When I first saw her, I didn't think about it much. It wasn't love at first sight although I wished it was. No, it was until the rumors about her and this boy spread around.

"Hey, what do you think of Woohyun?" a girl whispered to her friend.

"I think he's kind of cute. Too bad he's dating that girl," her friend said. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation since they were right behind me. I couldn't help but also look at Woohyun's direction. He was laughing with Jia who was turned around to face her.

"They're dating?" the girl asked. "I thought they were just friends."

"Honestly, I don't see them holding hands or anything like that but they might as well date. Look at how close they are! Literally and figuratively."

After those rumors I guess I started to become more interested in her. I watched how she studied, I watched how she interacted with others and I would watch how she interacted with that boy. Sure, some may say I was stalking and I wouldn't deny that. I kind of thought it was a bit stalkerish, too but really, it was plain curiosity.

That boy was popular because he had the looks. I wanted to know how a popular boy like him kept hanging out with a nice girl like her. That was what I was curious about. And because I was so curious, I was interested. She was interesting. I wanted to know her more. I wanted her attention.

I got the perfect opportunity when our giant class got separated. They wanted to separate us because the class size was way too large so they mixed some of us with the students a grade higher than us. I was chosen to be in that class and so was Jia. Many complained that the workload would be twice the amount while others complained that they didn't want to be in the same class as their seniors. As for me, I didn't really care. I was pretty smart and as for age, I was already two years older than the students in my grade. Yes, that's because I didn't go to school after I graduated from middle school. I didn't feel like it and no one forced me to. When I did decide to go to school, I failed the grade because I didn't have any motivation. I also knew the people in the higher grade anyway, so it wasn't uncomfortable for me at all.

As for Jia, it looked like she didn't want to be in the mixed class. One reason was obviously because of Woohyun. I heard they were together for everything and none of the teachers in their middle school separated them. For the first time they were finally separated and it looked like she was uncomfortable.

For the first time in many years, I wanted to get to know someone. I wanted to know her. I wanted to know who she is, what she likes, what she dislikes; I wanted to know everything. At first, I didn't know how to approach her. I wasn't the type of person to approach someone first. So what did I do to communicate with her? Apparently, it includes changing my whole personality. If I acted shy and quiet around her, she'd get bored of me.

Whenever I got back from school, I'd watch gangster movies to become tough. Now that I think about it, it was pretty funny. I'd practice my cursing on the orphans I shared a room with. I also acted mean towards them but I'd always apologize right after. Although they weren't my friends, they were quite helpful. I told them about Jia and what my plan was. Since a couple of the orphans went to the same high school, they helped me out. They'd be my victims of bully and then they'd spread the rumors. I was really grateful towards them because not a week later, the rumors were circulated.

In school, I never wore my uniform properly. Thanks to my quick wits, I talked back to the teachers and got detention many times. Since I lived at the orphanage, there was no "parent" to call about my behaviour and if they told the orphanage, I'd just have to stay in my room the whole day. It wasn't like I had anything to do outside my room except eat and take showers.

Everything was going according to my plans. There were rumors that I had a gang outside the school, smoked and drank alcohol. I even threatened some townspeople. Now, just to be clear, I have never done any of those things. Those aren't even comparable to what I have done many years after that. But the rumors did the job; everyone's attention was on me.

Although the attention was on me, everyone was frightened. People avoided me whenever I pass by. It wasn't what I wanted but it just came to that. I also became "friends" with the real trouble makers in that class. My first interaction with Jia after my personality change was one day during class when I pretended to trip over her backpack. I made such a huge deal over it. I fell to the ground with a loud thud and cried out in pain. Jia quickly came to my aid. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

I held my knee and scrunched up my face in pain. "No! Do I look okay to you?" I snapped.

"What the hell, Jia? Tuck your damned backpack away!" one of the students yelled. I glared at the boy for a second before resuming my acting. How dare he be rude to her?

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "Let me take you to the nurse." She held my arm and helped me up. I pretended to limp all the way there and tripped a couple times so she could hold on to me. My plan was working perfectly. When we arrived, the nurse only sprayed something on my knee and told us to stay until the bell rung. "You should have been more careful," I scolded when the nurse left for a bit.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't think anyone would have tripped over my bag."

I leaned back on the bed before asking, "What's your name?"

"Woo Jia. We're in the same grade. Or should I say, we're both the same age?"

I let out a, "Ha!" I stopped myself from saying anything further. I was supposed to sound mysterious so her attention could be on me. I couldn't tell her my exact age yet. "Do you know who I am?"

She nodded. "Kim Sunggyu."

"That's right. I'm Kim Sunggyu. I'm sure you've heard a lot of things about me. Why are you talking so fearlessly? Aren't you scared about what I am going to do to you?"

"Why should I?" she asked, catching me off guard. "Those are just rumors. Sure, you've talked back to teachers but that doesn't have to do anything with me. I haven't seen anyone with bruises, claiming they came from you. I don't see you outside school so how can I know those rumors are true?" The girl left me speechless. How could she be so bold and straightforward?

"You sure are a brainless chick. Are you sure you're using your common sense or are you just book smart? From now on, you are my target."

After that, I'd always pester her when I had the chance. I'd take her pen and pencils, claiming I had forgotten my pencil and lost hers the next day when in truth, I kept them in my bag. Whenever we had breaks in between classes, I'd come over and about her looks or ask her to share the answers to the assignment due. The look on her face told me she was beyond pissed but she didn't open to say anything like before. I guessed she was scared after all.

It wasn't long before a giant problem arose. Someone in the school had possession of illegal drugs. That shook everyone up because they were surprised it was not me and just a normal student. That student was one of the "popular" kids. He was friends with Woohyun and because he was friends with Woohyun, he got in trouble, too.

The two got into a fight, I guessed because one day Jia didn't go to his class for lunch as per usual. That gave me the chance to pester even more but her reaction that day wasn't the usual. "What's wrong with you?" I asked. "You're not telling me to get lost." I sat backwards on the chair in front of her.

"You don't need to know," she said.

"I have to know. You can't be like this forever. I depend on your reactions to make me feel better!" Jia cracked a smile and I almost did, too. It's been long since I've seen her smile and the first time she ever smiled at me. Well, it was more of a small smirk than anything, but still!

"Thanks for wanting me by your side." I was quite flustered by her choice of words. "W-who said I wanted you by my side? Why are you misinterpreting my words?"

"I like to do that a lot. It makes me feel better," she answered.

I raised my brow. "And who said you're allowed to feel better?"

She stared at me. "You. You said you wanted a better reaction, meaning you want me to be in a good mood so you can get that reaction from me."

“How come this girl keep reading between the lines? If this keeps going on, she will know my real intentions before I get to tell her,” I thought. "Okay, fine. You're allowed to do that. Just don't be all depressed because it isn't fun to pick on someone with no reaction." She nodded and I left the classroom.

The next day, she didn't go to Woohyun either. They must've had a big fight if they went two days without seeing each other. "Did you two fight?" I asked as I approached her desk. She looked at me and nodded. "How did you know?"

"You're sitting here," I reasoned.

"Well, for your information, ever since he started to become more attached to his friends, I've been eating with my other friends."

"Like...?" I didn't believe her. I swear the only friend she had was Woohyun.

"Nicole and her friends." I had to roll my eyes. Nicole was such an annoying person. She was too carefree and talked way too much. She was my desk partner in my first year and she just wouldn't shut up. It's not like I didn't like her. She's nice and all but she doesn't know when to shut her trap.

"Then why are you sitting here?"

"Just because..." she answered.

"Is it because he's involved?" I guessed. "And because your friends kept talking about it?" She stared at me in utter offense. "He is not involved! He just chose the wrong people to be with."

From her reaction, I guessed I was right. By observing her and poking fun at her, I learned a bit. She was that type of girl who didn't like to gossip. She would always avoid talking about other people I mention during our talks. Those people who she hung out with talked about Woohyun. "Do you wish he never met those people?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I would never. He deserves to have other friends, too. It's just...I wish he didn't defend them like that. I wish he'd just listen to me for once."