Doctor Demon

Soobin was humming to herself as she walked down the school corridor. She greeted some of the students on her way and reached her locker when her eyes fell on Baekha who was also walking towards her own locker.

"Baekha!" she called. Baekha turned around to find Soobin ushering her over. 

"Is everything alright?" Soobin asked as she took out her locker keys. 

"I guess," Baekha shrugged. "I'm still living in the outhouse."

"And what about...you know…"

Soobin was indicating about her situation with Ciara and Youngjoon who are still obsessed with the demon and shaman. 

"Still fixated on the fake shaman," Baekha replied but Soobin was not so sure if that man was a fake.

"Just out of curiosity," Soobin began. "Why do you think he's fake?"

When Baekha raised an eyebrow, she quickly added, "I'm asking because not all shamans are fake. Some are real and might be able to summon spirits or demons. What if he's the real deal and your brother's spirit has actually be summoned-"

"What nonsense!" Baekha scoffed. "There's no such thing as spirits or demons. People who are dead, stay dead."

She did not believe in such things. Why should she? IF the dead came back, then they would be living in a very scary world. As if the living humans were not scary enough. Who would worry about the dead ones?

"I dunno," Soobin shrugged. "There are...things in this world which can't be explained."

She shuddered to think of her experience with Duho and how the demon had possessed him. Even though Duho was an obsessed stalker, to suffer a fate like that was cruel. 

"Anyways," she went on as she put the key in her locker. "I-"

BANG!

There was a mini explosion when Soobin opened her locker and a sticky substance hit her. Baekha, who was also standing next to her, felt some of it hit her but her state was not as bad as Soobin's. The sticky, gooey dough was stuck to the latter's clothes and hair, making her shriek. 

"What the hell?" Soobin cried, trying to take off the sticky goo but to her horror, her hair was completely stuck together and no matter how many times she rubbed her skin, the goo only stuck deeper. 

Students gathered around her and were whispering to themselves, pointing at her. 

"That thing doesn't come out easily!" one of the students said.

"It sticks worse on hair."

Baekha glared at them and yelled, "DON'T JUST STAND THERE, HELP HER!"

A few students came forward to console Soobin who was panicking. She was not angry but desperate to take the thing off her skin but to no avail. Baekha and the other students quickly took her to the girl's shower at the gym nearby. Only Baekha followed her there, while the others stayed back to see how else they could help.

Once inside, Baekha turned to the hysteric Soobin who was now on the verge of crying.

"This is gonna take forever to take off!" Soobin sobbed. "And the uniform is so expensive…"

She was now scared and worried. The clothes were completely ruined by the orange stain and it was only deepening. It was hard to afford these uniforms and she had to work long hours for months to afford them. 

"You got covered in goo and you're worrying about a dumb uniform?" Baekha snapped. "This thing won't come off easily!"

She searched in her bag. Luckily, there was a large bottle of nail polish remover which should take off the substance from Soobin's skin. But the hair…

"Use this," she said, handing the remover to her. "The skin will be easy to clean. As for the hair...I might have to cut it."

Soobin gasped. Cut her hair? 

She sadly looked at her once silky hair which was now stuck together. The goo had completely covered her long locks, making them tangled and sticky. It was not going to come off easily with shampoo and water. Most of it would have to be cut off.

"Don't worry," Baekha assured her. "I'll do it for you."

Thanks to her secret identity as an idol, she knew how to cut someone's hair. Soobin was now on the verge of tears.

"Who did this?" she sniffed, wiping tears from her sticky cheeks. 

"Isn't it obvious?" 

Soobin gulped at that question. Was it? Did Sera really do this to her?

"Just go and get cleaned," Baekha suggested. "I'm here. I'll wait. I'd better call your boyfriend and-"

"No!" 

Soobin was adamant. Yoonmin should not find out about this at all. He was away on a two day trip for some business and if he heard it, he would leave everything and rush to her side. 

"Don't tell him," she said. "I don't want to worry him. I'll...I'll handle this."

"You do realize the other kids are gonna talk," Baekha pointed out. "And he's gonna hear it when he arrives at school."

"I'll worry about that later! But don't tell him now. Please!"

Baekha wanted to argue but the genuine plea in Soobin's eyes stopped her from doing so. Ugh, this girl has a quality to make people listen to her, Baekha groaned inwardly.

"Fine!" she agreed. "But you'd better tell him yourself once he comes back!"

"Okay!"

Soobin gave her a sad smile. Baekha handed her some of the essentials she always carried with her. Since she was an idol, she had to carry things like soap and shampoo with her so that she could clean herself quickly whenever needed.

"You carry all these?" Soobin frowned.

"Be thankful that I do. Otherwise, you'd have to go to the hospital to take this off!"

She also extracted some extra clothes from her bag and handed it to her. After the fatty tricked her, Baekha kept a spare set of uniform with her all the time. Soobin flashed her a smile and went to take a shower.

The fatty...Baekha was sure that Sera was behind the attack. She did not usually call people like that but after what Sera did, she did not even want to acknowledge her with a proper name. Sera reminded her of a child who threw tantrums whenever they did not get their way. To side with bullies when she was bullied herself, was something Baekha could not forgive.

Finally, Soobin came out of the shower room. No matter how many times she tried to clean her hair, it was impossible to completely clean her hair. Baekha sighed at the state of Soobin's beautiful hair and pulled out a pair of scissors from her bag. 

"Do...do I have to cut my hair?" Soobin asked in a sad tone.

"It's just hair," Baekha said. "It'll grow back."

"I know but…"

Soobin gazed at her poor hair. It took her many years to grow them out and she always took extra care of them. She could not help feeling sad, feeling as if she was losing an old friend. 

Yoonmin likes my long hair, she thought sadly. What if he loses interest in me after seeing that I've cut it off?

Baekha sighed and patted the girl's back. She was being dramatic but somewhere in her heart, Baekha understood her dilemma too. After all, she also had to cut off her hair to hide her identity as Baek.

"I'll be gentle," she promised. "And give you a good haircut, okay?"

Soobin nodded but did not say anything. Her eyes were stung with tears but she brushed them away as Baekha extracted a few strands. Soobin's heart ached as she heard the snipping of the scissors, the long locks falling all around her.

…

Minyoon was in the classroom but he was surprised to find out that Soobin was not there. She was always early to school and never missed out on a single say. In fact, she had called him that morning to ask if he could bring Yoonmin's Biology notebook for her so that she could jot down his lessons for him while he was away.

The first period ended and it was time for their math class. 

Where is she? He wondered. The teacher was late and the students began to chatter.

"Did you hear about Soobin?" One of the students was saying. Minyoon, who was about to text Soobin, froze.

"Her locker exploded and some weird glue-like stuff stuck to her body and hair!" the student was telling his friends. "She was crying."

At that very moment, Baekha entered the classroom followed by…

"Soobin?"

Minyoon was gaping at her. She was now sporting a short bob cut. Baekha had expertly cut her hair, making it look cool and chic. Some of the boys were ogling at Soobin, who felt really shy. She changed into a fresh set of uniform and to her shock, Bakeha wore really tight clothes. The uniform now stuck to her frame, highlighting her curves and she was attracting the attention of every male student. Even the skirt was shorter than the standard size.

"Baekha, this is too revealing!" Soobin squeaked. "People are staring!"

"Good," Baekha muttered. Even Minyoon was trying hard not to stare at his brother's girlfriend.

"What happened?" he hissed at them. Baekha did not reply but was looking around for someone. Her eyes fell on Sera.

"That happened," she said, pointing at the fatty who was fuming at Soobin. Instead of becoming the butt of the joke, Soobin was prettier than before. She looked mature in her new hairdo and the tight uniform only made her look more desirable.

"Just look at her," Miho muttered from behind her. "Showing off her body like that! You were right Sera. She's a fake!"

Sera nodded and looked away. She should not be bothered with trash like Soobin. The goo might have backfired but she would unmask Soobin someday.

Minyoon followed Baekha's gaze and instantly understood what she meant. 

"I'll go and sit somewhere," Soobin said. "Ugh! This is just…"

She trailed off and headed towards an empty chair, drowning in misery. Baekha could not help feeling bad for the girl because she seemed to be genuinely nice. 

"Oi, bozo," she muttered to Minyoon. "What do you say you and I teach that fatty a lesson she'll never forget?"

"I don't bully people," Minyoon stated.

"We're not bullying," she replied. "Just gonna teach her and that blonde lotus a lesson."

Minyoon frowned at her. "What are you planning?" he frowned.

But Baekha flashed him a sarcastic smile and lightly patted his cheek. Her small gesture made Minyoon blush but she did not notice.

"You'll see," she said.. "All you gotta do is send an email."