Taemin's POV

Here I was again. Walking up the stairs to the same high school.

Why did I feel so different now though?

It wasn't anything like first day nerves, but I was nervous.

I think I knew why but I didn't want to admit it. Wouldn't things be awkward with Key?

I like you. His voice echoed in my ears, it was all I had thought about last night. He told me I would like him, but I feel like that's betrayal. I don't even know what's going on between Key and Onew but Onew is a friend too. I feel as if it would hurt him if I had a thing with Key. Wait, a thing with Key? What was I thinking? Key's a guy. Lee Taemin, get your head in the correct place.

"Taemin-ah!" I heard a voice behind me and I froze i my place. Please don't be Key. Please don't. I'm way too confused right now. The voice spoke again, "Taemin?"

I glanced behind me and saw Onew looking at me, concerned. I hadn't seen him since I had left with Key after English.

"Hey. Where'd you go after class yesterday?" I asked him.

"Oh..." Onew's face flushed and he looked away as we continued walking. "It's nothing."

I noticed he had turned his face away from me. What? I moved so I was standing in front of him, blocking his path. He kept his face turned so the right side of his face was hidden.

"Onew, look at me." I said to the older male.

He sighed in defeat and cringed a bit as he faced me fully. Oh God. My mouth dropped open as I saw the black eye he had developed since yesterday. It looked pretty bad.

"Onew... What happened?" I asked in my shock.

"Taemin..." He leaned in and whispered. "Can we continue walking? People are staring."

What? I noticed we were creating a clog in the hallway so I moved aside and walked next to Onew. He led the way quickly. Making turns and going up stairs until we were in an empty hallway.

"Where are we?" I said once he stopped his fast pace.

"They don't use this hall." He sat down on a bench against the wall.

I walked over and sat down on his right side to examine his injury. It was worse in this light. Onew met eyes with me and smiled sheepishly.

"It's not that bad. Don't worry about me Taemin. I can take care of myself." He assured me.

"Who did this?" I asked, my lip quivered.

"I just bumped into a wall, no big deal." He shrugged. But I could see through the lie as he looked away from my gaze.

"Don't lie to me." I said flatly.

"You don't want to know." He sighed heavily and I saw his eyes mist over before he turned his head.

"Tell me Onew." I grabbed his hand and squeezed it encouragingly. I normally wouldn't do this, it was uncomfortable for me, but Onew was special to me.

"Taemin." He said weakly, staring at our entertwined hands. He whispered, "You want to know why I dropped out?"

I nodded, hoping he could see. I squeezed his hand again to make sure, encouraging him to go on.

"It's because of your friend... Kibum." My mouth fell open again. He laughed lightly and smiled, "Yes. I shouldn't be too surprised he decided to befriend you. I left school yesterday after I saw you talking to him."

"You left? Why?" There was no reason he should leave. Onew wouldn't get jealous over that. Would he?

"I was upset that you were going to be affected by Kibum just for being friends with me. So I left to think. Then I ran into some trouble..." Onew trailed off.

Affected by Kibum? Was he playing with me when he said he liked me? I felt a hot blush in my cheeks in embarrassment, of course. He wouldn't like me. Why should I care either? I don't like him or guys, for that matter. I shouldn't tell Onew he said that to me, he'd instantly know Kibum was lying and think I'm foolish.

Onew turned his head to look at me, my silence was probably nervewracking.

"Trouble?" I whispered, my eyes inspecting his eye.

"When Kibum doesn't like something or someone... the whole school follows that. Just like how Kibum likes you. Now everyone will like you." Onew explained.

"You mean..." I searched for the correct way to say this. "You dropped out because you were being bullied?"

"Pretty much." He nodded. "It's my fault anyway. I made Kibum mad. I just want to get through this year. I couldn't wait another year..."

"Why not?"

"My mother isn't in the best condition. I need to get a well paying job as soon as possible to help her. My part time jobs are taking care of what I can for now."

Jobs? I pretended to ignore the plural.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

"It's okay. She's fine, still happy." He smiled. "Just don't worry about me. A little bit of this is okay. I don't want you getting hurt too."

I nodded slightly. I wasn't promising I wouldn't worry or help him. He'd just have to deal with me getting hurt, I wouldn't stand back and watch.

"How often?" My voice spoke.

"Hm?"

"How often am I going to have to see you hurt like this?" I wondered.

"Well..." Onew thought for a second.

"I don't want to hear any lies right now." I stated firmly, looking into his eyes.

"I run into this kind of trouble a couple times a day..." Onew shifted his eyes to our hands, focusing only on that.

"A couple times a day?" I asked for clarity.

"No more than eight times a day, I promise." He said quickly.

"Do you just run into them?" I asked, leaning in to lock eyes with him. "Or do they find you?"

Onew sighed and turned away. He never answered my question but I could guess the answer.

"Hey Jinki!"

A group of boys started towards us. Onew stood up and pushed me behind his back, protecting me from what was coming.