the months rolled by so quickly, much to everybody's pleasure, as summer was drawing exponentially nearer. however, Sooyoung noticed that the only one who wasn't too happy was Hyoyeon. she was talking less and less to Yuri and her lively attitude was gradually diminishing. she and Kai seemed to be growing apart, as though they were on opposite ends of broken icebergs. during class when she thought nobody could see her, Hyoyeon would sneak fleeting glances at Lay, curving her lips into a wistful smile.

despite this, Hyoyeon and Krystal were as close as ever, if not closer. there was definitely something wrong with that. Sooyoung wondered if Kris would know anything about relationship problems within their Blue group. she decided to ask him when she got the chance.

it was a bright and cloudy morning when Sooyoung walked into school and pushed through a gaggle of adoring fans. she broke into a run when she saw Kris kneeling in front of his locker. "Kris!"

he turned around and broke into a grin when he saw her. "what's up, Soo? did you get the..." he paused and glanced around guiltily. to Sooyoung's relief, nobody seemed to be listening, and Kris continued, "the message last night? there are gangs of Red too here. we need to watch out. there are possibly ones in our Blue clan too, gathering as much information as they can so they can report back to their friends."

Sooyoung sighed. "I know that we should be more careful. I just hate the fact that we have to tread lightly wherever we go because there are - "

she broke off as someone clapped her on the back. hear pounding wildly, she swiveled around to see Kai standing behind her with a cheeky grin on his face. "oh my God kai, you just scared the living daylights out of me!" Sooyoung said shakily, attempting a feeble grin.

"sorry, Soo. I just couldn't resist the opportunity." he saluted to Kris, who rolled his eyes with an exasperated smile. "anyways, what were you guys talking about?" 

Kris waved his hand dismissively before Sooyoung could respond. "just about the Red that might be lurking in every shadow. I was warning her about any possible spies or potential traitors." hearing this, Kai nodded.

"that's true, we should definitely be careful of what we say...especially around nighttime; we know that there's always a higher risk then." he squinted at the clock hanging above them. "anyways, I should go now. I always get to my classes late in the morning." he waved and left them behind.

Sooyoung watched him go. when she turned back to Kris, he was looking at her with his eyebrows raised. "well?"

she shrugged noncommittally. "don't you feel like Kai and Hyo aren't as close lately? I feel like both of them have been acting really under-the-weather. it's way different from when they first met. they were like an electric couple. now I feel like Hyoyeon is always zoned out. I guess you could say the same about Kai, he was just pretty much echoing us...and Hyo's constatly staring at Lay in the middle of class with this sad face. actually..." something sprung into her mind and she tried to brush it away. she opened and closed it again. come on Sooyoung, you said it yourself. you don't want to mistrust your friends, right?

"what's up, Soo?" Kris asked, concern etched on his face. she shook her head. "nothing, probably just tired. I mean, I just...it's that again. I really don't like being paranoid."

"you don't have to," Kris replied. "being alert and being paranoid are two totally different things. my mom told me that once." he winked. "you just learned something from me, right? I told you from the very beginning that I'm smarter than you."

she rolled her eyes at him. "yeah well, you learned that from your mom, dummy. now who's smarter?" she shoved Kris.

the two kept arguing all the way to class. as they settled down and prepared to start a long day, Sooyoung breathed a sigh of relief. thank goodness he didn't catch on to it. after all, she was a good liar.