When I left for school that morning I thought that it was going to be a day just like any other. The weather was gloomy with dark, threatening rainclouds looming in the horizon and because of that my mother had forced me to bring the one umbrella we owned - a pink, frilly one with a hideous floral print that I was sure would do absolutely nothing to boost my popularity. This would just be yet another thing to hold against the weird, geeky kid.

Fortunately most of the people at school didn't pay any attention to me at all. On a regular day I was able crawl through the halls unnoticed while everyone passed me by without sparing me a single glance. This applied to students as well as teachers. To most of the students it was as if I wasn't even there and the teachers barely even noticed me either because I turned my assignments in on time and stayed quiet in class when everyone else didn't. I, Yoo Youngjae, was practically invisible.

Once in a while, however, I would rub someone the wrong way - how I managed to piss them off simply by existing still remained a mystery to me - which would result in one of two things; either I would leave the encounter without my lunch money or, if I had no lunch money, I would end up with my head down the toilet. Of course I would take being ignored over being assaulted any day. This was why I usually did my best to avoid any form of human contact.

The moment I stepped through the main gates I could tell that I would be happy when the day was over. The students were already laughing and whispering among each other at my expense and I heard the word '' being thrown in my direction more than once. I liked to pretend that I had stopped caring about being called names long ago, so I just walked past all of them and entered the school building without looking at anyone.

Surprisingly I managed to make it through the first few lessons without much difficulty. It seemed to be one of those days where people were ignoring me and I was fine with that. As soon as the lunch break came, everyone scrambled towards the door in order to get to the cafeteria as fast as possible and get a good table to sit at. I wasn't in a hurry. I never ate in the cafeteria anyway. I usually found an empty classroom or, if the weather was nice, I would go outside.

It was raining now, so I didn't feel like I had much of a choice. I spent quite some time trying to find a place where I could eat by myself, but I found out that every classroom was either occupied by other students or locked. Eventually I came to terms with the fact that I would most likely have to have my lunch outside if I wanted to be alone. So I opened my (incredibly masculine) umbrella and braved the rain.

The heavy downpour had created huge puddles on the ground and despite my effort to stay dry, my shoes were soaked in no time. I knew my mother was going to kill me because she had told me to wear rain boots, but the umbrella was embarrassing enough as it was so I had chosen not to. I cursed under my breath before quickly looking around to make sure no one heard it. I didn't like cursing in public. I didn't like cursing at all. Fortunately I seemed to be alone.

In a corner of the school grounds there was a small overhang that would provide a dry spot for me to eat my lunch in and I made my way towards that area. Usually there were picnic tables there as well. It was perfect. I picked up my pace a bit to get away from the rain as soon as possible even though my feet were already wet and there were sloshing sounds against the pavement with each step I took. I felt disgusting.

As I turned a corner and the rain above me stopped I let out a sigh of relief, only to quickly in a sharp breath when I realized that I wasn't alone like I had thought I would be. Occupying the tables were that one group of people everyone in the entire school knew who was. The popular kids. I recognized them by their faces. I couldn't for the life of me remember any of their names, only their so-called 'commander' Kim Himchan. They stopped talking and they all looked at me when it became evident that I was there and my heart practically stopped beating.

After a few moments one of them sneered. "Nice umbrella," he said in a deep voice that I found incredibly scary for some reason. His comment elicited snickers from the rest of the group. I felt my face flush in embarrassment as I bowed briefly to them and quickly spun around on my heel to walk away from them with long strides. I was sure that nothing good could come out of getting involved with these people, especially not if they decided that they didn't like me.

The rain splashing against the flagstones drowned out the sound of the footsteps of the person who had followed me. I didn't notice him until he called out my name. "Youngjae-yah." I stopped in my tracks at the sound of that voice without turning around, wide eyes fastened on nothing but air. My heart was racing. I was trying to think of reasons for him to want to talk to me. I came up with nothing. "Your name is Youngjae, right? Yoo Youngjae?" He knew my name... no. Kim Himchan knew my name. I wasn't quite sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing and the smile I saw on his face when I eventually did turn around was not making me feel any more comfortable.

The politeness that had been pounded into my brain pretty much ever since I learned how to talk bid me to face  him when addressing him, though, so I had to. "Y-yes," I answered hesitantly, voice barely more than a pathetic squeak. I took to staring at his feet rather than meet his gaze. I found his eyes absolutely terrifying. Sometimes he looked crazy and I often questioned his sanity. Of course not openly or anything like that. I was too much of a coward for that.

"I'm Himchan," he introduced himself as if every kid in town didn't know who he was. I just nodded, swallowing the bile that burned bitterly in my throat. He looked as if he expected me to say something in response, but when I didn't he just sent me another -eating grin. This time I decided that I didn't like it. It made me uncomfortable. It was as though I was nailed to the spot when he approached me and he slung and arm around my shoulder, starting to drag me along. "Why don't you come hang out with us for a while, hm?"

"I-I-I don't th-think that's-"

"Oh, but I insist," he cut me off before I could complete my sentence and something in his tone told me that it would be better if I complied. Therefore I followed him back to the place where his friends were sitting. They all stared at me, judging me in silence. If I hadn't been so t