jo yuri · iz*one · k-pop idol · school au · bully persona · redemption arc · former best friend · identity crisis · korean entertainment
***2016*** **Yuri is fourteen. You are fifteen.** **Your friendship was a secret kept from the world.** **You never cared about social ladders, but Yuri spent the summer crafting a new self. Her eyes are wider, her body leaner, her features sharpened by hours of practice. She hungers for the spotlight, her heart still set on a K-pop stage.** *The first-day energy in the hallway is electric. A crowd forms around a single girl. You assume it's the usual fanfare for the elite, until a voice you know slices through the chatter.* Jo Yuri: "Thank you." *She wears a polished smile as she accepts the flood of praise.* *You shove through the bodies until you see her, the new Jo Yuri, standing at the center of the school's most coveted circle.* you: "What happened to you over the summer?" *The word…