As the weather grows warmer, Jinri settles herself more comfortably in the little niche Himchan has helped her carve out for herself. With the exception of Yongguk, she is quickly coming to regard all of the B.A.P. boys as her friends. And, since she ignores Yongguk more often than not, it’s not too bad of an arrangement.

For the first time in what seems like years, Jinri isn’t a problem student at school. Though her grades aren’t exactly the best, she’s not at the bottom percentile of her class and, more importantly, she’s not really getting into fights since she hasn’t tried to steal anybody’s boyfriend since transferring in.

Her mother is awake one morning when she comes down with Jinah on her hip, settling the toddler into her booster seat and going in search of cereal or some fruit to cut up for the little girl.

Mrs. Kwang stares at Jinri over the top of her coffee cup for a long moment, as if trying to figure out why something seems off. Then she says, “What are you wearing?”

Jinri looks down at her pleated skirt and blouse. “My school uniform,” she replies in a snarky voice. It’s pretty obvious what she’s wearing.

Her mother shakes her head. “You didn’t wear that to school yesterday.”

Jinri sighs and sets a bowl of oatmeal in front of Jinah before going to slice up a banana. “That’s because we’ve switched to summer uniforms. We can’t wear the winter ones all year round, you know.”

Mrs. Kwang is silent for a moment more, then she asks, “How long have you been at this school now?” 

Jinri shrugs, placing the slices of banana in Jinah’s oatmeal. “I don’t know. A couple months, I guess.”

“And I haven’t gotten any phone calls from the school about bad behavior.” Mrs. Kwang sounds suspicious. “Is there something going on?”

Jinri rolls her eyes, grabbing her bag from a chair and shrugging into it. “Don’t be stupid. I just like this school.” And with that she storms from the house to catch the train to school.

The truth is, Jinri could care less about her school. A school is a school, in her opinion, and she honestly hates them all. What use is she going to have for algorithms and diagramming sentences in the real world? What she does like, however, is having friends. And she’s come far enough to admit that Himchan and the others are friends.

As if to prove her point, Youngjae grins when she slides into her seat at the desk beside him and offers her an orange. “I figured you wouldn’t have a chance to eat breakfast this morning,” he says by way of explanation. Though she never really elaborates on it, the boys know through Himchan that her mornings are usually hectic because of the baby. Youngjae is predictably a gentleman and likes to make sure that she eats.

She smiles and takes the orange. “Thanks, Youngjae. I’m starving.” One of the B.A.P.’s fangirls is sitting in the front row and glaring at Jinri, but she hardly notices these days.

Mrs. Chae, their homeroom teacher, claps her hands for attention. “Alright class, since we’re wrapping up our unit on the proto-three kingdoms of Korea, we’re going to finish up with a final project. For this project, you’re going to split into pairs. There are an uneven number of students in this class, so one group will have three people. If you can’t comfortably split yourselves up into groups, I will assign them.”

Jinri’s stomach drops all the way to her toes. She hates group projects more than anything in school. Mostly because no one ever wants to be her partner. In all of her previous schools, she’s used to people snickering and whispering behind their hands and refusing to be partners even when she manages to ask. It always ends with the teacher assigning her to be with another student that doesn’t seem to have any friends, like the one time she was paired with the girl who had a perpetually snotty nose and another time when she got stuck with a boy who was so worried about his grades that he hadn’t even heard the rumors about Jinri that were circulating the school.

This time is different, though. Almost as soon as Mrs. Chae finished speaking, Youngjae leans over and says, “Do you want to be partners?”

Jinri stares at him for a long moment, chewing on the end of her pencil. “Are you being serious?” she demands. She really shouldn’t be so suspicious, she knows, but, with her track record, no one can really blame her.

Youngjae chuckles. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t serious, Jinri.”

“I’m not very good at stuff like this,” she admits. “I can’t promise that we’ll get a good grade.”

“I’m smart enough for the both of us,” he assures her, and somehow it’s not cocky at all when he says it. “Besides, grades aren’t everything. I think we’ll have a fun time if we’re partners. You already come over to my house often anyway.”

Jinri bites back the smile that tries to take over her face. So this is what having friends is like. “Okay then,” she agrees, and she holds out her hand so they can shake on it.

“Youngjae-ssi,” a polite, pretty voice interrupts them, and they both look up.

Though Jinri has never spoken to or been introduced to the girl, she knows who she is. Kwon Yuna, one of the prettiest and best-liked girls. Not just in their class, but in the entire school. She’s not a fangirl as far as Jinri knows, but she’s popular and would be a good match for any one of the B.A.P. boys – except for Yongguk, because Jinri’s not sure that anyone one be suitable to be his girlfriend.

“Ah, Yuna-ssi,” Youngjae smiles at her politely. “Do you need something?”

She blushes prettily, exuding an innocence that annoys Jinri for some reason – probably because she could never imitate it. It seems like she’s never been innocent in her entire life, not even as a child. “I was wondering if you’d like to be partners with me for the project?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, but I’m already partners with Jinri,” he declines politely. “Perhaps next time we can work together.”

Yuna tries to hold it together, but it’s obvious she’s upset. Her lower lip is close to trembling. “Ah, okay. Sorry to bother you then.” And she bows and returns to her seat at the front of the classroom.

“You could’ve been partners with her,” Jinri says, resting her elbows on the desk. “She’ll probably get you a better grade, you know.”

“I already told you I don’t care about the grades,” Youngjae laughs, tossing her another orange. “Besides, I think we’ll have a fun time. If we work on the project at my house, you have to be sure to bring Jinah. My mom talks about her all the time. If you bring her by for a bit, she’ll be sure to spoil her.”

Jinri laughs, but it’s a little forced. “Well, I’ll probably have to. I can never seem to find a babysitter when I need one.”

Though Jinri is glad for once that she has a partner for a class project without having the teacher assign it, she does feel sort of bad for Yuna. Yuna is perhaps one of the only girls in school Jinri doesn’t really have a problem with, and, unlike the simpering, whining B.A.P. fangirls that usually hang around, she seems pretty genuine and she seems to really like Youngjae.

“Quit worrying about it,” Himchan tells her with a roll of his eye while they’re getting lunch together in the cafeteria. “Since when do you care about other people’s feelings, huh? What happened to that ferocious girl I met that night in the club?”

“She got friends and started feeling human emotions,” Jinri mutters sarcastically, earning herself a laugh. “Seriously, though, I’m used to being assigned crappy partners on school projects because nobody wants to be with me. I don’t think a girl like Yuna has the disposition to handle it.”

Again, Himchan rolls his eyes. “She’s not going to be assigned a partner. Everyone in that class would be beside themselves to be partners with her. You really don’t have to worry.” Then he grins and ruffles her hair. “You’re going soft on me, Jinri.”

She quickly jerks away, wrinkling her nose at him. “No way, not me. I’m still tough as nails. And I can kick your to prove it, if you need me to.”

He shakes his head, grinning. “No thanks. I believe you.”

The matter of project partners has all but slipped Jinri’s mind by the time afternoon classes roll around. She’s too busy trying to catch up on the math homework she hadn’t done the night before.

She’s grateful when the bell rings to signal afternoon break. She tosses down her pencil and gives her aching hand a shake. “I’m going to go get a drink from the vending machine,” she says, standing up and stretching.

“Ooh, get me something too,” Youngjae commands. “I want a milky coffee, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She accepts the money he shoves into her outstretched hand and goes to the grouping of vending machines at the far end of the mathematics wing.

Jinri purses her lips as she peruses the menu, selecting first a milky coffee for Youngjae and then a chai tea for herself. She’s waiting for the drinks to finish when she’s cornered by a handful of the fangirls from her homeroom.

“Yah, !” one of them calls nastily.

Jinri rolls her eyes and turns around to face them. There are four of them, with Kwon Yuna hovering anxiously in the background. They’ve got their arms crossed, annoyed and smug expressions on their faces.

“I assume you’re talking to me?” Jinri doesn’t get mad. Though it’s true that she hasn’t been sleeping around as of late, she has a reputation that can’t be denied.

The first girl sneers, eyes narrowing to nothing but slits. “Who else would we be talking to? You’re practically a billboard for STDs and unwed parenting.”

Jinri snorts. At least their insults are getting a bit better. “If you’ve got something to say, then say it. I don’t have all day.”

“Stay away from Youngjae-oppa,” the second fangirl demands, tapping her foot impatiently. “He’s way out of your league and you just look pathetic throwing yourself at him.”

Jinri doesn’t want to admit how much something like that hurts her. Reputation or not, she’s a proud girl. “For your information, I didn’t ask Youngjae to be my partner. He asked me. And, if you really want to know, Youngjae and I are very close.”

“As if,” the third girl snarls, seeming to take Jinri’s boasting as a personal insult. “Youngjae would never even look twice at a disgusting like you.”

Jinri can’t stop herself. “Oh yeah? Well I’ve been to his house. Several times, actually. You can ask his mother. I’ve been inside his room. I’ve laid on his bed. I can even tell you what kind of underwear he wears. So this disgusting little , as you say, has a better relationship with your oppa than you’ll ever have.”

The first girl’s lip quivers – though out of anger, Jinri is sure, rather than sadness. “You take that back, you filthy lying !” she shouts.

Jinri’s not really sure how it happens, but suddenly the girl’s fist is tangled in her long hair and it feels like her hair is being pulled out by the roots. So she reacts without even thinking: she throws a reckless punch. Jinri’s got some experience fighting – what with all the boyfriend-stealing, she’s had to defend herself on more than one occasion – and she lands the punch quite accurately. The girl stumbles back with a bloody nose and all hell breaks loose.

The other two fangirls launch themselves at Jinri with shrieks like wild animals. They’re fairly inefficient when it comes to fighting, mostly slapping and scratching with their fingernails, but it’s still two against one. Then the first fangirl joins the fray, bloody nose or not, and it’s a free-for-all in the hallway, with Yuna standing behind them and screaming for everyone to just stop.

It’s over before it really begins. Youngjae appears out of nowhere and grabs Jinri back by the waist. Other students from their homeroom drag the fangirls off, and their science teacher appears, red-faced and furious.

“What is going on here?” he demands, voice booming around the suddenly-silent corridor. It seems like their entire class has come to see the spectacle.

Enraged, Jinri wipes blood from her split lip. “They just attacked me!” she exclaims indignantly.

The first fangirl struggles against the guy who holds her, face caked with blood from her injured nose. “Because you were saying such nasty things about oppa! You’re a liar and a ! You should just go die!” she screams.

“You!” the teacher snaps. “Go the principal’s office right away! All four of you! Now!”

The first fangirl blubbers through her bloody nose. “But I’m injured! I need to see the nurse first!”

“Go!” the teacher shouts, furious. “Right now!”

Youngjae gives Jinri a sympathetic look, but she has no choice but to follow the teacher and the three fangirls to the principal’s office, where she receives her first suspension since transferring schools.

“But it’s not my fault!” she exclaims, hurt by the injustice of it all. “I wasn’t doing anything! They just attacked me!”

The principal looks pointedly at the first fangirl’s bloody nose. “It seems you are not all that innocent in this matter, Ms. Ha,” he says. “The suspension stands. I will not tolerate brawling in my school. You may return to classes on Monday.”

Cursing, Jinri storms out of the office. 

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update this. Things get really hectic when you move to the other side of the world OTL but now I am officially living in Korea and it's amazing here. So, as I get more settled in, hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly again. Thanks for  being patient!

Also, I get to go see BAP again next weekend! I'm so so so excited! ^^