Jonghyun placed the tray of food on the table. Sitting across from Cleo, he passed her a sandwich before unwrapping his. The two ate their lunch in silence. Cleo would once in a while sneak glances at the lad before her, watching him chew his egg mayo sandwich with a slight furrow of his eyebrows. Cleo knew just how much he hated the cafeteria food but since she forgot to grab the packed lunch her aunt had made for them earlier in the morning off the kitchen counter, Jonghyun was forced to munch on something revolting.

“I’m sorry you have to eat that. I promise I won’t ever forget to bring our packed lunch again,” Cleo stared at him apologetically as her wrist rested against the edge of the table, her ham and cheese sandwich sagged lifelessly from her fingers. Jonghyun’s eyes tore away from the depressing sandwich and gave her an incredulous stare. They stared at one another for what felt like hours before a rumble of laughter broke through his lips. Cleo stared at him, absolutely confused.

“My goodness Cleo. I wonder what that mind of yours makes of me. I’m not some monster, you know,” Jonghyun jokingly pouted which made Cleo’s stomach stir. She mentally accused the sandwich. Jonghyun then did something that made Cleo choke on oxygen. He leaned forward and ruffled her brown locks. It would have angered her but that particular emotion was nowhere near her as heat rushed to her cheeks. She looked up at him from under her lashes. Jonghyun flashed his famous dazzling teeth smile thus causing her cheeks to get hotter, if that was even possible.

“Oh, and do tell that lovely Aunt Yunji of yours thank you for always making lunch for me too even though she is already burdened to take care of a creature that goes by the name of Cleo,” his arm stung from the sharp slap he received from the girl before him. He laughed. Cleo pouted at him but was not able to hold it for long as she began smiling when his forefinger repeatedly poked her cheek. She then joined him in laughter. After finally calming down from their high, Cleo’s eyes fell onto his loose tie and something came into her mind.

“Have you found the necklace?” Cleo instantly regretted asking the question as soon as it left . Jonghyun’s face changed and remorse sets in. She bit hard onto her bottom lip to inflict pain on herself as punishment, something she always does whenever she regrets over what she had done. She could not move as she stared apologetically at him. The boy was staring blankly over her shoulder, a bitter smile on his lips. He shook his head slowly after a minute and a sigh left his lips.

“I’m really sorry. I promise you that I’ll help you look for it,” Cleo reached forward and placed her hand over his that was grasping tightly onto his can of root beer. It helped to loosen the grip he had on his drink and the one around his heart. He looked from their linked hands to her face, and then into her eyes.

“Thank you so much, Cleo. You’re really precious to me,” Jonghyun gave her a smile. A smile that he rarely gave anyone, a small genuine smile that made Cleo finally came to terms with her emotions, the exact same emotions that had caused her so much pain and misery. She finally understood what those emotions had been screaming for, the reason behind those rapid heartbeats and scarlet cheeks. She had fallen for the boy before her and that she had fallen even more in love with him now that she saw his vulnerable side. Cleo’s heart soared as Jonghyun’s hand turned in hers to link their fingers together, while the other pushed a loose hair from her forehead. All of a sudden her nerves became extra sensitive after the discovery. Every single thing of Jonghyun was like an explosive impact to her.  Cleo could not breathe. She was new to this feeling. She was new to all these emotions that were pumping through her veins, gnawing at her heart and heating up her whole face.

“C-Cleo? Is everything alright? You seem flushed…wait, you’re very red, extremely. Are you having a fever?” the back of his free hand laid across her forehead which made her heart beat even faster. Her hand and forehead, where he touched, scorched. In an instant, she pulled herself away from him. Jonghyun was caught off guard. The movement was too sudden that it had caused her clumsiness to switch on to high mode. It then resulted in her elbow knocking down her can of Mountain Dew, spilling its sweet content across the table and down to her skirt. She felt the cold liquid seep through it, the material sticking to her thighs as the seconds ticked by. Her face flushed even more as she realized that the whole cafeteria had grew silent at the commotion and students were staring at them, her mostly.

“Y-yah, Cleo ah. Are you oka—“

“I’m fine! I’ll just need to visit the ahh…toilet for a while. Bye” Cleo dashed away from the scene not giving a second glance back. Pushing the doors open, she scurried through the empty corridor and down the staircase before turning a sharp corner and straight into the girl’s lavatory, the one that was famous for being haunted. Thus Cleo had always been using that to her advantage. In her panic and distorted state of mind, she was definitely not aware of the light footsteps echoing after hers.

~~~””~~~

Jonghyun pulled out the packet of tissue from Cleo’s bag and began wiping the spilled drink off the table. He quickly cleaned up the mess just in time as the rest of his band members and the girls appeared by his table.

“Hey, where’s Cleo?” Taemin questioned his hyung who was wiping his sticky hands with Cleo’s wet tissues. Minho’s eyes instantly travelled from the line of people queuing for food to finally Jonghyun once again, eyeing the yellow damp tissue papers on the table. He raised an eyebrow.

“Did something happen to her?” Onew looked from the toppled Mountain Dew can drink to his band mate’s face.

“Ouh..nothing, she just spilled her drink and went off to clean herself,” Jonghyun shook his head as he smiled amusedly, recalling the clumsy scene Cleo had created.

“Of course,”  Jonghyun looked up at the voice which came from the seat diagonal to his. Alice had a smirk on her face, simply knowing too well of her clumsy best friend. They met eyes and Jonghyun smiled at her but Alice simply smirked at him and looked away.

“I was wondering, do ya know anything about Exo? I heard they’re a new rookie group from your company,” Leah chirped extra cheerfully as she pulled onto Onew’s arm. Onew glanced at her and laughed. He nodded his head at her question.

“Ooooohhhh~~~You do? What? What???” Jonghyun grasped his hair and tugged onto them as a groan left him. He was frustrated. He was absolutely frustrated by the fact that a new group of pretty and beautiful boys debuted and going about doing their schedule whereas he was stuck there, in high school. Life was totally unfair.

~~~””~~~~

The cold water splashed against her face. Leaning against the sink, Cleo hung her head as she sighed. Her heart was now a simple throb against her chest. It still ached but it felt new. She felt new, like as if she was reborn into someone different. Someone with clearer eyes, hears better and was just extremely aware of all the emotions running through her body and mind which revolved wholly around Kim Jonghyun. She was too deep in thought that she was not aware of the door to the toilet swinging open and three students stepped in. She saw their shoes on the corner of her eye before finally lifting her head up when she realized that they were not moving and in fact, pointing towards her.

Cleo saw them through the reflection of the mirror in front of her. Her stomach sank and the blood drained from her face. Her fingers scraped against the counter sink, knuckles turning white.

 “What do you want Stacey?” Cleo cursed at her voice for sounding so weak, it even dared to tremble. A wicked laugh left the witch. Her arms were crossed and her two bodyguards stood a step behind her, all three of them were covered in pink from head to toe.

“I thought it had been cleared weeks ago of what I want my dear Cleo,” Cleo still had her back towards them, but they were staring at one another through their reflections. Her heartbeat accelerated and silence fell onto them.

“I saw what happened in the cafeteria,” Stacey broke the silence with her sharp high-pitch voice and it made the hair on Cleo’s arms stand.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cleo turned, grabbed herself a napkin and dried her hands. Feigning nonchalance, Cleo walked around them towards the door, her mind chanting a prayer. When her arm was grabbed in a tight grip before pulling her whole body backwards, a gasp was ripped out from her. Losing her balance, Cleo tumbled to the floor in a not-so ceremonious way. She groaned as she hit the cold ground hard. She had not even had the time to react or inhale when her hair was yanked back, her scalp screaming in agony. 

“I told you to stay away from him did I not?” Stacey was right against her cheek as she growled the words into her ear. Cleo was trembling. She was beyond shocked and frightened. It had been months ago the last time she was bullied or picked on by anyone. Alice made her safe. The instant Alice came into her mind, her words poured into her mind from a memory.

“Stand up for yourself and don’t let others walk all over you.”

“I don’t remember him being yours,” Cleo hissed through her teeth.

Stacey pulled back after hearing what Cleo had said. Shock painted itself all over the three girls’ faces and Cleo could not help but to smirk in victory. The grip on her hair loosened its hold as Stacey stood up and backed away. However, her victory was short-lasted when Stacey’s surprise expression turned stone-cold and glared down at her.

“Teach her,” was all Stacey had to say before the two girls by her sides rushed forward and grabbed onto Cleo’s arm and hair. Punches were thrown and everything was happening so fast that all Cleo could do was to lift her arms up to try and block out their attacks. Stacey stood there, watching in satisfaction as Cleo’s defense became weak and she was simply pushed around like a rag doll.

“Stop,” the word echoed off the dull white walls of the toilet as the other two girls hold their punches. Cleo was a whimpering mess as her body was curled pathetically in a ball as her last and final attempt at defending herself. Cleo’s ears picked up the sound of footsteps nearing her and her hands pulled her knees tighter against her chest. She flinched as manicured hands through her hair before tightening the grip, pulling her head off the ground and facing upwards.

“I’ll say this for the last time. Stay away from Jjong Oppa,” Cleo’s tears trailed from her eyes as Stacey whispered to her. And with that said, Stacey lifted her other hand, her silver crystal ring sparkled against the light and slapped Cleo hard across her face with the back of her hand. Her whole right cheek stung as a long line split open and Cleo could taste the strong rusty metallic liquid trailing down and through the gap between her lips. Stacey threw Cleo back onto the floor. Cleo’s eyes were shut. Her whole body was shaking but it was not from the cold. She was beyond frightened, Cleo was traumatized. The sound of footsteps disappeared right after the sound of a door slamming shut.

Cleo let herself cry in self-pity for another long minute before pushing herself up. She fell back to the floor when a sharp pain shoots from her chest. Her hand grasped onto the area as she tried sitting up again. She only ended up bursting out into tears as the pain was too excruciating to move or even breathe.

~~~””~~~

Jonghyun was standing right outside Cleo’s classroom, her school bag hung onto his fingers. His eyes roamed the crowded corridor as students rushed past one another to get into their respective classrooms.

“Where the hell could she be?”

“Ouh, Jjong Oppa,” Jonghyun turned at the mention of his name. He was met with pink. As in he was literally staring at a student who was covered in pink from head to toe. Her two friends stood a few steps away, eyes trained on them. Jonghyun felt uncomfortable under their scrutinizing stare but was pulled out from his thoughts when the pink girl before him started speaking again.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in T321, your class?” Jonghyun did not know whether to be impressed or simply creeped out that she knew exactly where he should be at that very moment. He gave her a one look through, trying to rake his mind for any familiar traces off her, a classmate or somewhat but no. He had never seen her before, or her eagle-eyed friends.

“I ahh…am just waiting for Cleo,” he saw how her face fell for a second before rubber seemed to have pulled her face back into her wide grin. Jonghyun inwardly shivered when her hand graced his arm as she reached down to grab Cleo’s purple school bag. His grip tightened around her bag, a sudden feeling of distrust coursed through his brain.

“Oh? I’ll help pass it to her as after all, we’re classmates. You better run off or you’ll be late. I’m sure she’ll come,” the girl fluttered her eyelashes as Jonghyun reluctantly let go of Cleo’s bag.

“Well errmm…thanks…I guess. I better go now,” Jonghyun shoved his hands into his pockets, gave the nearly empty corridor a one last worried look before turning on his heels and jogged off to his class. He turned away just in time to miss the smirk playing on Stacey’s lips.

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It's the Holidays. I'm a happy girl and in the mood to write and write and do morrreeeee writing! 

MUAHAHAHAHAHAH

Thanks for reading:D