Sunny

The girls were a mess. Promoting WILD, all while preparing for the tour, caused everyone to be exhausted. They were all pretty much living separately, which meant that the usual comfort of the other girls was greatly lessened. It was beginning to wear on their nerves more than they would like. So when the staff announced a few days off, allowing for vacation, everyone was thrilled.

Lara had texted Megan as soon as they got the news and arranged for a sleepover. Which is why Megan found herself bouncing excitedly on her bed. “I’m gonna see you in a minute,” Lara crooned on the other end of the phone. Megan glared playfully down at it as she fidgeted with her bag. “Do you have everything you need, baby? Your stuffed red panda? Pull-ups? PJ’s?” Her mama asked, and Megan nodded.

The other girl's tone dipped into a slightly stern one. “I can’t tell what the answer is,” Lara reminded, and Megan giggled. “Yeah, I do!!” She said excitedly, kicking her legs. “I’m pulling into the driveway,” Lara warned, and Megan squealed. She tugged her bag over one shoulder before running out to Lara’s car. The Indian girl was bobbing her head to music.

She waved excitedly at Megan, who clambered into the front seat. “Hi Mama,” She said as Lara pressed a kiss to her cheek. Megan gave her one back as they set off for Lara’s apartment. It was only a few blocks away, but Megan leaped to control the music. Once they were swinging into Lara’s complex's parking lot, they slid out of the car.

Lara waved at the doorman as Megan squeezed her hand. She yawned when Lara scooped her up in the empty elevator. “Oh, early night then.” The Indian girl teased, but instead of a giggle, it only elicited a scowl. “No!! It’s a slee’over. Awake all night,” Megan insisted, and Lara frowned.

She wasn’t exactly the kind of caregiver who would let attitude slide. But she knew how exhausted they both were, so she just clicked her tongue and rubbed Megan’s back. Megan nuzzled her face into her neck as they entered her apartment. Lara set her purse down before practically chucking Megan onto the bed.

The girl erupted into a fit of giggles as she squirmed into a sitting-up position and jutted her lower lip out. “You got me too late n nowww we have nuffin to do,” She accused, but it was veering towards bratty rather than playful. Lara frowned but focused on lightly tidying up rather than arguing.

Once she sat down on the bed, Megan was clambering into her lap, and they stayed that way for a few moments. “Dinner will be here soon, mkay? We’ll do movie time for now, and we can do other stuff tomorrow after we both get some rest,” Lara explained as she fiddled with the girl's new wolf cut. 

Megan scowled but became too distracted by the caregiver pulling out her stuffed red panda to speak up. She clutched it to her chest as Lara pulled up Turning Red, a recent favorite of all of the girls. “Mei!” She squealed, pointing towards the movie character as soon as she came onto the screen, and Lara chuckled. She pressed a quick kiss to the girl's neck before fiddling through her bag of fidgets and producing this cute pink heart one. Megan played with it as she bounced in Lara's lap.

The ramen arrived when they were close to halfway through the movie, and Lara handled everything while Megan carefully washed her hands. They sat down on the carpet with a blanket spread beneath them. “Ah Mei, it’s hot,” Lara warned, and Megan shoved a bite into her mouth anyway. Her eyes pricked with pained tears as her tongue burned, but she stubbornly kept eating.

She finished slurping down the ramen and waved her mouth frantically before downing a thing of strawberry milk Lara had gotten a few days ago. She then nuzzled into her caregiver, her attention returning to the TV. By the time Lara had finished her own bowl, the movie was almost over. 

Not only that, but Megan was yawning every few seconds, and her head drooped into Lara's lap. As soon as the ending credits began to roll, the indian girl was scooping her up. “Mama,” Megan whined sleepily, already fighting the urge to go to bed. Lara ignored the whine and just pressed a kiss to her cheek.

As soon as Megan was back in bed and they were getting ready, she crossed her arms and glowered at Lara. “No bed!” She declared and hit the pillow next to her. Laras' eyebrows flew into her hairline, and she didn’t hesitate to get stern. “Megan, you are exhausted from work this week. This is not something to argue about, baby,” She said firmly, making steady eye contact with her.

But Megan wasn’t about to back down even though she was, in fact, small and tired. Instead, she simply kicked her legs fussily and let out an annoyed whine. Before Lara could stop her, Megan was reaching for her sleepover bag and throwing it onto the ground. The contents were scattered everywhere, and Lara clenched her jaw.

She scooped up the other girl, ignoring the way Megan flailed dramatically in her arms. “Megan Skiendel. I love you very, very much. You’re a sweet, funny, and kindhearted person. But being tired and not wanting to sleep does not excuse being rude to me and making a mess of this room,” She said sternly.

This time, Megan flushed and nodded weakly. “m sorry, Mama,” she murmured and allowed Lara to set her down to clean up. She gathered the spilled stuff slowly but surely while Lara held open the bag. Once the pull-ups and everything else were put away, Megan settled back down in Lara's lap.

The caregiver took a long moment to make sure that Megan was okay before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Do you know why I made you clean that up?” She asked, and Megan jutted out her lower lip but nodded. Lara waited patiently for Megan to actually explain, but the other girl had to rub her eyes first and let out a long yawn. “Cus I frew it,” She said finally and looked doe-eyed, waiting for approval.

Lara nodded, rubbing her back. “Good job, baby. You know that now it’s bedtime, right? So that we can have a good day tomorrow?” She coaxed, and Megan nodded rather reluctantly. “Be’time. Can you sing?” She begged, making puppy dog eyes until Lara nodded. They took out the pull-ups and pajamas before carefully getting her changed.

Megan sat on the bathroom counter while brushing her teeth, and Lara put a hand on her back to keep her steady. Finally, once Megan was fully in bed, she curled up and tugged on Lara's hair slightly impatiently. Lara stuck her tongue out playfully, but began to sing a soft lullaby that Sophia had taught them.  

You didn't realize you'd fallen asleep until you jerked awake at the sound of the door. You blink, rubbing your eyes to see Yoonchae in black sweats coming back into the room with damp hair. You glance at the clock on her nightstand and realize it’s almost 11. “Holy fuck, how long have you been at the pool?” You ask, pushing up so that you’re sitting up and mostly facing her. Yoonchae just shook out her hair before settling back down at her desk. You stifle a groan as she opens her computer and the screen illuminates the room. You glare at the clock before rolling back over, trying to gain any semblance of rest despite your roommates' odd behaviors. 

You find yourself being awoken by Yoonchae yet again. Or more accurately, her alarm. You roll over to see the other girl already sliding out of bed and slipping into her closet. “It’s six in the morning, Yoonchae!!” You say, throwing your hands in the air as you reluctantly choose to start getting ready as well. “I told you I have a schedule,” Yoonchae replied, and you would bet money on the fact that she was smiling right now.

You mutter under your breath as you begin to tug on your second uniform set. “It’s cold today,” Yoonchae warned as she stepped out of the closet. She’s in a much darker version of the navy blue uniform to the point that it almost looks black. “Why is your outfit different?” You ask curiously, and she just shoots you a cat-like smile. She doesn’t seem interested in answering your question and just swings the bag over her shoulder before heading out. 

It seemed as if she was interested in attending breakfast, and you stumbled over your tights to follow her. Unfortunately, you manage to lose Yoonchae in the sea of girls heading towards the cafeteria. It seemed as if everyone at this school got up ungodly early. You run a hand through your hair as you find Daniela and the other girls at their table. But as you grab your plate and try to make your way over there, Daniela just shakes her head furiously.

She jerks her head towards a table a little ways away, and your eyes flick to it. The only person there is Yoonchae, and you sigh. Instead of following Daniela’s unspoken instructions, you headed over to the girls' tables. “You can’t sit over here,” Manon said firmly even as her mouth pursed in sympathy. “Why?” You ask, frowning down at them, and Daniela laughs. “Alright, listen. Yoonchae hasn’t come to breakfast in two years. When she had Megan. Now she’s coming, and the only new thing is you. Go sit with her before she blows us up,” Daniela hissed.

Your head jerked so you could see Yoonchae, and she certainly didn’t seem pleased. She had a book in her lap, but you spotted her eyes flicking up to you and the others. “Her attitude is not my problem,” You retort, but one of the other girls with long black hair slid over her tray where you were going to sit. You glower at them and reluctantly stalk over to Yoonchae and sit across from her.

The only sign of her approval was a slight twitch in her lower lip. She didn’t even glance up from her book. You aggressively stabbed at your fruit bowl. “What are you reading?” You ask, attempting to make any sort of conversation, even as the thought of beating her in class lingered in the back of your mind. “The Secret History,” Yoonchae said, placing her book on the table as she began to eat her omelet.

You can’t resist a sharp laugh; your eyebrows furrow as you eat your own food. “By Donna Tartt, if you don’t know it,” Yoonchae said with a cocky tone. “I know it. I’ve read it more than once. I have an annotated copy,” You retort, your competitive spirit flaring as she glares at you. What the hell was the point of her apparently wanting you here if she was just going to be rude?? Instead of firing back, she just continued eating and returned to reading her book.

You huff, tugging out your phone as you try to come up with anything to do rather than be faced with Yoonchae's cockiness. Before you can come up with something to brag about, she was standing up and sliding her bag over her shoulders. You finish your own plate, checking your watch for the time. You ran into Daniela on your walk to your first class, and she offered a smile. “You’re a traitor,” You inform, lightly pushing her away.

She laughs, but her eyes stay narrowed. “Listen, I’m not going to be the one to piss off Yoonchae.” Was all Daniela said before doing a mock salute and heading off down the other hallway. You furrow your brows but head inside math class. Yoonchae is already settled down in her seat, and you reluctantly sit down next to her. “You smell like chlorine,” You snark, and she just rolls her eyes. 

Before she comes up with her own witty retort, Ms. Park is flashing up some warm-up problems. You fumble for your pencil as Yoonchae starts scribbling down her answers. You recognize a few of them from the sheet you stole from her last night and suppress a surge of excitement. Surely she couldn’t have practiced these formulas as many times as you had. Just as your hand shoots up to announce the answers, Ms. Park calls on Yoonchae.

The other girl pauses for long enough to shoot you a cocky smile before rattling off the answers. To your dismay, she manages to get all 5 of them correct. And when Stella raises her hand, confused about how to actually do the problem, Yoonchae gets called up to explain it. She keeps her expression rather composed, but you catch the excited glimmer in her eyes.

You stare down at your paper, trying to ignore the way everyone seems to be hanging off of her every word, scrambling to write everything down. Even though she seemed to be mildly feared by the entire student body, it was clear they needed her help. You pulled out your computer and tried to find the lesson plan so you could work ahead, but as Yoonchae walked by, she smoothly shut the top.

She sits back down in her seat and smooths her dark uniform skirt before raising her hand again. “Ms. Park, could you set up some sort of digital countdown? For this year's midterm?” Yoonchae suggests, and it's a testament to how dedicated everyone is to their studies that they don’t groan or boo her. The older woman just nods, “Fantastic idea, Ms. Jeung,” She says with a seemingly rare smile.

You suppress the urge to make a fake gagging sound as Yoonchae ignores the attention of the girls in front of you, who were turned around trying to talk to her. “Could you guys even pretend to have a mind of your own?” You ask, your annoyance rising to your boiling point. The redhead's jaw drops, but she turns around with a huff, dragging her friend as well. Yoonchae's eyes flick up from her paper where she’s meticulously taking notes already, and you make momentary eye contact.

It’s broken by the announcement of a pop quiz that makes even you groan inwardly. It was your second day, and you were already being faced with a quiz. Ms. Park passes out the papers, and you quickly start running through the quiz. You glance at Yoonchae every few questions, clenching your jaw when you see she’s a question ahead. You struggle to get through the bonus question, but as soon as you’re finished, you practically leap to turn it in. 

The rest of the class is dedicated to independent study time while she grades the quizzes. You watch as Yoonchae seems to switch between reading A Secret History & doing additional questions. You try to focus on your own quiz you’re completing online. Your focus declines as soon as Ms. Park rises from her desk. “I’m going to announce your results in terms of points as usual,” She said calmly as she looked down at the collection of quizzes. 

Yoonchae sits up in her seat, shutting her book and clasping her hands in her lap. You shut your computer, leaning forward in your seat as you wait. “Stella 8 points. Carmen 9. Ahyeon 11. Sophia 13. Yoonchae 15. Y/n 15” She says before rubbing the back of her neck, “I don't see the point in naming the lower ones. Come see me after class if you wish,” Ms. Park said as the bell rang. You looked over at Yoonchae, who was already giving you a murderous glare. “I’m not thrilled either,” You mutter as the two of you head towards your next class. 

You were certain that every teacher at this school conspired to put assessments on the same day. By lunchtime, you were exhausted from having to fill out surprise questions. Yoonchae heads off to the pool with little more than a jerk of her head. You take the opportunity to sit with Daniela and the rest of the girls. “So how’s the day going?” Rami asked, leaning forward with a mischievous grin.

You scowl at her. “Exhausting. This school is brutal. And that’s without factoring in my robot of a roommate,” You complain as you dig into your new tray of food. “All she does is swim or study. And I’m stuck sitting next to her in every class,” You add, and Rami laughs. That was enough to bring a smile to your face, and you can feel the tension in your body seep out.

Rora settles down next to Rami without a tray, but your unasked question is answered a brief moment later when Asa appears with two trays. “You could always just ask someone to switch seats,” Rora suggested with an all-too-innocent smile. “It’ll be easier to compete with her if she isn’t breathing down my neck,” You admit and flash her a grateful grin.

Asa is glaring lightly at her girlfriend, but you’re too invested in overhearing Manon and Daniela's conversation to notice. Manon is discussing a potential modeling job while Daniela argues against it. You can’t help but snicker but freeze when both of them whirl around, clearly already aggravated. “Or if you want to get inside her head, you could join the swim team,” Rami says, drawing you back to the conversation at hand.

You shake your head. “To do that, I would have to get into the pool. And apparently it’s like password-protected or some shit,” You counter. “Actually, it’s a keycard. You could always just take Yoonchae’s after she gets back and showers. They keep their practice up on a huge TV. If you try that out, it’ll give you a feel for it,” Rora says as she steals a frie from Rami. “It’s almost like all of you want her to get me kicked out,” You say playfully, and they’re rapidly shaking their heads.

Asa is the one who speaks up, finally entering the discussion, “Yoonchae’s only done that once,” She says calmly. You choke on your water and stare at the Japanese girl. “First of all, I was kidding. She has the power to get me kicked out??” You exclaim, and Rami gestures for you to lower your voice. “No one really talks about it anymore, at least not where Yoonchae can hear. But last year, she and the girl who dormed next to her got really close. Close enough, people started to talk. Neither of them seemed to care, but right after winter break Yoonchae came back, and well, the other girl didn’t” Rora explained while Ramis eyes flicked around. 

They’re clearly avoiding saying her name, but you decide to guess. “Megan? Dani said she only came to breakfast when Megan was here-” You’re cut off by Rami shaking her head furiously. “Don’t say her name. Some underclassmen mentioned her to Yoonchae once, and she ended up getting ranked at the bottom of her year twice in a row afterwards. Her rowing scholarship was pulled,” Rami hissed.

You feel dread settle in your chest. Yoonchae was clearly more powerful at Blair than you thought she was. You wince when you hear the bell ring. “Wish me luck” Is all you mutter as you rush to class. Yoonchae isn’t there yet, and you feel a weight lift from your shoulders. “Would you be willing to trade seats with me?” You ask a girl with dark dyed red hair, and she laughs.

You fumble for something to convince her. “Listen, Chiquita,” You say, spotting her name on her backpack. “She’s practically a genius. I bet if you sit with her and if I talk to her, she would give you homework help.” You blurted hastily even though you were positive Yoonchae would not do that. Chiquita slowly stood and shifted her stuff to your table.

You quickly thanked her and settled down in your new seat as the rest of the class flooded in. A girl with a cute sort of choppy black hair sat down next to you. “You’re not Chiquita,” She stated, and you mustered an apologetic smile. Before you could apologize, the bell signaled the class start, and the teacher entered. A few moments into reviewing the warm-up, Yoonchae entered with her hair in a high ponytail.

There were no comments about her tardiness, but when her eyes met yours at your new table, it felt like ice flooded your veins. She didn’t say anything as she sat down, but when Chiquita turned to her with a bright smile, Yoonchae didn’t even acknowledge her. You cringe but focus on the timeline shown on the board. Instead of Yoonchae offering rapid-fire answers, the Korean girl is scarily silent. The only times you spot her eyes leave you are when they land on Chiquita.

You manage to earn a few bits of the teacher's praise, but the feeling of Yoonchae's gaze unsettles you to the point you’re darting out of class when it’s over. You hesitantly convince Wonhee to trade seats with you, and your final class of the day passes in much the same fashion. You answer almost everything while Yoonchae stays silent.

It’s clear everyone has noticed. You push your way out of the crowd of students into the hallway and hear quite a few whispers. “What’s going on with Yoonchae?” “She seems to hate Quita.” “It’s like her scowl is her only feature.” The whispers follow you all the way up to your dorm. You sink into your bed with a groan. The girl's advice had half worked, but now you were definitely going to face Yoonchae's wrath.

You mentally planned how you would pack everything up once you were kicked out as you halfheartedly worked on your homework. Instead of seeing your roommate trudge into the room and glue herself to her desk, you found yourself alone for the next few hours. Just as you were about to head to dinner, you felt your phone buzz. You were tagged in a post made by ‘behind.the.blair.gates’.

You clicked on the post and saw that at least half of the student body had been tagged. But yours, Chiquita's, and Wonhee's usernames were bolded. The post didn’t have a caption; it simply had two videos. One of the videos was of Wonhee clearly cheating on an exam by using her phone. The angle was a little messy and blurry, but you could clearly see Wonhee's name on the paper. The photo showed Chiquita holding a shot of soju. Everyone around her was blurred out.