Friday September 23, 1:03 P.M

      This morning went better than I thought. Seoyoung showed up late for Math class though. Miss Kwak wasn’t surprised by her late arrival. She didn’t even get mad or anything. There was something going on with Miss Kwak and Seoyoung, I could sense it. I didn’t want to get too worried about it, since it was probably none of my business anyway. But somehow, I felt like I had to protect Seoyoung if there was something wrong. I don’t know why I was feeling like this, I just really liked her.

      Lunch period had already started a couple of minutes before, and I was sitting at “The U-Kiss Table” again, as if I would have the opportunity to sit anywhere else. And although I was a little uncomfortable with Seoyoung being around my hyungs, I still looked around the outside lunch area for her. I felt bad that she had nobody to sit with, and I wanted to be next to her. There was no luck for me, unfortunately.

      “Looking for someone, Donggi?” AJ asked me. I stopped and stared at him blankly. I couldn’t say anything, because I knew what my hyungs were going to say anyway.

      “He’s probably looking for Seoyoung,” Hoon answered, and then he looked at me, “right, Dongho-yah?”

      I looked at Hoon angrily. I wasn’t going to talk to him, forget it. He’s already messed everything up enough for me. Come to think of it, I didn’t want to talk to any of my hyungs for a while. So I just took out my chopsticks and ate my lunch, ignoring everyone else until the lunch period was over.

      “What’s the matter, Donggi?” Eli asked me, trying to sound sympathetic. I still didn’t respond, and continued eating, as if he was just invisible.

      “This is most likely my fault,” Soohyun blamed himself, “I told him to be careful of what he does around me because of my bad record. I wanted him to watch his temper at school, but I didn’t expect him to stop talking. Aish, I feel really bad now, guys.”

      Hoon shook his head, “No, no, hyung. I know why Dongho is acting like this.”

      “You do?” Kiseop asked him, “Why?”

      “It’s my fault,” Hoon replied, “but I can’t tell you why. Don’t worry, though. I’ll handle this. He’ll be talking again before we know it.”

      I got up from the table and proceeded to go to my next class, even if I was going to be a couple of minutes early. I didn’t want to walk with Hoon to class. I didn’t want to be seen with him. What exactly was he going to try to pull on me? Well, whatever it was, I wasn’t going to fall for it.

      The classroom was completely empty when I walked in, so I closed the door slowly. “Hello?” I asked, “Is anyone here?” There was no response, except for a faint noise in the distance that sounded like someone talking. I could have sworn it almost sounded like Seoyoung’s voice. It seemed to have been coming from the door next to the teacher’s desk. I walked over to it, and just as I was a few feet away, the door opened slowly. I got scared and immediately hid behind one of the pianos close by so nobody saw me.

      I saw the teacher, Mr. Yang come out of the doorway. He was talking with someone. “Don’t ever forget these. They are very important,” he said.

      “Yes, Seosaengnim. I won’t forget,” the other person replied. They both walked into the room and closed the door behind them. To my surprise, it was Seoyoung that was with him. I knew I recognized her voice. But what in the world was she doing in Mr. Yang’s office? I remembered that I had to be very quiet so that they couldn’t hear me.

      “Now,” Mr. Yang continued to Seoyoung, “go put them in your locker. Don’t let anyone see them. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

      Seoyoung nodded to him and bowed. “Yes, Seosaengnim. I’ll be very careful.” She had a manila folder in her hand that she stuffed into her bag, and then she walked out of the room.

      Mr. Yang prepared to set up the room just as the students were entering the room. I snuck out from behind the piano and sat down by the one I usually use. Mr. Yang walked up to me and almost scared the living daylights out of me, “Shin Dongho ssi,” he said, and I jumped in my seat, “I didn’t see you come in. How are you doing with those new songs I gave you?”

      I felt slightly scared, yet relieved, “Oh,” I said, and then quickly turned the sheet music to a new song that I was learning. I looked up at him, and he looked at the keys that my fingers were on, like he was expecting me to play. I took a deep breath and played the first few notes.

      The teacher nodded and patted me on the back, “Good job so far, Dongho ssi. Keep it up.” Then he walked away to check on the other students.

      Hoon walked in the room at that point, and he immediately tried to talk to me. “Dongho-yah!” He said cheerfully, “You won’t believe what happened at lunch after you left! You’re gonna laugh when I tell you!” I looked away from him and practiced playing on the piano. “Still not talking to me I see? Okay, Donggi-yah,” he said picking up his guitar, “I’ll make you change your mind sooner or later. You’ll see.”

      I sighed. Seoyoung came into the room and Hoon jumped up as soon as he heard her come in. I looked over and saw Hoon talking to her. I got angry at him even more, so much that I could feel my blood begin to boil. Seoyoung nodded to him and walked to her piano. She smiled at me before she sat down, and it made me feel slightly better. But that wasn’t going to stop me from being mad at Hoon.

      I was pretty worn out by the time the class ended. Seoyoung had already walked out of the room, and I wanted to hurry after her before Hoon got the chance to talk to one of us again. I went into the hallway and there was no sign of her. I turned around every corner to see if I could find her, but I gave up after I saw Hoon running toward me. I raced to the end of the hallway where the entrance doors were. Unfortunately for me, the principle caught me running in the halls and stopped me in the act.

      “You’d better watch yourself or you’ll get in some serious trouble, young man!” He huffed.

       He looked very frightening, but I wasn’t that afraid of him. “Mianhamnida, Chung Gyosangnim. It won’t happen again.” I said, putting on my regular innocent child act. Hopefully, he’d fall for it.

      The principal scratched his belly and sighed, “This is strike two. One more and I send you to my office. Is that clear?”

      Wow, he sure is gullible. “Yes, Gyosangnim. Thank you!” And I proceeded to the entrance of the school.

    When I opened the door, I noticed that it already started raining. Great, I didn’t even have my umbrella with me. It was a good thing that I remembered that I could go home from the hallways in the basement area of the school. They lead to all of the dorms and even the subway so that the students didn’t have to walk in harsh weather conditions. Even though my hyungs were probably expecting me to wait for them, I decided to start walking home by myself anyway. I couldn’t find Seoyoung, so she probably went home by herself too.

      As I was walking, I was thinking about a lot of things. I thought about the other day when Seoyoung was going home with my hyungs and me. After Hoon interrupted us, she told me he was handsome. It really made me upset to hear here say that, but it was too bad that I couldn’t do anything about it. What did Seoyoung see in Hoon that she didn’t see in me? Maybe I’m not handsome, I thought. There had to be a way to her heart, I just wish I knew.

      Speaking of which, I could see Seoyoung walking just in front of me. How peculiar, she didn’t even have her schoolbag with her. I wanted to catch up to her, but just at that moment, I felt someone bump into me from behind. Of course, it had to be Hoon, with Kiseop accompanying him.

      “Dongho-yah!” Hoon shouted, and Seoyoung turned her head when she heard him. “Why did you run off? I thought we were all supposed to walk home together.”

      I still didn’t respond to him. He must have thought I was stupid and I was just going to forget about being mad at him. “Hey, dongsaeng,” Kiseop said, “The others are walking home in the rain. When we left, they were all huddled under Eli’s umbrella, all four of them. Isn’t that funny, Dongho-yah?” He laughed, but I still didn’t say anything to either of them. I just kept walking and minded my own business.

      Seoyoung kept looking back at us from time to time, and Hoon and Kiseop could see her. “Donggi-yah!” Hoon jumped, “Look, it’s Seoyounggie! We should go talk to her!”

      I pushed my way through them and tried to catch up to Seoyoung, but with no luck. She disappeared before I could stop to breathe. My hyungs were still behind me, but I was sure they weren’t too worried about chasing after me, so I just ran out of there and got to the tunnel that led to our dorms. Seoyoung was standing there right in front of me when I got out of the tunnel. I thought my heart was going to explode.

      “Seoyoung-ah!” I said aloud, “I thought you were home by now.”

      “No,” she said quietly, “I’m locked out.”

      She looked pretty upset, and of course I couldn’t help but be sympathetic. “I'm sorry.”

      “It’s okay.” She sighed, “I guess I forgot that my unnies like to go out a lot.”

      “Did you have an extra key?” I asked.

      “I don’t have one. They never gave one to me. I rang the doorbell and knocked, but nobody is there. I don’t know what to do.” Even though it was moderately raining, Seoyoung still looked like she was crying. I felt really horrible.

      Maybe there was a way that I could cheer her up, I thought, so I gave it a shot. “We seem to be meeting in the rain a lot lately,” I laughed.

      She suddenly smiled, and it warmed my heart, “You’re right,” she giggled, “I don’t think a towel would help much now even if you had one.”

      “Mianhae,” I shrugged, “I don’t have one. But, here, you can take my jacket.” And then I took off my jacket and handed it to her.

      “No, that’s okay,” she said, “I’m already wet enough.”

      “It’s no problem, really. Go ahead, take it.”

      Seoyoung reached her hand out, but then at that moment, Hoon and Kiseop ran into me from behind. “Aw, look at Dongho!” Hoon said aloud to Kiseop, “He’s being chivalrous toward Seoyounggie!”

      My face turned bright red and Seoyoung refused to take my jacket. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it,” she said.

      “So, what are you doing out here, Seoyoung-ah? Aren’t you supposed to be in your dorm instead of out here in the rain?” Hoon asked her.

      “My unnies left the door locked,” she replied in a soft voice, “and I don’t have a key. I don’t know when they’ll be back.”

      “You’re more than welcome to come to our place for a while.” Hoon said.

      “What a great idea!” Kiseop added. “We have plenty of blankets and towels. You can stay to dry off and I can make some of my famous hot cocoa!”

      “Sounds good to me!” Hoon responded, “What do you say, Seoyoung-ah?”

      “Um, okay. I’ll go.” She replied shyly.

      “Great!” Hoon exclaimed, “Let’s go! You wouldn’t want to catch a cold.”

     We all walked to the dorm together, while I was unable to process the sudden event that just happened right before my eyes. Did we just invite Seoyoung to stay at our dorm for the evening? I really should have been freaking out, but somehow I could only just follow along with everyone else.

      “Dongho-yah!” Hoon shouted to me while unlocking the door. “Did you check the mail?”

       I sighed and opened the letterbox. There were about three envelopes. I took them out and closed the box.

       I handed the mail to him. “Okay, great.” He said, and then opened the door. “Come on in, everyone.”

      The four of us stepped in and took off our shoes, then we hung our jackets up. Seoyoung gasped loudly, and we jerked our heads back.

       “What’s wrong?” I asked.

       “This place is so big!” She beamed, “I always thought that the dorms were all the same size. I mean, I guess you guys can afford it right?”

      “Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Hoon replied, “but if you think about it, seven guys in one dorm. We definitely need more space between us.”

     She looked around and gawked at nearly everything, “Wow!”

      “I can give you a tour if you want.” Kiseop said, and she looked at him like she was scared all of a sudden. “Oh,” he realized that he never introduced himself properly, “Sorry, agasshi. I’m Lee Kiseop.” He bowed.

      Seoyoung bowed as well and said, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kim Seoyoung.”

      “It’s okay, I know.” He smiled, and then he turned to Hoon, “Why don’t you boil some water for the cocoa while I give this lovely lady the tour.”

      Hoon nodded his head, “Sure thing.” He walked to the kitchen while Kiseop led Seoyoung around the house. I figured I’d follow them, since I wanted to keep an eye on Seoyoung.

      We walked into the hallway where our bedrooms were. “These are the rooms where Eli, Dongho, and I sleep. AJ, Kevin, Soohyun, and Hoon sleep upstairs with all the scary monsters.” Kiseop laughed, and Seoyoung giggled along. Then he led her to the study area. “This is our study room. It’s kind of a mini library and we have a small desk and some chairs. There’s also plenty of room for us to practice our dances.”

      Seoyoung immediately noticed the piano sitting there. “Is this your piano?”

      “Yep, it is.” I replied, and her eyes lit up. She sat down at the piano and felt all the keys with her hands. I walked over to her, “If you still want me to teach you, I can.”

      She looked up at me and smiled, “Of course.”

      “I’ll teach you everything I know!” I said excitedly as I sat down next to her. “I can teach you something really easy. Watch this. First start with the C note.” I instructed. I put my finger on the C key and hit it. She did the same. “Now repeat it three more times like this.” I pressed the key three times, and Seoyoung followed along. “Great!” I said, “Now, D then E, followed by G.” I pressed the keys and she repeated. “Now, put them all together.” Seoyoung nodded to me and played the notes correctly. “Amazing!” I cheered. “See, Seoyoung-ah? You can do it!”

      “Wow!” She said with excitement, “Thank you so much, Dongho ssi!”

      “You’re welcome,” I said, and turned my head to her, “I’ve always wanted to teach piano to someone.”

      She turned her head to me and said, “You make me feel like I can do anything.”

      I looked deeply into her eyes and saw her sincerity behind her innocent face. For the first time I actually felt needed. “That really means a lot.” I said from the bottom of my heart. I actually wanted to cry.

      But of course in the spur of the moment, Hoon came in the room and ruined everything. “It’s hot cocoa time, everyone! Come on, Kiseoppie, I want to taste the deliciousness!”

      Kiseop was in the middle of reading a book when Hoon entered the room. He immediately put the book down and walked out with Hoon. I sighed heavily as Seoyoung and I followed. We walked into the kitchen while Kiseop mixed his special hot cocoa recipe. He handed two mugs of hot cocoa to me and said, “Hand this to Seoyoung please, dongsaeng.”

     “Okay,” I replied and handed the mug to Seoyoung. “Be careful, Seoyoung-ah. It’s very hot.”

      She took the handle of the mug, “Gomawoyo.” Then she sipped it.

      I put my shoes and coat on the radiator to let them dry off, and then I sat down by the window. I took a sip of my cocoa and Seoyoung sat down next to me. “The rain always makes me feel sad.” She said to me as she watched the rain hit the window.

      “Why?” I asked, putting down my mug.

      “Because,” she said, taking a breath, “You can’t go anywhere and the sky is always gray. It always gave me a gloomy feeling.”

      “It’s not so bad,” I replied, “After all, it keeps the plants alive doesn’t it?”

      “I guess you’re right. At least there isn’t a thunderstorm,” she took a sip of her cocoa again, “To be honest, I’m a little afraid of thunderstorms.”

      “Don’t worry, Seoyoung-ah! I’ll protect you!” I joked.

      She giggled and glanced at me for a second, “I know you will.”

       It made me feel good to hear her say that. I just wish I could tell her that. It was so hard for me to say how I felt. Maybe I could write it instead of say it. I started to draw a heart on the window with my finger, but as soon as I caught Seoyoung looking at me I wiped it away. I smiled at her, and she smiled back and sipped her cocoa.

      The rest of my hyungs barged through the front door after that, yelling, laughing, and being obnoxiously loud as they always were. They all hung up their jackets and came into the kitchen. Eli walked over and sat down next to us. “You start talking again yet, Donggi?” He asked. I just looked out the window and then at Seoyoung. Eli noticed her right away. “Oh, Seoyoung-ah! It’s nice to see you here. Did you come here to study with Dongho?”

      “No, not really,” she answered. “My unnies locked me out of our dorm when they left.” Eli nodded and she suddenly became sorrowful, “I’m sorry if I’m being a burden. I’ll leave as soon as they get back.”

      He patted her shoulder and stood up. “It’s okay. Stay here as long as you like.” With that, he walked into the living room with the rest of the guys.

      I was finally alone with Seoyoung for a little while. I smiled at her and she smiled back. We stared at each other for a few seconds before one of us spoke again, “You know,” Seoyoung said to me quietly, “I never believed I could amount to anything, especially playing the piano, until I met you.” Then she smiled again and sipped the remaining cocoa in her cup.

      “I’ve always believed in you right from the start.” I told her, “I never doubted you and your ability to play the piano.” Even though deep down, I knew it was a lie. It hurt to say that when I wasn’t even telling the truth to her. I did believe in her, well I did now anyway. But in the beginning I was a little skeptical about her piano playing.

      Soohyun came up out of nowhere and squished right in between us. He must have been listening to our conversation from the living room. “Oh really, Donggi? That’s not how I heard it.” He said in a devious tone. He was going to say something that I didn’t want him to say, I just knew it.

      “Shut up!” I shouted as I pushed him away from us.

      “What?” He laughed, “Oh come on, dongsaeng! Why don’t you just tell her the truth?”

      “Stop it!” I warned.

      Seoyoung started to look scared, “What are you two talking about?” She asked shakily.

      “Tell her what you told all of us, Donggi-yah. Remember when you said that she interrupted you with her horrible piano playing?” Soohyun was making it worse and worse the more he talked. I was getting really angry at him, and I didn’t even care if he thought he was joking around. I didn’t want to hurt Seoyoung’s feelings. In fact, that’s the last thing I ever wanted to do for as long as I lived.

      “Is that true?” She asked me, her eyes started to get watery.

      Even though I didn’t want to hurt her, it still felt horrible to lie to her. I sighed, “Yes, it’s true. But that was before I really got to know you, Seoyoung-ah. Believe me, I’m telling the truth.”

     “Really?” She said loudly, “Because you just lied to me before when you said you always believed in me! That was a lie! Why would you say that to me if it wasn’t true?”

      “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings!” I said honestly.

      “Well it’s too late!” She shouted with tears in her eyes, “They’re already hurt."

      I put my hand on her arm and tried to calm her, “Seoyoung.”

      She yanked her arm away, “Don’t touch me!” Then she walked to the door.

      “Dongho-yah, I'm sorry,” Soohyun apologized, “I didn’t know she was going to take it so seriously. I was just joking around, really.”

      I didn’t have it in me at the time to accept his apology. Instead, I just pushed him again saying, “Just go away! I don’t want to talk to you!”

      My other five hyungs heard the commotion and came out of the living room to see what was going on. “Is everything okay out here?” Hoon asked.

      “What do you think?!” I shouted.

      And just at the middle of all the confusion, someone rang the doorbell. “Oh, what now?” Hoon said, even though none of this involved him. He always acted like he was a part of everybody’s problems.

      “I guess I’ll get it since nobody is moving,” Eli said, and then he walked up to the door and answered it.

      Three girls, who all must have been in their early twenties or so, were at the door. “Excuse me, ssi,” the oldest-looking one said, “Have you seen this girl?” She held up a picture of Seoyoung.

      Seoyoung immediately went to the front door when she heard the girl’s voice. “Unnie!” She exclaimed, wiping the tears from her face.

      “Seoyoung-ah!” The girl said, “We’ve been looking for you everywhere! What are you doing over here?” She gave my hyungs and me a dirty look. Those girls didn’t look very friendly.

      “I was locked out.” Seoyoung explained to her, “They invited me in because it was raining outside.”

      “Oh,” the girl said, “Okay, well come on. Umma is waiting for us.”

      The girls pulled Seoyoung by the arm and drug her out of the house. “Hold on,” Hoon interrupted, “Who are you?”

      “These are my unnies,” Seoyoung said, still sounding a little upset. “This is Hyesang, Kiseong, and Eunji.” She pointed to the oldest-looking one when she introduced Eunji. She looked like she had an attitude problem. “Unnies, this is U-Kiss.”

      “Yeah, that’s great. It’s nice to meet all of you, but we have to go now.” Eunji announced, and she pulled Seoyoung with them as they walked away.

      “Stop it, unnie! You’re hurting me!” Seoyoung said, trying to break free.

      I had the sudden feeling that I had to tell Seoyoung how I felt about her, and I didn’t even care if she didn’t feel the same way. I had to tell her, and this was the time. I didn’t even second guess myself. I just ran after Seoyoung and her unnies.

      “Seoyoung-ah!” I shouted as I chased them down the sidewalk, “Seoyoung-ah! Wait!”

      She turned her head and saw me, but she just ran ahead of her unnies.

      “Seoyoung-ah!!!” I shouted even louder and tried to catch up to her.

      “Go away!” She yelled. “I don’t want to see you ever again!”

      I finally caught up to her right before she opened the door to her dorm. “Wait, Seoyoung! I have to tell you something!”

      “Get away from me, Dongho-yah! I hate you!” She cried, and slammed the door in my face.

      I opened the door and saw her going up the stairs, “Seoyoung-ah, I didn’t mean any of those mean things I said to you. I’m sick of lying to you, and I don’t blame you if you hate me because of what I said. I’m tired of hiding what I feel.”

      Seoyoung’s unnies came from behind and started yelling at me, “Get out of our dorm! What do you think you’re doing?!”

      They tried to push me out the door, but I used whatever strength I had to get past them so I could finish what I was saying. “Seoyoung-ah! I’m sorry! And I know that you hate me now. But no matter what, I still like you!” Then her unnies pushed me out the door and slammed it forcefully. I sank down to my knees and started to cry. “Seoyoung-ah,” I said quietly to myself as my voice started to crack, my tears rolling down my face, “I like you a lot…” I sobbed, “I don’t want to lose you.”

      It started to rain again, but I didn’t care. Hopefully, the rain would wash away all of my pain like I thought it would, but of course it wasn’t helping. I continued to cry, wishing that Seoyoung would come back to me. I tried to scream into the sky, but my voice hurt too much. I could still feel tears coming down my cheeks along with the rain that was hitting my face.

      I was kneeling in front of her door crying for about five minutes until Seoyoung opened the door. She stood there and watched me cry. I slowly looked up at her and stopped. I got up and stared at her. “Dongho,” she began, “I’m sorry for getting angry at you. I’m just going through a lot.” I wiped my face and looked at her; she looked like she was sincere. “Dongho-yah, I don’t hate you.”

      “You don’t?” I asked, “But you said-“

      “I didn’t mean it. I was just mad.” She sighed. Then she stepped out into the rain, I guessed she didn’t care. My heart started to beat rapidly when she got closer to me.

      “Seoyoung-ah,” I started to say, but she just fell into my arms and I hugged her tight. By this time, we were both crying.

       Without even speaking, it was almost as if we understood each other’s pain. We could feel each other’s heartbeats. With my arms still around her, she looked up at me into my eyes, “I love you, Shin Dongho.” The rain came down even harder and hit our skin, but it numbed us. I closed my eyes and cleaned forward. We kissed for the first time, and it was the most beautiful thing ever. I felt like I was a whole new person.

      Seoyoung looked at me again, and the rain started to lighten up a bit. I wanted to cry again, but this time I just couldn’t. She rested her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around me. I felt like I could protect her now. I wanted to be there for her. From that point on, I was going to be sure that nothing was going to hurt her ever again, not even me.