That day during lunch break, Jonghyun took Ringo's hand (her face turned redder than her hair) and led her to the courtyard within SM high.

   "Welcome to SM high school within Seoul!" He said, smiling at her.

   "This school is pretty big and the principal is pretty lenient. The teachers also don't get in the way much, so you can get pretty weird people around here. Even kids who go to other schools hang out here sometimes. It's, like, in the heart of Seoul."

   He walked towards a small room near the library and pushed the door open. Inside the room was a bunch of tables and chairs. Four boys were sitting or standing around and eating their lunch.

   They were all good-looking.

   "These are my friends." Jonghyun said, getsuring to each one as he said their name. "Lee Jinki whom we refer to as ONew, Kim Kibum whom we refer to as Key, Lee Taemin, and you already know Choi Minho."

   They all smiled and waved when Jonghyun introduced Ringo, who turned red again.

   "You have such pretty red hair, Natsuki nuna," Taemin said, smiling at her. He had such an innocent, angelic face. He looked like a sophomore.

   "Hey, Jonghyun," ONew said hesitatingly. "What if they come? You know how it is--if she gets them interested, it could mean another war."

   If Ringo was a simple girl, she would have understood nothing. However, being a hoodlum herself for many years, she asked suspiciously, "Are you guys a gang?"

   Key burst out laughing. "No. We're a group of people that fight against gangs, though."

   Jonghyun frowned. "Shut up, you're confusing her." He turned to Ringo.

   "We call ourselves SHINee. We are all...born, shall we say?...with a natural fighting ability. We don't like to fight, though. We only attack others if someone needs help, and only if absolutely necessary."

   "Is that weird?" Minho asked, looking crestfallen. "You're not scared, are you? A lot of people are out to get us."

   Ringo shook her head. "I'm not scared. It sounds pretty exciting, actually."

   Jonghyun gave her a wide smile, and she blushed. "Great! This will make your introduction a lot easier."

   ONew took out a sheet of paper and drew with black marker a large rectangle. "Let's say this is Seoul." He said.

   He divided the rectangle into three areas. "Seoul is divided up roughly into three parts. This one," he tapped the very top block. "is what we call 'Upper Seoul', or the North. This is where all the rich kids live. In this fancy neighbourhood, a gang called DBSK stays in. It's their territory, and they're very protective over it. They say they just want to keep tramps out of their territories, but it's all a lie. They just love to crack some skulls."

   Ringo shivered.

   Jonghyun jumped in and tapped the lowest block. "This is the 'Lower Seoul', or the South. A gang called Big Bang has their territory here. They are all from poor families. In fact, most people in Lower Seoul are poor. So it's a big difference. They love to go to Upper Seoul and spray-paint everything they see on their skateboards. It drives DBSK mad, so they're always having wars over one thing or another."

   "What about the middle one?" Ringo asked.

   Key answered this. "Right now, you're in it." He said. "This is what everyone calls Neutral Zone, no-man's land, free space, you get the picture. SM high is a hot spot for all the gangs to get together and duke it out, because in Neutral Zone, one gang can't jump attack another, because they don't know the area better than we Neutrals do."

   "So, let me get this straight." Ringo said carefully. "Upper Seoul, or the North, consists of the rich-kid gang DBSK whose always fighting with Lower Seoul, or the South, and their gang of tramps Big Bang. And our high school is in Neutral Zone, where both gangs are allowed in without consent."

   "You forgot 2PM." Taemin whispered.

   Jonghyun groaned. "Oh, of course. The ultimate hated ones." He took a red marker and shaded in the entire rectangle. "The gang of 2PM controls all of this land."

   "But that's all of Seoul!"

   "Yeah, they are dominators of the underground. Mixed from the North, South, and Neutral Zone. They coud be hiding out in the sewers below us as we speak." Ringo risked a quick glance at her feet.

   "Both gangs--DBSK and Big Bang--hate their guts. The war consisted of DBSK and Big Bang actually forming a truce to attack 2PM, but the Beast group held their own with 2PM and forced the other gangs to retreat." ONew said. "This was two years ago, in our freshman year, before Taemin joined us."

   "The Beast group is kind of weird," Key said. "Total outcasts. Dunno what's with them, but every so often they'll join a group or a gang and fight against another."

   "And don't forget SNSD." Jonghyun said.

   Minho explained. "SNSD is a group of all-female fighters who sometimes fight against others, sometimes not. They call themselves Girls' Generation, because they believe females will soon dominate the males in the world of street fighting."

   Ringo thought, *wow. I didn't know girls other than me can fight! I gotta meet them someday*

   "Where do the Beast and SNSD groups go?"

   "They're here, in SM high. By the way--"

   Whatever Minho was going to say, he couldn't, because the door burst open behind them. Ringo turned around.

   Four good-looking but rather ruffled boys were filing in, hands stuck in the pockets of ripped and spray-painted jeans, backwards caps on their heads, and loose T-shirts. Ringo knew immediately who they were. 

   "Big Bang." ONew snarled. "What are you doing here?"

   The one in the front sneered. "What, we need permission to get into SM high now?"

   "Get out." Taemin said quietly, dangerously. The change in these five boys was amazing. They went from nice and gentle to dangerous and deadly in three seconds flat. 

   "You can't tell us what to do, Taemin! This is no-man's land!" The boy hissed.

   "What do you want, G-Dragon?" Jonghyun demanded, swiftly moving forward to block Ringo out of view.

   It was too late. G-Dragon caught sight of her and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of safety. "Well, well, well. Look who we have here."

   Big Bang surrounded her. "Damn, she's pretty hot." One said admiringly. He curled a hand around her waist, but G-Dragon slapped his hand away.

   "No touching, Taeyang. I found her, so she's mine!" G-Dragon said smugly. Taeyang just laughed and winked at Ringo.

   "Let me go!" Ringo said, struggling. She didn't exert most of her strength, afraid of breaking free and proving she wasn't as much of a girl as they thought she was. She could have easily flipped G-Dragon onto his backside by now.

   "Tut tut, cool it sweetheart." Another boy said. "My name is Seungri, and the other dude is Daesung. What's your name?"

   "Saja Ringo!" She spat. "Now get away from me!" She looked desperately at SHINee for help, but they had already acted.

   Minho rushed forward and punched Seungri in the face. Daesung responded by cracking him one on the jaw. Jonghyun did a mid-air kick at G-Dragon, who took it by surprise and went sprawling onto the floor. Jonghyun barely touched the ground with his feet when Taeyang got him in the gut.

   "Stop it!" Ringo shrieked. "Minho, Jonghyun, are you okay?"

   "Son of a !" G-Dragon swore, scrambling to his feet. ONew blocked his path.

   "Leave it." He said quietly. "We're too evenly-matched to settle the score now, especially with a girl involved. Let's not get into a fight now. We know T.O.P. is still recovering from his injuries from the last fight you guys had with DBSK. Go back now."

   His quiet, calm, level-headedness brought G-Dragon to his senses. He scowled at jerked his head towards the door. "Let's get outta here, guys." He winked at Ringo. "I'll see you later, my princess."

   The door slammed shut.

   "Sorry about that, Ringo." Key said heavily. "This thing happens often."

   Ringo was snarling. "Ooh, I wish I could've popped one at G-Dragon." Then she realized what she was saying.

   The others were laughing. "You're so interesting, Ringo." Taemin said, smiling. "Come on, Ringo, we're going to be late for class. The lunch bell rang, like, five minutes ago." Jonghyun said, taking her hand. Ringo blushed but didn't let go.

   As she walked down the courtyard with Jonghyun and Minho, she realized something. I've just made friends.

   The sun warmed her face as she walked outside.