When Piper arrived at her first period classroom, she made a beeline for Eun Sang, already seated at her desk.

“Hyo Shin wanted me to remind you that he’s going to be absent today,” Piper informed her. “Bo Na knows too, right?”

“Oh,” Eun Sang nodded, “but he didn’t tell us why.”

Piper shrugged, “College stuff.”

Eun Sang nodded again in understanding as Piper took her seat. The other students filed into the classroom, chattering to each other. Young Do came sauntering in, pausing slightly when he saw Piper already seated in the desk in front of his. He quickly regained his composure and breezed past her.

“Let’s pretend yesterday’s conversation never happened,” Piper whispered, barely turning her head to Young Do.

He was silent, and she figured he was back to ignoring her. Their new teacher, a pretty young woman, strode in and stood facing them at the front of the classroom.

“I heard that you discriminate each other by money.” She began. “So, I’m going to do the same to you by your grades. There are two kinds of students for me. Smart students and bad students.” She looked to the back of the classroom and noticed Young Do wasn’t paying attention, instead playing with his phone. “Over there with the raised eyebrows! Put your phone away and you put your eyebrows down.”

There was a small smattering of laughter, the students enjoying Young Do being taken down a peg.

“Who’s the smartest student here?” She went on as Young Do tossed his phone onto his desk.

“Him.” The student behind Chan Young pointed out.

“Your name?” She asked.

“Yoon Chan Young ma’am.” Chan Young answered.

“There are two kinds of students in this class room.” Their teacher addressed the class once more. “Yoon Chan Young and the rest of you. Open your textbooks.”

Eun Sang and Piper traded secret smiles – this new teacher was definitely going to become their favorite.

///

Hyo Shin was already in his room when the twins came home; he had even picked Prosper up from school which surprised them. Piper poked her head through the door and saw him lying on the bed, looking utterly torn and tired.

“Should I even ask how it went?” She wondered hesitantly. He blew out a heavy puff of breath, and she smiled sadly. “Do you want to take your mind off of it?”

He turned his head to her, interest sparked behind his eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

Horror films – the kind the Eun Sang was fond of – the kind where Piper and Hyo Shin found themselves having to turn away from the screen in the media room, or hide themselves under pillows, or groan loudly upon someone’s brutal death. They lost count of how many they had watched, and yet they still pressed onward.

Piper’s phone rang in the middle of a tense moment, causing both her and Hyo Shin to jump and squeak in surprise. She looked at the caller ID in confusion, seeing Choi Young Do’s name lit up on the screen.

“Hello?” She answered, wondering why he had called her. He never called her.

“Would you turn your back on me for good if I picked you second again?” He questioned, his voice sounding funny.

“Um, this isn’t really a good time,” Piper stumbled, looking anxiously between the screen and her friend sitting next to her.

“Come outside,” he instructed, and hung up the call.

Piper stuttered, unable to comprehend what he meant. “Hang on a sec,” she told Hyo Shin, getting off the couch and making her way to the front door.

She was startled to see Young Do leaning against his motorcycle in her driveway, his eyes yet again rimmed red. She quietly closed the door behind her, cautiously stepping towards him.

“She rejected me cleanly…Eun Sang did.” He spoke with a wavering voice. Piper had never seen him like this, and it scared her. “Do you feel sorry for me?” He asked, noticing her expression. “You said you wanted my humanity; I can’t be bothered to hide it right now.”

“Wh – why are you at my house?” Piper found her words. “Why come here?”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I just know that with Eun Sang, I never wanted to show her too much because I didn’t want to be rejected. Now I have.” He cleared his throat, looking away as tear started to spring up. “Even though you say some pretty cutting things, you also sometimes say things that make me feel better about myself. I wonder, can you say those things now?”

Piper was floored. She had no idea how to respond. She had no idea what had gone on in Young Do’s mind after Eun Sang had rejected him, and she was too stunned to realized that this was his way of giving her a chance. Young Do was a heartbroken boy looking for a kind word – an emotional rebound of sorts – and Piper couldn’t figure it out.

The front door opened as Hyo Shin walked out, “Piper-ah, what’s taking so long?”

His question trailed off as he saw Young Do there, subtly flinching at the mess he had inadvertently made. Piper’s eyes widened, even more at a loss for words than she had been before. The air was tense, heavy, and uncomfortable.

Young Do scoffed, breaking the silence. “Two in one night,” he muttered faintly, stuffing on his helmet and making a hasty exit on his motorbike.

“I’m really sorry, Piper,” Hyo Shin apologized hurriedly. “I’ve just made things really bad, haven’t I?”

“He won’t do anything to you because you’re his Sunbae,” Piper informed him, looking off at the path Young Do had taken. “But don’t I think I’m as safe.”

///

“Ah, ah, mic testing, one, two, three.” Choi Young Do’s voice came over the PA system the next day at school.

Piper squeezed her eyes together and banged her forehead against the open door of her locker. She expected some kind of torment, but she never expected it to be done this way. She wondered where Hyo Shin was. Had Young Do locked him in a closet somewhere so he could get his revenge?

“My beloved Jeguk High classmates, this is Choi Young Do.” He went on. “I wanted to share a fun story with you. It’s a story about the second son of Jeguk Group. Kim Tan.”

Piper looked down the hallway at Tan, who was standing by his locker. It wasn’t revenge against her Young Do was taking, it was against Tan.

She jogged up to him quickly. “Why are you just standing here? Aren’t you going to stop him?”

Tan didn’t respond, shutting his locker and walking calmly down the hall. Piper kept at his heels, demanding to know what was going on and why Tan seemed insistent to stop it. She couldn’t tell him the reason why she wasn’t stopping Young Do herself – her presence there would only cause more of a stir – but she would be damned if he sat by and let himself be crucified.

“I finally get to say this.” Young Do continued. “I have mixed feelings about this. It took me the long way around to tell you this story. I’m shaking. Kim Tan is actually...unbelievably...geez...the truth is... going to be revealed in 60 seconds.”

They rounded the stairs, and Piper began muttering about how much she hated the school. How everything was messed up and kept getting messier. Tan remained silent still.

“Ah, I have a quote on my mind. Your enemies are not the ones who hold their swords against you. They are the ones who stand by you with their daggers behind their back.” Young Do recited.

“Wait, this is the way to the broadcasting room,” Piper finally noticed. “You are going to fight back? Then why are you walking so slowly?!”

“It’s word for word about my feelings for Kim Tan.” Young Do’s voice kept going. “Oh! You can’t agree because you don’t know the reason.” There was a pause, and a scuffle in the background, “She is here.”

Finally, Piper and Tan reached the broadcasting room. Through the window in the door, they saw Young Do and a corner of Eun Sang’s familiar green jacket. Realization clicked – he was holding her up against the wall.

Tan grabbed the door handle and pushed it open, but Young Do shoved it closed and locked it. Tan wrestled with the locked door, and Young Do grabbed Eun Sang as she tried to unlock it.

“Open it.” Tan demanded. “Open it before I kill you!”

“Choi Young Do,” Piper shouted. “Open the door. This has gone too far!”

“Open it!” Tan screamed, beginning to kick the door violently. “I’m going to kill you when I get in there. Open it!”

“Tan, you’re going to break your foot!” Piper cautioned loudly.

Tan ignored her as he kept kicking at the door. Finally, he kicked it with enough force that it burst open. Young Do pulled Eun Sang away from the door as Tan and Piper stepped in. Piper went immediately to her friend, checking to see if she had gotten hurt anywhere.

“Cha Eun Sang, get out.” Tan commanded, punching Young Do across the jaw.

As Young Do stumbled back, Tan grabbed the nearest chair to swing at him. Eun Sang rushed to get in between them, hugging Tan tightly around his waist, as Piper came behind him and wrenched the chair out of his grasp.

“Are you crazy?” Piper shouted angrily. “If you hit his head in the wrong place, you could kill him!”

“Like you care,” Young Do seethed.

“Young Do, I swear, it wasn’t what you think,” Piper tried to assure him, her adrenaline-filled voice sounding more severe than reassuring.

“Oh, so Hyo Shin Sunbae wasn’t at your house late at night?” He hissed.

“Will you all stop it?” Eun Sang whimpered, still clinging to Tan’s waist.

Tan, breathing heavily, grabbed both girls and ejected them from the room. “Don’t come in,” he ordered, slamming the door on them.

“They’re going to kill each other, aren’t they?” Piper muttered, staring in shock at the closed door.

“What did Young Do mean?” Eun Sang asked, her voice still thick with tears.

Piper flinched, and sighed. “It’s not really my secret to tell – but, you’ve told me so much already…Hyo Shin is staying at my house for the time being. All I can say is that he wasn’t happy at home. Please don’t let on that you know.”

Eun Sang nodded, breathing deeply to calm herself from the ordeal.

“There’s….there’s something else I’ve been keeping from you,” Piper confessed warily. “I don’t know how…or why…or when it started, but I’ve come to…I have feelings for…”

“Kim Tan?” Eun Sang questioned, both anxious and scandalized.

“What? No!” Piper scrunched her face in distaste. “Choi Young Do.”

“What?!” Eun Sang was horrified.

“I know,” she agreed regretfully. “I’m a walking cliché, aren’t I?”

“What? Why? Does he know?” Eun Sang asked in a hushed tone.

“For the same reason that you pity him,” Piper admitted. “And no, he doesn’t know. When my bravado was back a couple days ago, I thought about telling him; but then the cafeteria incident happened, and then everything else happened, and now I’m right back to square one.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Eun Sang was hurt.

“Because he likes you, and I know you,” Piper replied. “You would’ve felt guilty about him liking you if you know I like him, even when you can’t control that. With everything going on in your life, how was I supposed to add that on top?”

Eun Sang became weepy again, and pulled Piper into a deep hug. The two girls stood there, hugging and crying – both out of relief, sadness, and the frustration of the absurdity of it all.

As they calmed themselves down, Rachel sauntered up. “Are you the topic of this fight?” She asked Eun Sang in her typical haughty way.

As the door opened roughly, she jumped slightly. Tan stormed out, taking Eun Sang by the wrist and guiding her down the hall. Not wanting to remain there alone, Piper spun on her heel, going the opposite way they had taken instead walking out onto the landing and heading downstairs.

///

“So, don’t ask me how, but Rachel stole Eun Sang’s uniform and threw it in the trash this morning,” Piper relayed as she and Hyo Shin walked down the hall to the broad cast room the next day. “And then, she insulted Eun Sang’s mom, and Eun Sang slapped her.”

“She slapped her?” Hyo Shin wondered, surprised. “Eun Sang never seemed like the violent type.”

“I know, right?” Piper gave a small laugh. “Where has feisty Eun Sang been hiding all this time? That’s what I want to know.”

“What I want to know is why you switched desks with your brother,” he returned, noting her surprised expression. “Your brother told me. Are you trying to avoid Choi Young Do now?”

“Yes, yes I am,” she admitted. “That restaurant ajumma gave some good advice, but I think I’m too much of a coward to take it.”

“You’re not a coward,” he assured her. “Though skipping classes to avoid him might be going a little too far.”

“Maybe, but you – being one of my best friends – are going to let me.”

He chuckled lightly as they walked into the broadcasting room. Eun Sang was sitting at the control panel as Bo Na took her seat at the news table in the broadcast booth.

“What’s she doing here?” Bo Na asked, staring pointedly at Piper.

“She’s a guest,” Hyo Shin answered simply. “3 minutes until broadcast.”

Bo Na huffed, sitting in her seat. “Eun Sang, did you tell Chan Young that I’ve been reflecting?”

“2 minutes and 40 seconds before broadcast.” Hyo Shin interrupted.

“Last time, you said you wouldn’t accept my directing.” Eun Sang replied.

“Hey! I thought you and Chan Young were friends.” Bo Na demanded. “Didn’t you hear anything about me?”

“That’s what makes Chan Young so manly, and such a nice person.” Eun Sang sighed.

“Do you really want Chan Young and me to break up?” Bo Na continued her interrogation.

“I do. Chatting prohibited.” Hyo Shin informed her lazily, sliding up the volume tab for the microphone. “2 minutes and 10 seconds before broadcast.”

“Sunbae-nim!” Bo Na whined, not realizing her voice could be heard all over the school “Hey, Cha Eun Sang! Can you tell Yoon Chan Young that I’m really reflecting on it a lot? Lately I’ve been suffocating. Chan Young is my air; without him beside me, am I able to breathe? I feel like I’m in outer space.”

Piper was dying of laughter as she covered to stifle the sound, swatting Hyo Shin as he openly laughed.

“But then the broadcast. . . the light is on!” Bo Na shrieked. “Oh my god! Sunbae-nim! No!”

Eun Sang, Piper and Hyo Shin walked out of the broadcasting room – Piper still snickering – to see Bo Na running down the halls in embarrassment while a grinning Chan Young chased after her.

“I didn’t do the broadcast for them to act like that.” Hyo Shin mused.

“I know, right?” Eun Sang smirked.

“Oh my god, Hyo Shin-ah,” Piper wheezed, the grin plastered on her face. “I am so glad you’re my friend.”

“Hello,” Eun Sang gave a small bow as she turned to see her new teacher walk up.

“Ah, hello, Seonseng-nim.” Piper turned and greeted her as well.

Eun Sang noticed Hyo Shin staring, and leaned over to explain as their teacher neared them. “She’s the new literature teacher. She’s really pretty.”

He was silent, still watching her with sad eyes. The smile dropped from Piper’s face as she took in his reaction, like his heart was dropping into a whirring blender.

“Is she that pretty?” Eun Sang wondered. “You can’t talk and can’t take your eyes off her.”

“Can you…please excuse us?” Hyo Shin asked the girls.

“Yeah.” She replied, bowing to her teacher before leaving.

Piper lingered behind for a moment, her eyes darting to the teacher and back to Hyo Sin in a silent question: was her new teacher his old tutor? He gave an imperceptible nod, and Piper winced. She turned and flashed a smile at her teacher and bowed before hurriedly running to join Eun Sang.

“I fell really guilty for liking her, now,” Piper muttered.

“Why?” Eun Sang pondered.

Piper merely sighed.

///

“Are you okay?” Piper asked as she walked to Hyo Shin to the car. “I didn’t really see much of you after…”

“I got a text from my mother,” he changed the subject. “She’s decided I have to take the entrance exam as well, or else she’ll find out who I’m staying with. She’s even insisting on dropping me off to make sure I go. Since my father’s the Attorney General, I have no doubt she’ll get him to do something about it once she finds out.”

“Are you worried she’ll slap a lawsuit on us?” Piper wondered. “My parents won’t care. You’re like another son to them, which is saying something because they have two already.”

Hyo Shin gave a small smile.

“They – like I do – only want you to be happy. That’s clearly not doing what your parents have decided for you. If you want to take the test, then fine. But don’t do it just because you’re worried about us. That’s not fair to you.”