“Yo.”

 

Joonmyeon looked up. Yoojin’s head was peeping out from a window.

 

“Yoojin!” Joonmyeon hurried to the window. “That’s dangerous! Get down! We’ve only been here for 2 weeks, and you’re already going to get yourself in trouble!”

 

A smirk tugged at Yoojin’s lips. “Okay,” she said, and without warning, she flung herself down from the windowsill onto Joonmyeon. Joonmyeon toppled to the ground, Yoojin’s entire body weight on him.

 

“Ow! Yoojin! Why do you always do this?” Joonmyeon grumbled, pushing himself up.

 

Yoojin shrugged innocently. “Hey, you’re the one that told me to get down.” She leapt onto Joonmyeon’s bed and took a seat. “Wow, this bed is so high and fancy! You must feel like a king on it.”

 

“How does your bed look like?”

 

“I sleep in the garden,” Yoojin told Joonmyeon with a serious face, and cracked up at his shocked expression. “I’m kidding! My bed is nice. But not as nice as yours.”

 

“Good. I was starting to worry that your presence would kill the flowers there,” Joonmyeon teased. Yoojin huffed at him, her hands on her hips.

 

“So, how’s Kim Kai?” Yoojin abruptly asked Joonmyeon.

 

Joonmyeon uneasily scratched the back of his neck. “I think he hates Mom and me. He seems really depressed. I think it’s because his stepmother died only a few months ago. But... I don’t really like him, either. You know how it is.”

 

“Yeah.” Yoojin sighed sympathetically. “It must get tiring being compared to him all the time. I can hear your mom yelling at you from the servant’s quarters about your grades and social relationships and whatnot. She sounds really stressed these days.”

 

Joonmyeon clasped his hands over Yoojin’s. “Let’s not talk about that. So you tell me. How’s school? Isn’t it exciting being around so many people?”

 

“Yeah!” Yoojin exclaimed. “It really is! Your dad is super nice for letting me go to the same school as you and Kai. Wow, everyone’s super rich. It’s a shame we aren’t in the same grade, though. Then we could maybe be in the same class! Hey, maybe be. That’s a tongue twister!”

 

Joonmyeon grinned at Yoojin as he listened to her ramble on. Her ability to talk incessantly was one of the most charming things about his best friend. She jumped from topic to topic, from the new dress her mom bought to their latest exploring adventure around the Kim estate to the delicious fettucini alfredo they ate last week at Buona Sera.

 

Therefore, the two didn’t hear the bedroom door open.

 

“What are you two doing?” Mrs. Kim demanded. Angry wrinkles crease her forehead.

 

“Y-Yoojin and I are just talking, Mom...,” Joonmyeon stuttered. He had never seen his mother wear an expression this hateful, especially one directed towards Yoojin.

 

Yoojin quickly nodded, inching towards the window. “Yeah, auntie. I’m really sorry-,”

 

“Yoojin, if you have so much free time, I have a chore for you.” Mrs. Kim pursed her lips. “The kitchen countertops need wiping. Go do that.”

 

Yoojin and Joonmyeon gaped at Mrs. Kim.

 

“S-Sorry?” Yoojin squeaked. She could’ve sworn that Mrs. Kim just commanded her to do housework. But Mrs. Kim had never done that. Maybe Yoojin and Joonmyeon misheard-

 

“Kitchen countertops. You are a maid here, Yoojin. You have to pull your weight and help you mom, okay?” Mrs. Kim gave Yoojin a smile devoid of any warmth.

 

Yoojin blinked rapidly. There was a strange lump growing in . “I- okay, Mrs. Kim. Sorry...,” Yoojin scurried out the door.

 

“Why do you look so shocked, Joonmyeon?” Mrs. Kim asked her son. “I just told her to do some housework.”

 

“Why are you acting like this?” Joonmyeon hissed. “You’re- you’re acting like a completely different person, Mom! Lately, you’ve been so rude to Yoojin, and the only thing you talk to me about is Kai! You’re so mean now! What’s wrong with you?”

 

“Don’t take that tone with me, Joonmyeon!” Mrs. Kim yelled. “I’m trying to do the best for you! It’s time you learned your place. Yoojin’s different from you. You’re the son of a prestigious businessman, and she’s a maid’s daughter. I don’t care if she’s your best friend.”

 

“Did you forget that we’ve lived with Yoojin for 7 years?” Joonmyeon hollered. “How can I just ‘forget’ about her? You’ve gone crazy!”

 

    Ms. Kim rolled her eyes and strode out of the room. Joonmyeon stomped to the door to slam it shut. As he was about to close it, however, he saw a boy standing in the corridor outside. The boy was staring at Joonmyeon, an unreadable expression in his eyes. Kim Kai.

 

    “This is all your fault,” Joonmyeon growled. “If it weren’t for you, then I wouldn’t even have to be here right now.”

 

---

    

    Something broke in Joonmyeon and Yoojin’s friendship that day. Both of them remained friends, of course. But something changed.

 

Whenever they were around each other, one of them would remember that night. Things would get awkward, and soon, either Yoojin and Joonmyeon would hurriedly dismiss themselves.

 

Middle school passed, and the two were barely hanging on to each other. Yoojin doing housework became a norm around the Kim estate.

 

 

Joonmyeon felt so embarrassed around Yoojin. He was ashamed of his mother's actions. He was ashamed of the fact that Yoojin could hear every scolding, shouting, yelling his mother gave him.

 

    To distract himself from his weakening bond with Yoojin, Joonmyeon threw himself into his studies. He wholly devoted himself to becoming better than Kai. The competition between the two grew scarily fierce. Kai and Joonmyeon could not be in the same room without a fight occurring.

 

On the other hand, Kai and Yoojin rarely saw each other; to Kai, she was just a normal maid that attended his school. He knew of the bond between his half-brother and Yoojin, but he possessed no interest in her. They exchanged the occasional greeting, but did not interact beyond that.

 

---

    

    High school was when Yoojin’s hell started.

 

    When Joonmyeon entered 9th grade, he completely stopped talking to Yoojin. He barely even saw her, even around the house. Joonmyeon was always in his room studying, or out with his friends, or with his father at an office party. Therefore, Yoojin was eager to graduate 8th grade; then, she would be able to join Joonmyeon at the high school and finally get to talk to him again.

 

    On her first day of high school, Yoojin walked into the building excited and slightly nervous. Where was Joonmyeon? She wanted to say hi to him. Suddenly, a familiar profile caught Yoojin’s attention.

 

    “Hi, Kai,” Yoojin waved. Kai looked up from his iPod.

 

    “Hi,” he replied unenthusiastically.

 

    “Uh, do you know where Joonmyeon is?” Yoojin asked hopefully. Kai shrugged and returned to his iPod.

 

    “Oh. Ok. Well, thanks. Bye!” Yoojin turned to leave. Suddenly, she heard Kai say, “Don’t.”

 

    She whirled around. Kai was looking at Yoojin, a serious expression on his face.

 

    “Don’t what?” Yoojin asked.

 

    “Don’t try to go look for him,” Kai responded quietly. “Just... go to class, Yoojin.”

 

    “But I have to say hi to him. I haven’t seen him in ages.” Yoojin sighed. “Well, see ya.”

 

    In the years that followed, Yoojin would look back and berate herself for not following Kai’s advice. Maybe then, she could have saved herself from the humiliation and pain that she was subject to her entire high school life.

 

    “Joonmyeon!” Yoojin finally spotted him. She hurried over to her friend, who was surrounded by a gang of attractive boys and girls. All of them eyed her like she was a piece of muck on the bottom of their designer shoes. “Hi, Joonmyeon! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

 

    “Do you know her, Suho?” a doe-eyed boy next to Joonmyeon chortled.

 

    A tall, slender girl wearing sheer pink lip gloss eyed Yoojin disdainfully. “Who is she? A scholarship kid?”

 

    Yoojin ignored the taunting gibes and focused on Joonmyeon. He was staring at her coolly, a detached expression on his face.

 

    “Joonmyeon? Hello?” Yoojin tilted her head. “I know you haven’t seen me in, like, months, but you’ve got to remember me.”

 

    “Sorry,” Joonmyeon said in an aloof voice, smirking, “but I wouldn’t be acquainted with poor ugly freshmen like you.”

 

    And as everyone in the surrounding vicinity was laughing and guffawing and jeering at Yoojin, her heart was breaking.

 

---

 

    Yoojin would come to know the people surrounding Joonmyeon very well. There was Kyungsoo, Tao, Taemin, Baekhyun, Minho, Sulli, Krystal, Seohyun, and more. All of them would bully Yoojin daily, doing everything from dumping the contents of her bag into the toilet to scribbling graffiti all over her locker to physically harming her.

 

Yoojin was terrified of them. Every time she even saw their names, a choked feeling would overtake her senses and she would scramble away.

 

    But the part that caused Yoojin the most pain was that Joonmyeon was a part of her tormentors.

 

    He would be the one who conducted most of the “pranks”, he would be the first one to laugh, he would be the one that stuck his face in Yoojin’s and called her a “poor, worthless loser”. And the mistreatment didn’t stop at school: Joonmyeon used Yoojin as his personal slave, doing everything from his homework to his dinner to serving as entertainment when his friends came over.

 

    After a while, Joonmyeon became numb to the cruelty and pure horror of his own actions towards Yoojin. It was like a routine to him.

 

His mother certainly wanted him to act his class, so he was. Society expected certain things with him, and being friends with a nobody wasn’t one of those things. His friends cheered him on, applauded him every time he thought of a new prank.

 

It was his source of satisfaction, the only thing in his life which would be appreciated straightforwardly. It was the only thing he felt in control of, with his mother imposing new commands on him daily and his father fluctuating between him and Kai on an unpredictable basis.

 

So Joonmyeon continued his harassment of Yoojin.

 

But sometimes, Kai would shoot him and his friends deathly glares every time they would try to mess with Yoojin.

 

Sometimes, Joonmyeon found something that reminded him of Yoojin’s smile, the smile that had disappeared early during freshman year and had not been seen since.

 

    Sometimes Joonmyeon would hear quiet sobs late in the night.

 

    And he nearly died of shame.

 

---

 

    It all ended a few years later, however. Yoojin came home one day with bruises on her face and arms (courtesy of Lizzie and Hyera). Shocked, her mother demanded to know what had occurred. Yoojin let everything slip.

 

The next day, Mrs. Lee furiously resigned, cursing Mrs. Kim, and moved to another school in another city.

 

    “All those years of friendship, and your son couldn’t help but abuse Yoojin,” Mrs. Lee spat. “And you couldn’t help but treat us both like , too. When you crash and burn, Soo Jin, I hope you look back and remember us. Karma comes back.”

 

    Then Mrs. Lee stormed out, Yoojin close behind her. Neither of them looked back.

 

    Joonmyeon cried the day Yoojin left.

---

A/N: THIS WAS THE LAST OF THE FLASHBACKS! I'll update tomorrow (or maybe in like 20 minutes)!

So now you know Joonmyeon and Yoojin's backstory... do you sympathize with Joonmyeon a little more now? He's still an , but now you can see all the crap and pressure and horrible influences and was under. AND HIS MOTHER OH MY GOD THAT WOMAN TURNED EVIL