마음의 고통 (P.O.T.H) LookismxOc

Ch. 1 New Kid

The picture is of Vasco (Euntae), for people who don't know. Welcome to my story, btw. I've been writing this because I actually enjoy it a lot. Lookism a an amazing webtoon, and deserves a lot of attention. If you clicked on this not knowing what Lookism is, I definitely recommend reading it. At least so you know the characters well. But I'll try my best to describe them for you, and I'll add pictures as the chapter cover.

I walk across the cafeteria, weaving through people and quickly making my way to the back. I walk to an area that people avoid, students not even glancing in the direction of the area in fear. I slide into a spot between two guys and shove a large bite of rice into my mouth without a word.
"What's wrong, Maiya? Did someone do something to you?"
I look up, meeting Vasco's worried eyes. I scan them for a second and then smile, shaking my head with a sigh. Vasco was a large guy, but not in a fat way. He was tall, with a good, great, amount of muscles. Tattoos covered a lot of his body, making him look a lot scarier than he actually is. If you know him well enough, you'll learn that he's actually just a large kid. Some people even say he's not the sharpest tool in the shed.
"No one said anything. I'm just grumpy that I don't get a Burn Knuckles jumper." I say, making Jace laugh. Jace was Vasco's closest friend, always looking out for him. He had large ears, hair gelled up and a grin ever present on his lips. He was the brains to Vasco's brawn, the jelly to his peanut butter. Jace grins and claps my back, comfortingly.
"You're not in the Architecture apartment, Mai." Jace says, smiling brightly. I sigh, taking a long sip of my juice.
"I still want one..." I mope, sighing again. "I feel so discluded." Vasco frowns, looking at me seriously.
"We will find you one." He says, a nod to seal his promise. Jace blinks, shocked that Vasco said that, and I beam at him. I quickly wrap my arms around Vasco, giving him a tight hug.
"Yay! I'll be an official part of Burn Knuckles!" I say, grinning up at him. Vasco was frozen under my arms, not moving a inch as I touched him.
"Yeah, you'll be our mascot." Jace says, pulling me off of Vasco. "Now shut up and eat your food." I happily oblige, taking another bite of my rice.
"Did you hear about the new guy?" I ask, glancing at them as I eat. "Supposedly, he's really handsome."
"I don't like handsome people." Vasco mumbles, shoving some food in his mouth grumpily. Jace nods in agreement and I roll my eyes at them, bumping our shoulders.
"You're both handsome people, so you don't like yourselves?" I ask, tilting my head at them. "That's pretty strange if you ask me. I like handsome people."
"..." Vasco blushes and Jace rolls his eyes at me.
"Yeah, we don't like you either." He says, eyes flickering across my face as he scans my appearance. "You're much too beautiful." I gasp, putting my hand on my chest in shock.
"How could you say that?!" I say, hiding my smile as Vasco watches confused.
"He wasn't trying to be mean, Maya." Vasco tries to explain, eyes worried about me. "He was just complementing you." I laugh, taking a sigh of relief to play along.
"Thanks, Vasco. Jace really hurt my feelings for a second!" I say, winking at Jace as he rolls his eyes. Vasco nods, eyes bright with happiness at his heroic deed. Jace steals some food off my plate as revenge, giving me a pointed smile as he shoves it into his mouth.
"But, getting back to the new guy, I heard that he came from the some inner city school." I say, taking another drink of my juice. "I wonder what he's like."
"Probably like every other handsome guy." Jace says, shrugging without any effort. "We've got enough of that, too much even. I wish he was ugly."
"But I want to see for myself." I say, setting my shoulders defensively. "Burn Knuckles are fair and just. We can't just assume he's going to be some stuck up bully."
"..." A lone tear drips down Vasco's eye, as he looks at me proudly. "Well said."
"I'm going to try and talk to him." I say, smiling at Vasco as I stand to throw away my tray. "I'll report back if I learn anything." Vasco nods and watches me walk away.

After throwing away my left over food, which wasn't much, I approached the new guy's table cautiously, a crowd of girls around him. Zoe held them off, but they loomed just out of her reach. I walk confidantly, glancing back at Vasco and Jace who watched me just in case I needed help. I give them a smile, with a small salute. Zoe sees me before the new kid does, eyes scanning my appearance and she shakes her head at me.
"Mai... You'd be so beautiful if you tried a little." She tells me, clicking her tongue sadly. I smile, waving at her as I walk closer.
"Nice to see you too, Zoe. It's been a while." I say, keeping my eyes on hers. She nods, giving me a small smile.
"Have you met Daniel yet?" She asks, looking at him brightly. "This is Mai Min, Danny. She's really popular. Cute, in a messy way." I ignore her insulting complements, smiling at Daniel. I scan his face, my heart stopping slightly. I curse silently about my weakness for a handsome face.
Everyone was right. He was perfect in every way. His hair rested just above his eyes, pushed over slightly. From his bone structure to his lean muscles, he was absolutely beautiful. But I didn't allow myself to blush, remembering my mission. I was supposed to scope him out, not fall in love... His eyes scanned me as I did the same to him, his creamy pale cheeks heating up adorably.
"I'm Daniel Park." He says, offering me his hand quickly. I take it, smiling brightly as I shake it.
"It's nice to meet you, Daniel. I'm Maiya Min." I say, introducing myself. "I'm from the Vocal and Dance department."
"Oh, that's cool!" He says, eyes widening in an adorable childlike excitement. "You sing?"
"Yeah, but I've been working on my rapping at lot lately with another student." I say, smiling proudly. "I've also been studying hip hop style dancing." His eyes basically lit up with admiration.
"That's awesome!" He says, making my smile widen. "I wish I could do that!"
"I bet you could, if you practice hard enough!" I say, giving him a thumbs up. "Don't be afraid to start working for something you want in life!" He nods quickly, eyes holding onto mine tightly.
"Yo! Mai!" I glance back, seeing Vasco and Jace waiting for me at the cafeteria doors. "Hurry up!"
"Okay!" I say, waving at them. I turn back to Daniel, smiling at him warmly. "It was nice to meet you, Daniel. I hope that we can talk more later."
"Y-Yeah." He nods, blushing slightly. "See you later, Mai."
"Bye!" I say, waving as I run off to catch up with the crew.