[From Yoojung’s POV]

 

“The weather forecast for tonight remains as per normal,” the DJ over the radio said, with a tinge of dread in his voice, “According to the latest weather updates, heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected over the whole of Seoul. Flash floods might occur and temperatures will range from 20 to 24 degrees.” 

 

Hearing that, I groaned inwardly as I did the Mathematics assignment that Mr Jung, the strictest teacher there had to be, assigned to us before our school holidays.

 

As of now, a few days had passed since the monsoon season came upon us. Despite the fact that the school term was coming to an end, all of us harboured a certain hatred towards the start of the holidays. 

 

No, it was not because it was the coldest time in the Summer, nor was it the fact that the entire city seemed to be enveloped in darkness for most of the time. Instead, it was the fact that our plans were being hindered due to the foul weather. For example, my friends and I had decided to go to Jeju island for our typical getaway, but the weather did not allow us to do so. 

 

I looked outside the window of my study room, finding the moon still nestled comfortably in the night sky. However, the distant clouds were approaching quickly and approximately half of Seoul was already facing a heavy downpour, together with the sights of lightning and the sounds of booming thunder. 

 

My phone beeped at that very moment and it was a message from one of my best friends, Seokmin. I chuckled at the number of emojis he had used to describe his feelings at that point in time, never understanding why he was my best friend in the first place. 

 

I swiped the screen to unlock the device and opened the SNS application, seeing Seokmin’s message in full. 

 

Seokminnie: Guys ㅜㅜ The weather forecast just said that the weather’s not gonna get any better ㅜㅜ What do we do…? ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ 

 

A quick reply came from Seungcheol at the next moment, with a positive connotation to his message. 

 

CoupsCoups: Aigoo… Don’t worry. I’m trying to see whether the resort that the Choi Conglomerate owns in New Caledonia is available! I’ll let you guys know! 

 

Seokminnie: Wow, hyung! You are the best!!

 

You: Wow oppa. You really do have a lot of ways in which you can do whatever and whenever you want. 

 

Coupscoups: Of course! Of course! Why would you think that I’m technically the ringleader of this group? 

 

10:10 HoshHosh: Hyung, don’t get cocky here. It’s not good for you. 

 

At that, the conversation went on, with the boys teasing each other and I could only laugh at their overdramatic arguments on the SNS chat group. The others began to join in later, adding the fuel to the fire, but they had also made it more comical at the same time.

 

****

 

This said group of boys liked to call themselves “SEVENTEEN” or the “SVT squad” for short. They were known in the school for their good looks, exceptional talents and amazing personalities (for some). Indeed, they were the typical group whom the girls adored and the boys envied due to the fact that they didn’t need to try as hard to impress the girls. 

 

Each person in the group was different, especially in terms of personality. You had the introverts, who remained calm, no matter the situation and the extroverts, constantly talking at the speed of a bullet train. However, in spite of their differences, they were still closely knitted and stuck together through thick and thin. 

 

Furthermore, they were also childhood friends; all the more did they want to stick together as a group. For most of them, they had come from the same kindergarten and happened to end up in the same elementary school, junior high school and so on. 

 

For my part, I was Seokmin’s neighbour when we were very young, hence, I ended up becoming a part of the group when I had just happened to end up in the same school. Luckily, I wasn’t the only girl as both Seokmin and Jisoo had their younger sisters, Yoonsol and Hyorin. 

 

Unfortunately, becoming a part of their group wasn’t a bed of roses for the latter beings. On the contrary, it was a living nightmare at some points. Most of them were experienced by me, since I was a year younger than half the group and the sisters were 1, 2 years younger, meaning that they did not have to experience much of the bullying since they never ended up in the same school as SEVENTEEN. 

 

Whenever I walked along the corridor to get my books or headed to the bathroom, there was always a constant weight on my shoulders. It felt as if someone was watching wherever I went and observing my every movement. It scared me at times, but I never thought much of it until it came true. 

 

Two years ago, I recall that I had stepped into the girl’s bathroom to wash my face as I was on the verge of falling asleep in Mrs Choi’s Literature class. No matter how interesting the book that we studied was, the subject bored me and I could not wait for the day when I would get to choose my own subject combination. 

 

I dried my face with the paper towels and patted it, forcing myself to stay awake. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and was prepared to step out, only to come face to face with “The Trio” or also known as “The Mean Girls”. These girls were known to be the “official fangirls” of SEVENTEEN and were rumoured to have started one of the most successful fanpages ever. They were constantly admiring them and would do all sorts of things just to get their attention, good or bad, but to no avail. 

 

“Uhhh…. Hi?” I asked in an awkward manner, hoping that they would let me through but I was dead wrong. The “leader” of the group, whose name was Cha Hakyung, only smirked and walked towards me, before giving me a hard slap across my face.

 

I winced at the stinging pain and glared at her, wondering what I could have done wrong. Unless my memory was that of a goldfish, I was pretty confident that I had done nothing wrong to upset Hakyung in any way. And besides, she wasn’t even my classmate for that matter. 

 

“How dare you mess around with our oppas?!” She shrieked, emphasizing on the word “our”.

 

For some reason, I couldn’t say anything at that point in time, partially due to the fact that I was still taken aback by the slap that she had just planted on my face. Furthermore, I knew that she had always hated me, from the fact that she would try her best to embarrass me in front of the student body. Therefore, what was the point in fighting back, when she was probably going to turn the tables in her favour?  However, she only became more annoyed and agitated that I wasn’t responding, or more like I had given up on her ways of doing things.

 

Surprisingly, when she wanted to hit me again, I did not feel the stinging pain like before, unlike what I was expecting. I opened my eyes slowly to look, only to realize that a hand was stopping hers midway before it came into contact with my already swollen cheek. 

 

That was Hong Jisoo, who was known to be quiet, calm and collected. He was known as the peacemaker of the group and was an excellent confidant when people just needed someone to talk to. It was often that he put the priorities of others before his own and was always out to help others in his small little ways. To put it simply, he had a comforting aura and he could comfort any person with his presence and gentle smile alone. 

 

He was different this time, with a fierce glint in his eyes and a strict look on his face. If looks could kill, it would have done so with immediate effect. 

 

“O-o-oppa…” Hakyung stammered in fear and tried to pry from his grasp but he only gripped tighter and more firmly, maintaining his cold, hard glare. She winced slightly before saying in a hurt tone, “O-oppa, y-you a-are hurting me!” 

 

“Does it look like I believe you, Cha Hakyung? You dare to slap an innocent girl, twice, even though her cheek is this swollen and you cannot endure the pain on your wrist? What irony.” He said in a sarcastic manner, smirking at her reaction. 

 

“She’s been a part of SEVENTEEN since we were 6 years old so get used to it. If any of us catch you terrorizing her or hurting her again, we’ll be sure to get you out of this wonderful school. Goodbye to prestige.” 

 

At that, the girls looked as if they would prefer to cower in the corner than to face the wrath of SEVENTEEN. After apologizing profusely, Jisoo let go of her wrist and they ran off as fast as their legs could carry them. 

 

By then, I had already found myself sitting on the floor, with my knees brought to my chin. Jisoo bent down and smiled, back to what he was always known for before this entire saga. Next, he placed a hand on my shoulder and massaged it slightly as a form of comfort. I, however, remained unmoving and continued to process whatever had happened. 

 

With that, he proceeded to help me up from my sitting position and furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed how swollen my cheek had become. My cheek felt completely numb to me, but one look in the mirror told me that it was badly swollen and probably painful if pressure was applied.

 

“I’ll bring you to the nurse. We need to get that iced to reduce the swelling…” He placed an arm over my shoulder in a protective manner, ensuring that I was kept close to him.

 

“Jisoo-ah!” It was Sunyoung, preferentially known as Hoshi, who had called out, “We were looking all over for you until hyung mentioned that you went to the toilet---” 

 

His gaze fell upon me and his eyes widened at my swollen cheek, which I presumed was as red as a lobster. He didn’t get to finish his sentence, and just stared at my face in shock and horror.

 

“Yoojung-ah! What happened?!” He exclaimed. 

 

“Some idiots were jealous and decided to hurt her,” Jisoo deadpanned, “By the way, please let Mrs Choi know what had happened and tell Mr Jung that I’ll be late for class. Yoojung needs to go to the nurse to get her injury iced.” 

 

“Y-yeah… S-sure! Make sure she’s safe, Jisoo-ah! You know how protective Seokmin is of her and he’s bound to flip if he sees this.” Sunyoung mentioned in a hesitant and doubtful tone. 

 

Jisoo nodded and Sunyoung was left to run to class, knowing that Mr Jung loved to arrive 10 minutes before the lunch break ended. For Mr Jung, as long as a student stepped in later than him, he or she was considered late which would then lead to relatively terrible consequences for the students. 

 

After that, Jisoo continued to bring me to the clinic, with much care and concern. It was a little strange that he treated me as if I had broken a bone, but I said nothing since I did not want to offend him. 

 

When we had reached the clinic, the nurse looked at me with eyes the size of golf balls, and a hanging jaw, before bringing me to the sick bay to get my cheek treated with a bag of ice. Indeed, the pain came back again with more intensity when the bag came into contact with my cheek. Unfortunately, I couldn’t scream now so I just had to grimace in pain as the treatment went on, hissing every now and then. 

 

After what seemed like an eternity, the ice in the bag had finally melted and the swelling had gone down significantly, to my relief. However, the endurance that I had to muster drained my energy and I was no longer in the mood to go back to class after all that had happened. 

 

Luckily, Mr Yoon, whose subject period took place at this time, suggested that I get some rest so that I could go to the other classes fresh and in a more alert state of mind. After a short nap, I lied on the sickbed, staring at the white ceiling before noticing Jisoo reading Oliver Twist by the renowned author, Charles Dickens, at the corner of the room. 

 

“Oppa…” I called and he lifted his head before flashing his gentle smile again. 

 

“Awake already?” He asked in his gentle voice and pulled the chair along, until he was at my bedside, “How are you feeling?” 

 

“I’m much better. T-thank y-you for what you did…” I replied, deciding to thank him for what he had done because if it were not for him, God knows what other things would have happened with those girls.

 

For some reason, my cheeks started to burn and it made me wonder why I was even embarrassed to face this guy. I knew he had a lovely personality with a heart of gold, multiple talents and was good looking too but I didn’t mean to feel this way. I had to take a deep breath to calm my nerves and closed my eyes, before opening them again to face him.

 

“You don’t have to thank me, Yoojung-ah. That’s just what a person should do. It’s only right, you know. Whether you know the person or not, it’s only morally correct to do the right thing for the person.” He mentioned matter-of-factly with a small smile. 

 

“Okay, how about this?” I asked, “It’s only right for me to pay the kind act forward or I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. So… What about bingsoo and drinks after dismissal?” 

 

Honestly, I had asked that with a palpitating heart, afraid of a straight up rejection. No, I wasn’t afraid that he would take it the wrong way but it would just be awkward between the two of us if he said “No”. 

 

He chuckled a little at my reaction and let out a light laugh. After that, he ruffled my hair and said in a cheery tone, “Aigoo… You’re too adorable at times but if that’s what you wanna do, I’m down for it!” 

 

“Oppa!” I said as I rearranged the mess he had created and he only continued to smile at my reaction, with his eyes turning into little crescent moons.

 

“So I’ll see you then.” He stood up and put the chair back to its original place and continued, “Let’s go for class then and we can grab some drinks after class. Keep safe Yoojung-ah and don’t get hurt! Especially when none of us are around.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!” I replied in a reassuring manner.

 

At that, we went our separate ways and waved goodbye, heading to our respective classes to attend our remaining lessons before we meet again later in the day.

 

****

 

From that meal onwards, Jisoo had become one of my closest friends. We got to know each other better on that day and even discovered that we had similar interests, especially in terms of music. To me, it was funny that we were relatively distant before, since he remained quiet most of the time and was always as if he was in a world of his own. However, it only took one simple meal to strengthen the friendship between the both of us. 

 

From an acquaintance whom I shared nothing with, he became someone whom I could lean and rely on. When I was stressed, he would always appear with my favourite foods or simply play a song on his acoustic guitar; When I was sad, he would appear by my side almost magically, offering me a shoulder to cry on (sometimes, with a handkerchief); When I was happy, he would celebrate the joy with me. Moreover, we began to share our personal thoughts and feelings with each other, strengthening the emotional connection we shared. 

 

As I reminisced about the good ol’ days, I had noticed that Jisoo did not respond to any of the messages that the others had sent. It was a little unusual, since he would always come up with a witty comment or reply whenever the group “argued” but today, it was silence on his side and there were no words exchanged between him or anybody in the group. Meanwhile, everyone was too busy arguing that they never noticed his “sudden disappearance” on the SNS chat group. 

 

“Perhaps he’s busy or something…” I thought, with a hint of doubt. 

 

Unfortunately, little did we know that Jisoo’s “sudden disappearance” on that fateful day would turn our lives, as well as his, upside down. 

 

28 May 2013. 

 

That was the date no one saw coming. 

---

Author's note: 

Hello everyone! :> This is the first chapter of my new chaptered fanfiction, "Class A-Team" :D Unfortunately, I had a lot of "Writer's Block" moments when I wrote this. However, I hope it turns out okay, all the same. >_< If there are any mistakes, feel free to drop me a message! ^^ Also, to get more updates, do subscribe and also feel free to leave something down in the comments below! :D All in all, I hope you guys enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it! ^^ 

P.S. I'll be updating this story quite often so do keep a look out for it! :D 

Thank you for your support!