Chapter Text
She had heard some ugly sobbing through the hallways, mixing with the cicadas’ cries. While holding the broom she had to fetch from the janitor’s closet to clean the gym after P.E, she approached the source of the sobs, and the sharp sounds. There was a boy, curled as a ball while hugging his knees, as two upper class guys were cornering him while kicking him and pulling his hair. That poor boy was whimpering, visible bruises on his fair skin and tears falling from his cheeks.
In that moment, all she could see was red. Infuriated, she had yelled at the top of their lungs and lunged at them, the broom being her weapon.
Those mean boys didn’t expect a thin girl to confront them. And they didn’t even expect her to win . Swiftly and accurately, the short girl had swept them off their feet, making them fall onto their butts after a session of punching and pushing against the walls.
As they were sitting while being cornered by her, she had smacked their heads with the broom (again).
“Now you know how it feels to be fucking stomped on, like you assholes do!” She had cursed, astonishing the youngsters even more at the stark contrast between her baby face and her foul language. “You insensitive scumbags, you bunch of bastard pigs! You better stay away from him from now on, or I’ll make sure your parents and the principal know about this bullshit!” She threatened, holding the broom so tight her knuckles were white.
Stuttering and trembling, those young punks had nodded, too afraid to talk back or even do anything.
“Good!” She had roared. “Now scram!”
In her short thirteen years, she hadn’t seen such asshats in her school. Sure, there were bullies, but taking it to the point of harassing a clearly defenseless student, in a three versus one gang up made her already hot blood boil even more. She had turned to the crying boy, walking at him and crouching down so she was at his same height.
“Hey. They’re gone now,” she had said in a sharp tone, but noticeably softer than her threats a few minutes ago. “So don’t cry anymore.”
She had taken out a handkerchief from her gym shorts. “Come now,” she had mumbled, wiping his wet face. “How did you let this happen?”
“T-they… I-I had refused to do their literature homework for them…” the boy had whispered while hiccuping. His voice was gentle and melodic, she remarked in her head.
“Tch. Besides being assholes, they’re illiterate idiots,” she had hissed under her breath, loudly enough for him to chuckle softly. She blushed at the surprise.
“You… r-really scared them to death…” the other boy had said, more recovered that time. “Y-you’re good at that.”
“Meh, my big brother’s my best training,” she had muttered, dismissing the compliment as she patted her knees which had a few green band-aids on as if she was proving by point with them. “If I were you, I’d tell my parents about this. And just slap them if you get in trouble again in the future, ai. Or smash their heads with a textbook. Or make them trip by tying their shoelaces! It worked for me once,” she had said proudly and with a childish grin. At that, the boy couldn’t help but burst into hearty laughter, being quickly followed by her own laughs.
On that day after school, right before summer break, everything had blurred into colors, genuine thankfulness, a vulnerable smile and cicadas screeching. But in her sadness, she didn’t see that boy anymore after that day, nor after summer break. People from her class had said that a guy from class C had transferred to another school. She couldn’t help but sigh at that: it was the best for him, she supposed. He probably had been bullied since earlier than her intervention. Yet she still sulked, as her only memory of him was his smile and voice, but not his name.
She had missed the chance to make a friend. It was boring to be a loner, after all.
“Remember our deal, Qingqing?” said the soft-looking man at the entrance of the house. A-Qing sighed while smiling tiredly, and turned around to face her dad while holding her school bag.
“Avoid trouble,” she pointed while counting, “always lend out my hand for help, watch my language and stay away from violence. It’s gonna be okay, Dad,” she said, nodding twice and smiling tenderly. “I don’t want to cause you guys any more trouble.”
Xingchen smiled and pushed his glasses back. “You have grown into a beautiful lady, A-Qing,” he mused lovingly. “We are proud of you.”
The causant of the ‘we’, Song Zichen, stood behind him, caressing his shoulder with a stern expression, but warm eyes. “Yes,” he reassured. “Xingchen is right. You’re a big girl now. Show us what you’re capable of.”
“Dad, Father, it’s not like I’m moving out!” A-Qing exclaimed while laughing. “Stop embarrassing me.”
“Then, stop being a menace and go!” a husky voice came from inside. “You already stole all of Dad’s candy and now you’re enjoying the attention, you heinous beast!” yelled her older brother from the dining room. “The audacity of not respecting your elders!”
“What did you say, bastard?! I’m not a beast, you…!” A-Qing clenched her fist threateningly, only to low her hand at the scolding gaze from both her dads. First step: failed.
“Sorry,” she mumbled while looking down.
“It’s okay, Qingqing. Just go,” Xingchen whispered while caressing her face. “Make some new friends and enjoy your first day.
And just like that, she bid her family goodbye and sprinted to the train station. Thank goodness she didn’t forget to wear tight shorts under her skirt; if not, she would be in trouble already.
Song Qing constantly tried to grow out of her threatening, bully-ish persona ever since she graduated from middle school. Her dads had always praised her for being strong and not staying quiet to injustice and other bullies, but there was a time that she was too intimidating for her school peers, and ended up lonely with no one to talk to, as everyone was scared of her foul mouth and prepotent personality. Blame the fact that her older brother had always treated her like one of his asshat friends, so she barely got treated as a girl with the exception of her Dad, Xiao Xingchen. He listened to her girly likings, bought her the clothes she secretly stared at when going shopping, carefully combed and styled her hair and taught her gentleness, manners and sweetness. She now was a mix of both: she was tough and intimidating, but cared about her looks and was a little more careful now.
Yet still, her carefree way of life, sport skills and simple thinking were pretty much inherited from her brother’s antics and the fact that her Father (who married his Dad when both kids were younger) didn’t comment much on it until recent days, did not help that much. So she had promised, to her dads and herself, that she’d be friendlier, avoid getting into trouble while pretending to be some kind of heroine, and have good grades. It’s not that she liked to be all by herself, anyways. It was an impulse to leave her gangster self in her middle school days and finally start behaving like the female leads of the sappy dramas his Dad loved to watch. Not the fragile and dependent parts, but the stylish, cool and loved ones.
That being said, A-Qing swore to herself that she would not enroll into any martial art clubs as she was during middle school. She was an ace at judo, yet that would add Aggressiveness Points to her reputation for the next three years if she kept going to one.
She would also watch her mouth. She had lost all of her female friends because her foul language had disgusted them, to the point of inventing petty rumors about her Dad being involved with some sort of mafia, so she was a spawn of the devil. That had earned those snakes several slaps across their faces, after school, in the girls’ bathrooms as she was cursing and crying her heart out. She had gotten her Dad into trouble that year, all because she didn’t watch her mouth. For A-Qing, that was the most painful moment in her life, as her gentle and forgiving Dad had a tough time and was upset with her. That was the inflection point in which she promised them to behave correctly from now on. (Not that she had stopped cursing completely. Her mind was free to ramble, and her brother had all of her curses coming. That fucker. A-Qing was proud of never treating him with greasy honorifics; that brat didn’t even look like a respectable college student! Sheesh.)
As she took the train and waited for her station to come while sitting down, she sighed. It was true, she wasn’t the best back then but she would be now. Even if that meant hiding some parts of herself to the rest of her classmates. Her temper would have to wait, as well.
Once she walked out of the station and headed past the gates to see who her classmates would be (she knew a few ones from middle school. She prayed for them to have forgotten about her during the winter break), A-Qing looked around by walking through the crowd and quietly staring at the other first years. Everyone looked refreshing, as if they were also ready to start anew and build a reputation here and there. But as she heard loud laughter from the boys and giggles from cutesy girls, she knew some people were already building popularity from earlier school cycles. A small group of boys were cheering along as they were looking at the lists, probably because they were put in the same class. There was a quiet-looking boy who wore a long ponytail, a shorter one who was the one who was shouting hysterically (short ponytail and right sided bangs), another long haired boy who was shouting at the already loud one (geez, she didn’t remember her old classmates being THAT loud), and…
… him.
A-Qing opened her eyes widely. That boy, the one she had defended from four coward bastards that summer day, two years ago. The one who was sobbing while crouching down, was now a taller guy who was smiling brightly at his peers. The one who had also smiled at her in that way, despite the contrast between her physical appearance and her brutality on that occasion. A-Qing was astonished: he hadn’t changed his hairstyle during that span of time. His soft demeanor also didn’t change. He was letting himself into the loud mess his friends were, but it was noticeable that he didn’t mind it. She was satisfied. Maybe changing schools was indeed the best for him.
But sooner than later, her empathic happiness turned into fearful worry. Would he remember her? And her sharp tongue, and her physical strength? She really hoped not. That would be so embarrassing for her and her plans! Although he didn’t seem like the kind of brats that loved spreading rumors if he got to remember her, she couldn’t be sure. She had to stay on a low profile and not stand out at all. And if he forgot her, she’d make sure he’d remember only the sweet girl she actually was under all the curses and threats she grew up with.
Many of the people in her class already had friends from middle or even elementary school, so A-Qing had no business on awkward introductions that led to scrutinizing gazes. She had enough burden with the two boys she knew from her ‘dark past’ who shrinked into their seats as she entered the classroom. She knew they wouldn’t spread anything due to intimidation, yet that still was a spike in her heart. Was she that bad? Maybe she deserved her loneliness and his father’s disappointment back then.
One of the many reasons behind her past behavior, besides her stupid brother, was that she always thought that girly behavior was stupid. That’s why she looked at dresses or frilly clothes only when she had made sure nobody was looking. She gagged at her female classmates for liking stupid boys and smiling fakely at them. She despised bright colors, even if her favorite one was aqua green per say. So, a complete hypocrite that only mingled with girls of her same way of thinking, as they gossiped about the girlier ones who only happened to exist and were confident in their pretty looks and she did nothing to stop them.
Maybe she really deserved to be lonely. Maybe she really was a bully rather than someone who defended the weak. Maybe…
“Excuse me!” a sweet, chirpy voice echoed outside of her head, waking her from her thoughts. “Are you waiting for someone?”
The voice came from a nice-looking girl, who had some weird hairstyle akin to high twintails. A-Qing shook her head no.
“Great!” the girl exclaimed. “Can I sit beside you?” she asked, only for A-Qing to nod twice, dumbly. How did people socially interact? This was new to her.
Luckily, the girl didn’t seem to mind her awkwardness. “I’m Ning Yingying!” she announced, putting her open hand over her puffed chest. “I moved here a month ago. And you? What’s your name?”
A-Qing slapped herself mentally. This is supposed to be easy! “I’m… Song Qing” she answered quietly. Oh, right, a smile wouldn’t be bad. She seems to smile naturally. “I’ve always lived in this city,” she finished, smiling a little bit. “Nice to meet you.”
“Eeeh? Song-jie seems so cool!” Yingying chirped amicably. “Your eyes are pretty and your hair looks beautiful! I hope we get along well!”
A-Qing saw the genuine, cheerful smile on that girl’s face, and couldn’t help but smile as brightly as her. She still got flustered at compliments that weren’t her Dad’s, but maybe this was going to be okay.
“En, me too!”
Yeah, upgrade. Things weren’t going to be okay.
Turns out that the boy (named Ouyang Zizhen) wasn’t only her classmate, but also the goddamned most popular guy in the first year, along with his friends. He was awarded as Best Actor the two remaining years of middle school, and also had won an interscholar literature contest. The loud guy with the short ponytail, Lan Jingyi, was the best athlete in school. The calm one, Lan Sizhui, was Jingyi’s cousin and a top student (A-Qing even heard some girls recalling a supposed junior fencing championship) and the loud, posh-looking Jin Ling was son of the successful businessman Jin Zixuan, head of the Jin stockholders. What in the everlasting fuck was going to happen to her low-profiled plans?! She had all the crémes-de-la-créme in her fucking classroom!
“They seem quite nice, don’t they?” Yingying commented happily. A-Qing, in contrast, wanted the ground to open and swallow her wholly.