Rachael didn’t expect Yoseob to pick that moment to pull her away from Zico but she was extremely glad he had. Her heart was ready to burst and her face was about to overheat from all of the blushing she was doing. She figured she looked like an overripe tomato and in her head that wasn’t exactly flattering. She saw Zico’s eyes widen in surprise as Yoseob pulled her away until she was a good ten feet away from him.

He turned Rachael to face him so he could break the eye contact she had with Zico and she glared at him in return. His hands made their way to her shoulders to keep her from trying to go back to Zico. Rachael was getting sick of this and rolled her eyes at Yoseob before she shrugged his hands off of her shoulders though she didn’t move. She figured he better have a good excuse for doing what he did so she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Yoseob, waiting for him to explain.

Yoseob stared at Rachael and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. How would he explain to her that he didn’t want Zico touching her? He didn’t even understand why he was feeling so overprotective of her. When he noticed just how much she was staring at him he looked down at his feet and then glanced at her before he felt a blush cover his cheeks. Then he looked over her shoulder and saw Zico standing there watching the two of them. Yoseob focused his attention back on Rachael and noticed her attention was fully focused on him. He stepped closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders again so he could get his thoughts in order.

“I, uh… I don’t really want you near Zico, Rachael. He’s not really the best guy to trust…” Yoseob trailed off as he glared at Zico over her shoulder. Rachael rolled her eyes and shrugged his hands off her shoulders again before she looked at Yoseob.

“So you think I trust him more than you?” she asked harshly. “Why would I trust either of you when I just met you both?”She laughed and pushed Yoseob away from her before she bowed quickly. Then she turned away and saw Zico staring at her, a bit too closely for her liking. She glared at him before she spoke up to him as she got closer.

“And what are you looking at Zico?”

His eyes widened at the tone of voice Rachael used towards him and his eyes narrowed at her as she glared even more at him. The tension between the two of them was so thick that Yoseob as well as the six guys with Zico were positive it could be cut. Just then two of Zico’s friends walked up to his sides as he made a move to get closer to Rachael.

“Dude, Zico, come on. Don’t get pissed off because of some girl!” said the one with the spiky hair said. “You’ve got Saiya anyway.”

Then the guy looked at Rachael and gave her a once over before smirking at her. She rolled her eyes and scoffed at him before turning her head away. She couldn’t believe the nerve of him. “Hyung shut up! Like you don’t have Beki?” She rolled her eyes at that and immediately felt sorry for this Beki if she had a boyfriend like that. How could she deal with his playboy actions? Rachael thought over it and realized the girl must either be a complete air-head or a complete saint to be able to deal with an like him.

Then she looked back at Zico and saw he was much much closer than he had been before. Her eyes widened at the glower in his eyes and she stepped back away from him to put space in between them. Instead Zico was so close that Rachael was positive that if he stepped any closer to her he’d step on her feet. She decided if he was going to get in her face she better be ready for it, so Rachael looked up at his face and had to bite back a gasp at the glower in his eyes that was aimed at her. Up close it had a whole different feel to it and she was positive she wasn’t going to be able to sleep well that night at all. The bad boys always attracted her the most. So she gulped and tried to tamp down the lust that was festering in her body before she hardened her eyes and stared up at Zico.

“What. Do. You. Want?” she questioned harshly. “It’s not like I have all the time in the world to deal with your little… temper tantrum.”She waved her hand as she said temper tantrum and gasped when Zico grabbed her hand and forced it down to her side. Then he grabbed her chin roughly before forcing her to look him in the eyes.

“Temper….tantrum?” he asked in a voice laced with anger. “You think this,” he motioned with a swing of his arms, “is a temper tantrum?” She stared at him, unable to move or blink, and flinched when he laughed in her face before he shut up quickly to glare at her again.

“You’ll be regretting this. Just remember how you feel. Right. This. Very. Moment.” He let go of her chin roughly and turned away from her to face his friends. “Ready to go you guys? There’s no reason for us to be around here anymore.” He looked over his shoulder back at Rachael and smirked at her before he brought his hand across his neck in a ‘you’re dead’ gesture.

Rachael shivered involuntarily at how Zico looked at her and she watched as he turned back around to his friends before they all turned to get on their motorcycles. She turned away and looked to see Yoseob still there. She was going to open to say something to him when she heard footsteps behind her and then felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to see that same guy with the spiky hair from before standing in front of her.

She rolled her eyes and turned away but was forced to face him when he put his hand on her shoulder and turned her. Next thing Rachael knew, his face was right in front of hers and she could feel his breath on her lips. She pushed him away quickly and glared at him as he smirked at her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him and she gulped at the close proximity of his body to hers. She felt his hand let go of her wrist and shove something in the pocket of her jeans as he spoke to her.

“You should give me a chance. Zico’s too uptight,” he smirked, “but I’m just right. You’ll have fun with me.”

Rachael finally got her thoughts together. Her head had been spinning from this guy being so close to her and speaking into her ear. Yeah, she felt a tiny spark of attraction but she didn’t like his attitude one bit. Playboys were guys she just couldn’t stand. She remembered that girl that was mentioned earlier and wondered again how she could deal with someone so stuck on himself. She pushed him away again and glowered at him before she spoke.

“What about that girl, Beki?” Rachael asked. “Why are you acting like this towards me if your friends are bringing up some other girl?” She watched him frown and look over his shoulder quickly at his friends before he looked at her again.

“She’s nothing to me,” he said quickly but hesitated to say what he wanted to after that and Rachael noticed. “She’s just a girl we go to school with.”

“Apparently she’s more than that,” Rachael said quietly and smirked when she saw the guy in front of her stiffen. Apparently she had guessed right and there was something between him and this girl Beki. She’d have to look into that when she started went to school the next morning.

She turned away from him and didn’t bother saying goodbye before she walked towards her house. She hadn’t gone in yet and it was already starting to get dark. Rachael could only imagine how upset her father would be at her for staying outside so long with these guys. She was surprised he hadn’t made himself known but she was damn sure he was watching because she had felt his eyes on her just a while earlier. She stared at the window as she walked to the front door and saw the curtains swish shut quickly.

“I knew he was watching me,” Rachael said quietly to herself.

“Goodnight Rachael!” Rachael turned and saw Yoseob waving to her before he turned away and walked across the street to get to his house. She was surprised he was still around even now. She had figured he would leave when everything went down, but maybe he had stayed to make sure she was alright? To step in if he felt it was necessary? She felt herself smile a bit at that thought. So he cared a tad about her? She had treated him, well, not as nicely as he had treated her. Now she felt ty. Rachael frowned and shook her head, clearing her mind of all thoughts. As she walked through the front door and up to her new room she quietly thought over what went down.

“He doesn’t care,” she said to herself. “Why would he care about some girl like me? He was around to make sure that , pineapple-haired idiot Zico wouldn’t do anything.” She smiled at that thought and nodded before she got to her room. It was time for her to get settled and get some sleep because she knew if she’d be seeing that pineapple head, she’d need as much sleep as she could get.

*the next morning

Rachael had woken up early and had gotten ready, paying special attention to her clothes to make sure she could make the best impression she could. She was walking out of the front door when she saw Yoseob coming out of his house and walking towards his garage. She watched him from her porch and saw him back out in a nice corvette. She started making her way to the sidewalk and turned to head to the bus stop and felt eyes on her. She looked to her right and saw Yoseob driving next to her slowly, keeping her pace so he could speak to her.

“Rachael, do you want a ride?” She stopped short and turned her body to face him to see if he was actually serious. When he stopped his car and motioned for her to get in with a smile she smiled back at him and made her way to the passenger’s side. After getting in, he sped off to get them to school. 

As he pulled into the one side parking lot and set the car in park he turned to look at Rachael. She turned to face him and smiled before deciding to thank him.

“Thank you so much Yoseob,” Rachael said happily. “For this and for last night.” He looked at her in confusion before realization set in and he laughed.

“It’s no problem Rachael, and anyway,” he said before pausing for a moment. “If you want I can give you a ride every morning.” He looked at her and saw a happy expression on her face and she nodded quickly and then unbuckled herself so she could get out of his car. Rachael pushed open the door of his car and then walked around to the back so she could wait for him. When he stopped next to her, he motioned for Rachael to follow him. She quickly followed him when she noticed the stares that were watching her every movement.

As Yoseob and Rachael made small talk walking towards the gates that led into the school, neither noticed the seven boys from yesterday watching them. They were heading towards the two from the opposite direction and Zico smirked when he thought of what they had planned for the girl. Though he frowned when his fangirls saw him and started squealing as they surrounded him and his friends. That’s when Rachael noticed the seven guys.

She nudged at Yoseob and the two watched as Zico stared at them before he smirked and looked away, glaring at the fangirls that were surrounding him. His friends were also in the same predicament and Rachael smirked at how miffed the seven guys looked.  Just as Yoseob and Rachael started heading towards the gates, the two heard someone yell.

“Yoseob!” The two stopped and turned and Yoseob smiled before yelling back.

“Hey Beki!”

Rachael watched as the pretty brunette ran up to them and stopped short just as she reached their sides, almost knocking into the two. Rachael looked her up and down, taking note of her glasses and cute face, and couldn’t help but wonder why that spiky haired guy would act like he did when he knew someone like her. That’s when Beki noticed her and smiled brightly, which scared Rachael. She never knew anyone who could look so adorable when smiling. Rachael felt the need to smile back and felt herself lighten up around her.

“Are you new?” Beki asked quickly, “If you are, I’m Beki! I’m a close friend of Yoseob’s, has he mentioned me at all?” Her quick chatter took Rachael off guard and she blinked blankly at Beki before she shook her head.

“I am new, my name’s Rachael,” she replied as she saw Beki begin to pout. “Yoseob hasn’t mentioned you to me, but some other guys did.”

When Rachael said that she saw a confused expression cross Beki’s face but it was gone as soon as it appeared. She just smiled brightly at Yoseob and Rachael and walked past the two of them and stopped. Then she grabbed Rachael’s hand and pulled her forward towards the gates. The two girls started talking and Yoseob turned to his right when he noticed the girls over there scramble. He listened closely to the conversation the guys were having, trying to see why they were suddenly so uptight.

“You guys, we’re only supposed to get Rachael… you told me we’d only get Rachael!!!”  Yu Kwon swore up and down. “Do you know how long it took to get Beki-noona to even look at me, let alone talk to me?!”

Yoseob cracked up as he watched Yu Kwon dig his fingers into his hair, tugging at it roughly as if he was trying to pull it out. Zico didn’t look pleased either. Yoseob’s eyes narrowed as he watched the guys and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach.

“Well if Beki wasn’t so damn friendly she wouldn’t be in the line of fire, now would she!” he said as he pointed to the girls and then at something near the top of the gates. Yoseob followed Zico’s arm and noticed two students holding large buckets. His eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen. He ran towards Zico and grabbed his uniform jacket in his hands.

“You make those kids stop right now Zico or I swear…”

“You swear what Yoseob?” Zico asked as he smirked. He pointed over Yoseob’s shoulder and grinned as he pulled away. “I can’t do anything now anyway.”