Chapter Four : Romeo
Updated on 7th of August 2013.
Word count : 2 1 8 7

"Stop crying. Whatever is making you cry isn't worth it."

"Good morning class!" A teacher opened the door and dashed over to the teacher's table before placing her things down. Everyone jerked up before they relaxed when it was just their English teacher, Mrs. Kim. "Everybody stand up!" Mrs. Kim flailled her hands into the air before everyone got up on their feet. When they greeted her, she raised her hands to stop everyone from sitting down. "Nope! Do not sit just yet! Introduce yourselves in English before you sit down! Starting from... you!" She pointed at Kyungsoo who raised an eyebrow at her. "Well...?"

"My name is Do Kyungsoo. D.O. or Kyungsoo for short." From there Kyungsoo sat down and Mrs. Kim nodded her head as she pursued her lips. "So you're the new kid?" Kyungsoo nodded her head before she went on to asking the rest of the class to introduce themselves in English, even though she knew all of them already. "Next! You!" She pointed at Hae Lynn who let out a soft "Aish." Kyungsoo's eyes widened a little when he heard her getting frustrated. She must be bad in English. Kyungsoo nodded his head before he used the corner of his eyes to look at her. Although Hae Lynn was a smart student, English wasn't her cup of tea. You need her to be a calculator? No problem. Science? Bring her to the science lab. Music? She's... not that bad in playing the piano. Art? She can paint you the Mona Lisa. Sports? She's a runner for the school team. History and Geography? Her mind is like a pendrive that could save the information she reads. English? Someone buy her a dictionary.

"H-Hello." She greeted the teacher who smiled at her. Hae Lynn was sort of the teacher's pet because, who couldn't love a girl like Hae Lynn? Other than Kyungsoo, of course.

"M-Me, uhm... My name..."

"Is?" She said in an asking manner, trying to see if it was right. Mrs. Kim nodded her head and everyone laughed after looking at Hae Lynn's expression. "Kim Hae Lynn." Hae Lynn nodded her head and flashed a smile before Mrs. Kim allowed her to sit down. "Hae!" She heard a boy calling her name and she turned around to meet with Minhyuk's goofy grin. "You did great!" He showed two thumbs up and Mrs. Kim appeared beside Minhyuk. "No Minhyuk! In English!"

"U-Uh..." Minhyuk gulped as he tried to think how to translate that into English. "Y-You're... beautiful!" He grinned proudly at Mrs. Kim who gave him a smack on the head. "You're calling her pretty."

"But she is pretty."

"Go play Romeo somewhere else!"

"As long as I get to be Hae's Romeo, I wouldn't mind."

Hae Lynn gulped before she faced front again. Kyungsoo turned his head a little to take note on the color of her cheeks. It was a little bit pink now and he could tell she was blushing. "Just one compliment and you're blushing already?"

"S-So what? These are my cheeks anyway." She scrunched her nose a little before Kyungsoo looked away. "You're such a weird girl."

"W-What did you say?" She asked as she looked at him. "I said, you're weird. W-e-i-r-d."

"Stop speaking in English!" She hit his arm and he smirked knowing she couldn't understand him. "How about no?"

"Fine. Be that way." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and the moment everyone was seated, the teacher asked everyone to take out their textbooks along with their exercise books for the lesson. She took out her books and Kyungsoo tugged her by her arm. "What?" She asked softly and he pointed at her textbook. She showed him her tongue before pushing her textbook away from his reach. "Woman, you have to share your textbook with me."

"Oh, now you're not speaking in English?"

"Sorry, alright?" He apologized half-heartedly and she pushed her book to the middle of her table and his to share it with him. 

When the bell rang, indicating that school was over, Kyungsoo was the first one to get up to leave but Hae Lynn held onto his hand. His eyes widened at the sudden contact but relaxed when she let go of his hand. "W-What?" He snapped at her with his back still facing her as she showed him her tongue, knowing he couldn't see it. "We have to stay back to help out at the library. Mrs. Heng said so."

"You can run along by your own. I'm leaving." He snapped at her before he left the class room. "H-Hey!" She called him out as she caught up with him by the hallway. He tried to walk faster but he halted his tracks when he could hear Minhyuk conversing with her. "Hae! You need someone to help you out?"

"N-Not exactly. Me and that... new kid got into trouble this morning for 'bickering' with one another. Didn't you hear?"

"I did. But I was too busy paying attention to your pretty face." Minhyuk whispered softly but Kyungsoo could still hear it loud and clear. Kyungsoo cringed at the cheesiness and his fists clenched, "So now she has a new person to help her out? What on earth is she?"

"So now we have to help out in the library. And it , I have to get home early but..."

"I'll help you out." Minhyuk grinned widely and her eyes widened. "Y-You will?"

"Anything for my Hae." Minhyuk sang a little but the two of them stopped talking the moment Kyungsoo appeared by them. "I believe Mrs. Heng called for me and Hae Lynn. Not you."

Minhyuk narrowed his eyes at him before he turned to fully face Kyungsoo. "Oh yeah? Who was the dude a moment ago who didn't even bother to hear her out the moment school ended? Who the hell do you think you are? Coming here and treating Hae Lynn as if she's your slave."

"M-Minhyuk, stop."

"No! I won't! You always let people take advantage of you and I'm sick of that! First your stepmother now him?!"

"Minhyuk stop!" Hae Lynn raised her voice, causing Kyungsoo to widen his eyes and Minhyuk to freeze. "H-Hey... what's going on?" Nicole came behind Hae Lynn and Minhyuk along with Joon Myun who came to accompany Nicole to Hae Lynn. Hae Lynn pressed her lips into a thin line before she clutched onto her backpack strap. "F-Forget about it. I'm helping Mrs. Heng out on my own. I don't need your help." Hae Lynn's voice was low and she sounded like she was about to cry but she hurriedly brushed past Kyungsoo and Minhyuk to make her way to the library. "Kyungsoo, did something happen?" Joon Myun asked softly and Kyungsoo eyed Minhyuk. "Funny you're asking me, you should ask this guy."

Minhyuk let a soft sigh before Nicole appeared in front of Minhyuk. "Hyuk! What did you say now?"

"I... I brought up Hae Lynn's stepmother an-" Minhyuk's voice trailled off the moment Nicole gave him a soft slap, enough for him to keep quiet. Minhyuk's eyes shot back at Nicole with his lips parted as one of his hands were on his cheek. "S-Sorry Joon Myun but... I guess our study thing could be moved to another day?"

"S-Sure, no problem." Joon Myun assured her before she glared at Minhyuk. "You should know better to never bring that up. You know how badly that scarred her."

"I-I'm sorry bu-"

"Don't waste your sorry on me. I'm not the one who got hurt for all those years. I'm not the one who-... Forget it." Nicole sighed softly before she turned around only to face Kyungsoo. "And you!" She pointed at Kyungsoo who backed away the moment she raised her voice. "Y-You're just... So cocky and arrogant and..." She pressed her lips together when she couldn't find the right words to describe him. "Forget it! All of you are just so troublesome!" She flailed her hands into the air before she brushed past Kyungsoo to make her way towards where she thought Hae Lynn would be. Sehun whistled lowly was he was watching all of this take place from the classroom door. He was about to just leave and meet the rest of EXO-K but since this happened, he decided to stay a bit longer and watch.

"S-Sehun? What were you doing there?" Joon Myun asked and Sehun smirked at Kyungsoo and Minhyuk. "Just watching two boys fight... over one girl."

Minhyuk clenched his fists before he pointed at Sehun. "W-We were not fighting over her!"

"Yeah," Sehun chuckled softly before his smile faded. "Coming from the guy who wanted to accompany her to the library when it was supposed to be Kyungsoo. Nice."

"Sehun-ah, what are you trying to say?" Joon Myun asked a little bit louder this time but Sehun smiled at Kyungsoo who was glaring at him. "I don't know." Sehun shrugged his shoulders before he pointed at Kyungsoo. "Ask the new hotheaded kid." Sehun let his hand fall to his side before he leaned away from the door frame. "I'll meet you outside." Sehun said to Joon Myun after waving a hand as he made his way out.

"Did something happen?" Mrs. Heng asked Hae Lynn who was helping her arranging the books by the shelves. "W-What? No. Nothing happened. What makes you think something happened? What? Pft." Hae Lynn scoffed as she shoved a bunch of books onto the shelf before she began to arrange them according to height. "Hae Lynn, you should know that I know when you're lying. I'm not only your teacher, I've known you since you were born."

Hae Lynn froze with her hand on one of the books until Mrs. Heng turned her by her shoulders, letting her hand fall to her side as she came face to face with Mrs. Heng. "You can tell me anything. You know that."

"I-It's nothing." Hae Lynn waved a hand and looked away but Mrs. Heng tilted her head to face hers again before she wiped off a tear from Hae Lynn's face that was about to roll down. "Oh yeah? Then why are you crying?"

"I... I just..."

"Shh..." Mrs. Heng said softly before she pulled Hae Lynn in for a hug. "Stop crying. Whatever is making you cry isn't worth it."

"I-It is worth it..." Hae Lynn whispered softly as she wrapped her arms around Mrs. Heng's body. Mrs. Heng was Hae Lynn's mother's close friend and Mrs. Heng would act like her mother in school as she knows Hae Lynn very well, a little too well sometimes. The library door opened and over Hae Lynn's shoulder, Mrs. Heng could see Kyungsoo entering with Nicole. "It's alright. You can leave Kyungsoo." Mrs. Heng mouthed the words to Kyungsoo who stood there and froze on the spot the moment he could realize that girl Mrs. Heng was hugging was Hae Lynn.

"C'mon, she said you could leave." Nicole said as she tugged Kyungsoo out of the library but he wouldn't move. "Dude!" Nicole called him out and pushed him out as she closed the door behind her. "I-If you hate helping her out so much, I'll take over for you. Just stop treating her like this."

"Like what?" He snapped at Nicole who wanted to punch him in the face so badly. "Stop treating her as if she owes you a damn living. I know she may seem a little annoying at first, but that is the way she cares. One day when you notice that, it'll all be gone the moment you try to appreciate it. Not that you will, but it's just a little heads up. Oh, and you can take your textbooks by the counter in the lobby. Bye." Nicole said in a somewhat 'stern' voice before turning around only to come face to face with Joon Myun. "O-Oh, hey Joon Myun." She stuttered and he ruffled her hair before he leaned in to say, "So we're up for tomorrow, right?"

She nodded weakly before she gulped. "Good, because I hear you're really good in Science. I could use a tutor like you."

"L-Like me?"

"Yeah. Like you. Nicole Jung." Joon Myun chuckled softly before he waved at her. "I've gotta go with Kyungsoo. Have a safe walk back home, alright?"

She nodded her head a little before she turned around only to jump up and down excitedly before she hurriedly ran down the halls. Kyungsoo's eyes widened at how fast her reaction was and how her voice changed the moment Joon Myun was in front of her. "Hey Joon Myun,"

"Oh, yeah? Kyungsoo?"

"Am I... that bad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh forget it. I'm going to get my books."

"Need me to follow?"

"Whatever." Kyungsoo said in a low tone before he turned around to make his way to the lobby. "Hey! Kyungsoo! Wait up!" Joon Myun called him out but Kyungsoo wouldn't stop. Instead Joon Myun caught up beside him only to follow Kyungsoo to the lobby, even though it was a silent walk there, Kyungsoo felt good having someone following him.