SOUTHSIDE

[S1] E01: Where Does the River End?

LALISA

Wayji—a small town with big secrets. It comes off to others as an innocent and peaceful place where you can enjoy the beauty of the countryside. But hiding deep within the woods are all the lies, dirty deeds, scandals and murder they've buried for everyone to forget.

But that's the thing about secrets. It's just dying to come out...

"Ya, Lisa!"

I jumped at the sudden call of my name, forcedly pulled out of the clouds and greeted by the boxy smile of Kang Taehyung—literally the most awesome guy in all of Wayji. (which I mean in the most platonic way ever)

"You should stop this whole daydreaming thing," he said as he sat on my desk. "It'll ruin your reputation."

"Ha-ha, that's hilarious," I sarcastically said, rolling my eyes before punching him.

"Now that's the Kwon Lalisa I know," he chuckled while massaging his arm. "Wow. That kickboxing thing you're doing with your dad is totally paying off. You hit like a dude!"

"No," I teased. "You're just a whiny little bitch."

He fake gasped and acted like he was deeply offended. But one thing about Kang Taehyung is that he's not cut out for acting. He's too transparent.

"So, is the party still on?" I asked as I gathered my things and stood up. We both got out of the classroom, walking towards our lockers.

He nodded in response.

"Yup! The tents are all set in the woods and we have enough pizza to feed a whole fleet. I talked to Yoongi and Jimin about it and they said the only thing missing was booze. And hearing the word booze, I wanted to check that with you."

I stopped on my tracks.

"Booze as in Beer?"

"Yup."

"Then go for it," I answered. "What's a party with no booze?"

Taehyung's forehead scrunched up.

"A decent one?" He crossed his arms. "Seriously, Lis. We'll get in big trouble again if something happens. We all know how the serpents are when they have even a single drop of alcohol in their system."

"That's why we set the party on a Friday night and in the woods so no one can trash anyone's neighborhood like last time. We'll have no complaints whatsoever."

"Still—"

"Tae, what can go wrong? We've got this. And It's the end of 10th grade. We'll be juniors next summer so we have to at least celebrate not repeating another year—"

A sudden weight on her shoulder almost threw her off.

"Yo princess," the guy said. No one calls her that except for... Dong fvcking Jimin. Southside High's very own Casanova. "So the party tonight's a go? There's this new chick I wanna lay my hands on tonight."

This made Taehyung's forehead crease. "New chick? There's no one new here except for— you fvcking asshole!"

With thay Jimin sprinted away from Taehyung's grip using me as his shield.

"She's my fvcking cousin you cunt!"

Oh. Kang Seulgi. The new girl visiting town for the summer who happens to be Taehyung's cousin.

"Yeah, so? I'm such a good friend that I'm willing to offer her a good time in this boring town of ours," Jimin defended. "Plus she looks like a good 99th."

Jimin and I were friends for as long as I could remember. Me, him, Tae and Yoongi practically grew up together so we basically know what goes on in each others' heads. And with 99th, he meant it as 99th conquest out of his sworn hundred conquests before he reaches 19. (Or whenever he catches a disease. Whichever comes first.)

"Can you, for just tonight, not decide with your filthy ass d**k?" I scoffed. "You sound like a horny old dude who hasn't been laid for 50 years."

"But Lis, have you seen her? She's so effin' hot—Ow!"

Choi Yoongi walked pass them just after he hit Jimin's head with a notebook or something. Typical Yoongi. A man who's more 'actions speak louder than words' kind of guy.

"Thanks Yoongs!"

Without turning towards us, he gave them a salute before cooly walking towards his own locker.

"You were saying?"

"Fine. I won't lay a hand on Tae's cousin," he muttered half-heartedly. I chuckled a bit before opening my own locker and fishing out my stuff. "By the way, are we carpooling tonight? Or will you guys walk to the woods? Grampa over there just lost his seat."

"I'd rather walk than ride that death machine of yours," Yoongi replied from the opposite side of the hall.

"Betsy isn't a death machine!" Jimin countered. "She's just missing a few pieces which I'll be able to get when Summer starts. I'll be doing shifts in the diner for some dough."

"Makes me wonder," I said leaning on to the locker. "It's great that Betsy's still in one piece after using her as your very own motel room."

"Heck no!" He immediately replied. "Betsy is sacred grounds. No consummation can be done in her."

"Wow. So the great Dong Jimin still has morals left in his system."

I immediately recognized the owner of that voice.

"Tzuyu!" I screamed out of excitement and then tackled her with a hug.

"Hey Lis," she said immediately hugging her back tightly. "So, party later?"

"Yup. You'll be there, right?"

For a quick moment, Tzuyu looked a little bit distraught. But she immediately snapped out of whatever trance it was and gave me a smile.

"Of course," she said. "But I won't be staying long. I have... um... a prior engagement."

"Oh."

Tight-lipped, I still gave her a smile before she excuse herself. I miss her so much.

Unlike the four of us—Tae, Jimin, Yoongi and I, Tzuyu didn't grow up with us. Her family were originally from Taiwan and migrated to South Korea two years ago. Since the girl population in Southside High is quite low, it wasn't that hard for us to get along. Plus, she really did need a girl friend 'coz there's nothing much you can talk to with boys. Imagine me talking to Yoongi about periods and stuff. He'd choke me to death.

But around half of the school year, Tzuyu transferred to Wayji Academy—a private school in the Northside. But even though we don't see each other everyday, we see to it to text each other and send memes whenever we're free. We keep each other up to date all the time.

"Is it me or is Tzuyu losing so much weight lately?" Jimin asked out of the blue. I turned to him. "I mean, she's still hot but, I like my women with a little bit volume. Not skin and bones."

"Her eyes does look like she's been crying," Taehyung commented making a lot more curious.

"Does she have a boyfriend?" Jimin added.

"Not that I know of," I answered absentmindedly. "Wait. Why do you think she's been crying because of a guy? You people are unbelievable. Not all girls cry over men."

"Woah woah woah," he raised both his arms. "Calm down, Joan or Arc. I didn't mean it that way."

I rolled my eyes at him before slamming my locker door shut.

The rest of the afternoon went by and I walked home with Taehyung. Our houses were literally next to each other.

"So I'll pick you up at eight?" He asked.

"Sure," I answered. Then I thought of teasing him a bit. "Why does it sound like you're asking me out on a date?"

"W-What?" Taehyung almost stumbled on a single word. If I had a camera right now, his reaction would be one epic shot. "I... I uh... I—"

I gave him a light pat on his flustered cheek.

"Easy there, Tae-Tae. I was just kidding. Eight pm sharp and don't make me climb up your bedroom window again."

Before he could even answer, I turned around and ran towards the door. He too went his own way but his heavy sigh did not escape my eyes.

Oh Tae...

"You scared the poor boy again."

"Kamjagi—Appa! Stop doing that!"

On the other side of the door was my father—Kwon Jiyong, cheekily smiling. He loves teasing his own daughter so much. Must've passed on to me though as I do love teasing my friends as well.

"What? Taehyung almost had a heart attack," he said—still grinning. "You'll be the death of him, seriously. And I like that kid around."

"And you'll be mine if you don't quit popping out like that, dad," I said pushing him out of the way. He just laughed before closing the front door.

"So, a party? Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"

I froze. Right. I forgot about that. And At times like this, there's only one way to convince him to let me go.

"Well you see, dad, it's almost the end of the school year..." I started. My father just crossed his arm and waited for my whole explanation. "And we wanted to commemorate it with a typical out in the woods camping s***h party. It would just be us serpents—"

"Serpents?"

"Junior Serpents, dad."

"And why was I not informed about this beforehand?"

"Well... I don't really have an excuse..."

Time for the fool-proof attack. I walked towards him and gave him a full-on bear hug.

"But I love you so much daddy. I promise I'll be good in the party. I swear on mom's grave I'll be at my best behavior," I said in the best aegyo voice I had. And I naturally have a full aegyo voice. "Please, daddy?"

He sighed.

Success!

"Will Taehyung be there—lemme change that. I know he's under your control. Will Yoongi be there?"

"Of course, daddy. The gang's gonna be complete. Even Tzutzu will be there."

"You already have my permission, Lali. Stop with the aegyo already."

I grinned then broke the hug.

"Just be sure to get home before midnight."

"But dad, I'm not Cinderella."

"Twelve sharp, no buts."

"Daddy, it's camping. We'll sleep in tents."

My father rolled his eyes. Clearly annoyed with my over-the-top aegyo.

"Fine. No sharing of tent with the boys. I don't want to be a grandpa this early."

"Dad!"

"What? I was just around your age when I became sexually acti—"

"Dad! Stop! TMI!"

"Doll," that was his pet name for me. "We have to have the talk sooner or later. You're slowly becoming a woman now—"

"And that's when I exit," I cut him off and sped towards my room.

"But doll, we have to talk about the birds and the bees!"

"Stop it dad! I'm serious!"

I slammed the door before he embarrasses me more.

"This was such a great idea, Lis," Bobby—a fellow 10th grader like I was, said.

An hour or so passed after my dad tried to lecture me about boys and the possibilities of getting knocked up in parties and finally, here I am enjoying the rest of my evening—scarred for life. Taehyung rescued me, thankfully, and Jimin fetched us with Betsy. Yoongi was already on the front seat.

Usually, parties like this tend to be wild and can get out of hand easily. But this time, it was more of a chill, just enjoying nature kind of thing. Maybe because they were in the woods and the feels were totally different compared to house parties. Also, the music was a little muted.

"Thanks Bob," I replied clunking our paper cups together. "Where's your girlfriend? I thought you'll be finally bringing her?"

"Change of plans," said before chugging his cup empty. "We kinda broke up."

"Already? Why? It was like just last week when you said you two became official."

"Apparently, she didn't like the idea that I came from the Southside."

I scoffed. "Typical Northside elites."

"Well, it's her loss anyway," he said. "I just spotted Hayi. Maybe she'll let me get a slip this time."

"You're such a pig," I joked. Knowing Bobby, he says things like this but would always clam up when the time comes. "Hayi eonnie!"

He made his way to the petite girl in the sea of testosterone only to divert away she turned. That made me laugh out loud earning a finger from the poor guy.

I made my way towards one of the bean bags and spotted Yoongi looking bored out of his wits.

"Didn't find someone worthy of your attention, Yoongi?"

He just shrugged before moving a little. It was like our thing during parties like this. We tend to give each other company.

I sat next to him and his arm draped over my shoulder. One would think we're like a couple or something.

"Why don't you and Taehyung just date?"

"Huh?" I looked up to Yoongi. "Why the sudden question?"

He motioned towards our friend standing a few meters away talking to other serpents.

"He can't take his eyes off you."

"You know we can't be together, Yoongi. Tae's far too important to me."

"And that's stopping you, why?"

"You know I'm not into those relationship stuff," I insisted. "By the way, have you seen Tzuyu? She said she'd come."

"Dodging the topic at hand again, I see," he commented with a soft chuckle. "But no, I haven't seen her. The last time I saw her was in the hallway this afternoon—"

A loud scream caught everyone's attention—making me and Yoongi both jolt up. Normally people should be running away from where the scream came from but that wasn't the case for us. We ran towards it.

There we saw Hayi, clutching on to Bobby who had the same shocked expression as her. It was pretty dark but the moon helped shed some light on whatever it was that made Hayi scream in terror.

Lying lifeless by the riverbank was a body. My body trembled as I took a closer look. Yoongi and Taehyung tried to stop me from doing so as they've already seen who it was. But they couldn't stop me. Nobody could.

Once I reached the river's end, my trembling hand made it's way to my mouth.

I screamed.