After another annoying week of school, it was the long awaited weekend and I could finally relax without having Steven, Dylan, or their clones following me around like love-sick puppies. Settling comfortably back into the dark green couch in the upstairs game room, I kicked up the recliner and prepared to watch a movie on Netflix. Finally, peace and quiet… 

Someone pounded on my front door. 

There goes my "peace" and "quiet". Groaning, I forced myself out of my seat and lumbered downstairs to answer the door. When I swung it open, I came face to face with Seungho. The rest of the gang were behind him in a patient line. 

"Hey, Kwaina!" Pushing past me, the maknae of the group slipped off his shoes and bounded upstairs to join Jaehyung, who was now standing by the balcony, peering down at the ruckus. 

Whirling around, I placed my hands on my hips and glared up at the excited boy. "Did I say you could enter my house?" 

"No…" His eyes grew wide and his lip trembled slightly. "But… Jaehyung hyung said I could come in, right?" He pleaded with the guy next to him. 

Jae glanced at me, then back at Seungho's puppy eyes, and shrugged. "Sure, why not?" 

The others, who were waiting outside, brushed past me with grins. "Thanks Jae!" Surprisingly, even Jess was here, with Seohyun and Hyuna. 

Jae shot me a grin before he disappeared over the edge. 

Staring at the pile of shoes at my feet, I shook my head and sighed. "There goes my peace and quiet," I muttered. 

"Peace and quiet?" A deep voice asked from beside me. My head shot up and I backed up against an indoor column when I recognized Steven. 

"What are you doing here?!" My eyes widened as he stepped past the door. His eyes never left my face. "Get out!" I shoved him back and attempted to slam the door in his face. His foot shot out and blocked my action before I could complete it. 

When I tried to push him again, he grabbed my wrists and slammed me back against the white columns with a thud. He pressed his body against mine, preventing me from having that space I needed to defend myself- I couldn't knee him where the sun doesn't shine, I couldn't kick him, I couldn't punch him… 

"Aaargh!" He screamed as I dug my nails into his hand. It worked; he released me as he cried over the pain he felt. Footsteps sounded upstairs as my friends heard the noise. Steven took another step toward me. "I went out with your little friend to get back at you for rejecting me. That plan was a fail. Your friend is an idiot- she actually fell for me, so now playing with her is boring. And then I decided to prank you at school. Nothing worked!" 

"You're a bastard, you know that?" I hissed. 

His hand flew out and slapped me before I could block his hit. 

"So now there's one thing for me to do," his eyes flashed with desperation and a tinge of craziness as he, again, pushed me against the column. I was ready for him this time though. Hooking my foot around his leg, I brought him down to the ground, and using the momentum from falling, I elbowed him as hard as I could. 

"Hey!" Yonghwa's voice sounded from somewhere above me as I heard people rushing down the stairs. 

Steven wasn't down for long though. Swearing, he flipped us over so that he was above me. He shifted his body, which was a mistake on his part because he gave me space by doing so, and raised his arm, but I caught his punch easily and brought my knee up to catch him in his groin. 

Shoving him off me, I grabbed Jaehyung's extended hand and he helped me up silently, his arms wrapping around me the instant I was on my feet. I looked over his shoulder at a shocked Jessica, who had heard the whole thing from upstairs. Tears were dripping down her face as her hands were clasped over in shock. 

Kikwang and Yonghwa dragged Steven outside with murderous looks on their faces, and we left them alone to deal with the troublemaker. 

Jaehyung cupped my face as he stared at the handprint from Steven's slap. "Did he hurt you any where else?" 

I shook my head. 

He placed his arms on my shoulder and pushed me a foot away from him while he examined the rest of my body. Mildly reassured, he left us without a word and went to join Kikwang and Yonghwa. 

Those of us who remained turned our attention to Jess, who was sobbing. When I opened my arms, she ran into them and buried her face in my shoulder. "I'm so sorry Kaina! I should've listened to you guys when you guys warned me about him!" 

Looking up, I noticed Seungho's worried face. He had always been worried for Jess- we all had been worried- but I never noticed it until now. The way he was looking at her… 

"I'll find a good guy for you, okay?" I promised her. She nodded against my shoulder. 

I caught Seungho's eye and pointed at Jess, mouthing, "Come get her." 

A blush instantly spread out over his face, but he did as I said nonetheless. "Come here Jess," he said gently as he pulled the girl away from me. "Thanks Kwaina," he mouthed back. 

Walking outside to my backyard to where I heard noises, I saw a bruised and battered Steven cowering in the corner. 

"What happened here?" I raised my eyebrow at the three unharmed guys who all had very serious and angry expressions. 

"He started spewing out some nasty stuff that he wanted to do to you," Yonghwa shrugged, "and pissed the three of us off. Jaehyung was the one who finally shut him up." 

"And he attacked you in our own house," Jaehyung mumbled. "This guy is too much." 

I crouched down in front of Steven. "You're going to listen to me when I say 'leave me alone' now, right?"

He nodded his head fervently. 

"So all those pranks at school were all you?" 

His head bobbed again. 

"And the person following me all the time was you too?" 

His head shot up with surprise. "I pranked you, and I sent you a threat letter, but I never stalked you!" 

My eyes narrowed as I growled, "Tell me the truth, you little punk." 

"I promise! I swear! I never followed you home!" His eyes were huge with fear. 

After having Yonghwa, Kikwang, and Jaehyung talk to him, he finally seemed to understand, after a whole year of messing with me, that I meant business. Sighing, I walked back to the trio. 

"He's not your stalker?" Kikwang asked. I shook my head. 

"I finally got rid of one problem, but now I have another." My fingers brushed my bangs back. 

Yonghwa patted my head, understanding my frustration. "Don't worry, we got your back. And you," he glared at Steven, "get out of our sights and don't ever mess with any of my friends, ever again." 

Steven was all too eager to scamper away. As he disappeared around the house, I felt Jaehyung stiffen beside me. 

Yonghwa and Kikwang ambled into the house, hesitant on whether or not they should check up on Jessica. They figured that by now, the other girls had taken over and would bark at them if their faces appeared. 

When I glanced at Jaehyung's face, however, he wasn't looking after Steven. Rather, he was facing the opposite direction, and his whole body was tense. 

"What's wrong?" I asked him softly. 

My voice seemed to pull him out of a trance, and he shook his head. "Oh, nothing. It must've been a squirrel." His voice became lighter. "Let's go in, shall we?" 

As we passed through the door frame, his head turned and he scanned the backyard, one more time.

Whatever it was, whatever had caught Jaehyung's eye, was definitely not a squirrel. 

Jae locked the door securely behind us with a grim look in his eyes. 

Inside the house, the commotion had died down and most of my friends were milling around, sans the other three girls who were most likely in my room. I left Jaehyung with the guys and, indeed, discovered Jessica, Seohyun, and Hyuna perched on my bed with a box of tissues next to them. 

"Hey guys," I made my presence known. 

Three heads looked in my direction. "Hey, Kaina." 

Sitting down on the floor, I tilted my head up to see Jessica. "Hey you know, don't be so sad. Steven wasn't the only fish in the sea." 

A small smile came to her face when she heard my words and understood my reference to her favorite Kpop singer. "Too bad Donghae is across the world and in a famous Korean boy band, and he doesn't know who I am." 

"Seungho's right here." Three pairs of eyes blinked at my suggestion. 

"He's like a brother to me!" Jess refuted. 

Seohyun patted her sister's head gently. "That's what they all say. But I must admit, he'd be your first boyfriend that I would actually approve of." 

Jessica's face flushed. "Great. Now I can't look at him the same again, after this talk." 

"Good," Hyuna grinned, "because you're going to be looking at him all lovey-dovey like." 

We all broke out into laughter, and the atmosphere lifted. When the three of us came out from the room, we joined the guys as they competed against each other with their video games. 

Hyuna watched Jae with careful eyes. "It must be cool," she commented, "to have a family friend live with you." 

I swallowed hard at her words. "Are you… interested in him?" I asked carefully. 

"Goodness no, Kaina. Jaehyung's just always by your side at school and he always defends you from those creepers. He's like your body guard. It must be nice having someone always there for you like that. And I'm just saying that it's probably not lonely at your house anymore, after you-know-what happened," she mused. 

I knew she was talking about my Oppa. 

Letting out a deep breath, I leaned back against the cushions as I watched Jaehyung laugh with our friends. 

"Yeah," I said quietly, "it's not as lonely anymore." 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Officially done with the school year! Yay!

@TasLuq : Thanks!   & Dang! LOL, we have a huge time difference!

@blackwings17 : I have to include Yongseo somehow in this fic. I'm not sure how yet, but I definitely will. Maybe they'll have their own short story chapter in this fanfic one day, haha. <3 them so much. & Heeey, I recogize you! You supported my fic Forbidden Kiss! Thanks! c:

& thank you SHINee42pm for subscribing! I hope you like the story!