Betrayal by Majority
The start of a semester is always a little chaotic.
In the schools bustling with the first day back, teachers grow busy again as their workloads swell back from vacation levels, while students groan at having to shoehorn their freewheeling days back into a school timetable.
In the midst of it all, desks get rearranged—so familiar by now that it's almost boring.
Anyone unhappy with their club goes visiting other ones where their friends are, sometimes settling into a brand-new nest.
And the class president and vice president, who labored through a whole semester, get replaced with fresh faces.
But since this chaos arrives without fail every time a new semester begins, "familiar chaos" was the more accurate phrase for it.
It began the day after Yeoncheong had her penalty for ghosting people carved into her forehead.
Her class, Second Year Class 1, surrendered itself to the familiar rhythm that always came with the start of a semester.
"Teacher! I want to change seats." So began the requests from her classmates.
Once again, Teacher Jisu brought in her laptop and ran the seating program, while the students chimed in with their wishes.
This time I'll get a good seat.
This time I'll sit near my friends.
Amid classmates harboring those same hopes, Yeoncheong waited with a face full of regret to find out where she'd be sitting next.
It was actually pretty nice, though...
True, the spot against the wall meant there was nowhere to run if her friends cornered her. But Hasol sat right beside her, and tucked into the corner, it was free of noise and out of everyone's line of sight.
She'd thought it was a decent seat from the start, and the longer time went on, the harder it became to let go of a spot she'd grown so fond of.
Of course, there were other reasons too.
Yeoncheong stole a glance at Suyeon and Seoha, seated far away from her.
The two of them were brazenly alternating their stares between her and the screen. If she ended up anywhere near those two, she could see nothing but a road of suffering ahead.
Please, just let me avoid those two.
"Whew..."
At the sigh that escaped her without her noticing, Hasol in the next seat looked over at her.
"You don't want to change seats?"
"Nope."
Yeoncheong nodded. Hasol's gaze followed hers naturally until it landed on Seoha and Suyeon, and she offered an awkward smile.
"Still, it's got to be better than sitting next to someone you hate, right?"
"It's not that. It's exhausting when the teasing goes too far."
Anyone overhearing would have asked what kind of blessed problem that was supposed to be.
But for a student whose school hours swallowed most of her day, being tormented from both sides—in whatever sense—was genuinely draining, physically and mentally.
A thought struck Yeoncheong, and she stared intently at Hasol.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"I hope you're my seatmate again."
"H-huh?"
"Hasol, someone like you is a good desk partner... no, honestly, the best there is."
Hasol was the bright, sunny type who was kind to everyone. Having quietly benefited from that more than once, Yeoncheong figured there couldn't be a better partner, and the compliment slipped right out of her.
Should she be happy to hear that, or not?
With an unreadable expression, Hasol lowered her voice to a whisper.
"I'm flattered, but... if you go around saying stuff like that, those two are not going to let it slide."
"Oh, come on~ it's just a compliment. And it's this loud in here, no way they heard..."
Yeoncheong glanced over at the two of them with a laugh—and her whole body jolted.
Unlike before, Seoha and Suyeon were glaring daggers in her direction.
Seoha's aura was much like it had been back at the beach, and Suyeon was drawing her thumb slowly across her throat.
No, how on earth did they hear that?
The classroom was a din, what with Teacher Jisu deliberately gauging her students' reactions and enjoying the show. Did those two have some special ability to filter out every voice but Yeoncheong's?
She was certain of one thing: the moment those two landed in the seats beside her, she'd be exhausted for at least a week.
Yeoncheong hastily pressed her palms together and prayed to every god she could think of.
You abandoned me at the beach, so surely you can save me just this once!
And so she kept reciting a prayer that bordered on outright threats.
"Hahaha! Okay, okay. Now I'll really show you."
As the complaints grew louder, the teacher finally revealed the seating chart.
Blue eyes darted busily across the screen until they found her name.
And then—
"Holy crap! Thank you!"
Unable to contain her joy, Yeoncheong sprang out of her seat and shouted.
The back corner, by the window.
The seat itself was one of the best in the entire classroom, but that wasn't all.
Nayun beside her. Hasol in front of her.
She'd beaten miracle-level odds to land the absolute best outcome—she had every right to cheer.
Having checked Yeoncheong's new seat, Teacher Jisu gave a small laugh.
"Is it really that good?"
"Yes, of course it is."
"Yeoncheong, if you keep that up I'll want to go shuffle things around again."
"Don't you dare!"
As the exchange between Yeoncheong and her homeroom teacher bloomed into laughter across the classroom, Hasol and Nayun exchanged a look of quiet dread, as if bound by a pact, and stole glances at their two remaining friends.
There sat Suyeon and Seoha, their expressions even more murderous than before, glaring at Yeoncheong like they wanted her dead.
"Swap desks quickly, before class starts."
The teacher called over her shoulder as she headed for the front door.
"Oh, and we'll be choosing a class president and vice president today, so keep that in mind."
With that parting reminder, Teacher Jisu left, and the students launched into the great migration to find their new seats.
Shuffling the desks themselves was a bit noisy, but it beat hauling out every last belonging from inside them one by one—easier, and faster too.
Seated at her new spot, Yeoncheong gave her desk a meaningless little drum with her knuckles and looked around.
Wow~ this really is a fantastic seat.
Having claimed the back corner by the window, Yeoncheong's grin refused to come down.
Hasol and Nayun sitting right in front of and beside her was a bonus on top.
Nayun, who had arrived a beat later dragging her desk over, looked at her with sheer disbelief.
"Hey, aren't you missing the point here?"
"What do you mean?"
Just as Yeoncheong wondered if the girl was actually jealous of her, two shadows fell over her desk.
"Looks nice, doesn't it?"
"Right. Like you're just so thrilled to have given us the slip."
Seoha, mouth smiling but eyes frost-cold, and Suyeon with her arms crossed, both looked down at her.
Only then did Yeoncheong realize she'd celebrated far too loudly, and she scrambled to explain.
"No—how could I possibly be happy to be away from you two? It's just that the seat is good, that's all..."
"Yeoncheong, dear? Say that while looking us in the eye."
Her blue eyes dodged and weaved between the two gazes with astonishing agility.
Suyeon exchanged a look with Seoha and gave a small nod.
In a flash, Suyeon was behind Yeoncheong, pinning her in place.
"Yeoncheong, if you're going to lie, at least look forward while you do it."
Seoha swept aside the bangs she so carefully kept over her forehead.
"You already repaid your sins with your body once—twice should be easy, no?"
Her forehead, whose redness had only just barely faded, was bared again, and at the memory that surfaced, Yeoncheong thrashed wildly.
"I-I oppose violence! No school violence!"
"Hold still or you'll hurt yourself."
Seoha's hand came to rest on her forehead, her slender middle finger drawing slowly back—
Flick.
"Kgh."
Nayun, watching the whole thing from the side, winced.
"Oof..."
For someone seeing it for the first time, it was a fairly brutal scene.
"Somehow it feels stronger than yesterday..."
Hasol, who'd been in the same spot the day before, looked equally shaken.
Flick. Flick. Flick...
Apparently, when the shock or pain is severe enough, even your screams don't come out right...
Yeoncheong's cries were drowned out beneath the sounds of desks scraping into place and friends laughing and chattering with their new seatmates.
True to her word, the homeroom teacher came in during the period before end-of-day dismissal.
Taking in the classroom, faintly refreshed by the seat change, Teacher Jisu's eyes found Yeoncheong.
"Yeoncheong, were you napping again?"
"No, ma'am."
Forehead glowing crimson, Yeoncheong shot a glare at Seoha and Suyeon, then hesitated before speaking up.
"Teacher, can a forehead flick count as school violence?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"...Never mind."
Leaving behind Yeoncheong—who had scooted her chair back and propped her chin on her desk—the homeroom teacher called Hasol and Suyeon forward.
"Now, a round of applause for Hasol and Suyeon, who worked hard for us all first semester."
Once the class had clapped for the two of them, the teacher continued.
"We'll be choosing a new class president and vice president. Would you two help out one last time?"
Hasol and Suyeon nodded, a little reluctantly.
With a word of thanks, the teacher swept her gaze across the classroom.
"Now—is there anyone who'd like to try being class president or vice president for second semester?"
Quite a few students wanted to be vice president, but no one stepped up for president.
It made sense: the position came with precious little actual power and a whole lot of extra responsibility.
"If there are no volunteers, nominations are fine too."
"Anyone is okay?"
At Seoha's question, Teacher Jisu answered.
"That's right—for now we're just putting names up as candidates. Why? Do you have someone in mind to nominate?"
"Yes."
Seoha's gaze drifted toward somewhere in particular.
Naturally, the eyes of her classmates and the teacher followed.
"Nayun?"
"Huh? Not me!"
Startled at being named, Nayun shoved her chair back and scooted away—which finally revealed who Seoha intended to nominate.
Yeoncheong, convinced it couldn't be her, shifted this way and that in her seat. But there was no other classmate behind her, and Seoha's gaze clung to her relentlessly.
"I also nominate Yeoncheong!"
Suyeon, standing near the front, thrust her hand up and argued her case with force.
After a brief moment of consideration, the homeroom teacher accepted the nomination.
"Yeoncheong... all right. Let's put her down as a candidate for now."
Suyeon hurried to the board and wrote Yeoncheong's name.
Right beneath the words Class President Candidates.
Yeoncheong shot up out of her seat in shock.
"Teacher! I would like to formally withdraw my candidacy!"
"On what grounds?"
Yeoncheong dredged up the most plausible excuse she could and spoke.
"I'm lacking in a sense of responsibility, so a position of such weight would be difficult for me."
"Well then, this is a fine chance to build some."
"The truth is, my health is..."
"You'll be punished if you lie."
"In order to focus on my studies..."
"Save that one until you've escaped supplementary lessons entirely."
The teacher cut down each fresh excuse as Yeoncheong manufactured it, then offered a single remark.
"Other candidates may still come forward, so just wait a moment. It's not as if the position is guaranteed to be yours."
"...Yes, ma'am."
Yeoncheong slumped back into her chair and waited, praying for a rival candidate to appear.
But...
A few more vice presidential candidates threw their hats in the ring—yet right up to the very end, the sole candidate for class president was Yeoncheong.
"Um... you guys...?"
"Ahem. Ahem..."
Clearing throats. Averting eyes.
Her classmates—people she'd thought she'd grown genuinely close to over a full semester together—turned their faces away from her.
There was the flood of White Day gifts, her heroics at the sports festival, and a kind personality without a single rough edge to speak of.
Among her classmates, the idea was already circulating that someone like Yeoncheong would make a perfectly fine class president.
Given all that, there was no reason whatsoever to put anyone else forward.
Sensing the subtle current running through the classroom, Teacher Jisu spoke up.
"No more candidates, then? In that case, Yeoncheong is class president—shall we vote on the vice president?"
"Wait! Time out!"
Yeoncheong sprang up from her seat again.
"Why is my presidency just being confirmed?"
"You're the only candidate. What else is there to do?"
The homeroom teacher tilted her head, baffled.
"We should at least hold a yes-or-no vote!"
"Oh?"
Teacher Jisu ran her eyes over the students seated around the classroom and said,
"All in favor of Yeoncheong as class president—raise your hands."
As if they'd only been waiting for the words, hands shot up in a wave.
The teacher made a show of roughly counting them, then brought it to a close.
"Well over half, even at a glance. Congratulations, Yeoncheong—you're our class president."
As the teacher clapped, her classmates joined in with their congratulations.
"Nnngh... ngh..."
It was a happy classroom, all things considered.
Everyone, that is, except Yeoncheong, who sat there growling at her classmates and her teacher alike.