Lili sighed and walked out of the classroom. She felt exhausted; it had been a long day with meeting all of those boys. Well, all except one.

“Watch out!”

Lili looked just in time to see something - someone? - zooming straight at her. She flattened herself along the wall, eyes wide, life flashing before her eyes.

The blur skidded to a stop just a foot away from her. It was a red-haired boy on a skateboard. He approached her cautiously. “I’m sorry! Are you hurt?”

Lili put a hand to her heart, feeling it beat erratically. She took a few deep breaths before looking up and then losing her breath.

He was beautiful. She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed before, but if BamBam was definition of cute, this boy would be the face listed under the word “flawless” in the dictionary.

His eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh, you’re that girl who ran away from Jackson! BamBam said you played our song after only hearing it once! Lili, right?”

She blushed, nodding, and he smiled.

“I’m Mark. You’ve met the others already, right?”

She nodded again.

“I hope you’re not too overwhelmed.” He leaned in closer and she involuntarily caught her breath. “Don’t tell them, but even I get tired of their energy sometimes.” He pulled back and laughed, and she released a big breath. “So what do you think of them?”

“Hm? Oh! Well, they’re...nice,” Lili said, not really sure how to describe them all. When she remembered BamBam again, she blushed even harder.

Mark noticed. “Did something happen? Did one of them do something to you?”

She shook her head quickly. “No, no! Not really...I mean...I’m probably just being sensitive. I’m not a very touchy person, that’s all.”

He raised his eyebrows at her.

She gave in. “No it’s just, BamBam hugged me. And I know, you guys all think Americans are used to touching each other all the time, but we’re actually not like that.”

“Well, if they eve do something to you, you can always tell me. I’m the oldest hyung so they’ll listen.” He grinned charismatically.

She nodded with a shy smile.

Then something seemed to click. “Wait, you’re from America?”

“BamBam didn’t tell you?”

“No! Wow, that’s awesome, me too!”

She smiled in surprise. “Really? What a coincidence.”

Something caught her eye and she glanced to the side to find all the girls glaring and whispering. But she could hear everything.

“Who is she?”

“Why is she talking to our Mark-oppa?”

“Is she even in the same grade?”

“She’s not even pretty!”

Lili wanted to scoff and roll her eyes but her parents had always told her not to be openly rude so she didn’t. Those girls were so pathetic if they thought they could hurt her with their lame, insecure insults.

“Looks like you’re pretty popular,” she observed, turning back to Mark. “Well, I should go before your fangirls kill me.” She smiled and left before Mark could react.

He smirked and said to himself, “You’re not getting away this time.” He dropped his skateboard and jumped on, speeding after her and blocking her way.

She almost tripped but managed to catch herself. She looked up ready to scold someone but found Mark grinning lopsidedly at her.

“Let me walk you home. You can tell me more about America,” he suggested eagerly. "It's been a while since I left."

“Well--”

“You can’t escape me anyway,” he interrupted. He gestured to his board. “I’ve got my wheels.”

Lili pretended to heave a sigh but secretly she was happy. He seemed to be the most normal out of all seven boys. She didn’t mind spending some time with him. “But don’t you have to go to that club place?”

He shrugged. “I can be a little late. But I can’t let a lady walk home alone. Let’s go!”

A/N: So any guesses for my bias? xD

And the story begins! Next chapter. :D

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skyblaze208, OUT!

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