PERFECT EQUATION | 𝙠.𝙩𝙝

10 [ sweat ]

 𝙍𝙮𝙡𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 her forehead as she untied her black belt from her waist.

She grabbed her bag and untied her gi before bowing at the dojo entrance. "Bye, Master," she called as she exited the dojo.

Ryleigh took out her phone and quickly texted her mother, letting her know Rye was on her way home.

Then the sophomore grabbed her helmet and flew across the road on her black and red bike.

She and Myung had agreed to forget all about the fight, and Myung promised reluctantly to not interfere with her and Taehyung's relationship.

Ryleigh still felt bitter about her brother but it was better than nothing.

The wind whipped Ryleigh's hair as she glided down the hill, enjoying the crisp coldness of the air. The air sent sharp shivers on her skin.

After a few minutes she finally arrived at home. The lights downstairs were off, so Rye assumed her family was upstairs already.

As she passed her brother's room, she could see the light was still on, and heard some muttering.

Ryleigh pressed her ear against the door.

"-does he think he is?" came Myung's voice. There was no reply, so Rye assumed he was on the phone.

"They're dating, Seok." Myung's voice was dry and laced with resentment.

Ryleigh pulled herself away immediately, anger pulsing in her veins. She quietly stalked away into her room.

After she showered, Rye fell onto her bed. After a few moments, she was sound asleep.

"What the-" Ryleigh gasped as she ran inside the school gates. The school day hadn't started yet, so all the students were waiting outside.

Everybody was forming a large circle, holding their phones and filming something. Rye rushed inside the gate and pushed her way through the crowd.

To her horror, Tae was crouched down, his hands over his head. Ryleigh could see he was shaking.

Sneering at him was Areum and her gang. Ryleigh took a deep breath as anger bubbled deep inside of her heart.

"Tae-" she cried out as she ran towards him. Taehyung looked up. His face was still terribly bruised but to Ryleigh's relief, it didn't look like he was hurt.

"Look, here's the b-"

"You want to see one? Look in the mirror," Ryleigh snapped immediately, standing up. She brushed her legs off and faced Areum.

Areum was crossing her arms, an innocent look plastered onto her face like a mask. Ryleigh knew in a few moments, the mask would slip right off.

"I don't get what he sees in you," Areum purred, her voice slathered in honey. "I can love him better."

"If you love him so much, why are you doing this to him?" Rye's voice suddenly lost all of its anger, leaving exhaustion and sadness. "Why?"

Areum cringed. Panic rose in her eyes as she searched for words to say.

"Don't pluck them out of the air, use your own," Ryleigh said, a sliver of annoyance seeping into her voice.

"I don't know," Areum whispered, her arms hugging her body. Slowly Areum's minions backed off, sensing this was a sensitive moment.

Areum took a step towards Ryleigh. "I-I guess I've been so caught up with being perfect that I lost sight of what I really wanted," Areum stammered as understanding flooded Rye.