She hated it when guys did that. She glared furiously, feeling the anger roar and thrash within her chest as a monster that had been ignited by his actions. She hated when guys exploited their height to corner a girl into doing whatever the fuck they wanted. She hated it.
"How is that my fault?" Amber asked, her voice sharp and steely.
"You bumped into me!" He retorted back angrily, his voice tight. His muscles rippling under the tight black long sleeve he had on. "Don't you look when you're running? You could get injured," he snapped, his eyes dark with his displeasure.
She shrugged, trying to loosen his grip on her arm but he was way too strong. He tightened his grip on her skin, just enough to pinch her a little but not enough to hurt her.
She sighed, she really did not want to deal with this jerk. She was desperate to get into class and away from him really. He made her go crazy, her head hurt just from thinking about him.
He made her yearn to split her body into half. Because on one hand, that sweet gentle fragrance emitting from his skin made her want to sink into his embrace. But on the other hand, her mind wanted to hack him down with a hatchet and feed him to the sharks.
She'd been actively avoiding him for the past few days of school for this precise reason.
"Damn it, can we do this later?" She sighed, running her fingers through her hair and inhaling deeply. An attempt to stay calm. "God, I'll pay you back okay?" She replied, defeated.
His lips pressed together tightly, his brows furrowed as he gave her a look. She pushed on. "I'll even buy you two damn cups!"
"No," He pulled at her arm, dragging her closer. His eyes were trained onto her face. The silver hoops in his ears glinted, drawing out the coldness in his eyes.
No? What was his damn problem? She was going to be late!
"I'm going to be late, I have to go!" She snapped, huffing an annoyed, exasperated sigh. Did he always have to be like this? "Come on!"
"That drink was for my girlfriend! She needs it now!" He replied harshly, his voice dipping into a growl. Amber froze, her eyes widening at his words.
Was he shitting her? Seriously? What the fuck? She snorted, shaking her head. He faltered, appearing slightly embarrassed at his own words. His eyes widening as he bit onto his bottom lip, a look of regret and guilt flashing across his face, plain and obvious for the world to see. He nibbled his lips and she fumed, the monster inside her roaring and breaking through its cell.
Fuck it.
"What the hell?" She glared at him. "You don't have to listen to every damn word she says! Why do you have to do that?"
"Well, I—"
She didn't want to hear the damn reason.
"Just blame it on me okay? Damn it. I'll buy her a drink. Just get out of my way!" She growled at him.
The bell chimed from behind them, making her jump, her heart pounding within her chest. Oh hell no. She pulled out of his grasp, pushing open the door to step into the lecture theatre.
Hundreds of eyes turned to bore down on her frame as her gaze was met by the stretch of students spread across the tiered seating area. The wooden tables and chairs were curled inwards, designed to focus on a single point in front of them where the professor would teach at. A point that was conveniently right at the door.
The bodies surrounded her, their eyes boring into her frame from all sides and at all heights. The chatter was disappearing into a quiet hush of foreboding horror. The tension was palpable and she swallowed thickly, her eyes flickering to the teacher's desk.
Please. She pleaded inside. Please, God. Please make Professor late—
Her eyes drifted upwards, focusing on the figure before her. She flinched, her eyes registering the look on her professor's face. He stood before her, his face pinching into an expression of annoyance, eyes darkening at the sight of her.
Aw shit. She inhaled, swallowing thickly as her mouth dried. Her heart pounded within her sternum, racing with her fear as an odd feeling of coldness settled within her body. She was late and she wasn't going to get away with this easily.
"You're late, Ms. Pei," he snapped, tapping his foot with a pudgy hand on his waist. His voice was high pitched, stringy and a little nasal, condescending.
She flushed, her body clamping at his words. She hated attention, hated the way her classmates seemed to tear holes into her back with their gaze. The way their eyes looked, unfriendly and amused. The way she could hear the whispers of poisonous words from the students in the class.
Why is she so stupid, being late for Professor Choi's class? Does she even have a brain?
Giggles.
Maybe she doesn't understand Korean?
She does, but her Korean sounds like it came from a talking pig.
Laughter.
She's probably trying to create a scene so that one of us will have a lasting impression of her.
What an attention-seeking whore.
Guffaws.
"I'm sorry Professor this won't happen again—" She began to say, her breath escaping her in anxious pants, as her fists clenched.
She looked down at her feet, feeling awfully small in the eyes of the unfriendly. She felt as if she were a lost boat in a stormy sea, the waves threatening to overturn her boat. The sharks were snapping at her feet, their eyes red with blood lust.
"I already told everyone in the previous class what happens if you are late!" Professor Choi yelled, standing up abruptly from his seat.
His voice rose as he strode towards her, his eyes flashing with his anger. She watched, eyes wide as she flinched backwards.
"How dare you waste my time and all of the student's time?" He screamed, his voice loud and thunderous in her ears, so loud that her eardrums rang when he finished. The words replaying in her mind.
He panted as he spoke, his face red from the exertion with bits of spittle spewing from his lips. She bit her lip, hearing the blood rush and pound in her ears. She hated this, hated being called out, hated being scolded. This wasn't fair. She was only just a second late. This was all JieMi's fault. She bit back her words, choosing to keep quiet and silent.
These words would be excuses in his eyes.
"Sir, I'm sorry I didn't—"
"0 for your next assignment. You can leave the class," he retorted sharply, turning to his desk. He snorted, deciding to give her another remark. "Considering how badly you are faring I don't want to waste my time on a student like you." Amber blanked her eyes wide at his words. He couldn't be serious.
She wouldn't be able to pass his class.
She would need to retake this and waste all that money and time.
Her mind swam as she thought back to her assignments and attendance. She was not a bad student, had never even missed a class. She worked hard on each assignment and her grades had never dipped below a B.
The other teachers from her other classes had praised her for catching up with the syllabus quickly despite the fact that Korean was not her first language. Her hard work shone through strong and obvious like the goddamn rising sun.
He could not be serious.
Goddamnit.
"But sir!" She protested.
"GET OUT!" He roared, fuming as he panted. He slammed his palm on the desk, the sound vibrating and ringing in the air. "I've told you again and again that as a new transfer student you need to work harder on your grades!" He screamed as Amber stared back, unable to do anything really.
Was this real? Her heart thumped hard in her chest
"You're clearly here for something else other than studying so get out of my class!"
Amber paled, stepping back as she gazed at her teacher with new eyes. She knew crystal clear exactly what he was implying. The rumours about her ambiguous entrance. It seemed that even the teachers had their own prejudices of her.
They all assumed that she had gotten in with intentions to fangirl over a student. That she entered the school wanting to suck up to one of the famous students. She inhaled, clenching her fists as she looked down at her feet. The burn of tears was strong and bitter in her throat and she swallowed thickly, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Fuck she hated this.
"Sir, it was my fault."