Edited 12/31/14 

Love was in the air. Oh, not for Kibum. No, he was just as indifferent to Jonghyun's advances as ever. Onew, however, had completely given up the fight with Joon.

Onew looked grumpy, but that didn't change the fact that he was sitting, by his own free will, in Joon's lap. Joon looked happy as ever with a big, freaky smile stretching his face.  His left hand was laced with Onew's while the right busied itself with massaging Onew's hip. Joon's fingers trailed down to curl around Onew's thighs.

"Ya know, I didn't know you had such nice thighs under these dreadful school khakis," Joon snickered. "They feel nice in my hands."

"You better shut the hell up and get your fingers away from my ing crotch," Onew snapped back.

Joon chuckled and kissed the underside of Onew's jaw.

"Aww, you're just crabby because I won."

Onew grumbled but didn't object. He let Joon's fingers wander back to his thigh, but he retained his pissy face. He'd get over it. It's not that he didn't like Joon. He just didn't like that he liked Joon.

Kibum was glad for them, really, but it was impossible to focus on Onew's finally blooming love life when something at the front of his mind was telling him to watch the out.

The air felt off, so to speak.  A nagging sensation had Kibum hyperaware of everything going on around him. Noises had him jerking in every which direction trying to pinpoint the location of whatever was driving him up a wall.

For once, Kibum was glad Jonghyun was right next him. Taemin was being a bad best friend by not being there to calm Kibum's down. He had to rely on Jonghyun— ing Jonghyun— to calm his spent nerves. Today was gonna be a .

Jonghyun had grabbed a hold of Kibum's hand a few minutes ago. He'd twined their fingers together and used his free hand to gently rub the inside of Kibum's wrist. He wasn't exactly sure what else to do. He'd hold Kibum if he didn't fear he'd break the fragile friendship they developed.

"Chill, Bummie. Nothings gonna happen."

"Bull. My PPD hasn't acted up this bad since I got here. Someone is freakin' after me," Kibum hissed.

Jonghyun rolled his eyes.

"Exactly, Kibum. Your PPD is acting up. That doesn't mean some's gunning for your ."

"B-But I know something's wrong!" Kibum whimpered. "Why don't you believe me?"

Kibum looked scared and hurt. Jonghyun had noticed that most of the emotions that broke Kibum's icy mask weren't pleasant ones. Sighing, Jonghyun turned Kibum so he was facing him.

"Look here, okay? No, don't turn your head. Nothing is— Stop looking over your damn shoulder! Anyway, nothing is going to happen to you, ya hear? And, even if something is up, I've got your back. No one's touching you."

Kibum blinked at Jonghyun. He wasn't like Taemin. Taemin's presence was immensely more soothing, but no security came with it. Jonghyun didn't calm him at all, but he made him feel protected. Strange how that worked.

"I need to go to my locker to get a text book," Kibum mumbled. "You have to come with me."

Jonghyun was practically dragged by Kibum to his locker. Kibum had a bone-crushing grip on his hand to make sure he followed. Jonghyun was a bit concerned. Kibum was legitimately afraid. Maybe something was wrong...

They made it to his locker unharmed, and Kibum turned the dial quickly. He almost swung the door open when he heard something shift. The slightest of scraped could be heard when the door was touched.

What the hell is that?

Grabbing Jonghyun's wrist, he pulled him in front of himself.

"Something's in there," Kibum claimed from behind his shoulder. "Check it."

"Jesus, we're not even dating and here I am risking my neck for you. I better get a kiss for this. Or a hug," Jonghyun joked.

Jonghyun was dumb. Okay, maybe not that dumb, but he didn't pay a lot of attention. Kibum did, and that was the only reason Jonghyun wasn't put in a come when carelessly flung the door open.

Kibum was already pulling Jonghyun back when the first brick crashed against the opening door and chipped upon hitting the tiled floor. More tumbled put after it, knocking into each other as they fell.

Jonghyun was stunned silent. Bricks. There had been ing bricks in Kibum's locker. Like, hard bricks. Bricks that could kill you if they hit you with enough force. Ohh, Jonghyun was livid. It didn't matter if Kibum refused to date him; he was still his in his mind.

"Holy hell, you two just about died!"

Kibum turned to the exaggerating teenager he'd never met. Quite a few people were looking at them as it turned out. They were whispering to one another frantically and glancing nervously at Jonghyun and Kibum. This wasn't a simple prank. Someone had tried to hurt Kibum, maybe even worse.

"K-Kibum!"

Taemin, who popped up from who the hell knows where, dashed down the hall and latched onto Kibum. He turned him this way and that asking him a billion times if he had been harmed. Considering that just that weekend Taemin had been crying on his shoulder while Kibum embraces him, he felt like their roles had oddly switched up.

"Oh, thanks. Ignore the guy who was used as a human shield. Thanks a lot," Jonghyun huffed.

Taemin was about to smack Jonghyun for even considering worrying about his self at the moment, but Key beat him to the punch... Sort of...

Key his arms out, in what Taemin and Jonghyun thought was going to be a shove, and s them tightly around Jonghyun's neck. Jonghyun thought he would die. His Bummie was hugging him. Like, oh, sweet baby Jesus, could this possibly be real?

Key's mind was an absolute wreck. Someone was trying to kill him— three guesses to whom that someone is— and he could cry. His saving grace in that moment had been Jonghyun. That's why he hugged him. He braved bricks for him, the least Kibum could do was give Jonghyun his requested hug.

"Jonghyun, you broke Kibum!" Taemin gasped, completely astonished that Kibum would even stand in the same general vicinity of Jonghyun. Didn't they have a mutual agreement that Jonghyun ?

Jonghyun flipped Taemin the bird, but ignored him otherwise. He drew circles on Kibum's lumbar in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

After a measly four seconds, Kibum released Jonghyun and stepped back. His blank expression was back in place. He looked like nothing had happened.

"Excuse me, but I think there's a I've got to go throw down with," Kibum said lowly. He'd already his heel and started stalking down the hallway before his friends could fully comprehend what that meant

"Wait!" Taemin yelled. "What are you gonna do?"

"Kibum, you're pissed, I get it, but picking a fight with Sekyung will only make it worse!" Jonghyun called from behind him.

Pick a fight? Oh, no, there would be no fight. Kibum was going to lay her flat on her before she could even hold her fists up.

Kibum let his PPD take over to lead him to his target. There was statistics that could prove that worked, but, hey, he found the .

She was in the lunch room. God forbid she be in a more secluded area. No matter. They were both going to be in trouble by the end of the day, may as well make the suspension worth it.

Kibum marched up to her table. Her friend barely had time to say before Sekyung's face was slammed into the table top. She yelped in pain but didn't say anything.

"The biggest mistake you made," Kibum growled, "was believing I wouldn't fight you back. Do you think just because you're a girl I won't kick your ? Think again, honey."

The entire lunch room was stock still. They visibly cringed when Kibum fisted Sekyung's ponytail and yanked roughly so she was looking back at him.

"Look into my eyes. Does it look like I'm kidding? If you ever ing pull that again, I'll put you in a Goddamn hospital. Picking up what I'm putting down? Good."

Kibum shoved Sekyung's head away, not even caring about the red blotch spreading over her cheek. She deserved to have that pretty face marred for what she'd done. He whirled around and took a few steps away before Sekyung finally spoke up.

"I'll have you arrested for assault!"

Kibum froze. Arrested on assault charges? He broke out into a fit of hiccupping laughter.

"Yes, you go and do that!" he snickered. "Tell the school, call the police! My hyung will be too when he finds out what was left in my locker."

Kibum tossed Sekyung the scariest look anyone had seen on his face. He was smiling, a creepy smile with too many teeth. Any smile bigger than fleeting looked pretty creepy on him.

"I'm sure the fact that I'm pretty much a diagnosed psychopath and you're not will give me a little leverage, though."

"Kibum!"

Oh, damn, cavalry's here. How'd they get so far behind anyway? Kibum was almost positive he walked...

Both his wrists were secured in tight grips as he was dragged from the cafeteria. Aww, and things had just gotten interesting.

"You can't do that!" was the first thing that came from Taemin's mouth. "What hell were you thinking? That you'd set her straight by getting expelled?!"

"No!" Kibum bit out. Now that he calming down, he was really starting to freak out. The only reason he hadn't been diagnosed as a psychopath was because he'd never been violent. This is the second time he'd harmed someone with the actual intent of inflicting pain. He wasn't really going insane, was he? After all the he'd been through, his brain still wasn't done ing up his life.

"Kibum, you face slammed her into a table," Jonghyun said. "Do you think you're just going to get away with that?"

"No!"

"Then what were you thinking?" Taemin questioned in exasperation.

"I don't know," Kibum mumbled.

Kibum ripped his hands away from the boys and wrapped his arms around himself. He felt like the last of himself was slipping away. Anything sane left was dissipating.

"Oh, man, I'm really ing psychotic, aren't I?"

The agitation in their faces fell away. They weren't making anything better by being pissy. Kibum needed help and screaming wasn't the remedy.

Jonghyun was the first to move. He grasped Kibum's cheeks lightly in the pads of his fingers and tilted his head up a bit.

"Hey, don't look so down. what all the doctors say, okay? There's nothing wrong with you."

Kibum's eyes widened. It'd been a long time since someone other than Myungsoo had told him that.

"Yeah, you're amazing," Taemin smiled. He grabbed Kibum away from Jonghyun and squeezed him in a tight embrace. "You're sweet... on the inside, you're smart. You let me invade your bed when I fought with Minho and Kai, which was nice."

"Would you guys be so quick to say that if I turned out to be a maniac?" Kibum whispered.

"Well, I would," Jonghyun grinned. "You're perfect, no matter how crazy you are."

Well, that was... half cheesy. It was kind of an insult, but Kibum chose to smile softly at Jonghyun anyway. Alright, maybe the idea of liking Jonghyun wasn't that hard to swallow. It still wasn't part of Kibum reality, but maybe one day...

"Thanks..."

Kibum let Taemin hang on him for half a minute before pushing at his hips.

"Let me go, I need to call someone."

Taemin unlatched himself from Kibum, and the older pulled out his cell phone. He had a number on speed dial he'd never once called himself. There was a question eating away at the back of his head, though, and this person could answer it.

Kibum listened to phone ring. It burred three times.

"Yoeboseyo?"

Kibum gripped his phone harder.

"M-Mr. Jung?"

"Kibum?" his therapist gasped. "You've never called me before. What's wrong?"

"Um... I just have a question. You may not know the answer."

"Okay."

Kibum chewed the inside of his cheek. He was really scared of the answer. It could mean life in the loony bin.

"Do you think I'm a sociopath?"

The other end of the phone rung with an eerie silence. Kibum almost had a panic attack— who the hell pauses this long for a yes or no question?— but Mr. Jung finally said," No, Kibum, you aren't a sociopath."

While a relief, that answer wouldn't suffice.

"But h-how do you know?"

"Sociopaths have extreme antisocial attitudes and behaviors, and a lack of conscience. You do have difficulties socializing, but not on the level of a sociopath," Mr. Jung stated plainly. "You also have a conscience. So you can't be a sociopath."

Kibum loosened his grip on his phone and dropped his shoulders. He hoped Mr. Jung wasn't lying. He could seriously end up hurting someone if he was.

"Okay, thank you sir."

"Sure."

Mr. Jung hung up and Kibum hunched his back. He felt like he couldn't support himself. Something different was going on in his brain today. He was never this jittery.

Two chins came to rest on his shoulder. Kibum craned his neck to look at Taemin and Jonghyun, who were both grinning into his shoulders.

"See?" Jonghyun beamed. "You're just a little bit crazy. That's okay, I dated Sekyung, who was hella insane. I've got a bit of a thing for crazy, I guess."

Kibum found Jonghyun's comment bringing a little smile to his face.

Ew, he's flirting and I'm responding positively.

"I swear, Jonghyun, your entire life is one big booty call. When are you not flirting?" Taemin snickered.

"When Kibum isn't around!"

"Oh, how sweet. I think the sugar made me throw up a bit in my mouth."

"Ya know what, Taemin? Shut up before I punch your pretty little face in."

Kibum was forced to stand in the middle of their petty altercation, each man clinging to a respective shoulder. He had an idea on how to shut them up, but it would be way embarrassing if it failed.

Kibum slung his arms around his friend's necks, pulling their heads down. He pecked each one on their heads. He would never admit to a soul that his lips lingered on Jonghyun's head a second longer than Taemin's.

"Thanks for being fantastic little es. Truly, I think it's starting to really be a highlight in my day."

Kibum patted their heads and unhooked his arms.

"Class is about to start. See you later. "

Taemin and Jonghyun watched Kibum walk away in a bit of a daze. They hadn't been expecting that.

Since he was a , as has already been established, Taemin leaned into Jonghyun's ear and whispered, "My dear hyung, I do believe you're blushing."

The brilliant pink dusting Jonghyun's angular cheek bones turned a scarlet red.

"S-Shut the hell up!"

Alright, this chapter is quite a bit shorter than the last one.Like... literally half as long. If it's means anything, last chapter was only supposed to be half of what it was XD.

ALRIGHTY then, my little fox cubs! I'm going to say this now to save you the agitation! Possibly starting tomorrow, I will be editing what I've written so far. I'm pretty positive it will send you a notification saying updated every time I edit a chapter, so I just wanted to clarify it isn't a new chapter, just me fixing the irritating mastakes I notice every time I go back trying to find past information so I can remain consistent. Anyway,that's that...

Now, last thing! Remeber when I said I had something planned for chapter 15? And that you probably weren't going to like it? Well, I have a question that will slightly alter the story.

Basically, do you want Jonghyun and Key's relationship to "fully" develop before or after that chapter? If it's before, I can assure you it will only be temporary sweetness before their relationship shoots to (not for too long because this is only supposed to be, like thirty chapters, and I don't have the time to drag this batting around the bush on for another eleven chapters). If it's after, well, they never really started, so you'll just have to wait a little longer.

I guess it's up to you. If nobody says anything, then I'll just go with how I feel that day. Yup, sounds like a plan.

Okay, well, thank you to subscribers and for reading, sorry for mistakes, and I will have another chapter, hopefully longer, posted some time in the future.