Chapter 5 - Jennie Kim
*Jennie's POV*
I twisted and turned in my bed for the nth time. I have been trying to sleep for hours, but I can't. It's now three in the morning, and I haven't slept at all. For some reason, Lisa keeps invading my thoughts. Her face from Yesterday in the cafeteria; it was something I never saw before. The look in her eyes is something I can't seem to forget. She didn't say a word, but she was pleading. It felt like Lisa was asking me to help her and end her suffering. When she looked at me, I felt like someone had stabbed me. I wanted to talk to her, but Chaeyoung had to confront me, and then I lost the chance. Chaeyoung's words also keep replaying in my mind.
FLASHBACK
"What the hell was all that, Unnie?"
Chaeng calls me Unnie cause her family is friends with mine, so we have known each other since childhood.
"What do you mean?"
"The whole mess in the cafe. Was that really necessary?"
What happened in the cafe, I didn't expect it to turn out like that. I just wanted to annoy Lisa as usual, but it got out of hand. "I don't know. It got out of my hand."
"Seriously, Unnie? You know how your friends treat Lisa, and Jongin basically puts on an act to show off to you."
She is right.
"Unnie," She held my hand before continuing, "I know you don't want to continue bullying Lisa. I doubt you liked that in the first place because if you did, you wouldn't have asked me to save her in the whole cheating commotion. That would have gotten her expelled, but you didn't want that."
Her words are so accurate that it feels like daggers.
"So whatever it is, Unnie, stop hurting that girl. I don't understand why you even bully her! You are not that kind of person."
PRESENT
Why?
I ask this same question myself. Why do I bully Lisa? Many students in my school are just trash, unlike Lisa. Then why her? I think it all began around the first semester of high school. I wasn't feeling well during a test, so I couldn't prepare for it. But I had a reputation to keep. In my school, it's all about the ranks. It's technically a war between families, and if I don't hold the top position, my family will lose its position, among other families. And I know how much all that matters to my parents, so I decided to cheat. It was my first time, and I was caught. Luckily, only Mrs. Bae knew about it, but she called my dad, and they had a discussion. Mrs. Bae let me off the hook for one time and didn't cut my marks, so I was saved, but my dad decided to confront me in the school itself. He slapped me for the first time and yelled a lot, not because he was embarrassed in front of my teacher, but because I thought of cheating to get better grades. We were in the corridor and thought no one was around, but Lisa was there. She heard the whole thing. I was scared that she might tell anyone about this. I just wanted her to think it won't be a good idea to go against me, so I started bullying her. And it worked; she never did. But somewhere along the way, everyone started to mess with her. I thought it would eventually stop, but neither did others, nor did I.
My friends always asked me the same question, but I didn't have a proper answer, so I shrugged it off. Gradually, they assumed Lisa was not a good person. But Yesterday was too much.
Her eyes.
"Aagh!!!" I groaned. I can't forget about it at all. I need to talk to her. It's almost morning now. I will just talk to her Tomorrow.
