---

The next day

"Boo!" A pair of hands grabbed her waist from behind her. Shocked, she pushed the hands away and moved out of the way, spinning around to see who was so daring. Ever since Kevin's revenge on Madison, the people in school have been eyeing her with either envy, fear or a mix of the two. Girls either ran away or treated her with overwhelming respect, while boys avoided her completely, afraid of the wrath of the 5 boys. So apart from the boys, who she knew were overseas at the moment, who would have touched her?

Holding his hands up in submission, Kiseop's large brown eyes widened in surprise when he saw Charlotte's eyes blazing with anger. "Woah, chill! I was just playing around!"

Relaxing, she broke into a reluctant smile as she saw the familiar face. She knew that Kiseop was Dongho's best friend and always hung around them in class and out, but she never truly knew or got close to Kiseop because he hardly said anything to her. Thus, this gesture and this sudden friendliness from him kind of threw her off her guard. But he always seemed nice, and since her new friend, brother and his clique were out of town, she was glad to have someone be nice to her, especially since the rest of the school population obviously would not.

Putting his hands down slowly, he brushed his brown hair out of his eyes and gave her a delighted smile. "So shall we go to class?" Then he slipped his arm into hers and the two of them walked off to class, chatting. Everyone in the hallway was staring at the pair as they made their way, but Charlotte had grown used to the stares, standing straighter as people stared and whispered nasty things about her to give herself confidence. It's just... That she wasn't used to this kind of negative attention. Yes, she had changed schools several times, but she had always managed to stay under the radar. Now, however, her only two friends, Kiseop and Dongho, being the most popular in her level, and her brother and his friends who were too willing to rush forward to protect her, being the most popular and handsome in school, people hated her. She suddenly became the most hated or most envied in the school and she wasn't sure if she liked that feeling.

Kiseop noticed the small frown on her face and then, standing beside her, leaned towards her and whispered in her ear, "It's alright, they're just jealous. Raise your head and walk proudly. You have nothing to be afraid of." Charlotte raised her eyebrows in surprise from the sudden concern from him but nodded and gave him a reassuring smile to signal that she was alright.

---

"...so I hope you all know what today's homework is? I expect to see it handed in by Wednesday!" The teacher clapped her hands, ignoring the loud groans and complaints from the students as they packed their bags and filed out of class.

"Miss Bridget is terrible! How can she expect us to hand in 3 essays, one case study and one book review in two days? Argh I'm going mad!" Charlotte buried her hands in her hair as she whined to Kiseop, who was standing silently beside her. "Oh, we have a free period now and I don't feel like eating. I'm going to the library to start on this, you coming?" She gestured to the pile of books in her hand, looking up at Kiseop expectantly. Kiseop shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing else to do anyway, so why not?" A plan forming in his mind.

The library was surprisingly empty considering that the exams were in a month. Charlotte settled down in her favourite quiet corner, away from the tables that most people occupied. Kiseop sat opposite her as she complained light-heartedly about how the teacher must really hate them to give them so much homework, waiting. Then, she looked up at Kiseop who was silent for the past 15 minutes. "Are you alright? You have been..." Before she could finish her sentence, she froze and a dazed look overcame her eyes. Kiseop was staring deep into her eyes, holding the stare. His dark brown eyes had turned a stunning shade of green and his pupils were fully dilated like a cat's. Golden sparks sparkled in the green of his eyes as he tweaked Charlotte's memories. His ability was to tell lies. It also meant that he could manipulate memories and dreams. In the cloud of Charlotte's memories, Kiseop made Charlotte believe that the teachers hated her and purposely gave her more homework as a result. He made her feel much more stressed then she really was, going very close to her breaking point. Satisfied with what he had done, he closed his eyes and tilted his head down, smirking. Gasping a single breath, Charlotte snapped out of the spell and blinked several times, slightly confused.

"I'm really going mad, Kiseop! I feel so stressed! The debate society is having a competition next week, I have 2 tests next week, exams are in a month, and I'm up to my neck in work..." She moaned, feeling a headache coming on. Shooting Kiseop a desperate look, her hands buried in her hair on both sides of her head, her elbows propped on the table, Charlotte sighed in despair. Chuckling quietly, Kiseop stood up, bent forward towards Charlotte, and placed two slender fingers under her chin, tilting her face towards him in one smooth motion. Then, before she could react, he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss before whispering the words "I love you" against her lips.

Snapping back to attention and recovering from the shock, she pulled away with a jerk and pushed him backwards and away from her. "What are you doing?" She whisper-shouted, aware that they were still in the library. He sat down elegantly and propped his head on his hands on the table and leaned towards her, "I love you!" he said excitedly. Charlotte looked at his soft brown hair that was sweeping into his eyes, his bright smile, his grey turtleneck sweater and black skinny's that he wore with confidence and a sort of superiority that no one else could carry off and shook her head from side to side. "You could have any girl in the school. Why me? You know that I love Kevin. I'm sorry." She watched apologetically as his features crumpled in pain and hurt. "Don't cry! I'm sorry!" Charlotte saw him bite his lower lip and something that looked like tears sparkle at the corner of his eye, and started fumbling in her bag for tissues.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Kiseop reached forward and put one hand over hers, stilling her hands. He gave her a small smile to indicate that he was ok as she looked up at him. She smiled back reluctantly, but glad that he was ok. It was probably just a crush...

Kiseop leaned back on his seat, crossed his legs calmly and gave her his usual grin. "So, do you need help with your homework?" Glad that he was back to his usual self but feeling guilty if she asked him for help, she stuttered "Y...yes, but it's fine, I can do it by myself..." It was awkward sitting down there and pretending that nothing had happened.

"Stop. Come, give it to me." Kiseop said gently, prying the books out of her hands before she could take flight. " Putting a warm palm over her hands he said "I just want to help you. As a friend, if that will make you feel better." Charlotte let out a breath of relief and smiled comfortably back at Kiseop.

"Are you sure it's alright? It's just that I'm too busy with so much things, and I do know that I should do the homework by myself... " She stopped herself midsentence, looking slightly desperate. Kiseop grinned. "Of course! I'm most delighted to help!" Kiseop scooped up the books and stood up. Walking over to Charlotte's side, he leaned down beside her ear and said "Oh, and just because you don't like me at the moment, doesn't mean you won't in the future, AND, you can't stop me from loving you." Then, he smirked cheekily at Charlotte and leapt out of the way as Charlotte tried to protest and grab her books back from him. Running out of the library, he took one last look at Charlotte who was already staring out of the library window, confused and thoughtful.

She does look like HER, but why would Dongho want to do this to himself again? Why another human? Never mind, I'm here to do my job. I'll make sure that this time, she fails the test of laziness. After all, who can resist my lies? Turning away from Charlotte, he walked into a deserted and dark corridor and snapped his fingers, vanishing into the shadows, books and all.