On the first day of school...

It was during the third period class when Luhan first interacted with the three shady boys, Xiumin, Chen, Lay. He just had lunch with the three, and so far, they treated him nicely and with great respect. Luhan began to feel slightly guilty for getting Tao, their friend, suspended. When the bell rang, Luhan entered the classroom only to find the desks were filled with students, reading, writing, newcomers, and even some familiar faces.

Xiumin waved to him and pointed to the empty seat beside him. As soon as Luhan sat down and organized his things, Xiumin, who sat to the left of him, scooched closer.

"Luhan," the older boy called out.

Luhan turned to him and looked at him awkwardly, "what's up?"

Xiumin grinned. "You like someone, right?"

Luhan choked on air. "How do you know?"

"I also know that you are having trouble getting that girl," Xiumin said with a mischievous smile. Luhan was surprised by his words. Xiumin continued, "Your attitude towards me and my friend changed after Lay told you that if you hung out with us, you could get whatever girl you want," he said was a smirk.

Luhan was speechless for a moment and he slowly nodded. Xiumin smiled and held out a hand for Luhan to shake, Luhan hesitantly took it.

That was the beginning of a forged friendship that slowly became real.

~~~~

I threw the piece of wet cloth on the table before taking a seat to catch my breath. Looking around at the sparkling clean classroom, I let out a sigh and decided to take my leave. Today was Tuesday, and here I was, after school, cleaning out the entire classroom all by myself. Why was I there, you ask? Well, Mr. Shin, my homeroom teacher, gave me cleaning duties every day for the next two weeks since I missed the evaluation last week.

I looked up at the clock and it was already six o'clock. I packed up my things and walked out of the classroom. When I passed by the office, Mr. Shin gave me permission to leave and I did.

When I arrived home to find the pink head sitting on the couch eating popcorn, I wanted to kick him in the balls so hard he would never have children. It just wasn't fair. He was the one who made me skip class, yet I had detention and he didn't? I glared at him and threw my backpack down hard, not caring what happened to the contents.

Luhan the pink head looked at me and stood up. "Why are you home late, Mi-hyun?"

I ignored his words and proceeded to go upstairs. But when I felt his hand on my waist, I stopped and turned to him. "Where do you think you are touching?" I questioned and shoved his hand away.

"I'm not touching anywhere private," Luhan replied and threw me a cheeky smile.

"Stay away from me, and don't you dare touch me anywhere," I spat and walked away.

"Mi-hyun, you have dust on your pants!"

"Whose fault do you think it is?" I shot back.

"What happened? Where were you?" Luhan didn't reply but questioned me.

My mood was terrible, I told him to kindly ‘ off’ and walked up the stairs, heading straight for my room. I shut the door behind me. When I sat down on my comfortable chair, I closed my eyes to relax, but only to be disturbed by the knocking on my bedroom door. I groaned. "Who is it?"

"It's me, can I come in?" Luhan's clear voice rang.

"No, go away."

The door was pushed open and the boy stepped inside.

I looked up and glared at my brother, ready to throw the nearest object at him. "Are you going deaf now?"

Luhan had a frown on his face. "No, you are deaf. I asked you where you were and what you were doing. But you didn't seem to hear me."

"Ha, like you care."

Luhan went quiet for a second, "I do care... More than you think."

"Well, you don't act like it," I said and was about to shoo him out of my room when Luhan suddenly shut the door behind him. His expression was more serious than ever. He gestured for me to sit back down and I did. He pulled another chair over and also took a seat. What did he want?

"Mi-hyun, do you hate me?" Luhan asked out of nowhere. I didn't know what to say. "Mi-hyun... Listen, I'm sorry if my friends hurt you, but they aren’t bad people. They were just having their own fun, please don't hold a grudge against them."

I glared at him and then at his pink hair, "To me, it's unacceptable that you became friends with them after what they did to me. And now you are even defending them? Luhan, they broke poor, sweet, innocent Kai's arm for god's sake! (Scratch the innocent part) They got me detention. They got you scolded by my parents because of your pink hair. Luhan, they are not part of our world, they are weeds in the society. They are wild beasts left untamed. We should never interact with people like them," I threw my words at him.

Luhan looked at me as his expression darkened. "Oh, so this is what you think of me, weeds in the society? I thought we would be close, Mi-hyun, I thought you could understand me."

"I-I didn't say you were," I quickly said, unable to comprehend what he was saying.

Luhan chuckled coldly, "Yes you did. Mi-hyun, don't you realize yet? I am the exact same as them. I have no family, I have no one who truly cares for me. However, Xiumin gets it. All of them get it. That's why I feel like I fit in with them. They are as close as family."

"What are you saying? You barely know them."

"All of them are just like me, they all have family problems. Without any family, they only have each other, and that bond is unbreakable. But a bond like that can't be made with just anyone. People who are loved by others don’t, can’t understand," Luhan said.

I felt the my eyes get wet, "But I am your family, I'm your sister, my parents are your parents."

"I never saw you as my sister and I can’t see you that way. Not ever."

Still as a rock, I sat on the bed and watched Luhan leave the room. What was happening to us?

The rest of the evening was silent between Luhan and I. Luhan didn't talk much to me. He had a smile plastered over his face during dinner. He talked with my parents. He ate his food. He acted like nothing was wrong. I ignored him and did the same.

~~~~

The next morning, I decided to head to school before Luhan to avoid the awkward silence that hung between us. I arrived at school about half an hour before the bell. Mr. Shin was already in the classroom when I walked in. There were no students in the room yet. I greeted Mr. Shin and went to my seat.

After I was seated, I took out a book and was about to start reading when Mr. Shin spoke to me. "Mi-hyun, you scored well on the test. I have it all marked now, you can have it back."

I quickly stood up to grab my test. Instead of the usual strict evil glare Mr. Shin gave me, he looked gentle today. I took the test and read it over, and I got 95 percent.

"You received one of the highest marks in this class. It was unexpected for a student who skipped a class," Mr. Shin said with a slight smile in his eyes.

"Thank you Mr. Shin. But the test was a review wasn't it? We learned everything last year, " I said modestly.

Mr. Shin nodded, "That’s true, but scoring well on this test means that you've mastered everything you were taught. And that is very important when we proceed on to more complex things. Mi-hyun, was there a reason you skipped the first period class last Friday?"

"Well, I was at a friend's house and I overslept..." I lied and put on an innocent smile.

Mr. Shin nodded, "And who might that friend of yours be?"

I didn't know what to say. "It was technically my brother's friends... They played a prank on me and didn't wake me up in the morning."

"Oh, your brother is Luhan right? Boys can be troublesome sometimes. I understand now," Mr. Shin said. "By the way Mi-hyun, I would like you to clean out the classroom filing cabinet and organize all the student data today after school."

I sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Yes sir."

Before I walked back to my seat, someone walked in the door, and I jumped up in happiness.

"Good morning Mi-hyun," Sehun greeted. "Good morning Mr. Shin."

Mr. Shin nodded to the boy and gestured for him to come over, Sehun did. "Oh Sehun, you are back from the oversea trip now. There are a lot of catching up you need to do. I want you to stay after school and work on some things that the class learned when you weren't here. I'll have someone here to teach you. I think his name is Luhan, he got exceedingly good grades last year and his teacher recommended him to me."

I gasped, and Sehun did too. Why Luhan? Sehun nodded, "No problem Mr. Shin."

The empty seat beside me was finally full when Sehun sat down. It was nice to have him back by my side. I suddenly had the urge to hug him, but I didn't since it wouldn't be appropriate in class.

"Did you miss me?" Sehun turned to me and asked jokingly.

I nodded, "Of course I did. So how was the trip?"

Sehun smiled at my words. "It was very boring. I don't really like business that much, but I'm bound to be a part of it when I inherit everything."

"I see," I said and nodded. Sehun's family was wealthy, ridiculously so. His dad had his own business, and since he was the only child in the family, he had to inherit the business.

After putting his things away, Sehun turned to me and looked into my eyes. Maybe it has been too long since I had stared into his eyes, but when my gaze met his, I felt my heart flutter and my face to hot. I quickly looked away. "Mi-hyun, I over heard you when you talked to Mr. Shin, what was that about organizing the files after school?" Sehun questioned.

I sighed and pouted dramatically. "I have detention and Mr. Shin gave me cleaning duty for the week."

Sehun chuckled at my expression, "Don't be so down, you get to be together with me after school."

I was about to smile but stopped. "But with Luhan too..."

After hearing my words, his expression matched mine. He was a cute pouter. "So, why do you have detention?" Sehun asked and looked serious.

I didn't want to tell him anything. How could I possibly drag him into this mess? Now that Xiumin and his crew didn't bother me anymore, I should just quiet. But when I thought about Luhan's words toward me, I couldn't help but feel my heart shiver. "I accidentally skipped a class last week. Ha ha I overslept, you know I'm a clumsy person," I said and tried to laugh it off.

"Are you sure?" Sehun asked and stared at me as if he could see straight through me.

"Yeah I’m sure. Sure I’m clumsy!” I joked, trying to hide my lie. Then I changed the subject. “Hey Sehun, are you free this weekend? We should hang out together, it's been awhile since I've seen Suho, Baekhyun, and Kai. How is Kai? Did his arm heal yet?"

Throughout the day, I avoided Luhan and hung out with Sehun and Mina. Sehun really was a kind person, I felt as close to him as ever. However, when I tried to hide everything that's happened, Mina spoiled it for me.

When we sat at a table in the cafeteria during lunch time, I picked a spot far away from the tables where Luhan and his new friends sat.

"Mi-hyun, you didn't even text me once when I was away. I thought I told you to keep me updated on everything at school?" Sehun jokingly asked and ruffled my bangs. I shyly looked away and tried to lie.

Before I could reply, Mina spoke up. "Mi-hyun didn't have the time, she had to deal with her weird brother-" She stopped as she looked at me. I gave her a 'shut up' look and smiled awkwardly.

Sehun furrowed up his eyebrows, "What was that?"

I shook my head and chuckled dryly, "Nothing really. Trust me, nothing happened. Luhan was being stupid. There wasn't anything interesting happening so I didn't text you, ha ha..."

Sehun eyed me suspiciously but nodded.