First Fever

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“You did what?”

Rei’s scream echoed throughout the club room before she could even enter through the door.

Wonyoung and Hyunseo were off to one side working on the arts-and-crafts for their booth. Gaeul and Liz were cross-legged on the floor trying to make their sign more sprightly. But it was both Yujin and Rei who were by their shoe rack, staring each other into the ground.

Yujin shrugged, dumping her duffel bag onto the floor. “What? It’s not like we’re going to make it in time anyway. Saved our asses if anything else, actually.”

“You—. I—. UGH,” Rei groaned, pushing past Yujin and stomping into the room at large now. “Unnie, can you fucking believe her?”

Gaeul rose from the floor now, holding her hand out to soothe the scared Liz, who was hovering above the sprawled illustration boards trying to tape them together. “Girls, what’s wrong? What’s happening?”

Rei shoved her thumb backwards towards Yujin. “This bitch. She didn’t sign us up for Freshman Week.”

Like lightning striking in an open field, all eyes shifted towards Yujin now.

“Yujin-unnie, what is Rei-unnie saying? What do you mean … unnie, did you not submit the proposal we filled out to the student council?” Hyunseo wondered, fingers curling tight around the glue gun.

“Y-Yujin … the deadline was yesterday … don’t tell me …” Liz muttered, unable to finish her sentence as she crumpled and squished a roll of tape between her trembling nails. “Then all of this … is for nothing …”

But it was Gaeul who really stepped in to get to the bottom of things. Lifting her chin, she took a deep breath and got in between both Yujin and Rei, the latter of whom already had her fists clenched. “Ya, Yujin, let’s hear your side of things first. What exactly is Rei talking about?”

Hands on her hips, the point guard tossed her hair back and shrugged once more. “She’s right—I didn’t send in our proposal for the booth. Big deal. That thing’s already on Monday, and there’s no way we’re going to put together a half-decent shitshow by then. Is it really that bad to miss out this year—?”

Yujin’s apathetic remark was immediately punctuated by hands grabbing her by the collar of her jersey.

“You,” Rei huffed, the air coming out of her nostrils almost as virulent as exhaust fumes. “I was going to invite some of our underclassmen here during the fair. We … Yujin, we’ve been looking forward to this since we’ve joined the club. All of us. To having more members, a-and meeting more people like us, and—. Fuck, Yujin what were you thinking? What were you FUCKING thinking!”

Yujin met her eye-to-eye and lowered her face towards Rei. “Let go of me.”

Rei shook her head. She doubled-down and gripped tighter, curling her anger against the other’s shirt. “You’re not even helping out with anything for the club. You’re always busy with practice. Always too tired to even run logistics or deliver papers for us. Always too distracted.”

Wonyoung’s gut knotted the moment Rei glanced at her briefly from the corner of her eye.

“What do you want me to say? What do you want me to fucking do? It’s already done. Deadline’s passed. Nothing we can do about it now. Better luck next year, I guess—.”

Wonyoung was thinking about how she agreed with Yujin. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t have any new members this year—if it was just the six of them once again. She’s never bothered to join any other club in sophomore year last year because she’s dedicated all of her time with these girls. They’re fun. A lot of fun. And unlike any of the other clubs or organizations or sororities out there, this club was closely knit. Way more than any of them could ever have anticipated before joining. She assumed the others thought the same way—felt the same way—about the club.

Because the film club was theirs. It was just for them.

Just them.

But before Wonyoung can even get a word in, the entire club room stilled form the sharp ringing of a—.

WHAP.

Palm still crossed over her opposite shoulder, Rei panted, glowering with clenched teeth. “You only fucking care about yourself, Yujin. Don’t think I don’t know why you really didn’t want us to open at Freshman Week. You just want to keep fucking around with—.”

Yujin tackled her.

Wonyoung can’t remember what happened next in this moment.

Were there glitter and paper mache bursting all around? Were there howling and pleading instead of their usual rambunctious laughing and teasing? Was there blood drawn from any of them, or were there instead lines drawn across the the precarious dynamics within their little club?

Either way, all Wonyoung remembered was digging her face into Yujin’s back, embracing her as tightly as she could as her knees skidded across the floor—backwards and away from her—with each swing downwards from her best friend.

“Jinjin, please … stop … You’re hurting … her …?”

But all Wonyoung saw when Yujin craned her neck over to the side was nothing but a growling, tearing, and broken mess above the bloodied Rei.

All Wonyoung saw was a monster.

“What … did you say …?”

Her words come out like a whisper at first until—.

“What. Did you just. Say?”

The auditorium rumbles with the echoes of crackling thunder.

Wonyoung won’t. She can’t. She doesn’t want to look up. She doesn’t have the heart to face Rei like this. So as she hid herself on hands and knees behind her hair, she continues to mumble and sob by Rei’s feet like a broken record. “I’m s-s-sorry … I’m so … so … sorry …”

She hears footsteps.

At first, Wonyoung anticipates that Rei might help her up and comfort her. Might dry her eyes and wipe the tears that won’t stop flowing down her cheeks. Might even pull her in for an embrace while Wonyoung struggles to swallow the coarse and grating sensation that coats her throat now.

Instead, Wonyoung is yanked upwards and backwards by the strands of her hair.

“Rei—.”

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY? WHERE IS LIZ? WHERE IS JIWON, WONYOUNG?” Rei demands, forcing the other girl to kneel at her feet. With her strength having left her body, Wonyoung can do nothing but shudder and shake her head in reply. “She’s gone … she’s gone, Rei …. sh-she … she’s … she’s—.”

Rei swipes her aside and Wonyoung collapses onto the floor like she’s a flimsy deck of cards as the former runs for the barricaded doors.

Hanni and Gaeul are quick to grab Rei by her shoulders and stop her from doing what they think she is about to do. But hell hath no fury like a woman scorned—they can only manage to slow her down as she flails against their restraints.

Yujin kneels next to Wonyoung, and through her still-ragged breaths from it all, helps her into a sit, so she can swaddle Wonyoung in her weary arms. “Wonnie … Wonnie, are you hurt?”

Wonyoung bites her lip and shakes her head in little jitters. “Rei … Go check on R-Rei …”

“LET ME GO!”

Kneeing Hanni in the gut, Rei spits blood out to the side as she knocks her forehead into Gaeul’s, sending their unnie flying backwards and into a wall. Wonhee circles her slowly, picking up one of Hanni’s mop handles and wielding it before her like it might do something, but Rei simply scoffs at her and yanks away her weapon with ease.

Just when Hyunseo is about to reach for her unnie, she’s met with the whipping wind of Rei abruptly pointing the wooden end towards her neck. “You. Watch my back. I’m going out there to find her.”

“Unnie, don’t—!”