"Na-Eun-ah, you okay?" Hoshi patted Na-Eun on the back softly to calm his friend down. "You want me to beat the hell out of that bastard? I can do that if you want, you've just got to say the words and he'll be dead, I swear." He put up his fist fiercely to emphasize his seriousness, convincing her that he wasn't just saying his threat as comfort words.

Na-Eun shook her head lightly and tried focusing her attention back to the book she was reading, words a jumbled slur in her head. "I-It's okay, Soon-Young-ah. You don't have to do that."

"She's right, Hoshi-ah," Dokyum nodded his head approvingly. "Why do you have to waste your energy on that bastard? It isn't worth it."

Hoshi could feel himself fuming thinking about how Kim Min-Gyu dared showing his face to Na-Eun again. He kinda knew they were bound to be in the same class after he checked the students' name list for his class. He also personally knew Na-Eun had gone through a lot after that particular incident, and had vowed upon himself to always protect his best friend from that ugly loser. When he heard Na-Eun's shout earlier, Soon-Young felt his nerves tingling and lighting themselves on fire, and he had the strong urge to punch Min-Gyu's ugly face into a pulp of tomato, but had resisted himself instead.

"Na-Eun-ah," he forced Na-Eun to look at him. He signaled Dokyum and Woozi to leave them alone. He knew Na-Eun how was more comfortable around him and he was the only one who understood her inside out. Soon-Young was the one who persistantly sticked by her side throughout the year; even since she had choppy pigtails and Soon-Young had missing front teeth.  "Na-Eun-ah, look at me, hm?"

"Soon-Young-ah, I'm fine," Na-Eun refused to look at her best friend. "Go hang out with Dokyum and Woozi. I'm staying here."

"What if that comes back again?"

"He wouldn't."

"Well, what if?" Soon-Young persisted.

"I said he wouldn't!" Na-Eun glowered at Hoshi, face a shade of annoyed red. She softened her glare when she caught Hoshi looking taken aback from the forcefulness of her voice. She rarely raised her voice at Hoshi, unless he did something really bad or stupid, which come to think about it, he actually did a lot. "Sorry, Soon-Young-ah."

"Pabo-ya," Hoshi smiled, and the look in his eyes softened. He lifted his hand and wiped the tears that unknowingly fell from Na-Eun's eyes. "It must have been pretty hard and tough on you, huh? Your knight in shining armor is here, don't worry, alright?" Na-Eun couldn't help but giggle at what Hoshi had said, as he had always called himself the knight in shining armor. It was an inside joke of theirs, and no one else's.

"Hyung!"

Seung-Cheol turned his neck, cursing at how stiff it was, to look at the person calling him. He realized that he must have spaced out, again. "Huh?"

"Hyung, I've never in my life seen you this blank," Vernon frowned, wondering what drugs Seung-Cheol must have taken to make him act all funny.  "Seriously, what's up with you?"

"Nothing," Seung-Cheol munched on the wholemeal bread he was holding. His face contorted into disgust when he took another look at his stupid bread. Ew, wholemeal. "What do you mean I'm blank? I'm always like this. You guys know I don't care about what goes around, so what's new, right?"

"Well, that's in a way true," Jeong-Han agreed with a pointed look, and gulped down his box of banana milk steadily. "But still, you need to see a doctor."

"A doctor?" Seung-Cheol raised an eyebrow at Jeong-Han. "What doctor?"

"Psychiatrist."

"Yah, do you want to die from my bare hands?" Seung-Cheol raised his fist.

"Calculate the mean and standard deviation for the set of data."

Seung-Cheol stopped as he heard the same sentence being repeated over and over again. "Aish, why can't I get this question done? It's so frustrating!" He peeked to his right to see the question the person was trying to answer. He scoffed when he saw the question. Hell, even a twelve-year-old would be able to answer that. What a loser.

"She doesn't even know how to solve that?" He scoffed softly, walking back to his seat. He froze in his steps when he felt something hit the back of his head. He bent down to pick up the crumpled-up piece of paper that had fallen on the floor, the item of his attack. He turned and frowned at the person who threw the paper at him. "Yah, who are you to throw this at me?"

"Who are you to say those words about me?" He was taken aback by the person's question. "You're asking for a death wish, aren't you?"

"Lame," he rolled his eyes and proceeded back to his seat. 

"Yah," the same person kicked his chair, making him fall out of his seat. "I'm not that lame, thank you." With that, Na-Eun went back to her seat, feeling proud of her action.

"Yah!" And since the heavens hated Seungcheol, Teacher Nam had entered the class at that exact moment to find Seung-Cheol shouting 'yah', quite disrespectfully.

"Yah?" Teacher Nam looked baffled, as he misunderstood the words Seung-Cheol accidentally directed to his face. "Are you trying to be rude to me on the first day, Choi Seung-Cheol-ssi?"

"No, Teacher," Seung-Cheol rapidly apologized and bowed lowly, glaring stabs at Na-Eun who giggled non stop from her seat.

"How was school today, sweetheart?" Mrs. Song smiled at her little daughter while setting up for dinner. "Fun?"

"One of my worst days ever," Na-Eun grunted, but stopped immediately when she saw the dried pollock soup made for dinner. Score. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That bad?" Mrs. Song looked at Hoshi for hints, but the blond only shrugged his shoulders. "Why? Did your teacher scold you or something?"

"I'm sure she must've said something with that mouth of hers," Joo-Hyuk chuckled and hastily drank his soup. He spat out the soup, his tongue scalding from the hot soup. "Ah, hot!"

"Eomma, I never knew karma really happens in our family," Na-Eun acknowledged the word 'karma', nodding her head wisely. "You burnt your tongue because you bad mouthed me, Oppa. Karma!" She snorted loudly after saying the word repeatedly.

Mrs. Song laughed automatically upon hearing her daughter's laughter, and Hoshi joined along too. "You still haven't told me what happened at school today, dear."

"Just some annoying guy acting all smart in front of me," Na-Eun still found it hard to believe that people like such even existed, immature and tactless. "I hate those kind of guys the most."

"Who knows," Joo-Hyuk believed he had a detective instinct when it came to his family's troubles, and he loved taking it upon himself that he knew how to solve them. "Maybe he likes you? You know, like how it happens those dramas you watch; when a guy and a girl fight in the beginning but fall in love later? Maybe he'll be your future lover!" Joo-Hyuk teased unceasingly. 

"Pfft, Oppa," Na-Eun rolled her eyes. "It'll be a nightmare if that becomes true."

"Soon-Young-ah, how is the food?" Hoshi hastily gobbled up the piece of grilled mackerel he was eating upon hearing Mrs. Song's question. It became a habit, having dinner at the Song's household, for Soon-Young lived alone with his older sister, Mina, who rarely found herself back home since she worked a hectic schedule in the big city. "Is it to your liking?"

"Ah, yes," he could barely give an answer, his cheeks stuffed left and right with food, resembling an adorable hamster. "Ahjumma's food is always the best. Jjang!"

"Hyung," Dino chose his words carefully. "Hang in there, okay. You need to be patient, like really patient with it." He emphasized the word 'really' as he raised his hands to prepare for a masterpiece. He then started doing his work - Chinese massage. Dino may look small in size, but he marveled at the fact that he had great strength when it came to Chinese massage. His expertise, he would like to say.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Seung-Cheol screamed, moans and grunts mixing in, as he felt the pain pressing onto his . After falling off his seat in school, he was about eighty-six percent sure that there were definite bruises of all colours forming on his , and had no choice but to ask tiny little Lee Chan for help. "Yah, are you trying to kill me or what? Oh my god, I'm dying. I know I am."

Jeong-Han and Vernon stood by the side and watched Seung-Cheol with amused faces. It was a rare occurance seeing Seung-Cheol's face all worried and scrunched up. "Hyung, don't be such a baby. You're not dying from this, okay? Put your trust in Chan." Jeong-Han snickered hearing Seung-Cheol scream again. "You're going to wake the others with that hoarse scream of yours."

"Yah, you think it's funny seeing me like this, huh?" Seung-Cheol frowned at his two friends who looked like they were having a sizable amount of fun looking at him suffer, their faces contorted form holding back waves of laughter.

"Oh, really hilarious, absolutely." Vernon seal clapped his hand while chortling.

Seung-Cheol almost cursed at them, but stopped himself after another scary push from Dino. "God, I swear I'm going to kill that woman if I see her again."

"Who?"

"Song. Na. Eun."