THE TRANSFER STUDENT

Realisation, Pt. 2

"Lalisa Manoban from Class 12B, please report to the principal's office now."

The announcement was broadcast on the school speaker the very next morning. Jieun had literally just stepped into class and that was the very first thing she heard.

She immediately knew what it was all about.

"Yoojung," Jieun grabbed Yoojung by the shoulder. "What happened?"

Yoojung shrugged. "I just arrived not too long ago. You alright? Why didn't you pick up my phone calls yesterday?"

"Now's not the time for that," Jieun frowned, looking around. "Where's Lisa?"

Yoojung shrugged again. "Not in school yet, I suppose. Or maybe she doesn't intend to come, especially not after what happened yesterday-"

Jieun frowned. If it wasn't Yoojung... "Where's Jungkook?"

At that very moment, Jungkook came walking into the class.

"Jungkook," Jieun approached him carefully. "What did you do? Did you..."

"I did," Jungkook said quietly. "You said you'd trust me to handle it, so I did. I turned her over with the evidence Taehyung captured."

"What?!" Jieun exclaimed. "But I told you she's in a tough situation too, I don't want her to be expelled, I was expecting you to-"

"To what?" Jungkook said nonchalantly. "To turn a blind eye to this whole matter? To ignore everything she did to you? If she's not expelled, you were gonna get expelled, Jieun."

Jieun's eyes widened. "Huh?"

Yoojung walked over, looking at Jieun sheepishly. "Jieun, to be very honest... The reason why you could stay on after being accused of stealing Hoseok's watch was because..."

"Because I told the principal I'd hand over the real culprit before the exams were over," Jungkook completed Yoojung's sentence. "If I didn't, you'd be expelled after the exams, and so would I."

"What?!" Jieun exclaimed once more. "You did all that and you didn't tell me?!"

"He didn't want you to worry, Jieun," Yoojung spoke up. "We all kept it from you... for your own good. We just wanted to catch the culprit quickly and turn her in, so that your name will be cleared."

"You still should have told me, shouldn't you?" Jieun was angrier than she thought she would. "You shouldn't have kept it from me! I know you guys meant it for my own good... but to think of how much stress it must have placed on your shoulders..."

Jieun sank down into her chair.

All this while, while she was happily studying, her friends were dealing with the pressure of finding the culprit alone? No wonder they seemed so hard up on finding the culprit... Yoojung once told her it was for "peace of mind"... but it was actually all for her sake.

Jieun buried her face in her hands and felt Jungkook take his seat next to her. Then she realised she was upset with not only them, but herself. She wanted to stand up and leave, but Jungkook spoke.

"This is how your parents would feel," Jungkook said quietly.

Jieun looked up. "What?"

"I mean," Jungkook continued. "We kept these secrets from you, not wanting to worry you. But when you found out after it all happened, you're mad, aren't you?"

Jieun frowned. "So?"

"You do realise you're doing the same thing to your parents, don't you," Jungkook said quietly. "I'm not trying to find excuses for what I did, but you're doing the exact same thing to your parents. Not telling them anything that's going on in your life for fear of them finding out. But when they do find out, they'd be so heartbroken, Jieun."

Jieun swallowed hard. "Stop talking."

"I'm sorry," Jungkook continued. "I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you. I had good intentions after all. We all did. But sometimes, good intentions don't mean that what we do is always for the best. Think about it, Jieun. You know I'm right."

Jieun couldn't answer him.

She had just experienced first hand what it felt like to be kept in the dark about something and finding out after it was all over.

And it didn't feel good.