Song suggestion: Still Alive- Big Bang

The scholarship students clasped their hands together, forming one wide line. Chorong tightly squeezed Naeun's hand and Eunji's hand before taking in a deep breath. 

"Let's march."

With united hearts, they walked past the school gates together. They promised each other to keep their heads held up high, filled with dignity.

"Heol."

"What the is going on?" 

"Why is the trash back from the dump?"

Certain students made faces of disgust, while some were just shocked and bewildered at the sight they were beholding. 

Hyuna slowly and slyly walked towards the group, as if she was expecting them. Twirling her hair with her fingers and snapping her gum, she sneered.

"Welcome back!~" She pet Chorong's head, to which Chorong quickly averted.

"Good girl, a dog always seeks their owner. See you around!" Hyuna made a dramatic hair flip, the waterfall of hair falling perfectly over her shoulders.

Naeun began to nervously fidget, and so did many others. Hyuna's ambiguous words bothered their ears. 

Chorong gave Naeun's hand a good squeeze, making eye contact with all of the others who were squirming as well. She didn't need to speak, as her eyes said it all.

"Don't be scared, be brave. We're all in this together, hwaiting."

The scholarship students traipsed to the principal's office, their footsteps growing heavy with each step until they finally arrived to the front of the office.

With steady head nods, they let go of each other's hands and entered the room one by one. Principal Kim had already been expecting them with the Vice Principal at his side.

"Ahh, well if it isn't the most talented and smartest kids this school has ever seen!" Principal Kim oddly smiled and wore a fake, toothy grin.

"Cut the crap and get on with the program. What's with the sudden nullification of the expulsion?" Namjoon glared.

The vice principal coughed. "I would appreciate it if you were more careful with your words and conduct yourself properly, student Namjoon."

Namjoon rolled his eyes.

"Well, if I have to be honest, I never knew you guys had connections. You guys look that poor and weak, yet you manage to have your own backup. Interesting, let's see how this game will play out." Principal Kim hissed.

They all stared at each other, bewildered at the sudden turn of events. Since when did we ever have connections to power? Chorong raised her brows.

"Oh, acting all innocent now? You guys are too shameless."

"As if you weren't shameless for warmly letting us come back to school just the minute before... now you utter a bunch of sh-" Naeun covered Taemin's mouth before he could swear.

"And your nice act totally deserves an Oscar award. You should have been an actor Principal Kim, you would have earned so much more power, money, and recognition. Then again, that face with that body of yours... I'm afraid viewers would curse whenver they see you on screen." Naeun laughed at her own joke, and the others snickered. She was normally a quiet girl, but when she wanted to talk, boy did she have a sharp, merciless tongue.

Principal Kim loosened his tie and snarled. "Whatever, you kids know what to do, blah blah blah. But if you guys cause any trouble ever again I swear I'll- I mean, you guys will receive your respected punishment. Dismissed." He spun his chair around with authority and waved his hand to beckon them away.

"As if you needed to tell us we're dismissed." Hoseok silently whispered to the others, and they giggled.

"No way..." Mrs. Lee's eyes widened as she saw the scholarship students disperse, her original students walking towards her classroom. 

"Mr. Kwak, I'm not seeing anything, am I? Pinch me." 

Mr. Kwak smiled widely. "They're back. They're finally back." 

With tears forming in her eyes, she nodded. "But, how?"

He groaned and knew what her response meant. "I'll go find out if I can then."

The uncomfortable glares and mysterious stares distressed the students. They had a three week break from verbal abuse central, but the words were suddenly ringing in their ears again. The noxious, indeniably inhumane words were back, and the scars that seemed to have been sealed slowly started to open back up.

The attention would always shift to the scholarship students in the class.

Just how did they come back to school? Why was the expulsion lifted? Who was behind all of this?

"It's just six more months till we graduate guys. Six." Eunji sighed as they all collected their cleaning supplies and filled up their carts.

"Don't forget that not all of us are seniors. We're going to be stuck in hell while you guys go live a life at college." Naeun glared.

", I completely forgot about that. And I was happy for a moment thinking I only had six months left as well." Hayoung blew her bangs away from her face in frustration.

A deafening silence surrounded the hallway. The bitterness suddenly swept in and took away their happy thoughts.

"You don't think they would do anything, would they? It's only been the first day since we've been back and..." Yuna hushed up, not wanting to scare herself or the others any further.

"But even if they do, we have to remember to keep our heads up. That's why we came back, isn't it? To not run away from our fears but to face them head on." Chorong patted Yuna's shoulder. "We'll be fine."

As they dispersed to their assigned halls, Chorong sensed an odd presence behind her. She abruptly turned around and was about to grab the person's arm until she looked at his face.

Chorong patted her chest, her heart beating rapidly. 

"Ow!" Suho yelped out in pain after Chorong slugged him in the arm.

"You scared me! Geez. I swear I almost had a heart attack." 

"Aish." He continued to rub his arm. "Can't you not hit me?"

Well, you should have seen that coming." She countered. "You know I get defensive in these situations."

"Good point." He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "So, how has the day been? Other than the obvious stares from the students?"

Chorong shrugged her shoulders and began to sweep the floor. "I forgot the window cleaner solution. Do you think you could grab it for me, please?"

"You said please." Suho clicked his tongue and walked off.

Chorong continued to sweep before footsteps echoed in the hallway. Well he's back fast...

A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned around, expecting it to be a joke from Suho. It wasn't.

"I heard you came crawling back for me. Well, I'm here!" Hyunseung smirked.

Chorong grabbed a hold of his hand and roughly pushed it aside, only to have him push her body against the wall.

"You know, you ruin a whole lot of for me. A mute girl's smarter than me, and my ex-girlfriend listens to her words?! I didn't know the world was ending so ing soon."

She kicked him in the shin, but he wouldn't let go of her trembling shoulders. As he spoke, his spit landed on Chorong's face, his head moving closer and closer towards her. She blew the bangs on her face with a huff and headbutted Hyunseung.

"You ing bastard. Get your hands off of her and go drink some juice if you're thirsty." Someone reached for Hyunseung's arms which still held onto Chorong, pulling them off. A thundering slap echoed through the classroom.

"Get your together, you idiot." 

Hyunseung ran his hands through his hair, shouting like a madman. He was acting even worse than usual, kicking and pushing the chairs and desks out of inexplicable rage. 

"Thanks." Chorong wrote onto her notepad, relieved once the crazy bastard had left.

"Who said I was helping you? All I was doing was giving the little drama queen what he deserves. , he's been ticked off since our breakup." Hyuna muttered. "But don't think my game's over with you either."

She walked up to Chorong and mockingly pushed her head. "I'm not done with you yet."

"I reckon you've softened up a bit." Chorong smirked. "You just don't want to admit that you're-"

"YOU, just shut up. Just stop. You've been a bother to me since the day we first met." Hyuna precipitously turned around and walked away before stopping at the door. Without turning around to face Chorong, she began to speak.

"But you know what? You were right about one thing: I deserved better than that douchebag. I'm glad I dumped his ." 

"Good to hear." Chorong smiled gently, careful not to agitate Hyuna as her body was now fully turned around. But Hyuna unknowingly smiled back before running into a hypervenilating Suho.

"What the hell happened?" Suho's eyes frantically wandered around the classroom as he saw the mess of chairs and desks. He looked at Chorong and scanned her up and down to make sure she was okay, looking into her eyes for answers.

She shook her head and put a finger to her lips. Let her be.

He blew a huge sigh of relief and understood, nodding his head.

Without a word, the two began to stand the chairs back upright and they organized the desks back to their original positions.

"You know, I almost thought for a moment that Hyuna's smile was one of the devil. But in that moment, it seemed like she was truly smiling with joy. It was bright."

Chorong felt a tug at the corner of her lips, but she bit her lip to prevent a smile. So you haven't completely let hate take over you...

However, Suho noticed how awkward Chorong's lips were with the way she was biting them.

"What's up with Hyuna always against you anyways? It seems like you know each other pretty well."

Chorong frowned and picked up a cloth to wipe down the windows. However, they were extremely dusty having not been cleaned for three weeks. Before wiping the dust off, she used it to her advantage. Suho watched in amusement as she began to use her finger to write on the dirty windows.

"To her, I'm an enemy. She hates me and I apparently ruined her life so she wants to equally return the favor with, quote and quote, hell."

"That's it?"

"That's it. Some things are better kept simple... and there are many things better left unsaid."

And with that, Chorong erased the writings on the windows.

Chorong kept a smile on her face for what seemed like hours. After all of her friends reported that nothing happened to them, she was hopeful that maybe the bullying had stopped. No more bullying meant no more mistreatment from the school. And that meant no more dealing with unfair authority.

"Look." Suho pointed up. The twinkling stars prevented darkness from completely consuming the sky.

"Prettier than those glow stars for sure." Chorong joked.

"Hey, I'm hurt." Suho pouted.

"I was just kidding."

"When did you get a sense of humor?"

Unamused, Chorong glared at Suho and wrote, "I can be funny on paper if I want... Truthfully, those glow in the dark stars are perfect for day and night."

Suho smiled at the compliment before noticing that the notebook and pen she was using were the ones he had gifted her as well. Her hair wasn't tied up though, it was cold and she needed her hair down for her ears and neck to stay warm.

"You know those paper stars you gave me?"

"Yeah... what about them?" Chorong paused for a moment before scanning the innocently clueless look on Suho's face. "You still haven't figured it out? Maybe it's just not the right timing then..."

Suho sulked. "Well, maybe you could give me a tiny hint?"

"No. Fate will establish itself at the right time. Who knows, maybe it'll be helpful when you need it most."

As they continued walking, Chorong started up a new conversation this time around.

"You know, I think I've learned how to read you like how you read me."

"Really now, how?"

Chorong sighed before honestly writing, "It always seems like there's something bothering you, and it bugs me because I don't know what it could be. You look happy, but something's always off. Unless that is all in my head."

Suho stopped dead in his tracks, forcing Chorong to stop as well.

"I guess I hit the bullseye. The only thing I could think of was the fact that you said only your dad was waiting for you on Christmas..." 

"Maybe, just maybe I'll tell you next time." He slipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out a post it. 

He smoothly pasted the sticky part onto Chorong's notepad. It was the exact same post it Chorong had left on her door after dinner with the Jungs.

"You'll eventually learn everything. It will all take time." Chorong looked at the sticky note in surprise but understood that he didn't want to be questioned any further.

Damn she's sharp. Suho sighed and they dragged their feet onwards.

After a while, Suho felt a bit bad for having stopped the conversation. Before he spoke up, he felt a tug on his arm.

"Can I ask you something?" Chorong seemed a bit wary and fidgety asking the question.

"Um, yeah. What is it?"

"... EXO-K didn't have anything to do with the lifting of our expulsion right? It was odd. Principal Kim accused us of having some sort of connections, so the closest thing to power I could think of was you six."

Suho wrinkled his forehead. "That's weird. As far as I know, none of us pulled any strings."

"I wonder who did it then." Chorong sighed, but her heart felt a bit lighter knowing that EXO-K weren't the ones who took on the burden of the students' expulsions. 

"Good night, Chorong."

"Good night Suho."

Chorong waved goodbye until he disappeared from her sight. Closing the door behind her, she plopped onto her bed, staring at the sticky note he had kept and given back.

I guess everyone has secrets they are uncomfortable with revealing. Never in a million years would I think a person like Joon Myun would have problems, ever. You really can't judge a book by its cover.

A/N: The main question here: Why was the expulsion lifted... more importantly, who lifted it?

upvote, subscribe, and please keep the comments coming! they encourage me a good deal! ^^

1/2/15 update: happy new year! *wink*