During our lunch breaks, Jia and I would eat in my classroom. She thought it would be better to eat there than her classroom because of Sunggyu. She told me about him. She told me he was the quiet boy in the class but then he changed into someone totally different. She got the chance to talk to him before and she thought he was nice. After, she thought he was just plain rude. If she doesn't like harmless gossiping people, she must have hated Sunggyu.

She tells me how he would always pester her during class time more than usual because she was missing in action during the break. I could only nod and listen. I wanted to tell her how oblivious she was. If a boy keeps bothering you, it's a) he likes you or b) he's really annoying. In her case, it's a). The boy was described as a quiet, gentle person but he changed. It's quite obvious to me that he wanted her attention because he liked her and doesn't know how to express himself.

There's one thing I'm a hundred percent certain of: I am not letting her date him.

One evening, Jisu and I were cleaning her classroom. Well, she was supposed to clean with someone else in her class but because some of the students took advantage of their age, her partner ordered her to do all the work and she couldn't say no.

"Thanks for helping me," she thanked.

"It's not a problem. I was supposed to hang out with you today and I guess this is better than staying home by myself."

"You can always take a nap at home," she said. "Complete your upcoming project or just be lazy." I rolled my eyes and she giggled. Just then, the door opened. We both looked behind us to see Sunggyu with a broom. He was glaring at me and I involuntarily shivered. "Hey, angel in disguise, I want a word with you."

I guessed it was my cue to go. I stepped down the chair and looked at Jia. She gave me her worried eyes and I smiled, telling her it will be alright. I stepped out the classroom and closed the door behind me. Sunggyu was leaning against the wall across from me.

"What is it?"

After a pause he asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Nam Woohyun," I introduced myself.

He rolled his eyes. "I don't want your name, idiot. I'm asking, who are you to her?"

"I'm her friend."

"Just her friend?"

I nodded. "Just her friend," I repeated.

"You're not her boyfriend or anything? There are rumors, you know. You guys have been together since middle school, not separating for one minute."

I chuckled. "I'm sure we separate for more than a minute." The frown on his face deepened, not liking my joke. "I also know where this is going. It's obvious for me and I'm sure it's obvious for everyone else but her. You like her."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's just, she doesn't like you. She thinks you're rude and she detests those kinds of people. So as an advice-" I didn't get to finish my sentence when he suddenly punched me across the face. I stumbled back on the impact and hit the door rather hard.

"Advice? Don't you dare give me any advice!"

I felt the door open behind me but I pulled it back. I did not want her involved in this. I heard the window open and she called my name. "Are you alright?"

I ignored her and continued to stare at Sunggyu. "I know what I'm doing. If you were to back off, everything would work out fine." He was wrong. Nothing would have been fine. I know Jia. She doesn't like him one bit. Not one single piece of his being. "If you would have just stayed away, if you would have just gone with your own friends, she would have come to me. Do you know how lonely she was? Do you know how damn lonely she was when she started eating inside the classroom? She ate her lunch and stared at nothing for the next hour. She didn't even do anything productive. I felt bad watching her like that and I felt angry at the person who made her lonely. Angel in disguise? You're no angel. You're not good with her."

"And you are? Didn't I just tell you, she doesn't like you at all?" He was about to punch me again but Jia stopped him. "Sunggyu! Please, stop!" He stopped midair, a foot away from my face. "Both of you, just stop! What's the point in arguing about this? I'm right in front of you! Just talk to me!"

Sunggyu pulled his fist away, back to his side. "What's the point of talking to you about this when he is the one who needs to know? He needs to know you've been miserable because of him. Because of his stupid drugged friend!"

"And you don't do drugs?" I yelled back. "You're practically the most rebellious student in this school. You treat everyone like trash and I get to hear this from you? If I'm making her life miserable, what are you doing to half of the student body? A person like you shouldn't be telling me this!"

Another fist hit my face and this time, I fell to the floor. Jia screamed my name and with the entrance unblocked, she ran out and knelt beside me. "I have all the right to tell you this because I like her! I changed because I wanted her attention. No one is going to remember an orphan. I changed and she noticed me. So why did you have to come along and ruin my plan?" I noticed his hard eyes softening when he glanced at Jia. Almost whispering, he asked, "Why do you make me look so bad in front of her?"

He turned around to leave. Jia tried to get up but I pulled her back down. "Sunggyu, he-"

"I'm the one hurt here."

"But-"

"Jia! Please, give me an ice pack." I did not want her to follow him. I didn't even want her to say his name. That idiot didn't deserve her. He had such a stupid way to get her attention. But now that he confessed everything, I didn't know how Jia felt. She tried to go after him so I didn’t know what would happen after.

Obviously, I was stupid enough to think she wouldn't be able to meet him after all that. I was stupid for forgetting they were in the same classroom. I was in class when I began thinking ridiculous situations. She would go up to him and apologize for my actions for that day. He would ignore her and she would keep apologizing until he gave up. Then, they would be on good terms and maybe she'd start ditching me for him.

The bell rang for lunch. The others hurriedly packed up their bags and ran for the cafeteria while I took my time and stayed back. Kibum never asked me to eat with him and his friends anymore. He got the hint when I told him I liked eating in the classroom better. I still talk to him and the others though. Guys are different from girls. Just because we don't hang out together often, it doesn't mean our friendship's been ruined. On the other hand, I've noticed once girls hang out with another group, they never affiliate with the first group anymore other than the simple greetings and farewells.

I took out my lunch and waited for Jia to come by. This time, it took her longer than usual to get to my classroom. Still, I waited patiently for her to come by. Her teacher probably held her back. Then, I heard two people talk outside the open door. "Stay here," a girl whispered.

"Why should I?" My brows furrowed together when Sunggyu came in the room. What surprised me even more was Jia behind him.

"I told you to stay outside!"

He didn't reply to her and marched up to me with his hands in his pockets. "Jia and I are partners for a project so we're going to the library." I was more confused than anything. Why was he telling me this? Why couldn't he just stay outside the door like she requested him to? "Why is it you who's telling me?"

"So I can remind you to stop putting her on a leash." I stood up so suddenly that my chair knocked down on the ground. I grabbed his collar and pulled him right up to me. I heard Jia yell my name but I ignored her. "You rude bastard! She is my friend and I'm not keeping her on any leash. She can do whatever she wants and I'm not the person to stop her. I don't control her like you do to the other students in this school. I bet you keep all your orphan friends in a fence. You don’t have any parents. You don’t have any real friends because of who you are. You just want the attention. You're the one who needs to keep that leash back at bay."

His smirk disappeared and his expression hardened. I noticed he really hated it when I talked about orphans. This time, I wished he would storm away like he did the other day.

"Woohyun, you're going too low!" Jia yelled. "You can't say that!"

"Oh, and why not? Everyone is afraid of talking to him. I’m telling him what should have been said months ago."

"He’s not like that. He isn’t like this because he wants the attention. Woohyun, you shouldn’t speak like that."

"So how should I speak to him? How should I say ‘ off’ in a nice way? He hurt me. He hurt many others and you’re on his side?” I didn’t understand why she was standing up to him. She didn’t like him. She hated him. Then, realization hit me. “You pity him. You pity orphans because they don't have a home or any parents? You think his behavioural attitudes are self-spoken?"

"I did not say that! Don’t assume something that did not come out of my mouth.” The way she said it sounded so venomous. She pulled my hands away from his collar and he smoothed his opened uniform top. "Apologize to the both of us," Jia demanded of Sunggyu.

It was funny seeing Sunggyu's eyes widen. It didn't even grow any bigger. It just looked like his brows moved up. "What the heck did I do? I wasn't the one who grabbed his collar!"

"You provoked him and called me a dog. I'm a free woman and there is no leash to be put on me."

"I'm not going to apologize," he stubbornly said.

"Then we're not doing this project. This is the mark that can make you pass history before midterms. If you fail this before the midterm, you're staying back, again."

"Again?" I thought out loud. "You mean, you're older than us?"

"He's two years older than us, in fact."

It was funny to see him embarrassed so I laughed out loud. He didn't even try to make me shut up so I thought he was pretty ashamed of that. It only made me laugh a lot louder.

"I didn't go to school in my first year and slacked off when I entered, okay! I didn't fail two years!" It was funny seeing him try to explain himself. Jia even joined in with my laughing. Sunggyu's ears were growing red every passing second. Since the atmosphere was so light, I swung my arms over Sunggyu and Jia. Let's go to the cafeteria first. I heard there's ddukbokki today!"

"The volunteers came in today?" Jia questioned. At the orphanage, there are volunteers who visit once a month and since the school is right next to it, they were generous enough to serve ddukbokki for the small student body and the staff.

Sunggyu pushed my arm off. "Count me out. I don't like ddukbokki."

"Oh, come on Sunggyu! You should at least eat one for their efforts," Jia encouraged.

I nodded, agreeing with her. I placed my arms over his shoulder again but he threw it off like before. I shrugged and pulled Jia along to the cafeteria with Sunggyu trailing behind us.

One minute Sunggyu was in a fight with me. The next, he's trailing behind me to get food. I'm telling you, boys are much more simpler than girls. But really, it was kind of weird for me, too. I don’t know how we went from grabbing each other’s collar to having our arms around each other, heading out to eat food. I can’t explain it myself. Maybe you have a better explanation.

Anyways, the cafeteria was crowded with students and staff. Most of them already had their share of the food and were mingling with each other at a table. Still, there was a line. Jia and I waited in line with Sunggyu. There were whispers about him being with Jia and I. We tried our best to ignore their comments and Jia tried to distract Sunggyu from them. We both knew he had a short temper.

"Let's go," he suddenly said.

"Where?" I asked.

"To the front of the line, of course! This line isn't getting any shorter and it looks like these fat asses are going to seconds. There won't be any left if we stay back here."

"It's fine. There will be enough. Even if there isn't, it's fine."

"Didn't you come here to eat that? If it's fine then why come here in the first place?"

I bit my tongue. I wanted to lash out on him for sounding so rude but I held it in. I've already made him my acquaintance and Jia looked happy because I did. I regret it but if she's happy, then I had to control myself. Did I mention boys are bipolar? Well, most of us are.

"Why do you have to make everything sound so negative? Cheer up! Think of this as an escape to start our project," Jia said.

"Hey!" I heard a loud slap and turned my head towards Sunggyu. A girl just slapped him on the back. I recognized her. She's the one named Nicole in Jia's class. Apparently, he's also Sunggyu's friend. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled.

"It's a friendly hello," she cheekily smiled.

"What kind of friendly hello was that?" he grumbled, rubbing the sore spot.

"I'm just surprised to see you in the cafeteria. You're never in the cafeteria. Same with you, Jia!" She looked at me and smiled. "Hi, I'm Nicole! I believe we've met before in the classroom." I nodded and introduced myself. "So...are you three the Three Musketeers for today?"

I opened my mouth to answer her question because it seemed like she was directing the question towards me but Jia beat me to it. "Yes. We're the Three Musketeers. The three amigos."

Nicole clapped excitedly and let out a small squeal. "That's so cute! I can't believe Sunggyu is in your little group. I thought he was the Tinkerbell in your Peter Pan and Wendy story."

I stared at her like she had gone mad. I think all of us did. That was the most ridiculous metaphor I've ever heard. Did she even know what she was talking about?

"You're crazy," Sunggyu said.

"What?" she defended. "Peter Pan and Wendy are always together and Tinkerbell is the jealous fairy who tries to separate the two. At the same time, it isn't really like Peter Pan and Wendy."

"Why's that?" Jia asked.

"You know how Wendy grew up and Peter Pan was so disappointed? Well, that gave Tinkerbell her rightful spot back; beside Peter Pan. But I know this Peter Pan and Wendy won't be separated, right?"

I decided to play along and nodded with an awkward laugh. This girl was too weird and chirpy for my liking. Sure, she's pretty but just not my cup of tea. "Oh, you're next! I'll see you three later, bye!" She skipped back to her group of friends who I guessed asked her what she was talking about.

Like Sunggyu said, there weren't a lot left. We were the last ones also, so the volunteers scooped the last remaining ones and apologized for the amount left. We were okay with it though. Sunggyu didn't want any and I would give it to Jia anyway.

We sat down at the end of a table that was occupied by a group of girls at the other end. They left as quickly as we came to sit down. "Having Sunggyu here gives us a free table," I said.

"Shut up," he scowled.

Jia gave me a toothpick but I shook my head. "You eat it all."

"We can share," she said. "I brought my lunch today anyways. This is just a snack." She stretched her arm out further and I had no choice but to take it from her. I stabbed on of the red pieces and put it in my mouth while I watched her convince Sunggyu to have one.

"One won't hurt. Just take one and you won't have to hear from me again."

"No."

"If you don't take one, I'll keep pestering you. Come on! Just eat one!"

"I said n-" I stuck one of them in his mouth while he was yelling. He couldn't spit it out so he closed his eyes while he chewed on it. "It's good right?"

It looked like it was difficult for him to eat it. It also looked like he just swallowed it. He barely even chewed. He opened his eyes and gave me a glare while I shrugged. "Should have just listened to her." Then, I noticed something. His eyes were red and tearing up. That was when I realized he couldn't handle spicy food. "Hold on. You...you can't eat spicy food?"

He bit his tongue and fanned his mouth, like that did anything. I let out another fit of laughter and Jia giggled beside me. Sunggyu even let out a few chuckles of his own. I guess you can say Sunggyu and I started becoming friends from that day on.