"Disgusting."

"What a disgrace to our school."

"What's she doing here? Doesn't she know how much trouble she caused for L and Suzy?"

"Poor Suzy, she can't see L for a few days because of that pig."

Krystal hung her head low and hugged her book closer to her chest. Today was the day where L was suspended from school. Although his mother had pleaded and convinced the principal that L never harassed anyone, she didn't have enough evidence to prove that L was innocent. Krystal walked to her locker, but stopped when she saw a black puddle leaking from her locker. Stepping over the small puddle, Krystal added the combination and opened her locker. Her eyes widened when she saw black ink covering all her books and personal items. 

"No way," Krystal whispered. Her eyes were still wide, but she stood still. She heard a few students laughing at her, while others smirked. A few giggled and pointed at Krystal rudely, but Krystal didn't care. She grabbed her history text book and found it drenched in permanent ink. The ink was still fresh, and she hoped that she could at least get rid of the ink and leave a faint smudge. When Krystal flipped the pages, her knees began to wobble. The texts were impossible to read since they blended in with the ink so well, and the pictures were marked and drawn with permanent marker. She checked all of her textbooks, flipping through it quickly and scanning it to see if they were the same was her history textbooks.

Each of these books cost a fortune, Krystal thought. Tears swelled up in her eyes as she gently put away the books back in her locker. Mom and Dad are going to be so mad. Jessica is going to scold me. 

Krystal wanted to grip her hand around her head, but when she stared down at her hands, she widened her eyes. Red ink? Since when did the ink turn red? Sniffing it, Krystal quickly freaked out. There was a strong scent of ink from the red stain, but she swore that she smelled something like metal. Red stain, red liquid, and a rusty metal scent.

Is this blood?! Krystal screamed in her head. Her breaths were shorter, and she felt herself cringe into a ball. Was everyone still laughing? Was she unwanted anymore? Wait, where did everyone go? What happened? Did class start yet? Then why didn't she hear the bell?

She felt a pair of hand on her shoulder, and Krystal screamed. Her hand ran across someone's cheek, but she didn't know whose cheek it was. She stepped back, accidentally splashing the black puddle on her pure white shoes. Krystal's brown eyes widened, and she brought her hands closer together.

"Krystal, it's me!" a familiar voice shouted. The voice seemed to have drawn Krystal back to reality. In a few second, Krystal found herself standing in front of Minho, her forehead drenched in cold sweat. Minho's face cringed as he touched his injured cheek. Krystal glanced back at her hands, and began to breath slower? What happened to the red hands? How did they turn back to black?

"She slapped Minho!"

"How heartless! What's wrong with her."

"That kind of hurt. At least you still haven't lost your slapping strength. I remember you used to slap me a lot when we were younger," Minho said, chuckling. Krystal covered with her hands, and tried to reach for Minho's cheek.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Minho! I was just-" Krystal felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand as she brought it back to her side. She rubbed her hand gently, carressing her smooth skin from the pain. Suzy stepped in front of Minho, and crossed her arm. She stared at Krystal from head to toe, and smirked. Fei and Min pulled Minho back, while Jia accompanied Suzy.

"So when L leaves, you decide to flirt with Minho," Suzy mumbled. 

"What? I didn't-"

"Save it, trash," Suzy snapped. "How pathetic and low of you. You know that you should be suspended, right? I can't believe that you're willing to blame L for all your problems." 

"Suzy, please-"

"Don't you dare say my name, you worthless junk!" Suzy snapped, raising her hand. She was about to slap Krystal until Minho pulled free and grabbed Suzy's wrist. Suzy gave Minho a strange look. "What? You're taking her side? Didn't you listen to what kind of woman she is yesterday? You were involved."

"That's enough, Suzy. Leave her alone," Minho hissed. His eyes were full of hatred and frustration. Nevertheless, Suzy didn't back down. She stuck her nose high in the air and pulled her wrist away from Minho's tight grip. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other, but they didn't dare to get closer. They shot each other electrifying glares, not noticing that Krystal was secretly escaping from the scene. However, one student who wanted some fun pushed Krystal back into the circle that surrounded Minho and Suzy.

"Hey, get back in! Do something!" the student yelled. Krystal's eyes enlarged as she quickly shook her head. She tried to escape at the other direction, but she was pushed back inside.

"Come on, clown! Do something funny!" the second student who pushed Krystal back in again added. More comments and nasty grins appeared on everyone's face. Krystal couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was in utter shock, and she could only stare at the crowd. How was her situation funny? Why did they want to play around with her when she was suffering?

"Stop," Krystal whimpered. Her voice was small, and her breath was short. She felt a jacket draping her shoulders, hugging her to give her warmth. She stared up at Minho, who pushed Krystal through the thick crowd. A few looked away, and others gave her a sympathetic look. Majority laughed and gave her a thumbs down for not doing anything interesting. Krystal stared down at her shoes, hoping that Minho could lead her the way to her next class or to the nurse's office. She stopped when Minho stopped guiding her. She slowly looked up, and met Jonghyun's fierce look.

"Minho. Stop it. We're here to help you," Jonghyun demanded. Krystal glanced at Minho, wondering if he would step up or step down. Minho hesitated for a moment, but pushed Jonghyun aside and pushed Krystal away from Jonghyun. In seconds, Minho stopped, and Krystal stopped, too. This time Taemin and Onew were in front of Minho, giving him a disapproving look.

"You shouldn't, Minho," Onew said with a warning look. "Stop it before you get yourself involved with her other messes."

"Minho hyung…" Taemin whined weakly. A hand dropped from Krystal's shoulder, put Minho's right hand remained still on Krystal's other shoulder. Krystal felt her eyes enlarge as she glanced at Minho. He looked sick, and maybe he was regretting his decision.

Please… Don't leave me, Krystal begged inside her mind. Minho sighed, and pushed Krystal through the crowd. When they were about to reach the end of the circle, Key stepped in.

"Don't make us do this, Minho," Key started. "You're one of us. You're a part of us."

Minho stared down at his feet. "Sorry guys," he whispered.

"You're making a mistake!" Key yelled furiously. Onew pulled him back, as Minho's other friends approached him. "Why her? What's so important and amazing about her? She's bringing you down!"

"But she needs help!" Minho shouted back. Krystal froze, as her mind consumed Minho's word.

I need help?

"What help? What help does she need? Minho, you're acting crazy. I think you need help," Key snapped. 

"Shut it, Key!"

"Make me!"

Taemin jumped in between them. "Guys, stop! We don't want to cause a scene!"

"We're already causing a scene because of this witch!" Key growled. Krystal felt her back cringe and her stomach felt like it was full of live butterflies and crickets. Jonghyun gave Minho a serious look.

"Minho, I offered you help. We're all trying to help you," Jonghyun explained. 

"But I never asked for help! I asked you what the rumors between me and Krystal were!" Minho pointed out. 

"You're just under her influence! What happened to the Minho who dreamed about getting in to the soccer team and who stayed away from creatures like her?" Jonghyun shouted. "I bet you never knew that the coach was going to kick you out of the team for being unmotivated and your own teammates planning to get you out of the soccer club for good!"

Whoosh. Minho dropped both of his hands to his side from Krystal's shoulder. He stood still, dumfounded with what he was hearing. He was going to be kicked out of the team just for hanging around with Krystal? Minho glanced at Krystal, who felt deserted and scared. She couldn't stop shaking. Was Minho, who had been there for her almost every time, going to leave her like this? 

He should, her inner self started. You're dragging him down, Krystal.

"But…" Minho was about to say something, but nothing came out. He paled and his lips started to quiver. His brown, worried eyes could not leave Krystal's pleading look. Should he leave her for his dream or stay by her until… until when?