The next morning I was thinking about taking an apple and some graham crackers to school for lunch when my mom walked into the kitchen, heading for the coffee pot.

“You’re awake earlier than usual,” she noted, filling a mug.

Yawning as I turned to face her, I shrugged. Truth was that I hadn’t been able to sleep too well and when I had woke up an hour earlier than usual, I took advantage of the extra time and covered my dark circles along with fixing my hair out of my eyes.

“Do you want me to make you some lunch?” Mom offered, leaning against the counter as she mixed cream into her coffee.

Grabbing an apple, I placed on the outside pocket of my backpack. “It’s okay. I may buy something at school,” I fibbed, slinging the bag over my shoulder.

Mom eyed me for a moment. “Eunhui, is everything okay?”

For some reason, those words made the blood drain from my face. I tried to mask my uneasiness when I looked at her.

“Why?” was all I produced. Dead giveaway. Mom frowned and placed her mug aside.

“You’ve been a bit out of it for a while now. I know teenagers get a bit weird but, Eunhui, you don’t even act like the same person. Is it that boy?”

I knew my expression gave me away even more but I shook my head in denial. “No.” Trying to get away from the conversation, I started for the door.

“Eunhui, if that boy is doing something to you, you need to speak up,” she told me, following behind me.

There was a moment of pause where I almost snapped: I’ve told you and you’ve done nothing. But I took a deep breath and faced her.

“I’m still Eunhui,” I said. A sigh left me when tears stung the backs of my eyes. “I don’t think it’s something you can help with now, though.” I could’ve said more but I held back. For a split second, I considered that if I told her about Sehun’s home life that maybe something could be done, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Something held me back.

“I need to go. Love you.” With that, I left.

The door reopened before I was even to the gate. “You need an umbrella; it’s supposed to rain,” Mom said, holding out a red one. "And I'll be taking you to get your cast off after school."

I looked up at the partly cloudy sky for a moment before walking back and taking the umbrella. It never rained, however. It was sunny enough for me to spend lunch outside in the quad, munching on my apple half heartedly.

I was too tired to be up walking around. Tired enough to doze off in math and get knocked on the head with a pencil by the teacher.

It did get cloudier and I thought I would need the umbrella on the way home, but the only time it seemed to be even a small bit useful was when Tao started a loud conversation about turtlenecks in the hallway. I saw Sehun eyeing it and I hastily put it away inside my locker before taking off without a word. He had said he would see me tomorrow but that apparently didn’t mean he’d speak. Because he didn’t.

Not even the next day. Sehun didn’t speak and the umbrella was useless once again. I did happen upon Luhan and Taeyeon going to the canteen together during lunch and ended up taking a detour into the nearest room (the office), which left me standing before Kim Junmyeon.

“Hello,” he said, pleasantly surprised, when I stepped into the office and closed the door swiftly.

Letting out the breath I had been holding, I nodded at him. It had been a while since I had last spoken to him, the night he locked me and Sehun in the principal’s office to be exact.

“Hi.”

He handed over a stack of papers to the receptionist and came over to where I stood by the door.

“Can I help you with anything?” he asked, resting his hands in his pockets.

“Nope. I’m good.” I gave him a tight smile, rocking back on my heels.

He narrowed his eyes. “How are things?”

“Great.”

“Who are you hiding from?”

“Who says I’m hiding?”

“No one called you into the office and you’ve learned your lesson on reporting people so I can only assume you’re here for something else. Unless you’ve decided to transfer.” He stepped to the side. “In that case, I could help you with your transcripts.”

I pretended to consider it. “As tempting as that sounds, I am only hiding from something that starts with a Lu and ends with a Yeon and I’m pretty sure they’re gone now. Nice talking to you