"They ." I huffed, glaring over at where the two new kids sat, surrounded by people, for the thousandth time.

                "Are you really going to blame them for nobody realizing your vampireness?" Yunho sighed. Both he and Donghae knew I was a vampire. I'd told them when we were thirteen. They'd been surprised, darn them.

                "You have to admit, Heechul, it's not really obvious. You don't fit into a lot of stereotypes." Donghae agreed. "And that's good. I'd take my Space Star Heechul over some angsty, withdrawn Heechul any day."

                I calmed down a little. Donghae always seemed to have that effect on me. "I know. And I don't really want to be angsty, or mysterious, or anything. I just wish at least one person would guess it. I mean I don't try to hide it or anything."

                "I do think it's kind of funny people mistake you for my girlfriend more than they think that you’re a vampire." Yunho laughed. "Like one time you brought a freaking water bottle full of blood in and everybody just assumed it was juice."

                "Or that one time you bared your fangs at Sohee, and she just assumed you were being weird and had bought fake ones. In January." Donghae added, laughing.

                "I know! But how many times have we gone out, and people assumed you were a girl? Like six? Seven? You know that's why Sunny broke up with me."

                "Pfft. Can you blame her? I mean, with what Heechul was wearing?"

                "Lots of guys wear pink." I protested. "Sungmin does all the time, and he never gets mistaken for a girl. Do I really look that much like a girl?" I asked, feeling a little insecure.

                "No, you're very manly."

                "You absolutely in no way look like a girl." They both said it robotically, looking away from me.

                "Shut up. You both ." I put my head in my arms, glaring at my cookies and cream milk. "I mean, does my entirely liquid diet never strike anyone as odd?" I complained, going back to my original thought.

                "Oh, you're back on the vampire thing?" Yunho asked. "I really don't think anyone pays attention to what you eat."

                "And if they did, they'd probably just think you were dieting or something." Donghae

                "I can read minds. No one thought that was odd?"

                "You don't go around telling people that."

                "But still…I told Jaejoong I knew who his crush was, and he never even thought it was suspicious."

                "Jaejoong likes someone?" Yunho asked, suddenly curious. "Who?"

                "None of your business." I answered. "You know I don't share stuff like that."

                "I was just wondering."

                "What? Thinking it's you, or something?" I asked in a challenging way.

                "No! Not that, I was just wondering." Yunho, looked away blushing.

                He's right. Why do I care? I heard him think. I rolled my eyes. Yunho was so dense when it came to Jaejoong. "But whatever. How was your day, Donghae?" I changed the subject.

                "Amazing!" He gushed. "I dropped my pencil in History, and Eunhyuk actually picked it up for me! Then, when he gave it back, our fingertips touched." He sighed wistfully. "It was beautiful."

                "Sorry. Please excuse me as I gag myself with a spoon." I complained. "Can we hear about something besides how pathetic you are?"

                "I'm not pathetic!" He protested, but my incredulous look shut him up.  "And it's not like you're not the same way with SoHee. But there is this guy in my math class, Kyuhyun. He's actually two grades below me, but he tested out of Algebra 1, so he's in my class. He's really nice and cute. We get along really well. Then Kibum is in my science class. and Yoona is in my English class, so I haven't had a class all alone yet, which is nice."

                "So basically, it's like a different love line in every class period." I answered. I'd seen how much Kibum and Henry were into Donghae. It would be cute if it wasn't so sad.

                "Heechul! It's not like that with us." Donghae argued. "Besides, you were the one that said Yoona and Taeyeon were meant for each other."

                "They are. They just don't know it yet." I answered.

                "I'm surrounded by gay people." Yunho complained loudly, burying his face in his hands.

                "I'm not gay. I'm just saying which people I think will get together. Maybe they won't. I don't exactly make a habit of reading minds." It felt invasive to do so, so usually, I closed off that power and didn't hear what I didn't want to hear.

                "Oh, look, Hyuna's with her fanboy again." Donghae said, changing the topic. He hated when people said the word 'gay'. I suspected he'd been bullied last year, but he never told me, or answered any of my questions. When I tried to read his mind, he just filled his thoughts with Eunhyuk's smile, and I couldn't get any information. I did however happen to find out that Eunhyuk used to be called anchovy when he was a kid, and felt self-conscious about it, so I started calling him it to get on his nerves.

                "Sungmin? Aish! I told him to stay away from her!" Yunho stood up angrily, running over to pull Sungmin away. We watched as he went over and put his arm around Hyuna, yelling at Sungmin. I looked over to the other side of the room where Jaejoong sat with Junsu and Eunhyuk. Sure enough, he was watching the scene sadly. He must really love her, he thought. I sighed, reading Yunho's mind.

                So what if Jaejoong likes someone else? It's not like I care. He can do whatever the heck he wants.

                "Stay away from him! It doesn't matter if he likes you, he's still mine!" I almost spit out my drink. Did no one else notice that Yunho had started using the male pronoun? I looked around. Apparently not. He seemed to catch himself though, and announced, "Hyuna is my girlfriend, not yours, and you should remember that!"

                I wonder if I got Heechul drunk, he would tell me. I smirked. Fat chance.

                "Do you work at the hospital tonight?" Donghae interrupted my thoughts.

                "No, not until Wednesday. Why?"

                "You want to hang out after school? I got some new games."

                "I wish. My parents have some sort of surprise waiting for me at home, though, to I can't. Maybe next time, okay?"

                "Okay."

                "Maybe you could ask that guy from your Math class. Kyuhyun? Maybe you'll get lucky, and he'll even worse than you."

                "Maybe." Donghae smiled. "I'll do that." He pulled out his phone, texting happily. Just as I was about to take a drink of my chocolate milk, someone sat down next to me. When I looked, I saw that it was the same new kid that sat behind me first period. I glared at him. Not only did he ruin my day, now he interrupted my cookies and cream milk drinking.

                "Hey." He said, flashing a dashing, beautiful smile. I ignored him, taking that drink of milk I wanted. He wasn't fazed. "I am Hankyung. What is your name?" He asked, speaking in a heavy Chinese accent.

                "Heechul." I answered, not really able to think of any other response.

                "That is good name." He said, opening his lunchbox. It was completely packed full of different foods. And he was supposed to be a vampire? Don't make me laugh.

                Suddenly, Sohee, the girl of my dreams, came and sat next to Donghae, right across from Hankyung. I smiled, suddenly feeling my palms sweat. I sat up, preparing myself to say something clever.

                "Are you a vampire?" She asked. I almost dropped dead from the shock. Just as I opened my mouth to announce that yes, I was a vampire, and we should make y vampire babies, I was snapped out of my reverie.

                "No." Hankyung said, and I suddenly noticed Sohee's body language. She was leaning across the table from Hankyung, staring deeply into his eyes and smiling. I don't even think she realized I was there. "I am not."

                "Well, you're definitely cute enough to be one. Where are you from? Your car is really nice. I saw it in the parking lot. It's parked next to this crap van. It looks hilarious. Are you rich? Your clothes are really nice. So I guess you are, right? Wow, I've never met a rich person before."

                Hankyung just smiled at her blankly. Good, I thought,  Now she'd realize he was a moron. But no. Instead, she just blushed.

                "Sorry. I didn't mean to ask so many questions. It's just that we don't get new kids very often. I kind of got excited."

                "It is good." He answered, and she blushed again. He turned back to me.

                "Do you—"

                "I hate your face. It's stupid." I interrupted, chugging my milk and standing up. "Hey, Donghae, let's go. I need some fresh air."

                "O…kay." Donghae answered, following. I spared a glance over my shoulder to see Sohee still talking to Hankyung. But Hankyung wasn't smiling anymore. I smirked. Take away my happiness, I take away yours.

                When we were in the courtyard, I kicked the wall angrily. It didn’t move.

                "Stupid. What's so great about that stupid foreign exchange student?" I ranted.

                "Nothing. He's just new. That's why she likes him. She'll be over him in a week." Donghae tried to comfort me.

                "I was sitting right there. She's known me how long? Since fifth grade. And she doesn't even say, 'Hi, Heechul. How are you?' She just looks at the stupid face kid."

                "She was just distracted. Now, how about you think of some better insults for the stupid face kid? You're Kim Heechul. I'm sure you can do better than that" Donghae suggested. One of my favorite ways of getting over something was to insult it.

                "Yeah, I wish. He's too perfect."

                "What about his hair?"

                "What about his hair?" His hair was perfect. Dark, long, perfectly styled.

                "You really can't think of anything? I mean, you've never had this problem before." Donghae asked curiously. "Hyuna's basically perfect, but you still found at least some things…Are you sure you can't think of anything?"

                "Fine. He has a stupid, obvious accent that sounds like he never even bothered to learn Korean. If you can't speak any other languages, just stay in China where you belong. Communist."

                "Good. Now, let's go back in there. You left your soup at the table."

                "Ugh, that's embarrassing. Let's just leave it there. I'll pick it up from the lost and found in a couple days."

                "Okay. Where do you want to go, then?"

                "I'll go to the library. I have a book I can read. You go talk Yunho out of beating up poor Sungmin." I sighed, glad there were two exits from the courtyard. I did not want to go back in the lunchroom and see the two lovebirds flirting again.

                "Okay, see ya, hyung." Donghae waved, and I went to the library to bury myself in the Chronicles of Vladimir Todd.

                Ten minutes into the book, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned to see Hankyung. Did he actually follow me to the library? Why? He looked reserved and nervous, standing there.

                "Your lunch…" He said, handing me the lunchbox.

                "Aish. Embarrassing." I grabbed it from him, turning pointedly to my book, hoping he'd leave. He did, and I got back into the book. Just as I was getting to the good part, though, he tapped my shoulder again. "What?" I asked, aware that my voice was rude.

                "The bell…"

                "Oh, really?" I hadn't even heard it. I grabbed my bags and hurried to the next class, ignoring him to the best of my ability.

                Unfortunately, though, he was in my next class, and the next class, and the next. "Are you following me or something?" I finally spat at him, irritated.

                "No." He looked distressed, showing me his schedule. I took it, looking it over. No way. He had the exact same schedule as me.

                "Arrrgghh! my life." I pounded my head on the desk. "Why is your schedule the same as mine?!" I demanded, but he just shrugged, looking secretly pleased with himself. I pouted, turning back to my work. Last period was a study hall, so I worked on my homework and doodled a bit. Meanwhile, the entire class was amassed behind me, worshipping everything the new kid said.

                "Wow, you're so cool! How many yachts do you own again?"

                "Four." I rolled my eyes, wondering who on earth even needed four yachts. I opened my mind to hear what Sohee was thinking.

                Wow, he's so amazing. I wish he'd ask me out.

                I ground my pencil into the paper in front of me angrily, not thinking to turn off the mind reading before I heard:

                Is he listening to this? I hope so. Yah, Kim Heechul. I have four yachts and two sports cars all to myself. I'm pretty cool right?

                I turned around to see Hankyung boring a hole in my head with his eyes.

                "Nobody cares about your stupid boats. It's not like you earned the money yourself, you entitled little prat." I turned back, turning off my mind reading ability, so I wouldn't hear so many mean thoughts directed at me.

                "What a jerk."

                "Don't listen to him, Hankyung, Heechul's just a loser."

                "Can he say jealous, much?"

                "Yah, Kim Heechul, can't you keep stuff like that to yourself?"

                I ignored them, putting my head down on the desk to get some sleep. As I drifted off, I heard Sohee's voice say, "Don't feel bad, Hankyung. That's just how he is." Whatever. I was so over her by now. My heat didn't clench painfully, and my face didn't get hot. And I definitely didn't regret saying anything. Kim Heechul was someone who lived without regrets. As I was saying this to myself, I fell asleep.

                I woke up to someone tapping my shoulder. I looked up to see Hankyung. Again.

                "What?"

                "It is time to go home. Do you want me to drive you?"

                "No, I'll take the bus. You can drive Sohee home." I let the bitterness seep through my voice, as I collected my things, shoving them into my bag.

                "The bus left."

                "What?! And you waited until now to wake me up?" I complained, running to the window. Sure enough, all the busses had left the parking lot.

                "Sorry."

                "Well, now what am I supposed to do? My family wanted me home early today." I thought about it, then called Yunho.

                "Hey, Yunho, drive me home."

                "What? You're still at the school?"

                "Yeah. Where are you?"

                "I'm at my house. Hyuna's here. Do you want us to pick you up?"

                "No, there's someone here you can drive me."

                "Okay, see you later.

                "Bye." I hung up, turning back to Hankyung. "You're going to have to drive me."

                "Okay." Hankyung smiled, then frowned, getting nervous about something. He didn't say anything, though. Instead, he just kept looking at me weirdly as we walked to his car. Fed up, I read his mind.

                How do I ask him for directions? He'll probably snap at me again. But I don't really know where my address is… I saw him look nervously at the paper in his hand. And when I typed into the GPS, it didn't even work…

                "A GPS is gonna be pretty much useless for this area. For some reason, no one ever entered our town into the big GPS database thing. I don't really know how it works, but I know we're not on the map." I explained to him, forgetting that I was just responding to a thought in his head.

                "Oh."

                "I know how to get around here, though. I'll help you out." I got into the car, noticing the other guy was there, too.

                "Oh, hi. I'm Choi Siwon. Nice to meet you."

                "Kim Heechul."

                "Oh, I'm sorry to bother you, but could you tell me how to get to this address?" He handed me a paper. I looked at it.

                "Sure. This is right by Hyuna's house. Just turn right when you come out of the parking lot." We started driving, Siwon and I in the front, with Hankyung in the back. I was surprised to find Siwon very easy to talk to. Part of that might have been because he was from Greece, which was one of my favorite countries.

                "So you've visited the Parthenon before?"

                "Yeah. A couple times. I have pictures on my phone." He handed it to me. I flipped through the pictures excitedly.

                "Wow. You have no idea how jealous I am of you right now."

                "Well, you can visit anytime. I'll let you stay with me."

                "For real?" I asked excitedly.

                "Yeah, sure. I'm not going to pay for you to come out or anything, though."

                "But having someone to crash with, and being alone in a foreign country are totally different things. You are so awesome, Siwon." He smiled at me.

                "Thanks. It's the same here. I feel very blessed to have met so many nice people to help me along."

                "Oh yeah, how did you two meet each other?" I asked. "Are you both from Greece?"

                "No, Hankyung's from China. We met in the foreign exchange program. Then we were both going to school here, so we drove from the hotel together."

                "Are you staying with the same host family?"

                "No. So I don't get to drive Hankyung's fancy car." He sighed.

                "Maybe you'll get lucky and your host family will have a car." I smiled encouragingly.

                "Yeah, it's just that in Greece, I had like three, so it's weird going from being rich to being normal." He complained.

                "Yah. Being normal isn't so bad."

                "Oh yeah, sorry. Oh, what do your parents do?"

                "My parents? Is that a normal question for rich kids? Turn left."

                "Is it not for you?"

                "Not really, but it's not embarrassing or anything. My dad works as a Sales Rep for GM, and my mom works as an elementary school music teacher."

                "Wow, that's really cool. So did she teach you when you were a kid?"

                "Yeah. And made me learn piano and violin." I answered. "But I taught myself drums."

                "Really? I play drums, too!"

                "Wow, that's so cool. We should totally jam sometime. Oh, turn right here."

                "Yeah. Oh, is this it? 2105?"

                "Looks like it." I said. "Hyuna lives right across the street. I think I heard something about Sungmin living around here, too, but I'm not sure. Have fun."

                "Sure. Oh, here's my number. Call me sometime so we can hang out."

                "All right." I took it with a smile, as Hankyung moved to the driver's seat. He hadn't said a word the whole car trip. Now he looked kind of upset, and kept glancing at Siwon's phone number, scribbled on the back side of my hand.

                "Okay, are we going to my house now?"

                "Yes."

                "All right. You can get out of the neighborhood same way you came in. Once you get to the main road, take a left."

                "Thank you." He started driving, and the car was completely, awkwardly silent. I the radio, to a sad ballad I liked. In a couple minutes, I got totally into it, singing aloud in an obnoxiously high voice.

Suddenly, I became aware of Hankyung looking at me in a weird way. I faltered, and stopped singing, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Do not stop." Hankyung urged. "You look happy."

"Whatever. We're almost there, anyways. Turn left here. Mine it the one at the very end."

"With blue doors?"

"Yeah." I looked to see Eomma come out, waving to us.

"Is that your dad?"

"One of them, yeah." We parked, and I got out. But mom went right for Hankyung.

"Welcome! Did you find it all right? How was your first day of school? Not too overwhelming? We requested you be in the same classes as our Heechul so he could help you out. Was he good to you?"

"Wait, what? What's going on?" I asked, totally confused.

"Oh, he didn't tell you? Heechul, we're taking in a foreign exchange student! Isn't that wonderful? He'll be sharing your room. I just finished setting the bed up."

I looked to Hankyung, and he looked back at me, equally shocked.

my life.