The pool behind Jonghyun’s house was a piece of art in and of itself, with gorgeous tiles along the bottom and cobblestones in the patio. There was a diving board in the deep end, and several plush lawn chairs situated around it.

Even though summer was well in full swing by this point, this was the first time I had been out there and I was in awe of the subtle beauty of the place. Jonghyun and his friends, of course, couldn’t have cared less about the expensive hand-painted tiles or the gorgeous landscaping. They were too busy trying to dunk each other under the water.

It was the weekend and for once we didn’t have a whole lot of homework due. With the summer holidays coming up, the teachers had been piling more and more homework on us for our upcoming exams, but, perhaps in a moment of weakness, they had cut their students some slack.

In between trying to drown each other, my friends were discussing the upcoming holidays and what they wanted to do for them. Their plans were incredibly extravagant, indulgent in a way I could never have even imagined.

“I think I’m going to go to Paris,” Qian said thoughtfully. She was sitting on the edge of the pool in a teeny-weenie bikini, examining her hot pink nails from behind her enormous aviator sunglasses.

Krystal, who was sitting beside her with her feet in the water, hummed thoughtfully. “That sounds like fun, but I’m thinking Milan instead. You know how much I love to shop.”

I just sat there on the other side of Qian, not talking. What could I say? I didn’t know anything about Paris or Milan, and I sure as hell couldn’t afford to go there.

“I think we’re all getting ahead of ourselves,” Jinki pointed out, balancing his younger brother Taemin on his shoulders. “We’ve still got a couple of months before summer vacation.”

“That’s plenty of time to plan,” Sunyoung said with a laugh. Unlike the other girls, she and Amber were in the water, splashing just as much as any of the boys. They were also sporting much more modest swimsuits than Qian, Krystal, and Jinri. “Besides, I don’t think I want to travel for vacation. I just want to relax.”

“We should all go out on my family’s yacht,” Minho offered in an offhand sort of manner.

I nearly choked on my lemonade at that. Yacht? God, just how rich were these people? Their level of decadence was almost overwhelming.

“That sounds great,” Jinki agreed, throwing his brother off into the water. Taemin gurgled and spluttered a bit, but for the most part he seemed fine.

Jonghyun dodged Jinki’s outstretched arms – the elder was obviously looking to make my boyfriend his next target – and pulled himself out of the pool to sit next to me. He was dripping water but, since the day was scorching, it was pleasant. He automatically laced his fingers with mine, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jinri get up and walk over to one of the lounge chairs, where her towel was spread out. She had her sunglasses on, so I couldn’t make out her expression, but I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant. She’d been glaring at me even more than usual lately.

“How have things been going at school?” Key asked, resting his arms on the side of the pool. “Nobody is bullying you anymore, are they?”

“I put an end to that,” Jonghyun said proudly.

I laughed, giving him a playful shove. “I don’t think you had anything to do with it,” I said pointedly. “But yeah, the bully seems to have stopped. For now, at least. My friend Yongguk scared my bullies away, I guess.”

Minho gave me a sideways look. “That guy looked pretty mean, Narae. How do you know him again?”

“We grew up together,” I said simply, thinking it would be best just to leave it at that. No one else needed to know just how involved I was with illicit activities. “And he’s a huge teddy bear. He’s definitely more bark than bite. He knows how to scare people in just the right way.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Jonghyun muttered under his breath.

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “It doesn’t matter. As long as I’m not getting bullied anymore, it doesn’t matter.”

I had thought that the bullying had stopped after Yongguk’s little show in the cafeteria, but I was wrong. Apparently my bully – or bullies, as I didn’t know how many of my classmates were actually in on it – was just waiting, biding their time until the aftermath of Yongguk’s appearance had faded away.

Tuesday during my linguistics class, I raised my hand and asked to go the bathroom. My teacher, Ms. Park, was a little reluctant to let me go but I was her best student so in the end she gave me permission. Sunyoung, who was also in the class with me, gave me a silly face as I passed her desk, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Stephanie and Soonkyu, both some of Jessica’s clones in the Bimbo Brigade, rolled their eyes at our obvious little exchange.

The hallway was deserted as I made my way down to the nearest women’s lavatory. Everything was quiet save for the drone of teachers’ voices from behind their closed classroom doors.

It wasn’t until I was walking back to my linguistics class in the language corridor that I heard heavy footsteps behind me. Startled by the sudden speed with which someone was following me, I whirled around, but I wasn’t fast enough. A fist connected with my head as the dark-clothed person slipped behind me. The hit didn’t particularly hurt, but it was enough that it disoriented me enough for the person to shove me into the nearest room. It wasn’t until the door had slammed behind me that I realized it was the janitor’s closet, brooms and mops standing in one corner, the shelves lined with cleaning products.

The sound of retreating footsteps caused me to reach up and try the door, but of course it was locked. Of course it was.

I tried knocking on the door and calling for help but, since it was the middle of class time, there was no one in the hallway to hear me. In the end I settled myself on a box in the corner and waited for the bell to ring. Surely Mrs. Park would wonder why I hadn’t returned to class.

Eventually the bell did ring, and it suddenly became very noisy as students filed out in the corridor, chatting, complaining, laughing. It was so loud. I beat on the door and screamed, but if anyone heard me over the loud noise of the students, they didn’t come to investigate. Then the hallway emptied again and I was left in silence once more.

I groaned out loud and punched the wall, making my knuckles burn. This could not be happening! I had lessons to attend!

I went through this for two more lessons. I missed Biology, lunch, and physical education. I was about to miss my social sciences class when the door was suddenly opened from the outside.

I blinked at the sudden light stabbing my eyes.

“What the blazes are you doing in here?” a gruff voice demanded, and I recognized it as belonging to one of the janitors that puttered around the school on a daily basis.

I scrambled to feet in relief, my joints aching from being crammed into the closet for hours. “I accidentally locked myself in,” I lied, brushing past him. The hallway was literally a breath of fresh air. It was a wonder I wasn’t high as a kite from all the fumes from the cleaning products.

The janitor was not amused. “Aren’t you a scholarship student? Aren’t you supposed to be smart?”

I just thanked him and rushed to class. I made it just before the bell rang.

“What the hell happened to you?” Jonghyun was absolutely beside himself. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” He wrinkled his nose. “And why do you smell like ammonia?”

I glared at him. “I went to the bathroom during third period and somebody shoved me into the janitor’s closet and locked the damn door,” I grumbled, opening my textbook.

Jonghyun’s mouth fell open. “You’ve been in there since third period? Oh my god, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I shrugged his concerns off. “But I’m going to find whoever is doing this to me and I’m going to kick their . I don’t even care if I get expelled anymore.”

Of course my desire for some physical action fizzled out by the time social sciences had ended. I wasn’t going to jeopardize my chances of making something of myself just because some bully didn’t know when to call it quits. But things definitely needed to change, and they needed to change fast.