At school the next day JunHong approached me by my locker right before lunch.

“Saya~ will you have lunch with me?”

“Just you?”

“No, me and my same new friends from yesterday.”

He saw my hesitation.

“Oh…do you want to sit with your friends?”

“Um…”

“It’s ok if you do. I really want to meet your friends though…maybe you can introduce me to them afterschool? And we can all have lunch together tomorrow!”

“Ah…”

“Hey, Zelo!” a voice shouted. It was YongGuk. “You eating with us today?” He was with JiEun and HyoSung again.

“Yeah! I’ll meet you outside!” He turned to me. “So I’ll see you later Saya!” He jogged outside to meet YongGuk. My brain was reeling. I didn’t have any friends to introduce JunHong to, I was scared to have to eat lunch with his friends tomorrow and why did YongGuk call JunHong Zelo? I clutched my head and leaned against my locker. What would JunHong think if he found out I didn’t have any friends? Would he still want to be my friend? Would he be upset that I had lied for so long?

“Something wrong, sweetheart?”

Oh no, that voice…HimChan. I kept my head down and quickly started walking away but he caught up to me and grabbed my shoulder. The hallways were empty now, everyone was at lunch.

“Go away,” I said quietly.

He laughed. “You don’t sound like you really want me to.”

I looked up at him even though I knew I shouldn’t. HimChan was a great liar. He had the ability to put fake emotions into his eyes. He looked sympathetic and I had to remind myself that he wasn’t genuine. He must have seen me faltering because he smiled.

“Why don’t we have lunch, Saya?”

“No…please just go away.”

He held my chin and tilted my face up to his. “I’m sorry about how I was before Saya. I’m different now.”

“Then why were you so mean to JunHong on the bus?”

“I was upset you were giving another guy attention, that’s all. Let’s have lunch, come on.”

There was no way I was going to be able to shake him off.

“Are you eating alone?” I asked him.

“It’ll just be the two of us,” he assured me.

“Ok fine, but let’s eat inside.”

“No prob.”

He grabbed my hand. It didn’t feel warm like when JunHong held my hand but I just needed to get HimChan off my back. We got our lunches and sat at a two-person table.

“So how have you been?” HimChan asked with a charming smile.

“Fine,” I muttered, focusing on my food.

He sighed. “Saya, you are so pretty. Why won’t you be my queenka?”

“You know I couldn’t handle that pressure, HimChan.” When we had dated he had found out about how shy I was and how I cracked under pressure.

“I could help you. You would be so popular and actually have friends so you don’t have to lie to JunHong.”

My face burned red.

“He’ll find out eventually, you know,” HimChan said, lowering his voice, “Do you think he’ll still be interested in you when he finds out you don’t talk to anyone but your brother?”

“In-Interested in me?”

“Come on, Saya. He wouldn’t hang around you so much if he didn’t want to be more than friends.”

Was that true? JunHong was always complimenting me. But other guys always got straight to the point and asked me out, they didn’t hang around like JunHong did. But then again…HimChan had been like that too. He hadn’t asked me out directly. We had gotten to know each other before we started dating. So was JunHong’s intention just to get to know me then make me his girlfriend? Honestly though, I didn’t mind. I wanted to get to know JunHong more, too and maybe even be more than friends?

The bell rang and jerked me out of my thoughts. HimChan stood and so did I.

“Think about it, Saya. If you were the queenka your life would be a lot easier than you think. You would have immediate respect and you wouldn’t have to be so nervous all the time. Everything is taken care of with the title.”

I headed into my next class and sat next to JunHong at his indication.

“Did you eat well?”

I nodded then suddenly remembered something.

“JunHong, why did YongGuk call you Zelo? And why is that the name you put in my phone?”

“Oh, that’s my stage name. I want to be a rapper.”

“Really? That’s so cool!”

The teacher walked in and we stopped talking. Well, that explained why JunHong hung out with YongGuk. Everyone knew he was really into rap and hip-hop. I didn’t focus in my classes for the rest of the day because I was thinking about HimChan and what he had said. I had completely forgotten about JunHong meeting my “friends” afterschool. I remembered as soon as I stepped out and I took off running for the bus stop. I arrived panting. JongUp was already there.

“Whoa, did you run here? You know the bus won’t be here as soon as school ends…”

“I – I know,” I panted. “Why are you already here?”

“Class ended early.”

I looked around. What if JunHong saw me?

“Are you hiding from someone?” JongUp asked.

“What? No, no…”

He rolled his eyes. “Who are you trying to avoid?”

“Uhh…HimChan!” I lied quickly.

“What?” JongUp was suddenly on his guard. “I thought he was done with you.”

“Apparently not…”

“Well hiding won’t solve anything. Let me talk to him.” He made to go back to school.

“No, oppa! Really it’s fine!” Crap. Why hadn’t I thought of a better lie?

“No, it’s not fine.” He flexed his muscles and stalked off.

Shisus. Now HimChan and JongUp were about to have a fight because of me. And possibly a physical fight! I knew JongUp would smash a pretty-boy like HimChan to bits. I tugged on my hair. Eotteoke? I decided to forget about JunHong and save my oppa from an unnecessary fight. I ran full speed back into the school building? Where would they be? HimChan would probably have gone to the bathroom after school to check his appearance. I ran to nearest boys’ bathroom and sure enough I heard a commotion inside.

“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?! We just had lunch!”

I heard a thud against the door and HimChan groaned.

“STAY AWAY FROM HER,” JongUp snarled, “OR I WILL –”

“Oppa!” I shouted. “Oppa, stop! HimChan hasn’t hurt me! I promise!”

 I heard another thud and the door flew open. HimChan had been thrown into a corner and was gingerly getting to his feet.

“If he hasn’t hurt you why were you avoiding him?”

“I always avoid him, remember? You’re overreacting again.”

 JongUp looked back at HimChan who was now fixing his uniform in the mirror.

“If you say so, let’s go.” He dusted off his hands, put his arm around me and we walked back to the bus stop to head home.