iii. BOYS, BOYS, BOYS
❛ ... this'll be interesting. ❜

BLODWYN doesn't really know what she expected, coming into this trial, but she thinks it could be worse. Like, for the most part, the boys look okay, and at a first glance, there's nothing outwardly creepy or off-putting about them, so in her books, that's a win. Unfortunately, this opinion doesn't seem to be the general consensus, if the reactions of the other girls are anything to go by.

       Saying Sohee looks furious is an understatement, and Juyeon and Sol must think the same thing, given how they both attach a hand to each of the girl's wrists to make sure she doesn't do something stupid like jump at the boys. Sol looks bothered, but Blodwyn's come to learn that's her default face, and that if she was furious she probably wouldn't show it anyway. Juyeon just looks mildly panicked, her eyes blown wide and her lip between her teeth. Minkyung and Yeji both have expressions of disgust, but their attention is focused on two of the more prettier boys in the room, who each seem to be wearing cocky smirks of their own. One of them winks. Yeji scoffs and glares back with an intensity that Blodwyn's never seen on her face before.

       Ahreum seems to have a flicker of hope in he eye that maybe this trial won't be as bad as it seems, but Blodwyn thinks that might just be the optimism talking, because the two of them are the "newest" to the Gangnam Private School circle. But Blodwyn thinks that Ahreum should know better than any of them how horrible the boys can be, seeing that she's the one who lives with the spawn of Satan (words she's heard Ahreum use to describe her brother on multiple occasions). Eunyeon, on the other hand, doesn't appear to be too phased about the entire situation, but there's a glint in her eye that can't mean anything good. And Seonhwa, for all her attempts at enthusiasm towards this trial, honestly looks like she wants to run and hide, half trying to shield herself behind Eunyeon.

       Then there's the boys from the Gangnam Institute. Honestly, Blodwyn doesn't know who any of them are, because she's not really involved in all the rich family antics in the Gangnam community (after all, she didn't grow up in Seoul attending all their fancy dinner parties through her childhood, and honestly, she thinks that might have worked out in her favour). But still, Blodwyn decides that she doesn't like them.

       For a start, all eight of them remind her of the type of boys she's learnt to steer clear of. There's an air of arrogance to them, which no doubt comes from the knowledge that this is their turf, and it's the girls who are out of place. Their uniforms are rumpled despite it still being morning, and it's clear none of them bothered with ironing their shirts, a stark difference to the crisp appearance of Blodwyn and the rest of her classmates.

The only boy Blodwyn recognises is the clumsy freckled boy from the supermarket, and she's actually somewhat pleased to see a familiar face that isn't associated with hatred or annoyance. She doesn't know anything about the boy, but he has freckles (like her!), and she's fascinated by his bleached hair (something that her parents would never allow, even when they live in an entire different country from Blodwyn). There's nothing outwardly asshole-ish about the boy, but Blodwyn reminds herself to be cautious, because he attends the Gangnam Institute, and surely the whole rivalry between their schools isn't entirely baseless right?

       Unfortunately, the rest of Blodwyn's thoughts get drowned out by the utter chaos of the room. Everyone is talking over the top of everyone else, and it sounds as if people are just making noise, as opposed to actually speaking any words in a known language. Minkyung almost looks ready to fight someone, and Yeji looks like she's not going to hold her best friend back if she does decide to start throwing punches. Eunyeon looks absolutely thrilled at the chaos in front of them all, and even the Bermuda Triangle are making half hearted attempts to hide their annoyance, the three of them talking the loudest of all.

Just when Blodwyn thinks things are going to escalate beyond control – seriously, she feels a bit bad for the teacher, who doesn't seem to have any idea what to do to make them all stop – the door crashes open, and a boy comes flying in, cheeks pink and looking like he just ran a marathon.

Ahreum snaps her head up at the commotion, her eyes falling on the boy who easily towers over everyone else in the class, and has to resist the urge to scowl. She knew that there was no way she could be so lucky. She might have managed to avoid getting stuck in this trial with her half brother – thank god the school board had decided not to include siblings in the trial in the event that it skewed the results – but through the door comes Choi Soobin, one of her brother's best friends.

       Ahreum's glad that her brother wasn't included in the group of boys, because that would have made this stupid trial a thousand times worse. However, that fact only brings her little comfort, because the now nine boys in the classroom all remind her far too much of Yeonwoo, and the way he dresses and holds himself (which is probably partly a result of the uniform they're all required to wear, but Ahreum ignores that reasoning in favour of frowning at them).

       Soobin, despite his height, seems to shrink in on himself as he mutters a quick apology for being late. Surprisingly, the teacher doesn't scold him, and if anything, he looks relieved upon the boy's arrival, since the distraction was enough to cut off the arguing in the classroom.

       Which Ahreum thinks is a bit unfair, because Mr Shin – according the name on the whiteboard – was ready to passive aggressively tell them off for arriving twenty minutes late, but it's not as if Soobin can say he got lost on campus like the rest of them did. Ahreum thinks there's already some bias in this stupid trial.

       "Take a seat, please, Mr Choi," says the teacher. "Now, for those of you who do not know, my name is Mr Shin, and welcome to Math Class C."

Sol zones out as the man keeps talking, giving a brief introduction to the content. Instead choosing to doodle on notebook. There's doodles of little violins, and shakily sketched music notes, both from songs she's trying to remember to play from memory, and from songs that don't yet exist.

She's not the only one in the class who's not paying attention. Half of the other students seem more preoccupied with what's happening outside the window – Sol thinks it's some kind of sports game, so naturally she's not interested at all — and everyone who is not engrossed in watching the P.E. class run around is busy daydreaming.

Instead, she takes it as an opportunity to look around the room. Aside from Han Jisung – who Sol only knows because Sohee never seems to shut up about him – Sol can't name any of the other boys, which means that she likely hasn't come across any of them at the fancy rich parties she gets dragged into attending every so often.

In the far front corner, though, she recognises the fox-like boy from the practice studio, and furrows her eyebrows, trying to remember if she ever got a name from him. It's then that she accidentally makes eye contact with the boy, him catching her quite obviously staring. He quirks his lips into a nice smile. On instinct, Sol glares at him and turns away.

There's a very obvious segregation between the groups, with the girl's claiming the back corner all to themselves, while the boys spread out across the front, leaving an entire row of empty seats in the middle of the classroom, as if making a physical boundary between them. However, Mr Shin clearly doesn't get paid enough to try and force them to move, and just leaves them be.

       The first three rows are accompanied by the boys, while the girl's have wasted no time in grouping together. Yeji falls into a seat far enough in the back of the room to be in the safe zone they've created, while simultaneously getting as close to the front of the classroom as she dares in order to listen to the class content. Minkyung falls into the seat beside her, but her attention is focused out the window of the classroom, on the sports class happening outside, that's infinitely more interesting than math class.

Blodwyn and Ahreum fall into the seats beside the pair, while Eunyeon lounges back at the desk behind them, paying no attention to Seonhwa what tries desperately to get her to sit up properly, and not like she's lounging around in her living room. Sohee, Sol and Juyeon take up the rest of the back row, pushing the desks together so they can huddle in a group. The teacher doesn't bother to tell them off, not since the boys have already done that with their desks up the front.

The organised rows of desks from when they first arrived are long gone now, and Sol gets the feeling this is how things are going to pan out for the rest of their classes as she glances around the room. There have been absolutely no attempts made at trying to bury their rivalry, and if anything, it seems like all nine of them have come to unspoken conclusion that this will only make their hatred worse.

       She's just about to actually start on the classwork Mr Shin has spent the last twenty minutes explaining to deaf ears, when Juyeon let's out a distressed squeak, quickly tearing her eyes away from the group of boys, looking as if she's about ten seconds away from jumping out the nearest window.

       "Are you okay?" asks Sol, genuinely concerned for her best friend.

       Juyeon just shakes her head rapidly, her eyes wide, and tilts her head so her hair covers her face, turning her whole body in the direction of Sol and Sohee, who both send her concerned looks in return, not even pretending to pay attention to the class. And in hindsight, it's probably not the most inconspicuous thing Juyeon could have done, but she doesn't know what else to do.

"It's him!" Juyeon hisses, sounding distressed.

"Who?" says Sohee, confused.

"Him!"

"Who's him?" Sol asks, sparing a glance around the class, and making sure to glare extra hard at the one kid who keeps looking back in their direction. She didn't bother to remember his name.

"Seungmin!" Juyeon hisses quietly. "The cute guy from work!"

Sohee eyes widen comically.

"Oh no," says Sol, looking sympathetic. "That's a shame. He sounded really nice when you spoke about him."

"He is really nice," says Juyeon.

"Well, I mean, he's also a Gangnam Institute student, so ..."

"You were right when you said he looked a bit like a puppy though," says Sohee, practically leaning over her desk to get a look at the boy, who must feel her eyes on him, because he turns around to meet her gaze. Juyeon snaps her head down, and if not for the fact that it would have been embarrassingly obvious, she thinks she might have climbed under the table to hide.

"He's definitely cute," Sol agrees.

"You know else is cute? The tall guy that came in late."

"Yeah," adds Sol. "There's some really attractive students here. It's a shame they're all assholes."

"Guys!" Juyeon hisses.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure your boy is nice," says Sohee, shooting another look at him.

"Unless he has hidden motives, then me and Sohee will take care of him," adds Sol, her grip tightening on her pencil, and sending a glare in Seungmin's direction.

"Stop looking at him!" Juyeon hisses.

"What are you whispering about?" asks Minkyung, leaning back in her chair to listen in to the Bermuda Triangle's conversation, already bored from listening to Mr Shin drone on about the trigonometry content he was trying to teach.

"Juyeon's got a crush on one of the boys," says Sohee.

"I do not!" Juyeon squawks, louder than she means too.

"No way," says Eunyeon out of nowhere, practically leaning over Sol's desk in an attempt to get closer. "Which one?"

"Ladies, do you have something you wish to share with the class?"

Juyeon wants to disappear.

Eunyeon flashes Mr Shin her award winning smile, the one she always uses to get out of trouble. It's only got about a fifty percent success rate, depending on the situation and who the teacher is, but she's hoping that Mr Shin hasn't heard enough about her reputation to doubt it.

"No, sir," she tells him innocently. "We were just discussing the answer to question seven."

"I see," says Mr Shin. It doesn't look like he believes Eunyeon, if the suspicious look is anything to go by, but he doesn't question it. "Would you like to share your answer with the class then, Miss Choi?"

"I don't know the answer. That's why we were discussing it."

One of the boys in front of her let's out a snort, and then makes a pathetic attempt to cover it with a cough. Amateur, Eunyeon thinks it herself.

Mr Shin, on the other hand, doesn't look too pleased, and Eunyeon gets the feeling he's going to be one of those teachers that watches her every move waiting to get her in trouble. Eunyeon hates teachers like that, and she's come across a fair few of them in her life. It's not her fault that she has a particular penchant for trouble, and a lack of a brain to mouth filter.

"Very well, can anyone else tell me the answer to question seven, then?"

       He's met with dead silence from the class, and Eunyeon bites back a smirk at the fact that no one seems too interested in participating. There's something about Mr Shin's failed attempts to engage them that brings her great joy, and while she hates the fact that she had to drag herself out of bed and to school for this, she's glad it's at least somewhat entertaining. Mr Shin is out out of his misery when one of the boys raises their hand and delivers the correct answer (Mr Shin calls him Seungmin, so Eunyeon assumes that's his name).

Is it that one? Eunyeon mouths very obviously in Juyeon's direction, and she wishes she'd never said anything in the first place as Sol and Sohee give matching nods in response for her. Juyeon is torn between hiding under the table and smacking her best friends. Instead, she returns to aggressively scribbling across her worksheet, filling numbers in the blank spaces that probably don't match the correct answer.

Eunyeon leans back in her chair, ditching her half finished worksheet, and ignoring the exasperated look that Seonhwa sends her. Eunyeon's already used up her attention span for the class. She wishes this class was a bit more entertaining. Like, what are they expecting her to do, math?

       Honestly, Eunyeon thinks the school board made a bit of a mistake adding her, of all people, to this trial.

       Seonhwa seems to agree, from the way she spent at least an hour on the phone to her best friend the night before, all but begging her not to go making trouble. And really, Seonhwa should know better by now, because the more you tell Eunyeon not to do something, the more she wants to actually do it, consequences be damned. Seonhwa can't count the amount of times she's had to bail her friend out of trouble, and even with her intervention, Eunyeon's still has among one of the highest detention rates.

Honestly, Seonhwa already had doubts about this whole trial working out – after all, who thought it would be a good idea to group together a bunch of teenagers that absolutely hate each other for reasons that have been ingrained in them ever since they stepped foot in their respective schools? But the longer she sits in the classroom, watching as absolutely no one pays attention, and attempts to put as much space as possible between them rather than, you know, attempt to bridge the rift between them, the more she gets the feeling that this is going to end in disaster.

       See, Seonhwa had a game plan, one that she stayed up until two in the morning running different worst case scenarios for. She was going to find whoever seemed to be the leader, or the person with the most influence, do her very best to befriend him, and then rope him into maintain peace and tranquility between them all.

       She really should have realised that if the Gangnam Academy was going to send her, then the boys' school would no doubt send her counterpart. Unfortunately that kind of logic seemed to escape her brain at two in the morning when she was running on minimal sleep and with no caffeine in her system.

So, there goes that plan, she thinks. And Seonhwa doesn't yet have a backup.

"We're so screwed," is what she mutters under her breath, as Mr Shin starts to wrap up the class after what feels like forever, as the school bell rings. She's the only person who doesn't immediately jump to clear up all her books and pens, unlike the rest of her classmates who are thrilled to finally escape, even though it's only their first class of the day.

       "I thought you were being optimistic about this," says Eunyeon brightly, just to be annoying.

       "That was before I spilt coffee on the Head Boy," Seonhwa says, making sure to avoid any and all eye contact with Chan, who is busy talking to one of the other boys.

       "Now that's a great idea," Eunyeon announces. "Why didn't I think of that?"

       "Don't think of that," Seonhwa deadpans. "Please, do not poor coffee on them."

       "You're no fun."

       Seonhwa sighs. She has a sinking feeling that things are only going to get worse.

.

artificixl cherrychans linosaurs sadults velvetseulgi vettyhyo -CUPIDJINNIE -Mimiso

here's the latest chapter of worst behaviour after six months lol. there's been a minor love interest swap but otherwise all the boys are finally here. also, i'm trying my best to keep screen time between the characters pretty even, but for those who didn't get as much this chapter don't worry they'll have a bigger role in the next one. don't forget to vote and comment.