I didn’t know how many times the bell rang, how many classes I had missed. All I saw was a world full of darkness (the light bulb had been unscrewed from its socket) and I could barely make out the outline of my hand in front of my face. I fumbled with the door knob, trying to find a key hole that I could a slip a pin into, but to no avail. The lock was on the outside.

During the course of my imprisonment, I tried to wipe away the flour that had settled onto my face and bare skin, but with very little success. The water had transformed the flour into a doughy substance, hard to scrape off the skin without the help of more water. Finally, I gave up and stared into the space, glad that my fears did not extend towards claustrophobia. I wouldn’t have survived in here if I was.

The only thread of hope that I could hold on to was for Hyunji and Yixing to sense my distress. I knew Hyunji must have realised that something was wrong when I skipped class, and I was sure that she must have expressed her concerns to Yixing. My only bet was them to find me.

I didn’t know how long I waited, but I did know that the sheep I was counting had exceeded to several hundred thousand when there was a rattle on the doorknob. There was a scuffle, followed by several voices that I knew and loved all too well.

“Aeri, are you in there?” Hyunji yelled.

“Yah, Go Aeri!” The door rattled as Yixing banged his fist on it.

“Here,” I answered, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat; the flour must have made it scratchy. I stood up and forced my numb legs to hobble towards the door so that I could bang my fist on it.

“Wait there!” Yixing yelled. The knob began to rattle.

“Well, it’s not like I can go anywhere,” I said amusedly as I leaned against the wall next to the door, waiting for it to be opened.

It flung open suddenly and for a moment, I was blinded by the light. I staggered out, stumbling on my feet. I felt two pair of arms wrap themselves around me, holding me up, supporting me. I looked up, wanting to thank the person, and was stunned to find Joonmyun standing in front of me. I didn’t even know that he was here.

“See! I told you that this was the right place,” a voice, one that I vaguely recognised, said. I peered over Joonmyun’s shoulder and found the boy in the library, the one who played messenger for Minhee, standing behind us, his collar held tight by Jongin and Kris.

They’re here too? I thought fuzzily.

“Shut up, you twerp,” Jongin hissed, shaking him a little. “You’re lucky she’s still alive. Otherwise, I’d have dealt with you here and now. You’ll be given a firsthand show of why most people don’t like to mess with me.”

“No scram!” Kris growled darkly. Both of them let go of his collar and shoved him away. Scrambling to his feet, he did just that.

 “Oh my god, Aeri are you alright? What did that witch do to you?” Hyunji stepped forward and reached out to hug me. Slowly, almost reluctantly, I felt Joonmyun release me from his hold, letting Hyunji fuss over me like a mother hen on one of her chicks.

“Yeah, I’m still alive, aren’t I?” I joked lightly as she began dusting my clothes for me.

“This is no matter to joke about, young lady,” Hyunji said sternly. “Why are you covered with flour? What did she do to you?”

“Well,” I shrugged, too tired to even recall anything that had happened over the past few hours. “I was stupid enough to step into a lion’s den.” I teetered slightly on my feet.

Two pairs of arms caught and steadied me; one was Hyunji’s, the other, Joonmyun’s.

“You okay?” Yixing asked worriedly, hovering behind Hyunji.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve been sitting for so long. It’s just... dizzying.”

Jongin stepped forward, brushing bits of flour out of my hair. His smouldering eyes looked angry, identical flames burning inside his dark orbs. “Why did she do this to you? Honestly, just say the word, Aeri. I’ll make sure that she –”

“Enough Jongin,” Joonmyun said, his voice soft, but interjected with just the right amount of sternness to express his disapproval. “I’m sure that she’s been through a lot.”

I glanced down. While Hyunji had released me after I managed to steady myself, Joonmyun still had a tight hold on my shoulders, supporting me, as if he was afraid that I might pitch forward and faint. I tried to hide my blush by looking away.

Kris, who was so far silent as he watched our exchange, spoke up. “I could get you some spare gym clothes if you want.”

“No need,” I said, shaking my head. “I have some spare clothes in my locker. Yixing should know the combination.”

Nodding, both of them turned around and left in search of my locker, leaving only the four of us lingering in the empty hallway. Hyunji reached out and grabbed my wrist. “I think I saw the girl’s toilet somewhere on our way here. Why not I help you clean yourself up while we wait?”

I nodded gratefully and took a step towards her. Pausing, I flashed a quick smile at Joonmyun and Jongin, who were both watching my every move with concern burning in their eyes. “Thanks guys ... for joining the search party,” I added with a little laugh.

Jongin chuckled and his shoulders relaxed. He flashed a quick wink at me. “Anything for you, Princess. All you have to do is give us a shout.”

“Yeah,” Joonmyun added, his eyes softening. “Anything. Just be careful next time, please.”

My heart palpitated at his words and I smiled softly at him. I didn’t have time to say anything, for Hyunji had already begun to pull me away.

“I have a lot to tell you,” she murmured into my ear as we walked away.

 “I think Joonmyun has a sixth sense when it comes to you.”

I was watching Hyunji wet her handkerchief as she spoke, my legs dangling from the counter as I tried my best to brush the flour out of my hair. I paused for a moment at the end of her statement, my gaze flickering towards her before I pretended to fuss over my clothes.

“And what made you say that?” I asked casually. “I think you’ve been jumping into conclusions for too many times, Lee Hyunji.”

Hyunji turned and gave me a look. She rolled her eyes and wrung the wet handkerchief over the sink before walking over and handing it to me. “I make my conclusions based on observations, Aeri,” she said with unnerving confidence. “I think he has feelings for you.”

I laughed bitterly. “Hyunnie, can we please not discuss this? We’ve been through this already. If he had any, he wouldn’t have been so encouraging towards me in anything involving Jongin.”

“You don’t know how anxious he was for you; you didn’t see the look on his face when he appeared in the doorway of our class, looking for you. I mean, I was worried for you, but he was the one who was dead sure that something happened to you.” Hyunji picked up the blazer that I had thrown over the sink and ran the tap over it. She turned to me as the chalky water swirled inside the sink. “How do you explain that?”

I was silent as I ran the handkerchief through my hair, pulling it through each strand to get the flour out. Part of me didn’t want to hear this again because I didn’t want to get my hopes up; another part of me was begging that what Hyunji was implying was true.

“Just because he feels protective over me doesn’t mean that he has any feelings for me,” I said after a few minutes of silence. “For all we know, he probably thinks of me as a sister that needs to be taken care of.”

“Feelings like that are the ones that often develop into something more,” Hyunji said persistently. “You know, he was the one who picked the lock to get you out.”

I stared at her in surprise. “He did? Where’d he learn to do that?”

 “I was thinking that maybe you could tell me that.”

“I didn’t teach him anything. All I did that day was use my clip to open the door. I didn’t go through the step by step procedure with him.”

A slow smile spread across her face. “Maybe he was watching you a little too closely.”

I ducked my head and tried to hide my flushed cheeks. I patted down my hair and threw the handkerchief at her. “Look, let’s just end this here, alright? I don’t want you citing your theories to anyone else, not even Yixing – and especially not to Joonmyun.”

Hyunji shrugged. “Fine. But when you two end up becoming an item, I’ll be the first one to say ‘I told you so’.”

Thankfully, Hyunji adhered to my wishes and kept her opinions on the issue to herself during the next few minutes I bustled about trying to clean myself. A combination of water and flour had not been kind to my clothes, and I was forced to discard the uniform in exchange for the spare clothes that Yixing and Kris had delivered to us just a few minutes before. I stuffed my uniform in my bag, figuring that my mother would know whether it was salvageable or not when I show it to her.

I had pulled my hair into a messy ponytail, holding it in place with an extra scrunchie Hyunji had pulled out of her pocket. I didn’t even need to look at the mirror to know that I was a terrible mess, but I consoled myself with the fact that I had probably looked a lot worse a few minutes before, when I was soaked from head to toe and probably had the appearance a ghost.

When we finally emerged from the bathroom, I was surprised to find Joonmyun still here, leaning against the wall with Yixing at his side. They looked up and halted their conversation when they saw us, detaching themselves from the wall and greeting us.

“I’ve talked to your teachers and explained why you didn’t come to class,” Yixing told me. “Everything should be alright.”

 “Did you tell them that Minhee did this?” Joonmyun asked.

Hyunji glanced at him as Yixing replied in an even tone. “Of course I did. I’m sorry, Aeri, but I have a strong hunch that they don’t believe me.”

Joonmyun’s brows furrowed, morphing his curious expression into something unpleasant. However, he said nothing.

“Listen,” Yixing said with a sigh, glancing at his watch. “I have to go. Kris told me to come to practice once everything’s settled out.” He looked up and met my eyes, regret showing clearly in his eyes. “Call me later, if you ever feel like talking.”

I raised my brows at him in surprise. “Well, that’s uncalled for. The Zhang Yixing I know is incredibly averse towards gossip.”

“I’ll make an exception just this once,” he said, a tiny smile lifting the corners of his lips. “Kris says sorry though, for disappearing off so quickly. He had to manage the team. He did say that he’s always happy to offer a favour if you ever decided to take revenge on her.”

I laughed. I supposed this was Kris’s way of showing his sympathy; it was a little awkward, but touching nevertheless. “Alright, now go. I don’t want to keep you for so long.”

Yixing nodded, uttered a quick goodbye towards Hyunji, and walked off. She gazed at his back for a while, glanced at Joonmyun and me, and then cupped her hands over and yelled Yixing’s name. He paused in his step; even from a distance I could see that he was surprised.

“I’m going with him –and then I’m forcing him to walk me home.” She grinned at us, taking slow, backward steps as she flashed a mischievous wink in my direction. “See you tomorrow.”

I was a second too late in realising her actual motive for leaving. She was already half-way towards Yixing when the light bulb finally went off in my head. I was about to yell at her, but she had already latched her arm around his and pulled him away.

“I know what you’re going to say,” I said, shaking my head as I turned to Joonmyun. “‘When are they going to get together?’ I don’t know really. Hyunji may seem like an open book, but she’s more puzzling than you th–” I paused when I saw the dark look on his face. I cleared my throat awkwardly, glancing away from his eyes. “Is everything alright?” I asked quietly, staring at an empty space on the ceiling.

“Why do you let her get away with everything?” I could hear it in his tone that he was dead serious. “This is a serious case of bullying –enough to warrant suspension. You of all people have the right to report this.”

“You don’t understand,” I said with a sigh.

“Then make me,” he insisted, crossing his arms across his chest and taking on a stance that suggested he wasn’t going to budge until I explain.

“Choi Minhee... she’s the queen bee of this school. She has the looks. She’s at the top of the grade and every teacher adores her for her academic prowess. She’s also a very skilled actress; each and every one of them believes that she’s an innocent angel.”

“There must have been other cases. She must have bullied someone else besides you.”

I sighed. “Yes, but they’re all done discreetly. She works alone, that Choi Minhee, so that they’re fewer witnesses that could testify against her. The only exception was today; I think she bribed the boy into delivering that note.”

“And no one has the gall to report?” Joonmyun asked in disbelief.

“Of course someone had,” I replied. “But very few teachers believe her. Minhee’s  father is the school benefactor you see, and for that, they’re willing to turn a blind eye on her.”

Suddenly, I recalled the old letter that had unwillingly fallen into the hands of my pen pal, the words that I had used to describe Minhee when I had let my emotions get the best of me. My description of her now resembled the one I’ve written. I saw something like surprise flicker in Joonmyun’s eyes, but it was quickly quelled by a look of impassiveness.

“Someone told me that,” he said quietly. “I thought she was just spoilt, but this is one step too far.”

I smiled wanly. “It’s more than one step.”

Joonmyun was quiet for a while, his liquid onyx eyes staring contemplatively into mine. There was something about those eyes that I found very hard to meet, and the next few seconds later, I had diverted my gaze away.

“Thanks again for staying to help,” I said quietly to him, my fingers gripping the bag I held tightly at my side. “You should go home.”

“Aren’t you going home?”

I smiled and shook my head. “No, I think I have to go get a few things from my locker. See you.” I brushed past him as I headed away, feeling the awkward air cackle between us. Encounters with Joonmyun had always resulted to smiles and pleasant conversations, interspersed with private jokes and laughter in between.  It sort of scared me seeing such a different side of him.

I half expected him to grab my wrist and stop me, but thankfully, he let me go. I speeded up my pace and quickly pushed open the door of a fire escape, knowing that it was a quick cut off that would lead me to my intended destination. It was somewhat a complicated route, but I reached my locker not too long after, twirling my lock and pulling out the white envelope that I had hidden in between my books. I turned it over my fingers, inspecting it.

Since the start of my third letter, I had taken to decorating the envelope with little drawings at the side. At first, it was plain things like flowers and butterflies, but as the weeks progressed, I started putting more effort on my drawings. My last letter had a picture of a boy and a girl sitting on a park bench and sharing the same pair of ear phones.  I always liked drawings that depicted scenes as such, drawings that tended towards romance.

I glanced left and right as shut my locker closed. Shoving the letter into my bag, I started towards the familiar route that led me towards the empty locker. The hallways were pretty much deserted; I didn’t know that I had been trapped in that room until long after the final bell rang. Partly, I was glad for it, for I knew that I would be the talk of the school if they saw me trudging up and down the hallways, with the appearance of having just been dragged through a plain by a team of horses.

I soon found it and slipped the letter through one of the slits. Reaching above the locker, I soon found the chalk that we used to streak the door with and quickly swiped the front of the locker with it. Done, I slipped it back where I took it and speed-walked out of the hall, praying that I would receive a reply soon before I was driven crazy by my thoughts.

To my surprise, Joonmyun was waiting for me outside when I stepped out of the main doors. He had his hands in his pockets, and when he saw me, pulled them out and rose from his sitting position on the stone steps.

“Where did you disappear off too? I tried following you but then you were gone.” The dark look had been wiped clean off his face, and now, he was back to having that mildly curious look that always softened his eyes. He took a step forward so that he and I were face to face.

Stunned, I was momentarily speechless by his presence. I managed to straighten myself up and flash a quick smile at him. “I took a short cut.”

“Good thing you didn’t take too long. Now come on, I’ll take you home.”

I tried to hide my surprise with another question. “Where’s Jongin?”

“He already went on ahead. Now let’s go.” Joonmyun grabbed my wrist and tugged me down the steps. I trailed after him, too dumbfounded to think of a response.