HIS GREAT DEPRESSION.

2; fire and passion in this heart of mine

Maybe it's because of the sock she threw at Mrs. Shin after saying she was a goat turd: round. Or perhaps it was the flicking of the aeroplane at Mr. Kim, and the explanation of "I'm a bloody pilot." Though it could have been when she refused the Science assessment, claiming a fashion designer doesn't need to learn anything about forces and magnetic fields. 

Whatever. Jennie can only conclude, she hates caning.

Jennie Kim is rigid and perverse (not in that way!) and indocile. She's sharp, electrical bursts of power and freedom, nothing like the gleamy, serene town they live in. Jennie is heat and passion, burning and purpose, glistening and craving. Similar to fire, a wild rage that never stops, not until you cool it down with ice cold sting.

After caning, it was lunch for her. Baked beans, coffee and white bread. Boring, dull, dingy. She wanted flavour, she wanted it like her. She wanted excitement, something the hazy town couldn't provide, especially with everyone moving in. Apparently the economy was worsening by the minute and everyone frantically were scowering for jobs and chances to earn money.

Jennie joins her two friends Lalisa and Chaeyoung. The two were surprisingly conversing with low hushes, and Jennie scrunches up her face in confusion. Didn't these two, like, always bicker and never stop?

Settling down on her cafeteria seat, she pats Chaeyoung's shoulder, who completely overlooked her arrival. The latter whips her head to Jennie, pressing into a soft smile as Jennie starts to gobble down her rich coffee. 

"Hey, Jen," she mumbles, and Jennie's face crinkles up once more. To think of it, the whole room was of dreary and whispers.

"What happened?" she manages over the chewing of her bread. "Everyone is so...dull today."

Lisa's fleeting look at Chaeyoung doesn't manage to escape her eyes, and Jennie's even more concerned when the former starts shading her eyes under her lids. Jennie raptures the table, making both girls flinch shockingly.

"What happened?" Quietly, she repeats.

Chaeyoung shifts awkwardly in her seat, then whispers lowly, in her thick Aussie accent, "People are moving in to our houses now the whole economy is collapsing. Not nicely, though, apparently there was some mad–looking guy that broke into Mr. Min's house and stole some rations for himself. Got to be careful, Jen."

Jennie scoffs at her statement. "Bunch of bloody nonsense," while rolling her eyes. "Just fight back, it isn't hard?"

"Not everyone is as confident neither strong–willed like you, Jen," Lisa muzzles Jennie's loud voice with her wisdom. Not everyone is as headstrong and forceful, they can't get what they want, they don't risk pricking the needle just because they're curious.

"Got to at least fight back!" Jennie huffs back into her seat.

Lisa and Chaeyoung share sighs, before nibbling on their food anxiously.

Jennie wolfs hers down. There's something she needs to do before lunch ends.

;

The library is closed today, but Jennie heaves on the wooden door toughly and it wheezes open, a blackened path etched faintly in the room. She flicks the lights on quietly with no hesitation, and enters the solemn room, scouring the shelves and racks for a certain book.

When she finds it, she settles it down onto the librarian desk nearby and flicks to its content. The chapter she needs is eventually turned to, and she narrows her eyes at the small font.

"How to wash your clothes...place your clothes in...crank the handle...ugh, this is complicated!" she yells in frustration. Immediately, she clamps her hand over her mouth and darts her eyes to check if anyone noticed.

"Jennie Kim, exactly what are you doing in the closed library?" A shrill voice shrieks from behind.

Wow, another round of caning for her.