I washed Jonghyun’s sweater Sunday night and was ready to return it to him – subtly – at school the following day. I didn’t see him all morning long, but that wasn’t really that rare. So I waited outside our social sciences classroom sixth period to give it to him.

That’s where I was patiently waiting when Jessica walked up with Sunny, who seemed to be her closest friend in the Bimbo Brigade. “I just love what you’ve done with your hair, Narae-yah,” she cooed, sounding as insincere as possible. “That fire engine look is so in this season.”

I pretended not to notice her, choosing to look through her as I scanned the corridor for a sign of Jonghyun. I knew that he and I still weren’t friends, but after the fun day we’d spent together yesterday, I was sure that he would at least acknowledge me today.

Of course Jessica didn’t like me – or anyone, for that matter – ignoring her. Her manicured hand shot out to grab a painful fistful of my loose hair. “I’m talking to you, you little slug-!” she began, but quite suddenly somebody rammed into her and she hit the floor with a cry of surprise.

Amber looked down at her, smirking. “Oops,” she said innocently. “My bad. You ready for class, Narae?”

I didn’t even bother glancing down at Jessica before following Amber into Ms. Lee’s classroom. I didn’t have to see her to know that she was glaring at me with utter loathing, like I was something disgusting and offensive on the bottom of her designer shoe.

“I’m going to pay for that later, you know,” I muttered as Amber and I took our seats at the back of the class.

She grinned impishly at me. “Just stick with me. She’ll definitely leave you alone if you’re with me.”

Amber continued to chat contentedly, but I couldn’t help but be distracted as I watched the door like a hawk, waiting for Jonghyun to enter the classroom. His friends, the popular boys that he usually hung out with, came in and took their seats at the back, but Jonghyun wasn’t with them. He still hadn’t arrived when the bell rang and Ms. Lee began class.

“He’s not at school today,” Amber whispered, seeing that my eyes were still glued on the door.

I blushed, refusing to meet her gaze. “Who’s not here?” I asked innocently.

She gave me a knowing look and I blushed even though I wasn’t looking at her. Was I really that easy to read? I only wanted to return his sweatshirt. That’s all.

My mind wandered while Ms. Lee lectured. I should have been paying attention – I needed to keep my grades up to maintain my scholarship, after all – but my mind was elsewhere that afternoon. I wondered why Jonghyun had skipped school. He’d been perfectly fine when we’d parted ways last night, and it was hard to believe that he’d gotten sick enough to miss school in such a short amount of time.

It wasn’t until I was on the bus home from school later that afternoon that I worked up the courage to text him. He’d given me his cell phone number, but, despite programming it into my own phone, I’d yet to use it. I took a deep breath and typed out a message, deleting it several times and rewriting it with different wording.

Hey Jonghyun-ssi, it’s Narae. Is everything okay? You weren’t at school today when I tried to return your sweatshirt.

I read over the message about a dozen times before deciding it was casual enough and hitting the send button. Then I replaced my cheap, pre-paid handphone in my bag, determined not to wait like an idiot for his reply.

It was a good thing I didn’t, because I never got a reply.

Jonghyun was absent from school on Tuesday as well. Not that I was looking for him or anything. But I still had his sweatshirt and his seat in our social sciences class remained very noticeably empty. No one said anything about his absence, though, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to ask.

“Nobody’s heard anything from Jonghyun,” Amber commented mildly as we walked out of the main school building together after the final bell. Because I was with Amber, I didn’t have to wait until the corridors cleared out to leave. The Bimbo Brigade and my other tormentors wouldn’t dare do or say anything to me when I had someone as popular as Amber Liu by my side. “None of us have talked to him since Friday.”

I was thinking hard, so I didn’t censor myself before I spoke. “I hung out with him on Sunday and he was just fine then.”

She quirked her eyebrow at me, both curious and amused. “You and Jonghyun hung out on Sunday?”

“We just got together to work on our social sciences partner project,” I said quickly, willing myself not to blush because then Amber would just make a big deal out of something small. “But he’s not answering my text messages now.”

“Ours either,” Amber said, nudging me playfully with her shoulder. “So don’t feel too bad about it.”

By the time Wednesday rolled around, Jonghyun still wasn’t coming to school and he still wasn’t answering my – or anyone else’s – texts. I even tried calling him once, but it went to voicemail and I didn’t leave a message because I didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t be weird.

When school let out on Wednesday, I headed for the Kims’ residence. We’d scheduled another project meeting for that afternoon and Jonghyun hadn’t told me otherwise, so I was determined to be there. I was nervous, though, as I stepped up to the intercom and pressed the call button.

“Yes?” came the rather snooty voice of the employee that I’d come to hate, the one whose face I still hadn’t seen. I only knew him from his rude voice.

“It’s Narae,” I said. “I’m here to see Jonghyun-ssi.”

“The young master isn’t accepting guests at this time,” the voice said, rather haughtily. “Please vacate the premises.”

Sighing, I shouldered my bag and left.