I trudged back up the street, stuffing my hands into my hoodie's pocket.
JiYong was sick? I kicked an empty soda can down the sidewalk, watching it fall down a storm drain. He seemed fine when he brought me home on that rainy day.

I stopped in my tracks. Rain.

“Aish~” I muttered, flipping my hood up. “So it's my fault he's sick...the rain must have given him a cold. I should have forced him to wait for the taxi...”
I walked down the road, muttering at myself until a voice came up right next to me.

“Excuse me, but...aren't you Xyla?”

I turned around. There was a group of students, both male and female, excitedly waiting for an answer. It seemed that I had walked right past a high school dismissing students for the day. I swore in my head. I wasn't in the mood to to talk much, but I managed a smile.

“Um, yeah...” I said, and immediately all of them beamed.
“Wah, jinjja?” one of the boys gasped. “Oh, I'm a really big fan!”

I nodded. “Oh, de? Gomawo....”
“Unnie!” one of the girls called. “Xyla unnie! Where's Kyran and Saylan oppa? Why aren't they with you?”
I looked between all of their excited expressions.
“Mianhae, I have to go,” I muttered then quickly walked down the road before they could ask more questions and demand autographs.
That didn't seem to stop them, and about half of them began to follow me. I had just realized that I had walked in front of a bus stop, which was also filled with students. I turned away from them, shielding my face with the side of my hoodie, pulling the seam until if covered half my face.

I sped down the sidewalk, keeping my head down. Many students were crowding the sidewalks, and their filled backpacks took up much of the space.

“Xyla-sshi!” one of the fans from the original group called out my name, hurrying after me.

Immediately, the surrounding people spun around, searching for me.
“Oh, it's Xyla!”
“From the Archangels?!”
“Where?”
“Unnie, I'm a huge fan!”
“Xyla unnie!”
“Can I have an autograph, please?!”
Before I knew it, I was stuck in the middle of a huge group of students that had seemed to appear from no where. The crowd became thicker by the second, and I felt some of them begin to push their way towards me.
“Uh, okay...” I took up a pen, and immediately people nearest to me held out paper they wanted me to sign. I quickly scribbled my autograph down, not bothering to personalize them, which was something that I usually did.
“Mianhae, I really have to go...” I said after I had signed about 20 autographs, but they all raised their voices, almost begging me not to leave.

I quickly pushed through the crowd until I reached a clearing at a corner. I decided to cross the street and hopefully they would leave before I reached my dorm.

I tapped my foot impatiently at the corner of the street of a busy road. The group of fans still followed me, asking for autographs and taking pictures. By now, they had attracted the attention of many people and were they all now seeming to gather around me. They were pushing me closer and closer to the road, faster than I thought.

One fan had rushed up towards me, and I stumbled over the curb and into the street. Suddenly I heard the sound of car horns blaring. I spun, and saw a van speeding my way.
“WATCH OUT!”

I shut my eyes tightly, hearing the sound of screeching tires. There were screams from the crowd and I felt myself being thrown to the ground. I winced as I made contact with the cement, which scraped the left side of my cheek.

“Xyla, are you okay?!”

I slowly opened my eyes and saw a familiar face looking over me, his face full of concern and worry.

“K-Kai?!”

He breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Don't ever scare me like that again! What are you doing in the middle of the road?”

I looked around. The van that was speeding towards me seemed to be have been able to swerve out of the way. I was lying back on the sidewalk surrounded by concerned and shocked fans.
“Wha--?”
“Move please! Sorry, sorry!” I heard another voice say. I saw the crowd separate and another familiar face came into view.
“Taemin?!”

He bent down next to me and helped me up. “Omo, are you okay?”
He put a hand to my scraped cheek, and I winced.
“Oh, mianhae! Did I hurt you? Ah, I'm so sorry!” he withdrew his hand quickly.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Kai said. He duster off his pants, and it was then that I realized that he had grabbed me and pulled me out of the way, unfortunately giving him a huge scrape down his arm.

By now, the fans were shocked and had stopped asking for autographs, but it didn't stop them from taking pictures.

“Kai, Taemin, you should leave,” I said, glancing back at the fans. “Your managers will be upset when this ends up online.”

Taemin shook his head with a smile. “What do you think of us? Of course we're not just leaving you here! We have to get something for that scrape...”

“No, it's fine. Just go,” I covered the scrape with the side of my hoodie, and turned away from them.
Kai grabbed me by my wrist. “Come on, we'll take you home.”

I stopped. “But, Kai--”
“No buts,” he pulled me along him as Taemin went ahead. “Let's go.”

“I--” I struggled to pull my wrist free from Kai's grip, but he just pulled me closer to his side.
Taemin glanced back, then linked his arm in mine. “There's a little store up ahead.” He pointed at the small store just a few feet ahead with his free hand.
I sighed, letting the two boys pull me into the small store.

Taemin took out his wallet to pay for the two bandages, and I held out my hand to stop him.
“Oppa, it's fine,” I said. “Let me do it.”

I took out several bills from my pocket, but by the time I had looked up to pay, the person behind the counter had already given Taemin the receipt.

There was a counter that faced the windows and a row of stools that stood behind them. There were two college students eating ramen on one side of the the counter, and gaped as I sat down on a stool.
“You didn't have to do that,” I muttered as Taemin ripped open the package and pulled back the sticky side of the bandage. “I owe you guys already. And I don't have any idea how the two of you just appeared at that moment.”

Kai leaned on the counter with his uninjured arm. “The gym we use was just across the street. Did you forget? It was just a good thing we came to your rescue.”

I flushed. Taemin gave me a small smile and flopped the hood off my head.

“Stay still...” Taemin put his tongue between his teeth, frowning in concentration as he carefully put the bandage on my scraped cheek. He smoothed out the edges then stood back to admire his handiwork.

“Gomawo,” I said, gently putting a hand to my cheek.

I swerved the stool to face Kai. “Your turn.”
He pulled his arm away from me. “No, no. It's okay.”
“Yah!” I took his forearm and pulled him closer. “If you don't put something on that, you'll get an infection! Come closer. Taemin oppa, could you help me out here...?”
“My pleasure!” Taemin grinned mischievously and put both hands on Kai's shoulders then forced him onto the stool. “Stay still Jongin-ie!”

Kai pouted. “Aish, hyung, don't call me that! We're in a public place....”

I took his arm and made him stretch it out. The nasty, red scrape ran from his wrist to his elbow. The skin was scraped off and his skin was a fleshy red.

I took in a sharp breath as I inspected the wound.“How aren't you crying right now?”

He shrugged.
I unrolled the bandage then carefully wrapped it firmly, but not too tightly, around the scrape. He winced once or twice, but he didn't complain.
“There!” I tucked in the end of the bandage so it wouldn't unravel and fall off. “You're all set. Now how about a lollipop, Jongin-ie oppa?”
He scowled and both Taemin and I laughed. 

Next Chapter (coming soon)