[CONTENTID1]CHAPTER EIGHT[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Thinking that my life would go back to the same gray pit that it used to belong in was wrong. It was already a couple of weeks after JiMin had dragged me to the karaoke room. A couple of weeks after the small incident with YoonGi, that was still left to resolve. And during those couple of weeks, I truly hoped that my life would go back to the usual.

It did not. Far from it.

It seemed as if the boys had grown to like being around me. Be it during small breaks between classes or longer breaks like lunch. They would either drag me along with them, or stalk behind me while sharing adventures that they lived through in the small amount of time that they had not seen each other.

Not a couple of times had they tried to include me into their conversation, but I never found a will in me to do so. Their conversations seemed to be revolving around everyday antics, which much differed from mine.

I was never sociable, they knew, and thus they took it upon themselves to change that particular negativity about me. With no success thus far, whatsoever. And today, like any other day, they had tried to use one of the many techniques, thought of by themselves respectively, to bring me into their conversation.

"So, MiRan, how's your day so far?" TaeHyung inclined with a smile full of cheerfulness, a smile contradicting that of my own frown.

"Tiring." a simple one-worded answer. That's all I ever answered to any of their question. Then again, these questions of theirs would always be bland, the kind that does not require me to answer more than needed.

"Anything else?" he asked with the same cheerfulness, already used to my bluntness.

With a straightforward shake of my head, he took it as his answer and sighed, slumping back into his seat while I continued to quietly eat my lunch.

"Ey, MiRan, don't be so cold..." JiMin nudged my side and I closed my eyes in small annoyance. It was another technique, invented by JiMin, that practically begged me for the answer.

Seeing JiMin's friendly, yet desperate smile I had no choice but to sigh. "Tiring. Boring. I want to go home." and that's all I said before facing my food again, glancing at the red-haired boy from the side. To my amusement he had a dejected look on his face, staring into his food with puppy-dog eyes.

"The Ice Queen strikes again." YoonGi murmured from opposite of me, without a thought of facing me. To his statement I only nodded my head, without much to say at his straight-to-the-point description of me.

"Yah! Suga! Don't be mean..." JeongGuk whined, pouting his lips at the older male who only rolled his eyes.

"Correct me if I'm wrong." he added after swallowing his food, an annoyed expression on his face.

"You're wrong." TaeHyung corrected barely two seconds after YoonGi spoke. Again, the only sound that YoonGi made was a dissatisfied grunt, followed by a sigh after his chair was drawn back.

"Sure I am." he murmured and took off to the direction of exit in the cafeteria.

That was nothing new. The way YoonGi acted around me drastically changed after the small conflict of ideals we had a couple of weeks back. He became cold, or at least colder than usual, towards me. Ignoring, insulting and casting glares in-between became his specialty as time moved on, and I felt guilty of making him that way.

On the other hand, however, I also knew that I was not at fault. It was he who talked to me about it. It was he who provoked the answers out of me. I had nothing to be sorry about, and so I did not bother myself about it too much.

And this is how I found myself spending another couple of weeks. No accidents, no bothers- or at least too many, and mundane routine of living. All the things that I was used to, by now.

And now, as I was walking down the street after my part-time job, I had to stop and blink twice to believe in my tired eyes. Right there, in front of me, stood a figure that I could recognize from anywhere, after knowing the boy for over two years.

None other than Min YoonGi, the quiet boy who sat behind me, it was a shock when he stumbled down the wall, clutching his stomach while his face contorted in agony. Slowly walking towards him, I was met by his fierce eyes that screamed at me to `Go away`. And, oh, how I wish I did just that. Unfortunately.

"What have you got yourself into, this time?" I mumbled while throwing my bag over my shoulder.

This incident reminded me much of the one that happened with Kim Tan, the only difference being that I actually knew why the younger had been ambushed. In YoonGi's case, I had no idea, and no wish to find out, either.

With much difficulty, I picked the boy off from the ground and positioned his arm over my shoulders, supporting his body weight. "Do you really want to know?" he mumbled out while spitting some blood to the side, a grimace upon his usually neutral face.

Casting him a side-glance, I shook my head. "No." I stated bluntly and continued to pull him with me. "Do you have anywhere to go?"

Quietly, the boy shook his head and cast his eyes down to the ground, them being filled with shame and regret. "Just leave me here and continue with the life of ignorance." he rebuked calmly while trying to push me away, his gaze returning back to the cold one- the one I'm too used to seeing.

Instantly stopping in my steps I threw his arm off of my shoulders, the action making him loose his balance and fall to the cold, hard ground. "Your choice." I whispered and continued on with my journey.

"Yah! Are you serious?!" he yelled after my departing figure, I guess an expression of shock etched into his features. "You don't just leave a wounded person in the middle of the street!"

"A normal person wouldn't get themselves wounded in the first place, genius." I scolded after getting back to my previous position. His arm, once again, was over my shoulders, this time getting a good grip on my figure so that he won't have to face the merciless ground again.

"Who knew that you were such a heartless person?" he mused with a shocked voice, his eyes wide as he stared in front of us.

"You did." I rolled my eyes at his remark, and thus the journey became quiet again.

"MiRan, can I ask you something?" he suddenly inquired, his head snapping to face me.

"No."

I could see him frowning as he said, "So you're being like this."

I stopped walking and sighed. "As far as I'm concerned, it is you who