“You want to go with us tonight?” Himchan said in some surprise. It was Tuesday night and, since I had finished all of my homework earlier, I had stopped by his and Yongguk’s apartment to see what they were up to. As it turned out, they were supposed to make a run, and I asked if I could go with them.

I nodded, picking at a loose thread on the worn out old couch I was slouched on. “Yeah, I haven’t gotten to hang out with you guys much lately.” I didn’t mention that, since I had gotten shot on our rescue mission to save Mr. Kim, they had all become grossly overprotective of me.

Zelo’s lip curled back in a sneer. “What, you’re not out with your boyfriend tonight?”

I hadn’t exactly told the others that I was officially dating Jonghyun yet, so of course this news caught them all by surprise.

“What?” Himchan, ever the mother hen, squawked indignantly. “You’re dating someone? You’re not sleeping with him, are you? You’re way too young to have , Narae, and-”

“Oh my god, no,” I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. “I’m not sleeping with him. But I’m also not a , oppa. You know that already.”

“Wait.” Youngjae put a heavy hand on my shoulder. “It’s not that rich kid from the other night, is it?”

My awkward, squirming silence was answer enough.

“Why, Narae?” Youngjae whined, sounding like a kindergartener instead of an adult. “Anybody but that guy!”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Would you rather that I get back together with my ex-boyfriend?” I asked archly.

That shut him up pretty quickly. Of course they’d all been around when that particular disaster had happened, and they’d been the ones who’d threatened to kill my ex for laying his hands on me the way he did.

“Fair enough,” Youngjae gave in, draping an arm around my shoulder. “Anybody but your ex and this kid.”

I shrugged his shoulder off, huffing. “You don’t even know him. He may be a bit of a spoiled brat sometimes, but he’s a good guy, okay? And he’d never in a million years lay a hand on me.”

“There are ways to hurt someone that goes beyond the physical,” Yongguk said sagely, taking a hit off the blunt he and Daehyun were passing back and forth.

“Well I appreciate your concern, but I’m a big girl,” I shot back. “If I get hurt then it’s on me.”

“Fair enough,” Yongguk said, effectively cutting off whatever spluttering nonsense Youngjae was about to spout off. He took the last hit off the blunt and stubbed it out in the overflowing ashtray. “We need to get going if we’re going. Rae, you know you’re more than welcome to join us.”

So we crammed into Himchan’s familiar car and headed out to a part of town not far from our apartment buildings. I’d been there before on other runs with my boys, and I knew the drill. I would remain in the car with Himchan, who stayed behind the wheel with the engine running in case something happened and we needed to high-tail it out of there, while Yongguk, Daehyun, Youngjae, and Zelo would go out and meet whoever it was they were selling to. The whole process usually took no more than ten or fifteen minutes, but usually it was about five and then the boys would pile back into the car and we’d head off to get some ice cream or French fries before heading back to Himchan and Yongguk’s apartment.

This particular run was taking a bit longer. Himchan and I had been waiting in the car for about eight or ten minutes, and I was looking out the window to amuse myself. In this part of town, you could see everything from a drag queen to a druggie in the span of a few seconds, so it was always worth a look.

Only, while I was looking, I saw something I definitely did not expect to see: Jonghyun’s friend Key, the same Key that currently hated my guts like I was something nasty stuck to the bottom of his designer shoe that just wouldn’t come off no matter how hard he scraped.

Seeing Key in my neck of the woods was about as startling as seeing Jonghyun was. Only, unlike the time when I’d stumbled across Jonghyun, Key didn’t seem the least bit upset at where he was. On the contrary, he was currently so wrapped around another person that it took him about a full two minutes of me staring before he looked up and saw me. And then of course his face flamed the color of a brilliantly ripe tomato and he grabbed the hand of his lover and dragged him off the other direction.

“Well that was weird,” I mumbled to myself, more than taken aback by the whole scene.

Himchan looked over his shoulder at me, curious. “What was weird?” he asked.

“Ah, nothing.” I quickly shook my head. Whatever Key was doing in my part of town, surely it had nothing to do with me.

I had honestly forgotten about seeing Key for the most part until the following day. It was just after first period and I was heading to my next class, English, when Key grabbed me and yanked me into the nearest handicapped lavatory. It was alarmingly similar to the first time Jonghyun had accosted me that way, and it annoyed me that people kept thinking it was okay to jerk me around like that.

“What the hell is your problem?” I demanded, jerking away and rubbing my sore wrist the second he’d locked the bathroom door behind us.

He whirled on me, and the composed, flawless person I had grown to know was completely gone. This was a person with a flushed face and trembling hands, perfect eyebrows pulled together in consternation. “How much do you want?” he demanded.

I blinked at him stupidly. “How much what do I want for what?” I was completely lost as to what he was hinting at.

He rolled his eyes, like it was impossible for someone to be as dumb as I was. “How much do I need to pay for you to keep your big mouth shut?”

Here I was, the student with the highest grades in my year, and yet I had no idea what Key was talking about. “I still don’t follow,” I mumbled, giving him a weird, sidelong look.

He rolled his eyes and sighed in dramatic exasperation. “Quit playing dumb!” he all but snarled in my direction. “I know you saw who I was with yesterday. So how much hush money do you want?”

I thought back to the strange scene I’d witnessed the night before, trying to decide what about that scenario was so shocking that he’d offer to shut me up with money. He’d been kissing someone, but who hadn’t at our age? And then it hit me. This was because Key had been kissing a guy. He obviously thought I was going to tell the whole school that he was into boys. He clearly didn’t know that two of my best friends were gay and openly flaunted it for everyone to see.

I chuckled at the complete misunderstanding this had become, but Key clearly thought that I was laughing at him. “Shut up,” he growled through clenched teeth, hands balling themselves into fists.

“You’re afraid I’m going to tell everyone at school that you’re gay,” I said bluntly.

He panicked at once, looking around like there might be someone lurking in the bathroom with us who would overhear. “Shut up!” he hissed again, but this time there was more panic and less anger.

“I’ll tell you what,” I said calmly, adjusting the straps of my backpack. “I won’t make you give me money, but you have to do one thing for me.”

He gave me a wary, sidelong look. “And what is that?”

“Come home with me tonight,” I said, and it was more of an order than a request. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

His nose wrinkled in obvious distaste.

I rolled my eyes. “You obviously don’t care about being seen in my part of town. Anyway, you’ll do it unless you want the whole school to know you like by tomorrow morning.”

He clapped a hand over my mouth quickly. “Okay, okay!” he gave in hurriedly, eyes darting around the deserted lavatory. “I’ll go with you! Just shut up already!”

So, once the final bell had rung, I told Jonghyun that I had something to take care of back home and would take the bus. When Key met me at the bus stop, he had changed out of his uniform and had a hat pulled down low over his face, as if that would stop anyone from recognizing him.

“You look like an idiot,” I told him bluntly, taking a spot casually beside him.

“Yeah, well you are an idiot,” he retorted, but it was obvious that he was mortified to be there.

I just rolled my eyes and led the way onto the bus. Neither of us spoke the entire ride back to the less glamorous side of town, and, when we got off at my stop, we didn’t go to my apartment. Instead, I led the way to the next building over and knocked on the door of Himchan and Yongguk’s apartment.

Himchan opened it, and he seemed surprised to see me. “Narae,” he said. “What are you doing here? I have to go meet Yongguk, so I’m on my way out.”

“That’s okay,” I assured him. “I’m here to see Youngjae.”

“Ah, he’s passed out on the couch,” Himchan said with a grin, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. Then he ruffled my hair fondly. “See you later.”

I led the way into the apartment, Key following with a certain amount of trepidation. The whole apartment smelled like weed, and I can only imagine the look of disgust Key would be sporting.

Youngjae was, like Himchan had said, sleeping on the couch. I kicked him to wake him up, and he jumped up like he’d been shot.

“Yah, what the hell, Rae?” he demanded sleepily. “Can’t you wake people up like a normal person?”

I ignored him and gestured to Key, who lingered uncertainly behind me. “This is Key,” I said shortly. “I go to school with him. I caught him making out with some guy yesterday and now he wants to know how much money he has to pay me to keep from telling everybody at school that’s he’s a homo and likes to .”

It only took Youngjae about half a second to catch on; we hadn’t been friends our entire lives for nothing. His face split into a wicked grin, all twinkling eyes and dimples. “What a ,” he said, giving Key a derogatory onceover.

Key’s face turned an even brighter shade of red, if that was possible. “Yah, who the hell do you think you’re talking to?” he demanded, standing up to his full height. He was taller than Youngjae, but it was obvious that, if it were to come down to a fight, Youngjae would kick his to the moon and back.

“A faggoty little ,” Youngjae shot back, not backing down. Key cowered under Youngjae’s authoritative tone. “Tell me, little gaysian, do you take it up the or do you give it to someone else? Please tell me you top. There has to be at least something redeeming about you.”

Key spluttered indignantly but he was already so angry by this point that he wasn’t saying anything coherent.

“Yah, Narae, why would you bring this disgusting little faglet here?” Youngjae demanded crossly. “He’s dirtying up the house.”

This was the final straw for Key, who had probably never been anyplace that was as dingy and rundown as this apartment. “You shut your mouth, you-!”

Whatever insult he was going to throw Youngjae’s way, however, stuck in his throat when the door opened and Daehyun came in. He was humming to himself, but stopped when he saw that I was there with a stranger.

“Yo,” he said calmly. “What’s going on here?”

Youngjae shrugged, face split into a broad grin. “Narae has me scaring this little twinklet.”

Daehyun laughed, allowing Youngjae to put his arms around him, pecking him lightly on the lips. “God, you guys are the worst.” He shot Key an apologetic grin. “Don’t let them scare you. They’re not bad people, really.”

Key opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came out.

I turned to him with an exasperated smile. “Ah, where are my manners? This is my friend, Youngjae, and his boyfriend, Daehyun.”

Key looked like a lost little boy. “Boyfriend?” he repeated uncertainly.

“Yes, they’re gay,” I assured him. “They’re gay and they’re my best friends. I don’t give a flying what your ual preference is and I sure as hell don’t want your ing money.”

“Y-you’re not going to tell anyone at school?” Key continued, sounding less and less sure of himself.

I rolled my eyes. “Who at school do I talk to besides your friends?” I demanded. “And, even though I don’t think they’ll care either, it’s not my place to tell them that you like boys. And, for future reference, don’t ever offer me money for anything. I ing hate that.”

“She does,” Daehyun agreed with a little nod.

Key looked up at Youngjae, still a little confused. “So all those things that you said…?”

“I was just giving you a hard time because you were giving Narae a hard time,” Youngjae laugh, resting his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Since I’m gay too, no harm, no foul, right?”