“It feels good to have the whole gang here together,” Chang Sub yawned and stretched in the hallway.

“Well we have math and lunch together,” Hyun Sik answered while closing the locker door. Hyo Rin opened her locker and out fell three notes with hearts on them.

“Oh~ Some more admirers!” Peniel cooed.

“Who are they from noona?” Il Hoon questioned while peeking over her shoulder.

“Oh hmm...we got Ye Jun from science. Yong Hwa from history. Last is...oh Dong Woo from P.E,” Hyo Rin smiled at the sight of the three names that were written on the letters.

“Wow, stacking up the boys,” Eun Kwang raised an eyebrow.

“Heh, oh you guys - you know there isn’t anyone that I’m interested right now in this school,” Hyo Rin answered while placing the notes in her bag.

The group of boys shifted their eyes around and smiled at one another. “Besides I’m currently waiting for that one guy that will actually like me for me. Not just for my looks and wealth...” Hyo Rin closed the door to her locker.

“There will be a guy out there for you, Angel,” Peniel hugged his younger sister and nodded.

“Yeah, there will be a guy that will definitely sweep you off your feet,” Min Hyuk nodded his head.

“He will be the one that calls you beautiful and not ay~” Chang Sub winked.

“Don’t worry Hyo Hyo,” Hyun Sik patted the girl’s back. Hyo Rin looked at her friends and smiled.

“And this is why you all are my best friends,” Hyo Rin grinned brightly. Peniel kissed the girl’s forehead and nodded.

“Hmm...where’s Kyu Ri?” Eun Kwang suddenly popped up the question. Everyone looked around to seeing the silent girl was not there with them.

“She said she went to the little girl’s room...” Hyo Rin thought back and remembered that was awhile ago.

“You don’t think...” Peniel began while everyone’s eyes widen at the same time. The group of friends dashed down the hallway.

---

“Hmph, stupid face Kyu Ri,”

“I know right? She ing manipulated Prince Min Hyuk to yell at me!”

“I just wish she could just die already!”

“I’ve never seen Min Hyuk so angry before...”

“That must go. She needs to be kicked out of school,”

“But how?”

“One way or another...she must leave,”

“One way or another what exactly...?” A dark voice emerged from the bathroom stall. There stood three girls fixing their makeup in front of the mirror. The three girls gasped and turned around in a quick fashion to seeing Kyu Ri with a half lit cigarette in .

“Y-you ! How dare you eavesdrop on us!” Hae Ri gasped while glaring at Kyu Ri.

“Hmph, I didn’t do anything of sorts. I’m minding my own business here,” Kyu Ri retorted in a calm manner.

“Don’t give us that! You ungrateful little-” Soo Young stepped towards Kyu Ri and raised her hand to slap her. Luckily Kyu Ri was quick enough to stop her.

“Don’t touch me,” Kyu Ri spoke coldly while blowing a puff of smoke in front of her face. Soo Young coughed and trampled back into Bo Ra and Hae Ri.

“Ugh! My makeup! You’re going to pay for that you !” Bo Ra gritted out and lunged for Kyu Ri. Kyu Ri sidestepped and stood there waiting. Bo Ra ran into one of the stalls. Hae Ri was the next to attack Kyu Ri but Kyu Ri moved aside cooly for Hae Ri to fall on top of Bo Ra. The last one was Soo Young, Kyu Ri turned to face Soo Young but only got an impact against her cheek. Soo Young clawed Kyu Ri across the face with her perfectly long manicured nails.

“Ha! You deserve that you ing !” Kyu Ri twitched and tightly gripped her fist. Soo Young stood there laughing at Kyu Ri. Kyu Ri lunged back and punched Soo Young right dead square in the face. Soo Young flew back and out of the bathroom door.

Kyu Ri let out a huff and slowly glanced at the mirror. She walked up to the mirror and saw three long bloody lines from Soo Young’s scratch. She raised a hand to her cheek and feel the red liquid. She let out a hiss and glared at the two passed out girls. She turned away and went out the door. She stepped over Soo Young’s body and went down the hall. The hallway was empty due to classes.

From behind she heard running footsteps. This caused Kyu Ri to walk faster than her normal pace. “Kyu Ri!” The voice called out to her but she ignored it. From walking to running down the hallway. She knew who that voice belonged too.

Sadly she wasn’t fast enough, the voice that had been calling her gripped her wrist. She turned away and didn’t dare look at them. “Kyu Ri, where have you been? Everyone has been looking for you! You made Hyo Rin worried,” The person sounded concerned.

“...I’ve been in the restroom,” Kyu Ri dryly said while avoiding eye contact. Suddenly the person gripped her shoulders and turned her around to they could look at her directly.

“Now how many times has the guys, Hyo Rin and I told you, not to smo- what happened to your cheek?” Min Hyuk was the one that found her. He looked directly at the scratch marks.

“...It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” Kyu Ri grumbled out.

“Who did this to you? Tell me Kyu Ri,” Min Hyuk examined the wound.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kyu Ri was starting to get ticked off.

“Tell me Kyu Ri,” Min Hyuk persisted.

“I SAID, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT,” Kyu Ri snapped angrily at the boy. Min Hyuk wasn’t shocked at her temper since he has dealt with it before.

“Was it one of those girls from the morning?” Min Hyuk glared at the girl. Kyu Ri shot a glare back at him and blew a puff of smoke at him. Min Hyuk twitched and took the cigarette off of her lips. He squashed the object and threw it away.

“I already dealt with them - don’t waste your time,” Kyu Ri huffed while Min Hyuk took the girl’s wrist and led her away to the nurse’s office. Kyu Ri struggled out of his grasp but he kept it firmly.

“Stop this Lee Min Hyuk,” Kyu Ri gritted out.

“I don’t think so,” Min Hyuk snapped at the girl. “We are getting that bandaged,” Min Hyuk sighed.

---

“Did you find her?”

“I didn’t!”

“Noona’s missing?!”

“Oh Kyu Kyu is gone!”

“Noona isn’t here!”

Hyo Rin looked around aimlessly. She bit her lip in worry. Peniel wrapped an arm around Hyo Rin’s waist and hugged her. “Don’t worry dongsaeng, someone will find her,” Peniel nodded his head.

“I hope so - I hope she didn’t get hurt...” Hyo Rin hugged her older brother for comfort.

“Oh hey - look it’s Eun Kwang hyung!” Sung Jae called out.

“Eun Kwang, did you find her?” Hyun Sik asked while looking at the older boy.

“I didn’t, I looked everywhere,” Eun Kwang frowned. Hyo Rin looked distressed and looked down.

“I hope she is fine,” Hyo Rin whispered.

“Oh! Min Hyuk hyung!” Il Hoon shouted and pointed. Min Hyuk walked down towards the group of friends. He was hiding something behind his back.

“Oh? Is that Kyu Ri?!” Chang Sub questioned which sparked everyone’s attention. Hyo Rin got out of Peniel’s embrace and looked to see Kyu Ri was behind Min Hyuk.

“Min Hyuk! Kyu Ri!” Hyun Sik shouted happily. Hyo Rin rushed on over to the girl and boy. As soon as Hyo Rin got there she got a good look at Kyu Ri and saw that her left cheek was bandaged up.

“Kyu Ri! What happened?!” Hyo Rin looked horrified. Kyu Ri gave a troubled look.

“It’s nothing,” Kyu Ri answered.

“It is not nothing. Don’t lie Kyu Ri! She got into a physical fight with Bo Ra, Soo Young and Hae Ri,” Min Hyuk shook his head.

“Hmph,” Kyu Ri turned away.

“Hard headed girl, after a while of persuading she finally told me, otherwise we wouldn’t know!” Min Hyuk stated while crossing his arms.

“I could have handled it...” Kyu Ri whispered.

“No, no you can’t! Kyu Ri, we’re all friends here - friends help each other. You can’t handle things by yourself,” Min Hyuk pointed at the girl in front of him.

“Min Hyuk, stop it...” Hyo Rin didn’t like it when her friends fought. Hyo Rin looked between the two friends and held onto Min Hyuk’s arm. “Please don’t argue with Kyu Ri,” Hyo Rin begged the boy.

“Stop it Hyo Rin. Kyu Ri, you need to stop handling things by yourself! You’re acting as if we aren’t even your friends! You need to let us in or otherwise we won’t get anywhere with our friendship! You aren’t as strong as you think you are!” Min Hyuk blew up on the girl.

“...I never asked for your help. What do you know? Even though you consider me as a friend, you still don’t know what happened to me. You say I’m not strong enough - do you know what happened when I was younger? No, no you don’t - you will never know,” Kyu Ri coldly responded to Min Hyuk’s remark. She glared at the boy and brushed passed Min Hyuk. She walked away leaving everyone with shocked expressions. Hyo Rin looked at Kyu Ri’s disappearing back and back at Min Hyuk.

“Really? After I told you not to do that!” Hyo Rin asked while looking at Min Hyuk. Min Hyuk looked distressed and then gripped onto his hair. Hyo Rin left the group of boys and went after Kyu Ri.

“AISH! THAT GIRL,” Min Hyuk let out a shriek.

“She always has the last word,” Hyun Sik pointed out.

“Not now Hyun Sik, not now,” Peniel patted the boy’s back.

“You know you shouldn’t have gone that far,” Eun Kwang commented.

“She’s hardheaded! You know the way that she treats us, she never let’s us into her mind,” Min Hyuk furrowed his eyebrows together.

“You know she has a rough past. You have to give her time to warm up to us,” Peniel pouted.

“It’s been four years! How much more?!” Min Hyuk shook his head.

“Until she can trust us, you know she never lets us eat lunch with her? This year she changed it - she finally lets us,” Chang Sub nodded.

“Three years just to finally eat lunch with her, yippie,” Min Hyuk rolled his eyes.

“She needs time, you should apologize to noona...” Il Hoon patted his back.

“I know noona will forgive you if you do,” Sung Jae smiled.

“...you are a noona’s boy,” Min Hyuk glared at Sung Jae.

---

“Kyu Ri?” Hyo Rin entered the dark basketball room. Hyo Rin peeked around the empty darken room. Hyo Rin walked around and saw one of the lights .

“Are you in here?” Hyo Rin called out while walking towards the light.

“Kyu Kyu?” Hyo Rin cooed.

“...don’t call me that,” Kyu Ri appeared from the shadows. Hyo Rin rushed to give the girl a hug.

“Let go of me,” Kyu Ri said in an irritated tone.

“Kyu Ri, I’m so glad I found you,” Hyo Rin let go of the girl and smiled brightly at her.

“I’m fine,” Kyu Ri said quietly.

“Now listen, what Min Hyuk said - don’t take it to the heart. He just cares about you. You know he does; in an annoying way,” Hyo Rin said while smiling. Kyu Ri didn’t answer at all. She just frowned and bit her lip.

“Now, come on the guys are waiting for us,” Hyo Rin ushered for the girl to hurry.

“...he’s right,” Kyu Ri murmured.

“Hmm?” Hyo Rin blinked.

“He’s right that I don’t consider them as close friends,” Kyu Ri whispered.

“Oh Kyu Ri...” Hyo Rin looked at the girl.

“Hyo Rin, you know that I’m just...unsure about it. Even though they all try their best to make me feel comfortable around them. It’s...hard for me to speak about my past to them,” Kyu Ri said.

“It’s alright though Kyu Ri. They are your friends and I am sure that they don’t care about what happened. They care about you and they just want you to be happy. You don’t need to tell them about your past now,” Hyo Rin nodded at her.

“...I know but...I want to tell them about my past. I just don’t know how to phrase it. They’ve been here for us for four years now. When Min Hyuk said that, he was right but my stubbornness got the best of me and I accidentally said that,” Kyu Ri stated.

“Oh Kyu Ri, I’m so touched by this,” Hyo Rin looked at her with sparkling eyes.

Kyu Ri slightly blushed and looked away. “I should apologize to Min Hyuk...” Kyu Ri said.

“That would be the first step to being more opened! I’m pretty sure if you smile as well, you’ll make Min Hyuk happy and blush. Now speaking of you smiling...you haven’t smiled in a while,” Hyo Rin giggled.

“If I smile...I will kill someone, apologizing to Min Hyuk is enough. If I smile, I will commit suicide,” Kyu Ri grumpily commented.

“Aww, please smile and make him happy. I’m sure he is distress about this argument as well. You know you have a smile that will light up the entire earth!” Hyo Rin spread her arms out wide.

“You can smile for me Hyo Rin. You have a smile that captures everyone’s hearts,” Kyu Ri sighed.

“Noooo! The smile needs to come from you! You’ve never shown anyone besides me a smile!” Hyo Rin grinned brightly.

“Heh, you are really persistent,” Kyu Ri showed a small smile to her friend.

“Now there you go! My Kyu Kyu is so cute!” Hyo Rin cooed.

“And enough of that,” Kyu Ri looked away.

---

“...I’m sorry,” The girl murmured.

“W-what?” The boy blinked and stuttered.

“...I’m sorry for the way that I acted. I-I didn’t mean to sound rude and harsh to you,”  Kyu Ri said.

“K-Kyu Ri...” Min Hyuk’s eyes were wide.

“It’s hard for me to open up but...I’m trying hard to let you and the guys in,” Kyu Ri slowly formed the words.

“Kyu Ri...” Min Hyuk’s eyes soften.

“W-what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry and...let’s hang out after school tomorrow,” Kyu Ri stuttered lightly.

“O-oh okay!” Min Hyuk nodded.

“Mmm...thank you Min Hyuk,” With that said, Kyu Ri showed Min Hyuk a small and beautiful smile.

---

Seunii's Love Note: and here's chapter 2 :3