Sang Hee's POV

"Hey, ready to go?" someone said, standing right next to my desk.

I looked up and saw Dae Myung, waiting, lunch in hand. I couldn't hide my surprise and all I could do was stare at him with a baffled expression.

Why was he acting so kind? Something didn't feel right...

I nodded, without looking into his eyes. I was still a bit hesitant about his sudden change. How could someone change that quickly in a day? Or did he have a change of heart a while ago?

... It's not like I could reject him though, right?

I took my lunch from my bag, as well as my partitions, and got up. I noticed some people staring at us. My head filled with panic and I looked at Dae Myung, searching for that hint of teasing. But I didn't see it anywhere in his demeanor, in his expression. He simply showed the door, bowing like a gentleman.

"After you." he said with a smile.

I started walking and tried to make myself oblivious to all the stares I could feel on me. My heart was frantic and I only concentrated on making my legs move. As we walked through the hallways, I just looked straight, too embarassed to look at anyone. I wondered about his true intentions; how could Dae Myung out of all people be so nice to me? There was bound to be something wrong in this.

Some girls whispered in front of us, but I could hear what they were saying. It was almost as if they wanted me to hear them.

"I have no idea how she out of all people could've seduced him!" one of them said in an irritated manner.

"There's no way in the world that he fell for her!" another replied. "She probably just forced him with blackmailing or something!"

"Hey, did you hear?" one of the girls said. "Apparently, the reason why Dae Myung isn't hanging around with us anymore but with Sang Hee is because she actually forced him to sleep with her! Isn't that horrible?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How could there be such rumors about me? Why did things always turn out even worse? I knew rumors were just rumors, but that someone would hate me so much as to spread such lies... It made me feel unwanted, hated, despised, and it wounded my heart so much.

Dae Myung took a hold of one of the girl's shoulder. "Hey, that's enough." he said sternly.

"Dae Myung~!" one of them said giddily. "We're only talking about what we heard, nothing harmless."

"It wasn't harmless. I can't believe you girls, out of all people, would be talking behind people's backs like this."

"What? Why're you siding with her all of a sudden? What did she do to make you start helping her?"

I could only stare at them; I wanted to hide, to be invisible. I couldn't believe Dae Myung was actually defending me. I was a bit unsure whether it was a good or bad thing; what would they do once he'd be gone?

"Look, she didn't force anything on me," he answered calmly. "I just became friends with her. Are you really going to be childish and not let me be friends with who I want?"

None of the girls replied. Their stares alternated between me and Dae Myung, with a mix of disbelief and hate. It felt as if their stares burned right through me. They soon walked away, towards the cafeteria. The people who were watching us tried to pretend they were doing something else, but their slow movements indicated they had listened.

I took what was left of my dignity and walked off to the music room. I heard Dae Myung following me, silent.

Dae Myung's POV

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked her, slightly worried.

She hadn't said anything since what happened earlier in the hallway. Even after we had finished eating, she didn't say anything at all, and didn't even bother playing. She looked at me in a sad, slow manner.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said sadly, which wasn't very convincing.

Yeah, she's definitely not fine.

"Don't let it get to you. They're just jealous I'm hanging out with you instead of them." I said, as a joke.

Which didn't seem to work, since she seemed to slouch down even more.

Oops.

"Really, it's nothing to worry about." I assured her once more.

She looked at me, as if she was trying to solve a mystery. "You know you're handsome," she started. "Yet why do you choose to hang out with me? Isn't that going to tarnish your reputation?"

"To be honest, I don't care that much about them," I said, shrugging. "I do whatever I like. And I like to come listen to you play during lunch. Isn't that logical?"

She continued staring at me, as if she wanted to decipher those phrases I just said. Then, as if in a sign of giving up, she just slightly smiled and shrugged, turning away to face the piano. After a long while of staring, she took her partitions, set them then started playing on the piano. I leaned against the wall and relaxed, relieved to have that behind us.

Okay. What the hell is wrong with girls. I get that they can get jealous, but how can they go so far?

As we looked at Sang Hee's writing-covered desk, I started to feel anger rising inside of me. What part in "I'm just doing what I want" didn't they get? I could feel Sang Hee collapse emotionally as she read some of the phrases written on her desk.

"Go die, you ."

"Chuhan."

"Two-faced snake."

There was only one person who could write this, who could be jealous enough to write these cruel things, whose handwriting I recognized: my ex. I stormed off into the class she was in, and saw her giggling with her friends. I walked over to her and took a hold of her arm.

"You. What do you think you're doing?" I told her in an angry whisper.

"Ow! What are you talking about?" she said, faking ignorance.

"The writings on her desk," I replied harshly. "I know you did it. You're the only girl who would do this."

She smirked. "And what if I did it?" she whispered in a flirty voice. "Anything to help Mr.Handsome get rid of his crazy stalkers."

"You know it's over between us," I told her in a cold tone. "As if I'd go back to a blackmailing b*tch like you."

"Oh? Fierce as ever, I see," she said, smirking. She grasped my arm. "But that's what I've always loved about you."

I shook her off. "I know it was you. We're over, don't you get it?"

"You don't have proof it was me." she whispered.

"Oh, I'll find out somehow." I replied before letting her go.

I walked out, then headed back into our classroom, where I saw Sang Hee trying to erase the phrases on her desk, trembling. Everyone was staring at her and I started to feel bad.

She really didn't deserve this, did she?

I took some thick paper from the front and went to help her clean her desk. She didn't say anything as she saw me and, instead, smiled faintly.

As the bell rang, everyone got up to leave and go home. I saw Sang Hee taking her dear time in front of me; I started to wonder if I should walk her home, just in case.

Nah, I barely know her. Let's not overdo it.

As soon as I thought that though, I knew I'd worry about her anyways for some reason.

As I was about to ask her if I could walk her home, I heard someone calling out for me. I turned around and noticed one of my ex's friends.

Well, this doesn't look good...

I told Sang Hee goodbye, to which she smiled and returned. Hopefully she'll be safe on her way home.

I walked over towards my ex's friend. She seemed shy, and had that smile I could notice anywhere: the smile most girls who liked me wore when they saw me.

"Hey," I said as I approached her. "Mo hae?"

"Hey, Dae Myung," she said, a faint blush to her cheeks. "I need to tell you something that you'll probably need, so can we go somewhere quiet?"

Well. This is probably a confession. Guess I have to deal with this, huh.

"Alright, let's go into the school backyard." I told her, giving her a flirty smile.

And so, I took my bag then followed her in the halls. She seemed shy and flustered, but I was in no mood for an awkward atmosphere, so I tried to make small talk as we walked. She was actually thrilled that I was showing interest in talking with her and she giggled alot.

Typical...

When we finally got into the backyard, the afternoon sun was shining over us. I wondered how things could have gotten so overwhelming in one day. She looked at me, that blush still on her cheeks, then opened her bag.

Huh? Is she giving me a confession letter instead?

She took her cellphone out surprisingly and pressed a few buttons.

"I know you must be worried for Sang Hee and all," she said mysteriously. "She's like your little sister or something, right?"

"Uhh... I guess?" I replied, a bit surprised.

"Well, Dae Myung..." she said, blushing even more. "We all know it was your ex who did it. And while she was doing it... I knew you'd want some proof... So I took a picture of her while she was scribbling on the desk, for you." She showed me her cellphone hopefully and proudly, where was displayed a picture of my ex caught in the act.

I took the cellphone in my hands.

To think one of my ex's friends would purposely try to denounce her because of her crush on me.

Love really amazed me sometimes.

"Thanks," I told her, smiling. "I'll go show this to the principal and I'll return it to you tomorrow, okay?"

She almost jumped of joy. "Okay! I'm glad I could help you...!" she answered, overjoyed. She then hesitated for a second. "Um... Can I... get a kiss from you?"

A kiss, huh?

"Sure." I said as I approached her. As she closed her eyes, I couldn't help laughing a bit. I then bent over and kissed her... on the forehead. She opened her eyes suddenly, and was about to protest when I held a finger on her lips.

"You didn't precise where," I said, winking at her. "See you." I turned around and walked back into the school.

I looked in the text messages section, out of pure curiosity. She must've forgotten I could take a glimpse of her texts, due to my presence. Some of them were the usual and others were about boys.

Should I be surprised?

"Gah~ Dae Myung's looking so bored but he still manages to be so hot~ <3"

"I know! What I would give just for him to hold me in his arms... ~"

"You're even more obsessed than I am!"

"Am not~."

Well... Let's not go too far into girls' minds.

I made my way towards the principal's office. This was revenge for Sang Hee, but for me as well.

The only reason I even dated my ex in the first place was because she was the prettiest in our grade. When I wanted to end the relationship, she tried to blackmail me with the one secret I didn't want anyone to know: that my mother was a waitress in a suspicious bar, and that I had to basically raise my two younger brothers by myself. I didn't want any pity from anyone; I had my pride to maintain.

I could still remember how annoying my ex was back then: always calling me, asking me to go out with her, accusing me wrongfully of seeing other girls, threatening of telling everyone my secret if I wanted to break up with her.

Good thing she had one secret she didn't want to be revealed either: the fact that she cheated in her mid-term exams last year. She managed to rank in the top 20 thanks to her foul means, but if people found out, her reputation would be ruined and the consequences she'd have to face would be horrible.

But these were all minor details.

Hopefully, she'll get suspended for violating the school rules by "damaging school property" when I'll show this to the principal.

This should also give a warning to anyone who dares mess with Sang Hee while I'm around...

Sang Hee's POV

I managed to calm myself when I was back home. And surprisingly, it wasn't so bad going to sleep at night. For some reason, I wasn't as scared as I would be usually.

Was it thanks to Dae Myung's presence?

Probably.

Although I could never admit out loud that I was starting to trust him.

I walked into the classroom, a bit nervous, like usual. I saw Dae Myung smile as he saw me. I couldn't help but smile back a bit. I went to sit in front of him and, as soon as I did, I heard him bend over to tell me something.

"Hey, did you hear?" he said in a whisper. "The girl who wrote those phrases on your desk got suspended."

What?

I turned around and looked at him, trying to see if he was serious. And he was. Instead of feeling relief, I felt a bit bad for her.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, for writing on your desk! It goes against the school's rules." he said, a bit amused by my reaction.

"But there's no proof she even did it," I stated. "How could she have gotten suspended?"

The shadow of a smirk passed over his lips, but it soon faded.

Was that my imagination?

He then shrugged.

"Hey, essential is that you won't get harassed anymore, right?" he said.

"I'm not so sure..." I replied, hesitant.

"Hey, trust me," he assured. "If anyone does, I'll be here."

To think you used to be the one teasing me the most...

Maybe you're not so bad, after all...

It felt so unusual to have the person I feared the most become my first ally here in school. Life managed to change itself in the weirdest ways. Then again, I had met Jonghyun, so you'd expect me to not be surprised by anything by now.

But I could never know completely what was going on in Dae Myung's head; he did help me though, so a bit of gratitude can't hurt, right?

"Hey, Dae Myung..." I said, a bit unsure.

"Hm?"

"Thanks..."

He smiled sincerely. "No problem."

Jonghyun's POV

I looked around. The set where the short filming's supposed to start was simple, with the caption "SM Entertainment Global Auditions" displayed behind us. We were waiting for our makeup artist to put the finishing touches on Taemin. Key was showing this new song's dance moves to Minho, who was actually joining in. Onew was laughing at both of them. I arranged my hair a bit.

As our makeup artist left the set, the director asked us to act natural and to talk about the upcoming auditions for SM Entertainment.

He started the countdown.

Key and Minho stopped fooling around; Taemin mentally put on his aegyo; Onew arranged his hat; I smiled at the camera.

SHINee hwaiting! ~

"Annyeonghaseyo! We are SHINee! ~" We all exclaimed happily at the camera, waving at it.

"Summer's in the air: the sun is shining bright, the heat is intense, no more school..." Key started. "Beaches must sound really tempting, right? But we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about the upcoming SM Entertainment auditions this summer."

"For all of you who can sing or dance, the auditions will be held in Seoul, Busan, Jeju and other cities," Minho said, charismatic. "If you aren't in any of the cities the auditions will be held in, don't hesitate to go to the closest one."

"Yeah, it's a chance SM Entertainment is giving everyone, so no hesitations, alright?" I continued, encouraging. "It'll be in the first week of August, so you guys still have 1 month to prepare."

"Pick your best songs, go practice at karaokes with friends," Onew added. "Or go to a friend's house and practice popular dances."

"Like Lucifer!" Key exclaimed.

"Nareul mukkgo gadundamyeon sarangdo mukkin chae~." we all sang and danced shortly, hyper.

"So try out for the SM Entertainment auditions this summer!" Taemin said happily, after we had calmed down. "You might just join us as artists!~ For more details, go to www.smtown.com!"

"Thank you for listening! This was SHINee speaking~! Kamsahamnida!" we all said, waving goodbye. Key even dropped in a short "hwaiting!" before the filming ended.

I wonder who are going to be the new trainees this year...

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Dae's such a cool bad boy~ <3 Yet such a sweetheart! The picture I used for this chapter is Dae Myung yet again and includes this hot ulzzang I found on www.yeahboyulzzang.tumblr.com!<3 I didn't save which ulzzang it was though D: ~ But god is he hot! <33

One of the words written on Sang Hee's desk was Chuhan. It means Ugly in korean~. As for the phrase Dae Myung said to the shy girl: Mo Hae, it means What's up? in korean! <3 So cool. I should use that too!

I hope you guys aren't too impatient for Jonghyun's return though! I can't wait to make him rejoin Sang Hee's life either, so I get how you guys must be feeling! Hopefully Dae Myung's presence is enough for you guys for now, because he is for me! <3 Jonghyun's coming back soon though, so no worries. ~

Once again, thank you for reading! Comments and subscriptions are always welcome! <3