nobody knows | hierarchy

16. trio

There was no reason for Bitna to be late, but there was also no reason for her to arrive at the party on time. She decided to wear bright pink dress pants, which stood out from her usual black or beige ones. For shoes, she decided to go with a basic black pair of block heels which would match her open-back black sleeveless turtleneck. Silver jewelry was her favorite, but bright pink went better with gold, so she put on a few rings and bracelets.

"Sorry I stood you up yesterday, Ha," Bitna apologized as soon as he sat in her car, "My brother had to go somewhere and my parents weren't home."

"This is the third time you apologized for yesterday," Kang Ha chuckled as the girl pulled out of his driveway, "If I were mad at you, trust me, I wouldn't be sitting in your passenger seat right now."

"Any special plans for tonight?" Bitna asked.

"Your place," Kang Ha replied with a smirk.

"No flirting when I'm behind the steering wheel, or I'll kill us both on purpose," Bitna warned. This wasn't the first time, and Kang Ha was already well acquainted with her simple rule, yet he always seemed to forget about it when he saw her.

"let's switch seats, then," Kang Ha suggested, "Then I'll be able to flirt with you all I want."

"We're not switching, and you're keeping your mouth shut until we arrive at the party," Bitna replied.

The rest of the ride was silent, but not the uncomfortable kind. They both liked how they could be quiet in each other's presence and feel as comfortable as if they were talking.

Bitna parked the car not too far from the venue and the two got out to meet the other scholarship students.

"Why are you here?" a girl asked Bitna shyly, "Aren't you one of the elites?"

"There's no reason for me to not talk to you just because I'm labeled as an elite," Btina replied with a small smile, "Half of them treat me worse than they treat you, anyway."

"Let's get going," Kang Ha said before grabbing Bitna's hand and leading the group inside. He noticed Yoon Hera and Lee Woojin immediately and went to greet them, pulling Bitna along.

"Hello, Yoon Hera," the boy said, "thanks for inviting me and all the other scholarship students."

"Maybe it's the suit," Hera said out of nowhere, "You seem different today too, puppy."

"Maybe because she's beside me," Kang Ha replied.

"Keep to yourselves," Woojin warned, taking Bitna by surprise. She knew the boy liked Hera, but to turn into Rian because Kang Ha spoke to her was a little unnecessary in Bitna's opinion.

"We should have fun and enjoy ourselves since we're here," Kang Ha replied before leaving the three elites to themselves.

"You look different, Yoon Hera," Bitna commented, knowing she'd get under Hera's skin, "Maybe it's the dress or the fact that you're not wearing any complicated jewelry."

"I'm always well-dressed, so I don't know what you're referring to," Hera replied, acting oblivious to what Bitna was trying to say.

"We both know what I mean, Yoon Hera," Bitna smirked before turning on her heel and walking away. She didn't know where Kang Ha went, so she roamed until she saw him talking to Juwon upstairs.

It wouldn't hurt to go up there and talk to them, right? Bitna concluded that would probably be the best decision.

As soon as she stood next to the two, the girl put her hands on their shoulders, "Don't worry Juwon, his goal is the same as ours."

"How did you know we were talking about that?" Kang Ha asked.

"I noticed how uncomfortable Juwon looked, so I figured it out," Bitna replied, "What does he want from you, Moss?"

"Nothing, for now," Juwon replied, "Probably some videos later, but that will be discussed somewhere more private."

"Let's go down, someone might get the right idea," Bitna said before leaving the two and walking down to the main floor.

"You like her, don't you?" Kang Ha asked Juwon.

"She's the closest thing I've had to a friend if we leave Inhan out of the picture," Juwon replied, "Don't worry, she's all yours."

As soon as the two got down to the main floor, the gates opened and a car drove in slowly.

"What's going on?" Kang Ha whispered to Bitna, "Was this a part of the party?"

"That's Kim Rian's car," Bitna replied, "I'm guessing Jaei is in there with him, or at least I hope he's not narcissistic enough to make such an entrance to a party that isn't his."

As glad as she was to see Jaei get out of that car, which meant she wouldn't be going to New York anytime soon, she hated the fact that Kim Rian grabbed her hand as if they were dating.

Yoon Hera hated that because she liked Rian and seemingly had a lot against Jaei, but Bitna hated that because she knew there would be no way Jaei wouldn't try to stop her from ruining her boyfriend.

"Yoon Hera, I hope this answers your question," Kim Rian told her, "This is official. Jaei and I are starting over. We're going to tell our families too.

You'll just ruin each other. Bitna wouldn't have to do much, considering she knew Jaei's dad would probably send her away after finding out she was dating his enemy's son. The girl just had to wait and see, and hope Kang Ha would do the same.

"From now on, nobody better go anywhere near her in my presence," Rian turned to look at Kang Ha, and Bitna knew he was shocked when he saw them standing next to each other, "Especially you over there, scholarship kid."

Bitna's expression remained stoic, but she turned to look at Kang Ha when he asked Juwon, "You said I could have them all, right? All the videos you have, send them all to me."

Another thing she'd have to talk to him about when they got back to her apartment, maybe not that night, but he wouldn't be able to hide anything from her in the morning.