I saw him again the next day, a brand new lighter with the price tag still taped on the side in his hand as he tried to light the cigarette in his lips. It was early, and none of the others had shown up yet.

“You again?” I commented as I walked up next to him, hands casually resting in my pockets.

Purposely ignoring me, he focused on his cigarette as he finally struck a flame. I stepped forward and snatched the stick from his mouth. His head snapped up as he glared at me. “What the ?”

“Smoking kills,” I said bluntly, dropping it to the ground and crushing it under my boot.

“What’s your problem, old man?” he snapped, straightening up, though his short stature took away from the threatening posture.

“Bad habits are hard to break, you know,” I told him, leaning back against the wall. “I’ve been told that withdrawal is like the ninth circle of hell.”

A moment passed between us as he crossed his arms, turning sullenly away.

“You got a name, kid?” I asked.

His scowl deepened.

I smiled as I looked up at the sky. The boys were late. “Tough guy, huh?”

Still ignoring me, he reached into his pocket for another cigarette, but this time, I swiped his lighter.

“What’s your problem, old man?” he growled. “Give it back!”

“You’re poisoning yourself,” I replied, examining the lighter and holding him back with one hand as he tried to snatch it. “You stole this, didn’t you?”

“Lay off me!”

I turned away as he made another grab at it. “What made you start?”

He knocked the lighter out of my hand as he quickly stuffed it back in his pocket. “Every day is just a waste. I do whatever I want to make time go faster. That’s my reason. Happy now, old man?”

“My name is Onew.”

“Like I give a damn.”

"It’s common courtesy to give your name at this point.”

“Screw common courtesy.” He dug out another cigarette and sulkily turned his back on me. A moment later, a small cloud of smoke rose towards the sky as he sighed. “Taemin,” he mumbled. “My name’s Taemin.”

“Taemin,” I repeated. “So, what’s your reason for skipping school?”

“What’s your reason?” he retorted.

“I don’t ever feel like I’m learning anything important.” I stretched my arms above my head.

Taemin snorted. “You actually care about learning? That’s a load of crap.”

“The only crap I see is the little girl standing in our alley.”

I turned with a half-smile to see Key approaching us, sneering at Taemin. Key was always sneering at people- I was never sure if he really hated the world that much or if the two piercings in his lip prevented him from making any other expression.

“Screw you,” Taemin shot back.

“Ever heard of respect?” Key crossed his arms.

“Respect has to be earned,” Taemin retorted.

“You better watch your mouth, boy,” Key warned, narrowing his eyes. I was about to step in, when Taemin snorted.

“Piss off,” he snapped. “I’m out of here. You old geezers can do whatever it is you like to do, like play bingo or count your false teeth.” He sauntered off, a cloud of nicotine trailing behind him.

“Why do you keep wasting your time on that brat, Onew?” Key demanded.

"He's interesting," I said casually, tucking my hands into my jean pockets. Key just snorted and rolled his eyes. 

I didn’t expect Key to understand. After all, he had limits on how far he was willing to get into trouble, and could always pull himself back out. Taemin didn’t have any inhibitions. He would keep falling and falling until he was mired in and no amount of digging would ever get him out.

I’d know. I’d been on the brink; the hell I’d witnessed was something no one should ever suffer.

Someone had caught me in the nick of time, and I knew I had to catch Taemin before he fell too far. Even if he didn’t want me catching him.

The only thing worse than going to school was being held back a year. That was the reason I kept the others from ditching every day, convincing them to show up just enough that we wouldn’t flunk out completely. Did anyone like that idea? Not at all. Not me, not my friends, and especially not our teachers. Those hotheaded bastards thought it was rude, for some reason, that we only showed up about twice a week. They love to pick on us.

Which was why I was currently stuck in detention. The others were off screwing around- probably because they escaped before the teachers could capture them.

I kicked my feet up onto my desk, leaning back in my chair and staring out the window, much to the annoyance of the detention monitor, though he said nothing. I wondered what the others were up to- knowing Jonghyun, they were probably perched on a rooftop or a fire escape somewhere with a bottle of beer.

“-be here for the next two hours, and if I hear any mention of trouble from you, you can be sure you’ll be facing much worse next time!”

I rolled my eyes at the yelling in the hallway. A typical teacher threat. Even though I didn’t recognize the voice, I could picture the kind of man it belonged to, his face red as he bristled and sputtered and threatened punishment at a kid with glazed eyes. Like we actually gave a crap about punishment.

“,” muttered a voice as the teacher stormed off.

I swung my legs off the desk and sat up straight. Now, that voice was familiar.

Sure enough, Taemin plopped down into a seat on the other side of the room and the detention monitor turned towards him.

“Mr. Lee. How good to see you again?”

“Shut up,” Taemin grumbled.

A nasty smile crossed the monitor’s face. I sighed. There it was again- a person who had little to no power, whose only authority came from being an adult, and loved to lord that power over us kids. It was despicable, really; he was nothing but a bully.

“Say that again?” he challenged, and Taemin threw down the gauntlet to meet him.

“What? Are you deaf or something, you old fart?” the kid retorted.

“What did you call me?”

“Two words: hearing aides,” Taemin shot back, folding his arms sullenly across his chest.

“Think you’re tough, punk?” the monitor snapped. “I’ve seen girls who could kick your .”

Taemin bristled slightly at that, but I couldn’t blame him. He probably got taunted about his slim build and feminine features every day. I sighed and folded my arms on the desk. Things were about to get even uglier.

“You get high off of pissing off kids or something?” Taemin retorted. “There’s gotta be a better release. Like screwing your wife or something.”

The monitor jumped to his feet, face blazing red. “Why, you little-”

I reached over and pulled the sleeve of the nearest person I could reach, a regular grunt who practically lived in detention. “Look at his face,” I snorted. “He’s about to pop like a zit.” The guy laughed.

These detention idiots were so damn easy to manipulate.

“You know what? I bet we could sneak out of here without him noticing, since he’s distracted,” I added. The guy blinked at me uncertainly. “It’ll be easy. All you’d have to do is run out of the room. He probably won’t even see you.”

“You think so?”

“Of course.” I smirked. “What, you’re not scared, are you?”

The idiot puffed up indignantly. Without another word, he jumped up and sprinted out of the room. I could hear his sneakers pounding as he dashed down the hall.

“Hey!” barked the monitor, racing after him.

Well, that was easy.

The moment he was gone, I got up and headed for the window, unlatching it and pushing it open. As I climbed through the opening, I glanced back at Taemin, who was staring at me uncertainly. “You coming?” I snapped.

I didn’t need to ask twice. Taemin dove through the window, managing to get out of sight moments before we heard the detention monitor’s angry bellows. Neither of us said anything; we ran.

“What the hell was that about?” Taemin panted, collapsing behind a car at the far end of the school parking lot.

“I distracted that bastard so we could escape,” I replied, peeking over the top of the car. Looked like we were clear. I stood up. I could go find the guys, or I could go home. Considering they could be anywhere in the city, it probably wasn’t worth the search-

“Bull,” Taemin growled, still crouching behind the car. “You were helping me again, weren’t you? God, old man, are you retarded? I don’t ing need you to fight my battles.”

“You think that’s what I was doing? You’re stupider than you look,” I shot back. “Not every battle is worth the fight. What was the point of pissing him off?” I jabbed his forehead with my finger and he winced. “Think, you . Before you jump into something idiotic.”

I walked away from him without looking back. Ungrateful brat. Maybe he wasn’t worth it.

“Is this necessary?” Key hissed in irritation as I picked at the lock of the front door of the school.

“I never go anywhere without that necklace and you know it!” Jonghyun growled back. “Yo, Onew, speed it up!”

“What kind of guy wears a necklace?” Key retorted.

“Says the dude with the lip rings.”

“Will you two shut it?” I snapped. “Trying to concentrate here!”

Jonghyun fell silent while Key grumbled something under his breath and crossed his arms. I pushed down the handle and cautiously poked my head inside. The alarm didn’t go off and I gestured for the others to follow, closing it carefully behind me.

“Five minutes, okay? Jonghyun grabs his stupid necklace and we get out of here. In, out, done,” I ordered.

“That’s what she said!” Jonghyun sniggered, earning him a punch from Key.

Minho merely shook his head as we headed towards Jonghyun’s locker, our footsteps echoing down the empty hallway. We stayed quiet; even when empty, the school held a sort of authority that we felt hostile towards. So we continued on, stewing in silent rebellion as we ran through all the reasons we hated being here.

Well, for the most part.

“You know, this could be the perfect setting for a horror movie,” Jonghyun said. “Four guys walking around in school late at night. And then when they turn a corner, one of them disappears. Later, they find his remains being-”

“Oh, will you shut up!” hissed Key.

I glanced over my shoulder to roll my eyes at Minho.

But Minho was gone.

Jonghyun’s eyes widened while Key just crossed his arms and sighed in exasperation. “You don’t think-” Jonghyun began.

“Jonghyun, your ghost stories are bull. Go get your stupid necklace. I’ll find Minho,” I snapped, storming back the way we came.

It didn’t’ take long for me to hear loud swearing coming from one hallway and I turned in that direction. Upon spotting an open door, I poked my head inside and groaned out loud.

“Not again…”

Minho had Taemin in a headlock as the little punk tried to break free. “Old man! Make this douche let go of me or I’ll-”

I swear, Minho’s eyebrow twitched in irritation. His grip tightened slightly as he looked at me, silently asking for permission to strangle Taemin.

“Let him go,” I ordered and Minho unceremoniously dumped the punk on the ground. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

Taemin scrambled back to his feet and stared at me suspiciously. “You stalking me or something, old man?”

“No, but I think fate hates me,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m not stalking you,” I snapped. “Why are you here?” I glanced at Minho when Taemin didn’t answer, who held up the shiny new lighter I’d seen the kid playing with a couple weeks before.

“He was trying to burn stuff,” said my friend of few words, nodding at the teacher’s desk.

“What were you trying to burn?” I demanded, glaring down at the kid.

He shrugged, but shifted his weight from side to side uncomfortably. “Couple of guys dared me to break in and mess up, then take a picture.”

I started. “They dared you to break in?”

“Yeah.”

"Out of curiosity, have you ever pissed them off?” I was pretty sure I knew the answer to that question; after just a few encounters with him, I’d learned that Taemin pissed everyone off.

“Once or twice. Wh-”

“.” Screw sneaking around. I burst through the door, hollering at the top of my lungs. “Jonghyun! Key! We have to get the hell out, now!”

“What’s going on?” Taemin asked, as Minho grabbed him by the arm and began hauling him towards the nearest exit. I saw the other two skid around a corner, Jonghyun hurriedly hanging the ugly chain he loved so much around his neck as he went.

“You were set up, you ,” I snapped, grabbing the door handle and pushing. “Aw, .” The handle turned, but the door didn’t budge at all. “It’s been bolted from the outside.”

“Try another door,” Jonghyun urged, leading the dash down the hall. No good. They’d all been jammed shut. We were trapped.

"I hear sirens,” Key announced. He glared at Taemin. “If I get in trouble for whatever you pulled, you’ll-”

“Tunnels,” I blurted out.

“What?” Key frowned at me.

“The basement. There’s a tunnel leading from the boiler room to the storage closet under the football field. Move!” I shoved Jonghyun aside and barreled down the hall, sprinting for the stairwell.

The moment I shoved the door open, an alarm went off. “Perfect. And now they know we’re here,” Key complained.

“They knew that already. Some idiots tipped them off, thanks to this punk. Go!” Half-stumbling, I shoved Taemin down the steps and we crashed into the door at the bottom of the stairs. “Come on, come on…”

A bit of help from my paper clip and the door burst open. Forgetting to stay silent, we pelted down the hall, turning around a sharp corner, as the sounds of cops shouting and running throughout the school echoed above our heads.

“This way,” I hissed, turning down another corner. We stumbled out of the closet, cautiously creeping up the stairs leading to the football field. From our vantage point, we could see police cars flocking around the school, red and blue lights flashing like a screwed up carnival.

“You’re lucky as hell you didn’t actually do anything,” I told Taemin as Key vaulted over the fence surrounding the football field. He disappeared and returned a few moments later, signaling that the coast was clear. “Come on. We shouldn’t stick around.” I hopped over the fence as well, pretending not to see Taemin struggle to get his leg up.

“Anyone up for some climbing?” Jonghyun asked, pointing at a nearby apartment building with a grin.

He hoisted himself up onto the fire escape first- it was one of the ones that had a ladder that could only be lowered to the ground by pushing from the top. Made to prevent people from doing exactly what we were about to do. He shimmied up the iron bars easily, then lowered the ladder for us until it creaked ever so slightly.

“Stop,” I hissed, but there was no sign that anyone had heard the sound. “Leave it. That’s good enough.” Key jumped, grasping the bottom rung with his hands and easily swinging himself up. Minho was next, moving with a grace that I could only dream of having. I managed to climb up as well, though I’m pretty sure Jonghyun was snickering about my form.

Taemin, though, hesitated.

“Move, you idiot,” Key hissed. “The cops are gonna show up soon. Get up here!”

Taemin scowled and jumped, reaching for the ladder and missing it completely. He landed with a grunt and nearly stumbled. He tried again, with no success. He swallowed nervously, glancing back at the school. The cop cars were beginning to pull out of the lot, and one of them was heading right towards us. There was a hint of desperation in his eyes as he turned back towards us, fighting down the urge to run. He wouldn’t make it two steps before getting caught.

“Come on. One more time,” I urged. As Taemin jumped, I reached down and grasped him by the sleeve. Minho grabbed him by the other arm without me asking, and we hoisted him onto the fire escape.

“Go!” I barked, clambering onto the rooftop behind Jonghyun. As the others crouched down, I crept over to the edge and peered down.

A cop car rolled by, sirens blazing as it disappeared down the street.

Jonghyun collapsed on his back, tucking his hands behind his head. “Whew, what a rush,” he sighed cheerfully.

Taemin had a rather sheepish expression on his face as I reached over and flicked his forehead. “Ow!” he yelped before he could stop himself.

“You !” I ranted. “Were you dropped on your head or something? God, how did you not know it was a set up? ing idiot-”

“Thanks.” His response was so quiet I barely heard it, but a nasty smile crossed Key’s face.

“What did you say, punk?” he asked.

“I said, ‘Thanks’,” Taemin grumbled, only marginally louder.

“Can’t hear you-”

“That’s enough, Key,” I said firmly. I turned towards the scowling kid and nodded shortly. “You’re welcome.”