to school tomorrow.” Yena delivered the edict and hung up without giving Miyoung a chance to reply.
21
SCHOOL WAS TORTURE. Well, more intense torture than normal.
Miyoung sat across the aisle, face worn, purposefully ignoring him. But at least she’d come back to class. Jihoon made note of her sallow skin and sweaty brow. It worried him. She’d told him gumiho couldn’t get sick. So what was making her look so pale?
Jihoon stewed over it as he walked back from the school store with Changwan, arms loaded with snacks. Then he stopped short, noticing Miyoung walking down the hall. She saw him, then swerved right, entering the girls’ restroom. Obviously avoiding him.
“She’s still ignoring you?” Changwan asked.
“What are you talking about?” Jihoon failed miserably at playing dumb.
“Everyone knows.” Changwan shrugged. “There’s a bet about when she’ll break up with you.”
“You can’t end something that’s never begun,” Jihoon said as he positioned himself to wait outside the bathroom. “Here, take my snacks back to the room for me, will you?”
Changwan took the bags of chips and candy, wished his friend luck, and continued on to class.
“What are you doing out here? Being a perv?” Baek Hana stuck her nose in the air as she pushed open the door.
“Last I checked, this wall was open to the public.”
Hana rolled her eyes and let the door close in his face.
Another two minutes passed before Jihoon gave up, annoyed. What was he doing? Waiting out here just to get yelled at or ignored, or worse.
He had started to leave when he heard a shout from inside. He pushed open the bathroom door in time to see Hana shove Miyoung so hard she slammed into the tile wall.
“Must be nice to have a rich mom who can pay to fix your mistakes,” Hana said. “Even when those mistakes are attempted murder.”
Miyoung didn’t answer. Her head hung low so her hair curtained her face.
“Ya! Did you hear what I said?” Hana shoved Miyoung into the wall again; this time her head cracked against the tile. “My cousin lives in Gwangju. When I sent him your photo, he said he knew you, but you had a different name. Did you change it because you tried to kill that girl?”
Somin stood in the corner, drying her hands calmly. She acted as if nothing was amiss in the small bathroom.
“What are you doing?” Jihoon asked. All three girls glanced up at him.
“Oh shut up, Ahn Jihoon. I know you have a thing for her.” Hana sneered. “Has she told you about why she got kicked out of her old school? She’s an attempted murderer.”
Still ignoring the scene, Somin threw her paper towel in the trash. Jihoon whipped out a hand to stop her. “Somin-ah, I’m disappointed in you.”
“What?” Somin’s eyes widened.
“You should have stopped this,” Jihoon said.
“You have no right to judge what I do,” Somin retorted. “Not when you’re obviously keeping secrets from me and shutting me out!”
Jihoon didn’t know what to say to that, but he didn’t get a chance to reply as Somin shoved past him and stormed out.
“You should leave, too, Hana. If you don’t want me to tell Miss Kwon what I saw.”
Hana huffed indignantly, but she still slunk out, avoiding Jihoon’s eyes as she left.
Jihoon inspected Miyoung for injuries.
“Are you hurt?” He tucked her hair aside to see her face.
She shoved his hands away, like a petulant child refusing a parent’s care. “I wouldn’t have hurt them.”
“I didn’t stop them because I was afraid of what you’d do. I did it because they were wrong.”
Miyoung’s eyes darted to the side nervously.
“Don’t worry, she won’t come back,” Jihoon reassured her.
A small whimper escaped Miyoung’s throat, and her shoulders began to shake. Her eyes moved right and left like she followed invisible shadows he couldn’t see.
Jihoon frowned. He worried the blow to her skull had confused her. Could gumiho get concussions?
“It’s true.” Miyoung’s voice broke on the words.
“What’s true?”
“That girl. She thought I stole her boyfriend. He dumped her because he thought he was in love with me, stupid human boy.” Her expression soured. Still a flash of heat burst in Jihoon’s chest, the fleeting embrace of jealousy.
“She wouldn’t stop bothering me after that. She turned the whole school against me.”
Jihoon kept silent. He knew she needed to get her story out. His halmeoni always said things like this were better out than in.
“I got too emotional. I just wanted her to leave me alone. She was so close and I could hear her heart beating. I