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The Cursed Of Jin Yang

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Chapter 2: The Second Day

*SAFINA*

The second day started with my photo on every screen in Sta. Maria.

I didn’t know until I walked into the main hall.

The walls here had digital boards. Announcements, club recruitment, sports scores. Usually.

Today, half of them showed me.

It was the photo from yesterday. Me, standing by the fountain. And Jin Yang, half-turned like he was about to walk away. You could see his profile. My mouth was open like I was talking to him.

Someone had zoomed in. Added text across the top in big red letters:

*“SCHOLARSHIP BITCH CLING TO JIN YANG??”*

Under it, comments were already scrolling on the side bar. The board was synced to the school app.

_@elise_deleon: eww gold digger_

_@marcus.lee: country bumpkin trying to climb_

_@trisha.c: she’s so smelly i can smell her from here_

_@kian.r: commoner alert. stay away from our jin_

_@unknown: nerd + poor + ugly \= leave_

My face burned. My hands went cold.

“Is that you?” a girl whispered, loud.

“Don’t touch her,” another one said, pulling her friend back. “She’s cursed or something.”

I wanted to disappear. I wanted the floor to open and swallow me with my duffel bag and my scholarship packet and my cheap shoes that suddenly felt like they were screaming _POOR_.

I kept my eyes down and walked fast. To class. To anywhere.

It didn’t matter. The whispers followed me.

“Bitch.”

“Slut.”

“Gold digger.”

“Commoner.”

“Country bumpkin.”

“Poor.”

“Ugly.”

“Nerd.”

“Smelly.”

Each word was a paper cut. By third period I was bleeding everywhere and no one could see it.

In Literature, someone “accidentally” knocked coffee on my desk. Brown liquid soaked into my notebook, the one I’d bought with my own allowance.

“Sorry,” the boy said, not sorry at all. “Didn’t see you there. Guess you blend in with the cheap furniture.”

Laughter.

In PE, my locker was filled with trash. Candy wrappers, tissue, and a note written in red pen:

_GO BACK TO THE MARKET WITH YOUR MOM._

I stood there staring at it until the bell rang.

No one sat beside me at lunch. The bench was empty in a 3-seat radius like I had a disease.

Maybe I did.

The worst part was I didn’t understand why. Yes, I was poor. Yes, I was on scholarship. But Sta. Maria had accepted me. The dean had signed my letter. Why were they so angry?

Then I remembered Jin.

The photo. Us talking.

Did they think... did they think I was trying to get close to him? To use him?

I didn’t even know him. He’d said two sentences to me.

But to them, that was enough. Talking to Jin Yang was a crime. And I was the criminal.

By the last bell, my phone had 43 notifications. All from numbers I didn’t know. All hate.

_die scholarship trash_

_jin would never look at you_

_you’re disgusting_

I turned it off. Shoved it in my bag.

I just wanted to go home. But the dorm was here. I had nowhere else.

I was walking across the courtyard, head down, when I heard it.

“Yo! Isn’t that her?”

“The gold digger.”

“Hey! Commoner!”

Three boys blocked the path. Same blazers. Same smirks. One of them had the coffee from earlier.

“Where you going, Safina Cerezo?” he said my name like it was dirty. “Valedictorian, right? So smart. So smart you thought you could touch Jin Yang.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Save it,” he cut me off. “Everyone saw the photo. You think because you’re smart you can climb? Think again.”

He stepped closer. I stepped back.

“Don’t you get it? People like you don’t belong here. You’re just here for us to laugh at.”

He raised his hand. Not to hit me. Just to scare me.

I flinched.

And then a voice cut through the courtyard like ice.

“Touch her and you’re expelled.”

### *JIN*

I heard my name and I knew it was bad.

I’d been in the admin office all morning. My father’s lawyer was on speaker. Something about shares. Something about the board meeting next month.

Then my phone buzzed. Once. Twice. Twenty times.

Group chats. Tagged photos. Videos.

Me. And the scholarship girl. Safina Cerezo.

The caption: _Jin Yang’s new pet project._

My stomach dropped.

I’d told them to leave her alone yesterday. I thought that would be enough. I was stupid.

I found the person who posted it in 10 minutes. Darian Cortez. Third year. His father was on the board, but not big board. Just loud board.

I cornered him by the parking lot.

“Delete it,” I said.

He looked up from his car, saw me, and grinned. “What, Jin? Jealous?”

“Delete the photo. Delete every repost. Now.”

“Or what? You gonna cry to daddy?” He laughed. “Come on. It’s just a poor girl. What’s it to you?”

I stepped closer. I could see his pulse jump in his neck.

“Or I have my family pull our shares from Sta. Maria,” I said quietly. “The Yang family owns 18%. We’re the second largest holders. You think your dad wants to explain to the board why tuition went up 40% next year because we pulled funding?”

His smile slipped.

“This isn’t about money,” I said. “This is about you using a student to get clout. Take it down.”

“You can’t—”

“Try me.”

He stared at me for a long time. Then he pulled out his phone with shaking hands and started deleting.

“Good,” I said. “Tell everyone else to too.”

I walked away before he could answer.

That should have been the end of it.

It wasn’t.

Because by the time I got to the courtyard, there was already a crowd.

And Safina was in the middle of it.

Three guys. One of them was Marco Valdez. His family wasn’t as rich as mine, but they were rich enough to be stupid. And they hated that I was richer.

“Jin!” Marco called when he saw me. “Perfect timing! We were just welcoming your girlfriend.”

She wasn’t my girlfriend. But saying that would make it worse.

Safina looked up at me. Her eyes were red. Not crying. Just... done. Like she’d cried all she could and now there was nothing left.

Something in my chest twisted.

“Leave her alone,” I said.

Marco spread his arms. “Why? Because you like her? Because you feel bad for the poor little scholarship case?”

The crowd murmured. Phones came out.

“Don’t,” I warned.

“What, you gonna hit me?” Marco stepped forward. “Come on. Hit the second richest family’s son. See what happens.”

He was testing me. They all were. The Yang name protected me, but it also painted a target on my back. People wanted to see if I’d break. If the curse would show.

The curse.

I kept my hands in my pockets. Because if I touched him, if he touched me and something happened...

“Last chance,” I said. “Walk away.”

“Make me,” Marco said.

He swung.

I didn’t move. I let him.

His fist grazed my jaw. It hurt, but not as much as the look on Safina’s face.

Gasps. Phones recording.

“Hit him back, Jin!” someone yelled.

“Fight him!”

I looked at Marco. Really looked at him.

“You think this is about her being poor,” I said, voice low so only he and Safina could hear. “It’s not. It’s about you being a coward. You need a crowd to feel big.”

His face went red. “Shut up—”

“I’m not going to fight you,” I said. “Because the second I do, this becomes about me. And she deserves better than being your excuse.”

I turned to Safina.

“Are you okay?”

She blinked. Like she didn’t expect me to ask. “I... yeah. I’m fine.”

“You’re lying,” I said. Then, louder: “Everyone. Back to class. Now.”

No one moved.

“NOW.”

That was my father’s voice. Not mine. But it worked.

The crowd scattered. Marco stayed for one second too long, glaring, then followed.

It was just me and Safina.

The courtyard was quiet except for the fountain.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“For what?” she asked, voice small.

“For yesterday. For today. For them using me to hurt you.”

She shook her head. “You didn’t do anything.”

“I didn’t stop it fast enough.”

We stood there in awkward silence.

“I don’t want special treatment,” she said finally. “I just want to go to class.”

“I know,” I said. “I’ll make sure you can.”

“How? You’re Jin Yang. People are scared of you.”

“Good,” I said. “Let them be.”

She looked at me then. Really looked. Like she was trying to figure out if I was dangerous or just tired.

Probably both.

“I should go,” she said. “Before I’m late.”

“Wait,” I said before she could walk away. “Do you... do you need help? With anything? Books. A place to eat where they won’t bother you.”

She laughed, but it was bitter. “You think a table will stop them?”

“No,” I admitted. “But it’s a start.”

Safina studied me. “Why are you doing this? You don’t know me.”

I almost said _because no one should go through this alone._

I almost said _because I know what it’s like to have people avoid you._

Instead I said, “Because someone should.”

She nodded once. “Okay. Thanks, Jin.”

She walked away.

I watched her go. And I felt it.

That old, familiar cold.

The curse.

I hadn’t touched her. I hadn’t even gotten close. But talking to her in public was enough. The whispers would start again. _Jin’s talking to her. She’s next._

But for once, I didn’t care.

### *SAFINA*

That night, the photos were gone.

I checked. The school app, the group chats my roommate showed me, everything. Deleted.

In their place was a new announcement from the Dean’s office:

_Bullying of any kind will result in immediate suspension. This includes online harassment. Sta. Maria University does not tolerate discrimination based on financial status._

Everyone knew who made that happen.

The next morning, no one called me names to my face.

Behind my back? Still.

But to my face, silence.

It was worse, in a way. Because now I knew they were scared. Not of me. Of him.

Jin Yang.

I saw him at lunch. Sitting alone at a corner table, like always. People gave him space. The same space they gave me, but for a different reason.

He looked up when I walked in. Our eyes met.

He didn’t smile. He didn’t wave.

He just moved his bag from the seat across from him.

An invitation.

I stood there for a long time. My heart was pounding. If I sat, the rumors would start again. If I didn’t, I’d be eating alone for the next 4 years.