“How the did you even get here?” Ren spat at you from across the room.

You scoffed with a smile. “Uh, I drove,” you informed him, as if it was a silly question in the first place.

“You were unconscious when we brought you here, and when you left,” he argued. “How did you find us?”

“Wouldn’t it be more productive to just make use of my time here?” you reasoned haughtily. “I mean, I’ve already made so much progress today.”

Ren looked at you with a seething expression. “Progress with what?” he growled. You were about to answer, when he cut you off. “I don’t know who you think you are, or what you think you’re doing here,” he hissed, stepping angrily towards you. “But you do not have the power you think you do. I’m still the leader of this gang, and you are nothing but my woman slave,” he snarled.

“Come on man, why can’t you just respect her?” Seyong spoke up from the couch. Ren snapped his head in that direction, glaring daggers at the redhead, and Seyong looked down at his hands submissively.

“Woman slave,” he addressed you again.

“My name’s Mary Sue”—

“Shut up.” You complied. “Now get out.”

You blinked bewilderedly at him. “But I’m not finished”—

“I don’t care. I want to you get out of my sight,” he snapped. “Now!”

You folded your arms. You were so close to getting everyone to get along here, and you were not about to let this guy ruin all the work you’ve been doing. Then it dawned on you. “Oh, now I get it,” you said.

Ren’s eyebrows cinched together as he looked at you.

He hadn’t been with everyone else when you did the trust exercises, nor was he here when you were talking to the gang about respect. “It’s okay Ren,” you consoled. “You don’t need to feel left out. Here, I’ll do today’s exercise with you. What’s something you really hate?” you asked.

His nostrils flared. “I hate that you won’t listen to me and get the out of my hideout!”

“Good,” you continued. “Now… how about you respect my decision to stay here, instead of getting angry about it? Doesn’t that sound nice?” You emphasized your therapeutic suggestion with a smile.

Meanwhile, Ren picked up the nearby lamp off the table and looked at you. Uh oh. You could already see where this was going.

The next day, Jonghyun trudged exhaustedly into the school. Mary Sue had gotten home way past curfew last night and he had stayed up worrying about her until well after she was tucked safely in her bed. He wished he knew what was going on with her. He missed having his twin sister around to talk to about everything, and he could really use a therapeutic venting session right about now.

He was so lost in his moping thoughts that he barely noticed Key as he walked up to greet him.

“Good morning,” his boyfriend said curtly, and Jonghyun offered a meek smile before falling back into his troubles. There were a few moments of silence before Key apparently couldn’t hold in what he wanted to say and he took a breath to preface it. “What the hell are you wearing?” he asked finally.

Jonghyun glanced down at himself. “Oh,” he muttered, picking at the flowery skirt of the dress his parents had gifted him. “My parents think I’m a transvestite,” he explained.

Key narrowed his eyes with confused skepticism. “But you’re not…?”

“Yeah, but they bought me this,” Jonghyun continued. “The least I could do is wear it.”

His boyfriend huffed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jonghyun,” he grit through his teeth. “You’re not a transvestite.”

“I know,” he sighed. “But Key, they’re finally being supportive.”

“They’re not being supportive of you,” Key countered. “They’re being supportive of something they’re misunderstanding you to be. Don’t you get it?”

“But…” Jonghyun chewed on his lip. “I’m just trying to make them happy.”

“Well here’s a novel idea!” Key cried, throwing up his hands. “Why don’t you tell them the truth!”

“I want to,” Jonghyun said pathetically. “But what if they don’t understand?” Mary Sue had already failed to understand. How could his parents get it if she couldn’t?

Key sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers before stopping in the middle of the hallway, causing Jonghyun to stop too and look at him questioningly. His boyfriend was just staring at him, eyes weary. “Then at least you’ll have told them. Right?”

Jonghyun couldn’t say anything to that, and Key just looked away and walked the opposite direction down the hallway, leaving Jonghyun standing there alone, without much dignity left.

You finished getting the books you needed from your locker and turned around, suddenly running into a muscular body. You looked up to see beautiful double-lidded eyes. “Minho!” you exclaimed. “Um… h-hi,” you said, not really sure what to say.

He regarded you with a thoughtful expression before saying, “Hi.”

Your eyes widened. That was the first word you’d ever heard come out of Minho’s mouth. For a long time you’d suspected him of being mute. “Hi,” you said again, unnecessarily. “Um… what’s up?”

“Uh… not much, I guess,” he answered awkwardly. “Can I ask you something?”

“Oh.” You nodded. “Of course.”

He glanced down the hall hesitantly before turning back to you. “How long have you and Nichkhun been so… close?”

You thought for a moment. “I guess since around Valentine’s Day,” you answered.

“You spent Valentine’s Day together?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you said with a smile. “At the ice rink. How’d you know?”

His expression seemed to fall slightly. “Has he said anything about me?” he asked softly.

You shook your head. “No, not really,” you answered. “He never talks about you.”

“Oh,” Minho mumbled. Then he sighed and left you without uttering a goodbye. You wondered why he seemed kind of upset. But you didn’t have much time to dwell on it, because you were almost late for class.

“Think of it this way,” Amber consoled as she and Jonghyun ambled to their lab stations in chemistry. “They’re trying their best to understand. They just came to the wrong conclusion and you need to set them straight.”

She had nearly burst out laughing when she saw him walk into class in the dress, making a remark about how that combined with Mary Sue’s odd behavior was almost like the arranged marriage plot all over again, but sobered up when she noticed Key’s and Jonghyun’s varyingly unhappy expressions.

“How do I do that though?” Jonghyun whined. “I couldn’t even explain it to Mary Sue. How could my parents possibly understand?”

She narrowed her eyes at him scrutinizingly. “Jonghyun… Have you really tried telling them that you’re gay?”

He stared at the counter and thought. She had a point there. But if he was being completely honest, the thought of being completely honest was terrifying.

“Your parents came to you with their utmost support despite the fact that they don’t understand. I think at this point they’re trying so hard that you might be able to admit that you go around urinating in slides at playgrounds just for fun and they would do their damndest to understand.”

He cracked a smile at the odd suggestion, but then glanced at Key across the room, who still looked totally weary, and his smile faltered.

“I just,” he sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I just wish I could make everyone happy.”

“I think what matters is that you do whatever makes you happy,” she remarked. “And that’s not gonna be lying to the people you love about who you are.”

It seemed obvious the way she put it. Simple, even. But it felt pretty complicated to him.

The school day was finally over, and you couldn’t wait to get to the gang hideout tonight. You were about to get in your flashy silver BMW when you felt a hand on your shoulder, and you turned to see Nichkhun standing there with that confident smile of his.

“Where are you headed off to in such a hurry?” he asked you.

You faltered for a bit, trying to come up with an answer that didn’t have something to do with a notorious gang and a dingy warehouse on the outskirts of town. “Nowhere,” you blurted. Real smooth.

Nichkhun just chuckled lightly. “Come to the club tomorrow night,” he said. “Everyone will be there.”

You nodded, anxious to leave and get to where you were most wanted. “Alright, I’ll be there,” you said, turning to sit in the driver’s seat.

“Wait, not so fast,” Nichkhun murmured, pulling you back toward him. For a moment, he just stared at you, making you somewhat uncomfortable and curious as to what was even going on. Then he smiled and tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear. “See you tomorrow,” he said as you parted and he went on his way to his own car.

Well, that was odd, you thought. But you didn’t dwell on it for too long as you got in your car and headed to the hideout.

“Knock knock!” you exclaimed happily as you barged into the hideout, ignoring everyone’s surprised expressions to see you there tonight.

“What are you doing here?” Eli asked.

You sighed in mock exasperation. “Do we have to go through this every time I come here?”

You waited through a few exchanged glances. “We didn’t even send you a note this time,” Zelo muttered.

You scoffed. “What kind of woman slave would I be if I waited for an invitation to show up?”

They just shrugged and you revealed the bags of candy you had brought for them, luring them over to the couches again.

“So,” you began once everyone was munching on some sweets of their choice. “Last time I was here, I realized that part of the reason we don’t trust and respect each other is because we don’t completely understand each other. So I think we should make some efforts to do that tonight.”

You looked around at the mildly blank expressions. “How?” Zelo asked simply.

“I was thinking we could go around in a circle and explain to each other the reason we joined this gang,” you replied. “Knowing each others’ pasts and motives is a perfect way to understand each other.”

A few people nodded. “Makes sense,” Zico said between small handfuls of Skittles.

“I’ll go first,” you said, tearing a bite out of your stick of licorice as you pondered. “I joined this gang because I kept getting scary cryptic notes and I was kidnapped and ordered to be your woman slave. And now I’m here!” You raised your arms and smiled. “Alright, Zelo’s turn!”

“Sometimes I just wish I could rewind time,” Chanyeol sighed into his hands. “Go back to the vampire apocalypse, you know?”

“I know exactly how you feel,” Kai agreed, clapping him on his shoulder.

“At least then I knew what my purpose was,” the taller one continued.

“At least I knew who I was,” Jonghyun added.

“What is he even doing here?” Kai muttered to nobody in particular. He got a few shrugs from the other former Hunters in the room.

“I figured he could use some hospitality,” Suho muttered, giving him a sympathetic expression as he watched Jonghyun smack his face on the table.

“My parents think I’m a transvestite,” he groaned. “My boyfriend thinks I’m a coward. My sister thinks … I don’t even know what she thinks.”

Kai rolled his eyes. “Pathetic,” he muttered under his breath.

“I wish I knew what she thought of me,” Chanyeol sobbed. “She just suddenly stopped talking to me, and now she’s with someone else, or… two someones elses”—

“Chanyeol, are you drunk right now?” Suho asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “I’m drunk… from heartbreak,” he choked out between manly sobs.

“Here,” Kai said, pulling out a bottle and setting it on the table in front of Chanyeol. “Get drunk on something else, the hangover’s much more tolerable.”

The redhead just sniffed and hid his face in his hands again.

“I wish my parents would just understand,” Jonghyun said into the wood of the table. “I’m not a transvestite… I’m just gay!”

“I wish I could understand Mary Sue,” Chanyeol wailed. “But she just won’t talk to me!”

“Ugh, you guys are the worst excuses for men that I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Kai groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Have either of you even tried talking to them? Jonghyun, did you actually straight up tell your parents that you’re gay?”

Jonghyun sighed pathetically in response.

“And Chanyeol… did you ever think to approach Mary Sue and tell her that you want to talk?”

The Hunter answered him with watery puppy dog eyes.

“Then stop crying about your problems and do something about them! GOD!” With that, Kai stormed out of the kitchen, the others staring after him.

Jonghyun pouted down at the table. “What’s his problem?” he mumbled. Chanyeol shrugged.

“G-Dragon?”

He looked at you inquisitively.

“Why did you join the gang?” you asked him.

He sighed contemplatively and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his thighs. “Steady thinkin’ bout this thing called love,” he began. “It got me shaken up.”

Your eyebrows drew together as you tried to comprehend, the room having fallen reverently silent as he explained.

“And it got my head spinnin’ round round round round,” he continued, waving his hands solemnly around his head. “Don’t wanna take a fall, it’s best I break it all.”

“Okay…” you said slowly. “G-Dragon,” you muttered. “I’m not quite sure I really understand—“

“Nah nah, I get it,” Zico interrupted, holding out a hand. “It’s that age old story, man.”

He and GD met gazes and Zico nodded with a small grin.

“He had a girl,” Zico said simply. “Couldn’t make her happy. Thought it would be better for her to move on.”

GD smiled and nodded, looking down.

“Are you guys actually… understanding each other?” you said delightedly. You were making so much progress!

Suddenly the door burst open and Ren walked in. The second he caught sight of you, however, his eyes widened and he turned right back around to walk back out.

“Hey Ren!” you called before he could leave. “Wanna join in on our—“

“No!”

Slam!

You blinked and looked around, then shrugged. “Well I guess it’s Eli’s turn,” you said, nodding your head toward him.

The addressed gang member leaned back and stared at the ceiling in thought. “It started when I was just a kid,” he began…

I guess we were unlikely friends. He was the privileged kid from a well off family and I was more along the lines of a street urchin. But we both frequented the music store downtown. We just kept running into each other, so we became friends and started hanging out.

When we were eleven we had the crazy idea that we would make it big as musicians together. We didn’t even know what we would do exactly. I could barely strum a few chords on the guitar and he could fumble his way through a simple drum beat, and we both liked to write lyrics. I guess we figured we could take on the world with just a dream.

We practiced and practiced every week for that dream. Got really good at what we played, and he added the piano to his skills. We started getting serious about our lyrics and the meanings of our songs. Started rapping, too. It was something we wanted badly, and no amount of dreaming and practicing would ease that ache. We were young, we had an entire future ahead of us, and we were determined to make it ours.

The looming reality though was that he would be going to a different school in a completely different area, and I would be stuck at the lower class public high school. When he turned fourteen, I saved up to buy him these drumsticks I knew he’d been wanting. We started practicing twice as often, convinced we could make this our reality. But then as the new school year approached, he couldn’t come around as often because his parents had him studying for entrance exams. We saw less and less of each other, and by the time school had started I was left behind.

It was around that point when I realized that we were foolish to chase a dream like that. And I was so tired of being the one he was flaking out on that I stopped trying to see him. He was too busy and I didn’t fit into his life anymore.

I quit playing guitar and writing lyrics. I didn’t hang around the music store anymore. Instead I wandered around looking for something else. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I needed a new dream.

Funny thing is I couldn’t stay away from the music. I caught myself showing up at all these gigs at the club. Local bands and artists who were working hard at the dream I’d once had. I got excited watching them on stage. I wanted to be where they were.

It was at one of these shows that I actually met a lot of this crew here. I ran into Seyong, this rich kid from another district who had an affinity for the underground, and he took me to one of the rap battles that were happening in these dirty discreet locations. I guess the events were pretty exclusive. Zico was battling that night. He’s good at what he does, I gotta say. The man’s an artist.

Zelo was at the same event, and he and I talked a little bit about how we got in on the scene. From what I learned from him, his situation was pretty similar to mine. He had a friend who was like his older brother and mentor and taught him a bunch about rapping and the underground before he disappeared about a year before on academic scholarship to the same damn school that stole my best friend from me. I decided then that I hate Mordney Public High School.

The four of us started hanging out after that. We would just walk around anywhere late at night and raise a little hell. Seyong was like our navigator, he would take us to all these odd niches that you wouldn’t have known were there unless you really looked for them. Zico was this loud, charismatic leader and his mind was always on a crazy rhythm. I don’t think a second goes by when he’s not writing lyrics in his head. Zelo and I were more or less along for the ride. None of us had anything better to do, nor any place to go.

We talked about all kinds of things, from music and rapping to dropping out of school and living on our own. We had flighty dreams and half-baked plans to achieve them. We wanted to take the world by storm. We wanted to disappear to a remote location to never be found. We were unsatisfied with our shortcomings in life and we all felt wronged by some sort of establishment that we wanted to usurp. Ultimately, we wanted to change the status quo.

This was all just talk for most of us, but Seyong, crazy planner that he was with the underground knowledge and connections that he had, had gone and figured out a way for us to work for it. He found a way for us to change the status quo. To disappear and take the world by storm from the shadows. Suddenly everything seemed possible. All we had to do was join the legions. Form a contract. Make a deal with the devil.

Zelo and I were more reluctant about it. Seyong knew this, so he convinced Zico first in private. He went for it right away, reckless bastard. The two of them started disappearing to go off with this gang, leaving me and Zelo behind. Every once in a while we’d get to see them again, and we’d ask about what they’d been up to only to be answered with cryptic allusions and avoiding the topic altogether.

That was what convinced Zelo and me to join as well. We didn’t wanna be left behind again.

Joining the gang was not only like suddenly finding a vessel to achieve our goals to change the status quo and manipulate people around us; it was not only something I could use to focus my disdain for the school that had caused me so much grief into a way to exact some sort of revenge; it was like becoming part of this secret brotherhood, like a fraternity, where we all look out for each other and share our feelings of mirth. We’re all in a similar situation in this gang. We all have something that brought us here. We’ve been snubbed by the status quo, and together we have a chance to change it.

After the story, you blinked away the images from the flashback from your mind. “Wow,” you murmured quietly. “I never realized you had such a deep and meaningful backstory, Eli.”

He smirked and nodded. “Thanks,” he said shortly.

Later that night, you were pleased with the fact that you hadn’t yet been knocked unconscious and thrown out of the hideout, so once your therapy session was over, you were able to just hang out with the gang like friends. Zico and Seyong were playing a competitive game of pool while Zelo watched as if studying how to play the game. Eli and G-Dragon were just chilling on the couches and watching, amused, so you went over to sit by them.

“Hey, G-Dragon?”

He turned to look at you with a small smile, his long teal hair falling over one eye.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Ay your choice,” he said with a welcoming grin. “Drop it on me.”

“Can you tell me about your love story?” you asked him like a child asking for a bedtime story. The small bit you heard from his story sounded so touching and tragic and you’d love to hear it. “Like, how did you meet?”

You curled your knees up to your chest and rested your chin on them as you listened.

“Now here she come, she wants some of my lollipop,” he began with a grin. “She touchin’ on my body, makes me wanna rock.”

You tilted your head as you caught Eli’s grin, both of you listening to the story.

“Now here I come, I give it to her straight up and down,” GD continued. “Now here I come, here I come, come, come, come, come—“

“Wait, wait,” you stopped him. “I don’t quite get it. You two met because you gave her a lollipop?”

“You know what it is,” Eli said with a devilish wink.

“What? No I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“If you didn’t know,” GD remarked, “now you know.”

“But I still don’t understand!” you cried.

Everyone in the room just laughed at your apparent naivety.

You were so confused.

“What?!”