Mideum was extremely surprised that Joo Sung knew Ae-jin.
“Wait, how do you know Ae-jin?”
“Well, what happened was……”
While helping out as Friends’ manager, Joo Sung had been constantly searching for everything related to Friends, from YouTube to social media.
At first, he had only started looking because he was curious about the public’s reaction. But the malicious comments about Friends were much more serious than he had expected.
And there was one strange thing.
As he looked through the more vicious social media posts, he found quite a lot of bizarre comments about Mideum.
[Friends’ problem isn’t Gung-hwa. If Mideum’s bullying scandal breaks, Friends is probably done for.]
[Mideum has no conscience. How can she keep promoting as an idol after being a bully?]
At first, since most of the posts had been uploaded to sites based overseas, Joo Sung thought people were taking advantage of the fact that they could avoid punishment to spread malicious rumors.
But there were far more comments about Mideum’s school bullying than he had expected.
As he continued searching, thinking it strange, Joo Sung discovered one more odd thing.
Whenever a post about Mideum appeared, a rebuttal comment with nearly identical wording would follow.
[If you went to that school, you’d know Mideum was the biggest victim of them all. Weren’t you one of that group back then? If so, do you have any conscience?]
Comments with similar wording kept appearing.
Strangely, though, once one of those comments was posted, almost no additional comments followed.
Joo Sung searched through other social media platforms as well.
Similar rebuttals were being posted there, too, and the usernames also seemed similar.
In the end, Joo Sung contacted the person directly through a social media platform that allowed one-on-one conversations.
[Hello. I’m helping out with Friends’ management for a little while. Would you have a moment to talk?]
[What? Friends’ manager? Why are you contacting me……?]
[I’ll be honest with you. I’m not actually the manager. I’m a friend of the manager’s, and I’m helping out with the job right now. There have been a lot of malicious rumors about Friends lately, so I’ve been monitoring them. The rumors about member Mideum’s school bullying seem to be getting worse and worse.]
[Ah…… yes. It does seem that way.]
[I noticed you’ve been posting similar rebuttals on several social media platforms. I was hoping we could talk, so I reached out.]
[Does…… Mideum know about this, too?]
[I can’t say for certain that I know exactly what she knows, but given the current situation, I think it’s only a matter of time before Mideum finds out.]
[I’m busy right now…… Could we talk later?]
[Of course. But the situation seems pretty serious, so I’d appreciate it if you could contact me as soon as possible.]
[Okay, I will. And there’s one thing I know for certain: Mideum was the biggest victim of them all back then. Because…… she went through all that while trying to help me. I’ll tell you the rest separately later.]
“What? You’ve been messaging Ae-jin on social media, and you’re planning to meet her soon?”
“Yes. Ae-jin said the situation seemed serious and that she wanted to meet me as soon as possible.”
“No. This is my problem. I can’t drag Ae-jin into it. Absolutely not.”
After hearing Mideum, Joo Sung spoke in a slightly irritated tone.
“Ugh…… I’m just going to speak casually.”
Joo Sung paused to catch his breath before continuing.
“Your problem? Didn’t you just tell Ban Jeon you were going to leave because you were worried Friends would take a hit because of you? Do you really think this is going to end as just your problem?”
“……That’s true, but……”
“And I wasn’t even planning to meet her in the first place. I’m meeting her because Ae-jin asked to talk in person.”
Joo Sung looked at Mideum and asked,
“What on earth happened to you back then?”
Mideum seemed to sink into thought for a moment.
Then, one by one, she began pulling out memories from long ago.
“Class, we have a new student transferring into our class today~ Her name is Han Ae-jin. Ae-jin, why don’t you introduce yourself?”
“Hi. My name is Han Ae-jin. It’s nice to meet you…… And as you’ll come to learn, I was born with a health condition, so I’m not very good at physical activities like gym class. I’m telling you in advance so you won’t misunderstand. I hope we get along.”
‘Why would she go out of her way to say that? The other kids are just going to use it against her.’
That was what I thought when I first saw Ae-jin.
She clearly did have some kind of illness, judging by her pale skin and slender build.
And yet, despite that, she had an incredibly beautiful face.
That was the first moment I ever saw Han Ae-jin.
“Oh, and let’s see where Ae-jin will sit…… Hmm…… Mideum~ Mideum~.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Ah, the seat next to you happens to be empty. Ae-jin, you can sit over there beside Mideum. Mideum, please take good care of our transfer student.”
“……Yes.”
“Now, I’m sure all of you have plenty you don’t know about Ae-jin, so make sure to explain things kindly.”
“Yes!”
The boys’ answers were especially loud.
The moment the teacher left the classroom, all the boys crowded around Ae-jin.
“Ae-jin, what’s wrong with you?”
“If you’re sick, can you still play games? I’m really good at games~.”
“Ae-jin~ Then let’s sit out together during gym class.”
“Who says you get to sit out with her?”
Ae-jin seemed uncomfortable with the boys’ attention. She could do nothing but force a smile and remain silent.
I spoke up not because I was trying to help Ae-jin, but simply because I hated how noisy they were.
“Hey. Can’t you see you’re making Ae-jin uncomfortable? Get lost and go sit down.”
“Whoa…… Mideum, standing next to Ae-jin really makes the difference obvious. You two look like Beauty and the Beast. Seriously.”
The boys sneered at me before returning to their seats.
Ae-jin suddenly pulled out a notebook and wrote something with a mechanical pencil.
Then she slid a note onto my desk.
[I know you hate loud noises, so that’s why you sent them away like that. Thanks for helping me just now. And since we’re seatmates now, let’s get along.]
From that day on, Ae-jin and I became close incredibly quickly.
We lived in the same direction, so we always went to and from school together.
“Mideum, do you have a dream?”
“My dream? I don’t know. I want to inherit my dad’s taekwondo school and live comfortably~.”
“Oh, come on. What kind of dream is that?”
“Why? And what is Your Highness’s dream?”
Ae-jin was different from the other kids our age in so many ways.
She was bright, yet somehow dark in one corner of her heart. She was polite to everyone and always greeted the adults around her.
If princesses had really existed in the old days, I felt like Ae-jin would have been exactly like one.
So whenever it was just the two of us, I called her Your Highness.
Ae-jin didn’t seem to dislike it, either.
“Don’t laugh when you hear my dream.”
“Why would I laugh? Dreams exist so people can dream. Get it? Dream~.”
“I knew you’d say something like that, Mideum.”
Ae-jin thought for a moment before speaking.
“You know…… I want to become an idol or an actress.”
The first time I heard that, I thought, ‘Huh?’
But I did think it would be a loss for Korea to let a face like hers go to waste.
“Even you think it’s too big a dream, right?”
“Huh? No way.”
I said with a laugh,
“Just look at how all the boys in our class—and even the boys at our school—go crazy trying to talk to you. You’ve already got more than enough charm. I think you can make that dream come true.”
For the first time, Ae-jin smiled shyly, like a kid her age.
Then she said, her voice slightly excited,
“Actually, one of my dreams is for you and me to appear on TV together.”
I suddenly burst out laughing right there.
“What? You and me? What would I even do on TV? Oh, should I appear as a taekwondo instructor?”
“No. We could debut in the same group, or one of us could be an idol and the other an actress, and we could stay in touch.”
“Pfft—hahahaha! Ae-jin, me? An idol? An actress? Do you really think that would suit me?”
“Yes.”
Ae-jin answered so firmly that I was a little flustered.
“Mideum, you’re incredibly charming. Your looks, your personality…… How should I put it? You draw people in.”
Ae-jin looked at me seriously.
“You may not know it, but I can tell. If you became an idol, you’d definitely be popular.”
I had never even considered becoming an idol.
But it felt good to hear Ae-jin compliment me.
“Ae-jin, that’s something pretty, well-behaved girls like you do. I can’t.”
“Oh, you never know. We’re going to be late. Come on, let’s get inside.”
It was the moment Ae-jin and I opened the classroom door.
Suddenly, the boys started cheering for her.
“Woooow~ Ae-jin, as expected!”
“Who’s it from this time?”
Flowers and gifts had been left on Ae-jin’s desk.
Ae-jin was extremely flustered, while the boys teased her with a mix of playfulness and jealousy.
“Hey, cut it out. You’re making Ae-jin uncomfortable.”
“Here comes Ae-jin’s boss again. Hey, her bodyguard says knock it off.”
“Mideum’s starting again. This is boring.”
The boys each returned to their seats.
Ae-jin hurriedly put the flowers and gifts into her locker.
Then, just as she was about to sit down, our class president, Jihyun, was hesitating in front of us.
“Jihyun, what’s wrong? Did you want to say something?”
“Huh? No? Ah…… It’s…… Huh? Never mind.”
“Why are you acting so unlike yourself? What were you trying to say?”
As if she had made up her mind, Jihyun spoke to Ae-jin and me.
“No, it’s just…… I’m in the mood for tteokbokki today. Do you two want to go get some with me after school?”
Jihyun was responsible and kind, so the two of us readily agreed.
After school, we headed to a tteokbokki restaurant.
Even after the food we ordered arrived, Jihyun, who had suggested eating it, didn’t touch a single bite.
“Jihyun, what are you so worried about saying? Just tell us.”
“Ah…… Was it really that obvious?”
Ae-jin and I burst out laughing at the same time.
There was no way it couldn’t have been obvious.
I had never once heard that Jihyun had gone out to eat tteokbokki with anyone.
Jihyun got along well with everyone, but she didn’t seem to hang out with friends outside of school.
“I wasn’t sure whether I should say anything, but…… I thought I should just tell you.”
Ae-jin smiled and said,
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, Jihyun. Just tell us.”
“Ae-jin…… It’s about you.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yeah.”
Jihyun hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
“I always get to school first. So I came to the classroom first today, too, but…… I saw someone closing our classroom door as they left.”
“Oh~ So that must’ve been the person who left the flowers and gifts on Ae-jin’s desk.”
“Right. But the problem is…… Ugh.”
Jihyun let out a deep sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“That person probably doesn’t know me. But I know him very well.”
Jihyun’s expression hardened.
“He’s an upperclassman, one year ahead of us. There’s this senior named Yoonjin…… He’s a really bad person.”
Jihyun paused before forcing herself to continue.
“He’s that senior’s boyfriend…….”
The moment Jihyun finished speaking, Ae-jin’s face rapidly turned deathly pale.