-D.O.’s POV-

Monday. It’s the beginning of another week. It’s Kai’s dinner. On top of that, Aerin was still unconscious. I’d usually be excited to come to school, but knowing that a friend is still in danger made me feel down. It’s been three days since Sehun brought her to the hospital after she had been mugged at the back alley of the football field and still, there had been no sign of her recovering from the head trauma she got. Her doctor said she was practically in a coma, but the good thing was that her entire system was functioning well and her other injuries were healing well. The previous day, when we went to visit her, the bruises on her face were already fading and she looked better except that she wasn’t awake. She moved her hand briefly, too, much to Sehun’s relief, but it was short lived since she never showed any signs of waking up again after that. We all felt down even as the doctor claimed that it was an improvement. He changed Aerin’s status from comatose to just plain out cold.

Another thing was that Sehun and Chan Yeol hyung were still on the war path. When Chan Yeol hyung visited again, Sehun forbade him from coming near her. We tried to convince him to at least allow hyung to come in even just for a short while, but he remained firm on his decision, not seeing much sense in reasoning with us. We already knew what he was sulking about, but we didn’t understand why he had to put all the blame on Chan Yeol hyung when he was evidently not responsible for anything that had happened. Sometimes, Sehun’s sense of reasoning was just twisted. He was dwelling on the consequence of Chan Yeol hyung’s reluctance to listen to him instead of the fact that Bae Eunmi ordered the mugging of Aerin. We weren’t trying to hide that hyung was to blame, too, but Sehun should forget it for the meantime and deal with Eunmi and her companions first. Besides, hyung was neither denying his fault nor was he hiding. In Fact, he was willing to help Sehun. We all were.

It was rally fascinating how one girl could change everything by just looking so damned good. It’s not that I was blaming her, but she practically split Chan Yeol hyung and Sehun apart. They were really close before. I didn’t know how she was affecting Suho hyung, Baekhyun hyung and Kai except that they felt down as well, but I’d have to say that I was affected greatly. She made all of us happy one way or the other. She was kind to us and always knew how to make us smile and now that she was involved in some trouble, she made us feel sad and I knew everyone in our group just didn’t have the slightest interest of going to school. Like Sehun, I felt a sense of protectiveness towards her. She might be smart, beautiful and cool, but she didn’t have friends in school apart from us. The ones she had in her former school, she rarely meets. I felt a sense of responsibility to stick with her because she was always alone when we weren’t around, not that I’ve seen anyone who valued her solitude more than anything. Still, I didn’t want her to feel alone.

That morning, when I got to school, a prefect immediately approached me, telling me that the headmistress wanted to see me along with my friends. I didn’t know how my name ended up on their list, but when I got to the office, the others were there as well with the exception of Sehun who wasn’t in school until around second period. Apparently, the incident had reached the headmistress. I was nervous at first since I’ve never been called there, but it all ebbed away when the prefect told us that we were just wanted to aid in the investigation. They just asked us what happened the night, Chan Yeol hyung doing most of the explanations since he was the one with her. The headmistress seemed to like Aerin a lot. I saw it when I heard the concern in her voice. Who wouldn’t like her anyway? She was one of the assets of the school and she was extremely smart. Sehun told us about her photographic memory one time.

At lunch time, I was surprised when Sehun and Chan Yeol hyung joined us at our usual table in the cafeteria. Everything was just awkward since they refused to even look at each other. Nobody in our table dared to utter a word. We ate quietly, staring off into space, waiting for the bell to ring for fifth period when a lady wearing stylish clothes and stilettos, probably in her late forties, but still youthful in every way, approached us and stood by the table, eyeing us all.  Her familiarly expressive eyes lingered at Chan Yeol hyung for an extra second before she turned her attention to Sehun who stood up immediately and bowed slightly upon seeing the lady.

The lady waved him aside with a slight smile, but even as she did, her glacial countenance still dominated. “Sehun-ah, I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch, but I’d like to have a word with the headmistress. Could you accompany me to her office?” she said in a clear voice. She then flashed a brief smile at us. “You must be Sehun and Aerin’s friends. It’s nice to meet you, boys.”

“Guys, this is Mrs. Kwon, Aerin’s mother,” Sehun said, introducing her to us. We all stood up in a hurry to pay our respects to her and Sehun began pointing at us. “That’s Joon Myun, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, Jong In…” He sighed. “And that’s Chan Yeol. They’re all my hyungs.”

We noticed how he addressed him, too. Sure, he introduced Suho hyung with his real name instead of just his nickname for formality’s sake, but with Chan Yeol hyung, it was a different case. What now? He’s acting like he’s not close to hyung at all?

I’m sure Mrs. Kwon didn’t fail to notice that, too, but just ignored it. “It’s really nice to meet you, but I’m afraid I’ve got a flight to catch. Let’s get together some time after Aerin gets well, arasseo?” Mrs. Kwon said. No wonder her eyes looked so familiar. Aerin had her mother’s eyes. We all nodded in response. I glanced at Sehun who looked back at me blankly then shifted my gaze to Chan Yeol hyung whose eyes kept wandering about as he bowed his head. He looked uneasy.

“We’ll get going now. I’ll see you later,” Sehun said then led Mrs. Kwon away before we could even answer. We all sat down after they were gone and the awkward atmosphere returned. Although Mrs. Kwon had been really amiable to us, everyone looked shaken up. We never really saw her home and Aerin claimed that sh