It happened during Thursday's lunchtime. As soon as the bell rang and the teacher left, the usual gang of Hechan marched forward to the front of the classroom. Something was definitely up because they normally hang out at the back of the classroom, just behind me. After all, that's where Hechan sits. But they all made their way to the front, posing and oozing an ominous vibe, meaning they were intending to pull off some unexpected stunt.
Once they all reached the front of the classroom, Hechan stood at the center and his lackeys lined up on either side of him. Dobin and Doojun were standing stiff on the right side of Hechan, and Soojin, Sunmi, and Yuji were on the left side.
"Ajin!"
Suddenly Hechan yelled across the classroom, startling everyone.
Ajin did not look surprised though as if she was expecting something like this to happen. She slowly got up and walked over to where Hechan and the gang were. I had a very bad feeling about this and probably so did everyone else in the class.
Soon enough, Ajin was standing in front of Hechan, with Hechan's boys and girls intimidatingly lining up on her left and right side.
"Kneel"
Hechan commanded, and Ajin simply obliged.
"No! What the hell are you guys doing to Ajin?!"
I immediately jumped up from my seat and was going to rush to the scene, but Hechan shouted at me with such a forceful tone that my body suddenly froze and got rooted to the spot.
"Stop there, Jenn! Do not interfere"
Although he did call me Jenn, for some reason his command brought back the memories from my previous self, like how I used to feel whenever he shouted at me. I suddenly felt powerless and terrified.
"Bow"
This time Dobin ordered Ajin, and Ajin fully complied and literally bowed her head down to the extent that her forehead was touching the floor in a full dogeza position.
This was too much for me to take. I recomposed myself as Jenn and ran towards Ajin.
They can't do this to her. This is way out of the line. Of course, I shouldn't think that it is okay for some people to be bullied while others should be off limits, but Ajin getting treated like this lit a fire inside me and I almost felt like I could shoot flames out of my eyes.
As soon as Hechan saw me making a move though, he nodded to Doojun and this lackey pulled out a hair clipper from his pocket and turned it on.
"You get any closer, she's getting her head shaved"
Doojun knelt next to Ajin and brought the buzzing clipper close to her head.
Fuck. This is no good.
"Jenn! Back off!"
Ajin shouted at me while still keeping her forehead in contact with the floor.
Was there really nothing I could do for her?
"There are worse things than getting your head shaved, right, Ajin?"
Hechan asked Ajin directly, ignoring me this time.
"Please. I will do as you say"
There was a desperation in Ajin's voice.
This was weird. Of course, anybody, especially girls, would freak out at the possibility of getting their head shaved forcefully, but this little exchange told me that Hechan had something on Ajin that kept her on his leash, much like how I suspected that time she was stopped in the Gina incident. It was clear that my getting involved at this stage would seriously hurt her in a way that is worse than what is happening now. All I could do was grit my teeth and witness what was happening.
"Good. Now say it. Loud and clear", Hechan commanded authoritatively again.
"I, Ajin, as the representative of our class, beg for your forgiveness"
Motherfuckers.
They prepared for this. They already instructed Ajin what to say, Ajin knew this would happen, but there was nothing she could do to reject them or stop this from happening.
If I knew in advance, would there have been anything I could do to help her?
"Continue"
"I have failed my responsibility to keep the class in good order. I sincerely apologize for the insolent behaviors that took place"
This was really, really painful to watch.
"I, Ajin, declare today in front of everyone. If anybody challenges your order again, I shall offer myself to you instead to punish me in any way you wish"
There were some murmurs among the students but it was quickly silenced when Doojun shouted "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" to everyone.
I was completely stumped as to what to do. I couldn't let this happen to Ajin, but at the same time, it was apparent that if I got involved something even worse would happen to her. I was burning with rage but also filled with a sense of powerlessness and disappointment in myself for the first time since I woke up as Jenn.
All I wanted was to finally live a normal life.
Rather than brooding over what happened before, I did my best to move forward without looking back. The very person that drove me to jump off that bridge on that day sat right behind me in class and I had to see him again every single day, but I still did what I could to stay positive.
I didn't want to have anything to do with these guys ever again. My body was still lying in the hospital bed in a coma with one leg missing. All because of these motherfuckers.
But I still managed to have a laugh or two a day, actually more than that as each day passed by. I made more friends than I've ever had. I was trying out new things that I could never do before. The past was horrible but the present and the future looked bright. I could not forget or forgive what happened before, but I did not let myself be swallowed up by past suffering.
But on this day, everything became clear.
Every single one of them deserved to die.