Bring Her Down
Bring Her Down
SO VOTE AWAY
.....
Jina sat in the car wearing her school uniform while Shinho sat next to her. Driver Jang was escorting her to school but the old man noticed that Jina was unusually demure.
"Is something wrong, Young Miss?" he asked, feeling concerned. There was a gloom on Jina's face and seeing her so quiet made him a little restless too. Shinho glanced at Jina and even he was worried about her. He knew exactly what was bothering her.
"No no!" Jina lied. "I'm fine!"
She flashed him a wide smile, hiding her fear. Even though she had taken down Siwan once, she was not particularly keen on fighting with him again. The boy was on to her tail and ever since that day, kept an eye on her. She had even forbidden Casper and Yumi from coming near her because Siwan was stalking her all throughout school. If he caught her talking to ghosts, he might get suspicious.
Yet, she brought Shinho with her out of sympathy for the boy since he could not receive a proper schooling. It was really sad because he seemed to be genuinely interested to learn a lot. He even solved her math homework for her. Even the teachers were shocked upon seeing her correct answers and were worried that she had developed a fever.
"We're here, Young Miss," Jang announced. "I think it would be best if I stayed here outside the school gates until you're done."
"That will take hours!" Jina groaned. "I'm fine, uncle! I'm just a little tired because I was playing games all night."
Jang was still worried and opened his mouth to argue but Jina beat him to it.
"If you don't go back, I'll tell dad that I caught you drinking strange liquid at the backyard!" she threatened. In all honesty, she was touched that Jang was going through such trouble for her. But she did not want to worry him too much because if he fretted over her, then her parents would arrive and it would create an embarrassing scene for her. The school kids would tease her that she cried to her parents every time there was a slight problem. That would ruin her reputation as the cool girl.
And reputation was everything in kindergarten.
Jang gulped at the thought. If Hwang Minho found out that he was drinking during the day, then his pay would be cut for a year!
"Alright!" he squeaked. "I'll go!"
Jina nodded and indicated to Shinho to follow her out. The ghost was silent throughout the exchange but once they were out of earshot, he leaned closer to her.
"Why aren't you telling your parents about my older brother?" he hissed. "What if he tries to harm you?"
"I'd like to see him try," Jina hissed back as they made their way through the crowded corridor. She was barely moving her mouth while talking to him, trying to keep a straight face so that people would not think she was crazy.
"You should tell your mom and dad!" Shinho insisted. "If you don't then I will!"
"If you do that, I'll never bring you to school again!"
She was mildly irritated by him but she knew he was right. The best thing would be to tell her parents but they were already worried about other things. This would only add to their worries. Besides, Siwan was just a showoff. All bark and no bite. She was confident that he would not seriously hurt her at school.
Shinho sighed and looked ahead. He froze in his tracks.
"Jina…" he said, pointing in front of them. Jina followed his gaze and saw Siwan was standing near her class. He was sneering at her which made Jina feel very uncomfortable. Siwan was accompanied by other burly boys of his age who were also mimicking his hatred for her.
"Look guys, it's the freak!" Siwan said loudly as Jina passed by. She ignored him and kept on walking but he blocked her way.
"Tell us whom you were talking to at the garden the other day!" Siwan demanded.
"What are you even talking about?" Jina sneered back, feigning ignorance. "Lemme go!"
But Siwan pushed her, causing her to topple backwards. Shinho fumed at his older brother and was about to attack but Jina grabbed his leg.
"AGH!" Shinho yelled as he, too, fell on the ground. He was not hurt but he looked at Jina in dismay but to his surprise, she winked at him. Huh?
A crowd was beginning to gather around them. The other children were wondering what was going on.
"This girl is a freak!" Siwan declared. "She talks to herself when she's alone and bullies others while they're asleep! She even mixes strange things in other people's drinks!"
The children were confused. What the hell was that boy talking about?
"Are you okay in the head?" one girl asked but Siwan threw a dirty glare at her, silencing her.
"Where are your imaginary friends now?" Siwan demanded from Jina. "Tell them to save you!"
He wanted to scare her into revealing her secret. She was outnumbered and he knew that if he threatened her enough, she would spill the beans. Siwan was not a believer of magic and other nonsense but this girl was surely some sort of magician. He was confident that she had tampered with his mind during camp and was pretending to be weak.
Shinho stood up to beat the crap out of his brother but a sudden wail burst from Jina's mouth.
"Why are you doing this?" she sobbed loudly. Tears began to fall from her eyes and she was crying hard. Her large eyes were watery and she sniffed, showing everyone her teary face.
"I-I've been n-n-nothing but nice!" she claimed, still crying. "Even when you left me in the forest at the camp, I didn't tell the counselors! And m-my family even invited your family to d-d-dinner."
"I didn't even tell d-d-dad that you hurt me in my own room!" she hiccupped. "I-If mom had not stopped you, you would have pulled my arm out!"
She cried even harder but Shinho peered at his friend. There was something wrong…
"What is going on here?"
A loud voice boomed through the hall and the students were startled as a female teacher came hurling through.
"Why are you all crowding the hallway?" the teacher yelled.
Jina immediately stood up and ran towards the teacher, crying. "T-t-eacher h-he pushed me d-d-own on purpose!" she exclaimed, pointing at Siwan who was fuming.
"She's a freak!" he yelled. "She's the one who should be punished!"
"That's enough!" the teacher scolded him. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Siwan! Bullying an innocent little girl."
On cue, Jina widened her eyes wider. It was a trick she learnt from her mother whenever the latter was trying to get Minho to do something for her. Even though her father pretended to ignore her, he would eventually give in anyway.
The trick seemed to have worked since the teacher said, "I'll call your parents today, Siwan! This is unacceptable! Bullying others is not good at all!"
She turned to the other students and bellowed, "GO TO YOUR CLASSES NOW!"
The students scrambled and began to disperse. Siwan was also about to leave but the teacher said, "Not you. Stay."
Jina hugged the teacher and continued to cry, hiding her face into the teacher's waist.
"Please don't tell our parents!" she begged. "My parents will be worried! And I like Siwan's mom too. She's nice. She will also be sad! Please don't make Aunty Doyoung sad!"
She flashed another puppy dog expression at the teacher who immediately melted.
"Learn something from her, Siwan!" the teacher barked. "She's saving you!"
Siwan glared at Jina and to his shock, she peeked at him, grinning. It was a trick! She was acting!
Jina knew that she had no chance of taking him down with her feeble strength so she would have to beat him with her charm. It may not work on him but was easy to use on others.
"But-"
"No but's!" the teacher said firmly. "Detention for you for the rest of the week. Be thankful that your parents weren't called in. If it wasn't for Jina, you'd have been suspended!"
Siwan did not listen to her but looked down. His eyes were ablaze with anger. Shinho watched him, feeling very ominous. He recognized that anger. It was the same way his father used to fume whenever he saw Shinho.
I won't spare you, Siwan vowed. He glared at Jina who was still pretending to cry. Then an idea hatched in his head and he decided to bid his time.
Next time was going to be his chance to bring her down.