeting, the boys broke into cheers. According to the way they acted, some might even mistake that a celebrity had come. Yeo Ri lowered her head awkwardly, power-walking. Although this happened almost every day, it was hard to get used to it. The boys really seemed to like overreacting to her every action. Honestly, she even felt a bit uncomfortable. However, she knew that they meant no harm so she simply left them be.

She quickly headed towards her classroom, hoping that no other boys would come to bother her.

"Yeo Ri, are you okay?" A girl's voice greeted from behind. She immediately reached Yeo Ri's side and grabbed her hand. Then, the two headed towards their classroom together.

"Min Chae," a smile appeared as Yeo Ri greeted the other girl. It was Goo Min Chae, her best friend of three years.

Min Chae knew that Yeo Ri did not like the attention that the boys gave her, but with her looks, it was hard for the boys to not be attracted. Yeo Ri was a nice girl, so she never voiced it out, but thanks to her inaction, a lot of misunderstandings and uncomfortable situations tended to occur.

"Gosh, I wish they would stop calling me 'Lee Cheonsa'. What 'angel'? They're speaking nonsense," Yeo Ri complained. They called her by that nickname so frequently that some people even started thinking that it was her actual name. She leaned into the taller girl, hugging her arm in a spoiled manner.

"Yes, yes~" Min Chae laughed at her cutesy behaviour. "Geez, you sure are popular, huh? Any other girl would have been happy to be in your position, Ptooey!"

"You want it? Have it! Here, here~" Yeo Ri shoved Min Chae with her shoulder, but still kept a hold on her arm. The two girls laughed and spent the whole trip to the classroom joking around.

"Hey, Lee Yeo Ri!" A rude female voice called out to her just as they entered the classroom.

The sound of a chair scraping could be heard as the girl who sat by the backdoor pushed her seat backwards. She stood up and crossed her arm on her chest, glaring with the intent to intimidate. "I keep telling you, keep your d*mn fanboys quiet! Do you think people like hearing so much noise this early in the morning?!"

Yeo Ri flinched at her shouting, and unconsciously took a step back. "Sorry, I'll tell them to stop doing it. But, you're mistaken. They're not my fanboys." Yeo Ri attempted to smile, but the look in the girl's eyes reminded her of things she did not want to remember.

The girl sneered, as if she had heard the most ridiculous thing ever. "It must be nice to be pretty, huh? Do you take me for a fool?!" The girl jabbed Yeo Ri harshly on her shoulder, pushing her back.

"Hey, Park Jin Ae! You're going to far!" Seeing her best friend getting pushed around, Min Chae immediately lost her patience. She shielded Yeo Ri and shoved the rude girl away. Then, she turned around and checked up on her friend. "Are you okay, Yeo Ri?"

Park Jin Ae, having been pushed, became angry. Fortunately, the two were only grabbing each other's hair before being pulled away by some concerned schoolmates.

"Hey, hey, hey! Break off the fight! Why are you girls doing this to me so early in the morning?! Can't stop causing trouble, huh?!" As soon as they separated, the homeroom teacher intervened. She clicked her tongue, hitting the two fighting girls with the clipboard she was carrying.

"Teacher!" Yeo Ri exclaimed in relief. She was worried that Min Chae might get into trouble again because of her, so she was glad that the fight did not take place. She greeted the teacher with a bow, and scampered away to her seat with Min Chae in tow.

Park Jin Ae clicked her tongue and cursed, but since the teacher was here, she did not dare to act out.

Yeo Ri and Min Chae sat next to each other in class, so as soon as they sat down, Yeo Ri immediately examined her friend. Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the girl except for her ruffled hair, Yeo Ri used her fingers to tidy up the girl's bangs and smoothened out her hair. "Are you okay?" She asked under her breath.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. But Yeo Ri-ah, next time when that b*tch picks a fight with you, you should just beat her up, okay?" Thinking back to the earlier altercation, Min Chae could not help but grind her teeth. That b*tch, Park Jin Ae, was really getting on her nerves. "What's her fricking problem? Always picking on you."

Yeo Ri flashed a reluctant smile, "I have no idea either."

Yeo Ri really didn't know why Park Jin Ae kept hounding her. There were rumours going around that she had stolen Park Jin Ae's boyfriend, but Yeo Ri herself had no idea about it. What stealing her boyfriend? She didn't even know who Park Jin Ae's boyfriend was! Even if she did, she wouldn't go after him. After all, her heart was already occupied.

"Well, even if she keeps doing it, I'll just have to beat her up," Min Chae flashed an unruly smile. There was an evil glint in her eyes and Yeo Ri knew that the next time Park Jin Ae messed with them, it wouldn't just end with hair-pulling.

"Please don't," Yeo Ri pulled at the girl's sleeve, attempting to dissuade her from committing any crimes to the other girl.

Min Chae was about to reassure her friend, but one death glare from their homeroom teacher told her that she should keep her mouth shut if she still wanted to go home after school.