The next day, the students got up once the start-of-lunch bell rang. Seulgi eyed behind her shoulders and noticed Soojung casually getting up with her lunch. Seeing this, Seulgi shot up from her seat and was about to go until Youngji grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going?" Youngji asked, surprised.

"H-Huh? Oh! Um…" Seulgi bit her bottom lip. "I'm going to buy some lunch!"

"But you have a lunch box," Youngji pointed out, staring at the box in Seulgi's hand.

Crap, Seulgi thought. "Well, I don't—"

She was interrupted when the girls in the halls started squealing and cheering. The two girls looked up, shocked to hear such a loud ruckus. When Jackson squeezed into the classroom, he let out a tired sigh and walked over to the two girls with his lunch in his hands.

"Oh my god," Jackson murmured. "Those girls out there are crazy!"

"What's going on?" Youngji asked.

"Sehun is out in front of your class," he explained. "It looks like he's waiting for someone in this class."

Seulgi raised her eyebrow. "Oh Sehun? You mean Jongin's best friend, Oh Sehun? He's alone?"

"Yeah. Why?" Jackson asked.

"Sehun never leaves Jongin's side," Seulgi informed them. "They're always together."

"Well, he's outside right now and alone," Jackson said.

Seulgi paused. She frowned, continuing to wonder what Sehun would be doing around their class. A few minutes later, she gasped and glanced at the clock.

"Oh shoot! I need to go," Seulgi said.

"Again, where?" Youngji asked.

"To…the bathroom!"

"With your lunch box?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Why?"

"Why…not?" Seulgi countered awkwardly. She bit her bottom lip as she continued to look into Youngji's firm eyes. Then, she sighed.

"Okay, I'll let you off the hook today," Youngji said. "I'm pretty sure you're planning something, but I can't tell what you're going to do."

Seulgi sighed in relief and smiled. "Thanks, Youngji. You're the best!"

"Just come back if there's time, okay? Having lunch with my best friend is important!" Youngji exclaimed. Seulgi nodded and started to dash out of the classroom.

She gasped momentarily when she saw how crowded the halls were. Jackson was right. Tons of girls swarmed in the halls, echoing squeals of excitement and admiration. Seulgi took a deep breath and looked around for any signs of Soojung.

She's probably there by now, Seulgi thought. She started to squeeze her way through the girls, trying to escape the busy halls in order to meet Soojung. Right when Seulgi was about to turn to a corner, she felt someone firmly grab onto her wrist. Seulgi turned her head, but yelped when she was being pulled back from the corner. The person who grabbed her twirled her around a bit, and she found herself facing the second most popular guy in the school: Oh Sehun.

Seulgi blinked her eyes as she watched Sehun flash her a brilliant smile. She smiled awkwardly, but glanced back at the corner of the hall. She could almost feel Soojung getting mad at her for being late.

"You're Kang Seulgi, right?" Sehun asked. His group of fan girls hushed to listen to his charming voice.

"Um, yeah," Seulgi answered. She frowned. "I'm sorry, but I'm a bit busy right now. Can you let me go?"

"Oh? Really? Where are you going? I'll walk you there," Sehun said.

. This isn't good, Seulgi realized. "You don't have to walk me there. I know where I need to go…"

"I just wanted to have a small talk with you," Sehun told her.

This is getting suspicious. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Sehun, but can we speak another time? Also, are you talking to the right girl? If anything, shouldn't you be talking to girls like Hyeri?"

Sehun continued to smile. "Hyeri is talking to Jongin right now. And yes, I am talking to the right girl. I might be good-looking, but I'm not dumb."

Seulgi was about to say something, but stopped when she heard her phone alert her of a text message. She glanced down at the pocket of her blazer, then at Sehun. Sehun, who heard her phone's notification, released his grip on her and allowed her to check the message. Seulgi nervously wiped her sweat against her blazer and took out her phone. It was a message from Soojung: Go along with him. I am watching.

Seulgi looked around. She tried to find Soojung in the crowd, but couldn't see her at all. Sehun, noticing that Seulgi was acting a bit strange, lifted his head and looked around. She quickly realized this, so she started to let out a small laugh, grabbing his attention again.

"I just got a text from my friend. She said that I don't have to meet up with her anymore to…help her on a project," Seulgi lied.

"Oh, a project. Well, then do you have time to talk with me?" Sehun asked her.

Seulgi forced a smile. "Yes, but I don't understand why you would want to talk with me."

"Why not? A guy like me can talk to a girl like you," he said. He casually turned around and gestured her to follow. Before he continued to any further, he looked over his shoulder and noticed Seulgi scowling at him. "What?"

"What do you mean by 'a girl like me'?" she asked him.

Sehun observed her expression. "I didn't mean it to sound offensive—"

"Are you categorizing me?"

"Everyone should be categorized to be one of a kind."

"You sound like you're lumping me with a bunch of other girls you've met."

"Well, there are some striking similarities…"

"That's completely outrageous!"

"Excuse me?" Sehun stared at her. "I did state that I didn't mean to be offensive."

"Well, you offended me, so the harm has been done," Seulgi said in a matter-of-fact tone. She crossed her arms. "I don't even know why you're talking to me. I have absolutely no reason to talk to you."

"Woah, relax. I didn't want to hurt you or anything. Let me apologize, okay? I wasn't careful with my words," Sehun said slowly.

Seulgi was about to fire back until she received another text. She looked down at her phone, then widened her eyes at Soojung's message: Retreat, retreat, retreat. Go to the room. NOW.

She sealed her lips, pressing them tightly with clear frustration. Then, letting out a heavy sigh, she gave Sehun a sharp look. The boy slightly arched his eyebrows upward, but kept his eyes on her.

"I need to go," Seulgi said. She turned around, but Sehun grabbed onto her wrist again.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

Seulgi tugged away her wrist from his grip. "Project!"

"I thought your friend didn't need—"

"Project!" Seulgi shouted once more. The girls around them started to whisper. They gave Sehun a pitiful look, while most of them glared at Seulgi for being rude.

Sehun finally let go of Seulgi's wrist. "I'm sorry."

"Gosh, this is why Jongin is so much better," she muttered to herself. While everyone else didn't catch what she said, Sehun heard her clearly. He pursed his lips, amused.

"Maybe we'll talk next time?" Sehun asked. Seulgi didn't respond. She gave Sehun one last glare before storming away. He was about to follow her until she whirled around and pointed her finger at him.

"You. Stay," she demanded. Like a dog, Sehun abruptly obeyed. His sneakers squeaked against the floor and he stood in the halls, surrounding by the girls who admired him. Seulgi glared at him for a bit longer before she turned around and started to disappear in the halls.

Once she was gone, the girls started to crowd around Sehun. They started throwing words at him—words that he couldn't comprehend at that moment. His eyes were still on Seulgi, but at the corner of his sight, he saw a wave of black hair disappear at the corner of the walls. He raised his eyebrows, but slowly started to walk back to Jongin.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He rotated his neck and continued to walk, thinking about Seulgi's attitude towards him. He scoffed.

Man, that girl's a pain, he thought. A small smirk formed on his lips. But this is a lot more fun than I had expected. He looked over his shoulders one last time. I'm looking forward to messing with you, Kang Seulgi.

/ / / / /

"That was awful. No, I take that back. That was beyond awful," Soojung said, shaking her head.

"I couldn't help it. He pissed me off," Seulgi muttered, pouting a bit.

For the last fifteen minutes of lunch, the two hung out at the secret classroom, discussing about what went wrong between Seulgi's conversation with Sehun.

"You realize that even though it wasn't Jongin that you were talking to, you were still talking to Jongin's best friend, right?" Soojung said. "What if he started to report all the bad things you did to his best friend?"

"Then Jongin would believe in him and he'll come to hate me…" Seulgi paled. Her eyes turned incredibly wide. "Oh my god. Soojung, I ed up."

"Damn right you did," Soojung said, nodding her head. 

Seulgi started whimpering. She grabbed ahold of Soojung's arm and shook it.

"Soojung! Help me! I messed up!" Seulgi whined.

Soojung sighed and rubbed her face with her hands after pulling oat from Seulgi. "God damn it, Seulgi. I feel like I shouldn't be helping you at all. You know how to mess something up when it's going perfectly fine."

"Please! Soojung, I'm sorry!" Seulgi exclaimed. "At least I followed your text!"

"That's true. You did do that…"

"See? I can do something at least! Please? Soojung, help me! The least thing I want is for Jongin to hate me."

"I'm still doubting—"

"Please? Soojung, come on! You promised!" Seulgi pointed out.

Soojung paused, then sighed. "We need to figure out how to fix this mess, don't we?"

"Should I got and publicly apologize like how I did with Hyeri?"

"No. That'll just make you look suspicious and an attention ."

"Then what do I do?"

"Talk to him privately. Get along with him." Soojung kept quiet for a minute. Taking note of Soojung's awkward silence, Seulgi glanced up at her.

"Is there something wrong?" Seulgi asked.

"I just don't understand why Sehun was trying to talk to you in the first place," Soojung muttered. "It's all too strange…" She looked at Seulgi from the corner of her eyes. "You didn't say anything, right?" Seulgi shook her head. "Of course you didn't. You're not that terrible."

As much as Seulgi wanted to talk back, she couldn't help but wonder why Sehun had come all the way down from his class to her class. She had nothing to with Sehun. In fact, all she wanted to do was be with Jongin or at least watch him from afar. Sehun was never in her picture, so why was she in Sehun's?

"Either way, don't stay too close to him. Just stay close enough so that you're on good terms with him. I don't like him very much," Soojung told her.

"I don't like him either," Seulgi agreed.

The black-haired girl looked at her. "I don't think your dislike towards him and my dislike towards him is the same."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't like him because he makes me wary. I can't figure out what's so bad about him. At least, not yet. On the other hand, you don't like him because he can be a snitch. He can talk bad about you to Jongin, and you don't like that," Soojung explained.

Seulgi slowly nodded her head. "Well, regardless of our differences, I still don't like him."

"Just remember to keep your distance with him, but make sure he knows that you're a good person," Soojung said.

Seulgi nodded. She smiled with a certain look. Then, her smile slowly faded into a sheepish grin.

"Um, Soojung?" Seulgi called her.

"What? We have two minutes until the bell rings."

"How exactly do I get Sehun to know that I'm a good person if I still need to keep my distance?" Seulgi asked quietly.

Soojung groaned. "I'll text you, okay? Keep an eye on your phone."

Seulgi smiled. "Soojung, you're the best!"

"And you're an idiot," Soojung shortly replied. Seulgi dropped her jaws, but wasn't able to say anything else when the bell signaled the end of lunch. Soojung left the room first, leaving Seulgi flabbergasted with Soojung's remark.

/ / / / /

Jongin felt a bit weird when he didn't see Sehun anywhere during lunch. He encountered Hyeri and her crew, and he even had lunch with her, but things felt different with Sehun. He tried to text Sehun or call him, but his phone was turned off. 

All he remembered was seeing Sehun run out of the classroom at the beginning of lunch saying that he had something "important" to do. It was the first time that he had seen his best friend leave his side in such a hurry.

Did he go home? Is he sick? Jongin wondered. He felt a pair of skinny arms wrap around his. He looked to his side and noticed Hyeri hugging his arm.

"Do you not like it?" Hyeri asked him.

I don't really care, he thought. "I think it's okay."

Hyeri giggled and hugged him a little bit tighter. "So, where did Sehun go today?"

"I don't know. He said that he had something to do," Jongin told her.

"That's strange. Sehun isn't the type to leave your side. Heck, I don't even remember the last time he wasn't besides you!"

"Yeah. Well, he has a life of his own, too. Sometimes, I forget about that since we're so close."

"How cute," Hyeri commented, smiling. She rested her head against his arm. "I like it when boys have good relationships with their friends."

Jongin only managed a smile. 

When they arrived at their classroom, they saw Sehun sitting at his seat. Sehun glanced at the door, then quickly became aware of the two's presence. He looked at Jongin in a confused manner, wondering why he was letting Hyeri stick so close to him. Jongin only gave him a "I-didn't-really-have-a-choice" look.

"Hello, Hyeri!" Sehun said, giving her a boastful smile. "Did you have fun on your little mini-date with Jongin?"

Hyeri blushed. "Stop it, Sehun! You're embarrassing me! Everyone knows that Jongin and I are just friends…"

"I think we all know that there's something more to that," Sehun teased, grinning.

"You seem like you're in a good mood," Jongin stated, taking a seat next to his best friend.

"Oh, I just had a small conversation with someone," he said.

"And that made you smile like this? I'm curious," Jongin said.

Sehun grinned. "I was just talking to Kang Seulgi."

Hyeri and Jongin stopped smiling. They stared at him for quite some time, shocked to hear such an unfamiliar name slip out of his lips.

"Why were you talking to her? Didn't I as that you shouldn't get too close to her?" Hyeri pointed out.

"Seul…Seulgi… She's the girl who's always with Soojung, right?" Jongin asked.

"Who's Soojung?" Hyeri asked him, frowning.

"She's the girl who took Seulgi away when Seulgi was trying to be part of your group. You know, the girl with the black-hair?" Jongin said.

"Oh, her."

"Did you also talk to Soojung?" Jongin asked him, a little bit anxious for the news.

"No, only Seulgi," Sehun revealed. But Soojung was definitely somewhere in the crowd. I just couldn't pinpoint her exact location.

"Oh." There was a look of ease on Jongin's expression. He smiled. "So what did you talk about with Seulgi?"

"Nothing much. It was just a friendly conversation," Sehun said. He paused. '"So what did you two do?"

"Us? We had lunch," Hyeri said.

"Did you happen to see Soojung by any chance?" Jongin asked him.

"Not at all," Sehun said.

"Hm… So maybe those two aren't friends," he muttered.

"Anyway, I say that you two stay away from those two girls. You can damage your reputation easily if you hang out with them," said Hyeri. "Promise?"

"Yes ma'am, we promise," Sehun said, giving her a small salute with his fingers crossed behind his back. He glanced at Jongin and saw him nod his head to the promise. His eyes traced down Jongin's back and saw Jongin's crossed fingers. Sehun smirked until the teacher finally stepped inside to start the lecture.