Jongdae's departure from school that day is delayed slightly due to being called into the principal's office.

"Jongdae,"

"Yes sir," Jongdae responds pleasantly, bowing slightly at the principal before settling comfortably into his customary seat in front of the imposing, oaken desk.

"I heard from your teachers that not only were you late to school this morning, you fell asleep in every single one of your classes." The principal eyed him sternly, but Jongdae was not intimidated.

"Yes sir."

"I see. Jongdae, this behavior is unacceptable and troubling. I can't allow you to keep this up any longer."

"I understand sir, but my grades aren't affected by it, so does it really matter?"

"It does. Why are you unable to stay awake for any of your classes?"

"I'm just really tired," Jongdae shrugs in what he hopes is a noncommittal and innocent gesture.

The principal continues to eye him critically. "Jongdae, don't think I haven't heard the rumors about you being in a gang. I would like to believe that they aren't true, but your continued behavior causes me to have to re-evaluate that belief."

"I'm not in a gang," Jongdae sighs in defeat, slumping back into the uncomfortable chair and dragging his hand through his already tousled hair. "Don't worry sir, the only illegal behavior I indulge in is smoking."

"Is everything okay at home?" The principal finally asks, his expression relaxing from critical into worried.

"Everything is okay sir, you don't have to worry about me," Jongdae smiles his mega-watt smile, the one that has been keeping him from getting into any real trouble throughout the duration of his life. "If we're done sir, I really need to go pick my sister up from school."

"Yes, of course," the principal responds, slumping into his chair in defeat.

Jongdae stands up and bows once again before making his leave. As he pulls open the door to exit, he's stopped once again.

"Jongdae?"

"Yes sir?" He looks back over his shoulder, his smile tainted slightly with confusion.

"Just let me know if there's ever anything I can do to help, okay?"

Jongdae's shoulders relax once more. "Of course, sir."

"MinDae-yah! I'm here!"

"Oppa!" his little sister exclaims as she flings herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around his torso as he lifts her up, laughing gently.

"Where were you! Teacher almost called Omma because you weren't here!"

"Oppa had to talk to the principal before he could leave. I'm sorry I'm late, are you ready to go home?"

MinDae nodded her head enthusiastically as Jongdae turned around and began walking them back towards their home.

"How was school, Minnie-me? What did you do today?"

"I learned how to color inside the lines, oppa! Taeyeon unnie has been making fun of me because she's been able to do it for weeks, but today I did it too and Taemin oppa said mine was prettier and she got so mad!" MinDae began giggling at the recollection of her classmate's jealousy.

The smile Jongdae had on his face because of his sister's story dropped immediately when he turned the corner into the alley to get home.

"Oppa, what are those boys doing to him?" MinDae inquired innocently as Jongdae bent forward and gently placed her on the ground.

"MinDae-yah, Oppa needs you to stay right here and not make a sound, okay?"

MinDae nodded her head furiously and made a motion as if zipping her lips closed.

"There's my good girl. I'll be right back."

Jongdae his hands into his pockets and strolled casually up to the scene taking place before him.

"Xiumin-ah, I've missed you," Jongdae says as he nears the fight taking place, leaning comfortably against the wall of the alley.

"Chen, so nice to see you," Xiumin responds, landing one final punch on his already bleeding victim before turning his full attention to Jongdae.

"I see you've been thoroughly enjoying your new position as leader," Jongdae says conversationally, inclining his head towards the boy bleeding on the asphalt, spitting out blood and looking at both of them with daggers in his eyes.

"You know how it is, this was your job once," Xiumin shrugs noncommittally, his tone suggesting nothing but friendliness, though Jongdae didn't fail to notice the way the other members of the gang were taking up defensive positions around him, preparing themselves for a fight.

"Ah, those were the days," Jongdae feigns ignorance at the looming threat. "Sometimes I really do miss the crack of bone under my hands," Jongdae cracks his knuckles as he says it, observing the slight narrowing of Xiumin's fox-like eyes.

"Hello boys, you're all looking good. Be careful of what you're feeding them, Xiumin-ah, Kris and Tao are so tall, they might have trouble fitting into buildings soon. Maybe if you asked nicely, they'd give some of their extra height to you."

The boys mentioned shifted threateningly towards Jongdae, their matching bleached hair reflecting the sunlight making its way into the alley, dusty light filtered through too close buildings.

Xiumin grinned at him, his smile unsettling. Jongdae had heard many girls compare Xiumin's appearance to a hamster, and though he agreed, he didn't think he looked at all cuddly and cute, but rather like the kind of hamster you don't want to even try to pet for fear of getting your finger bitten off.

"I'm glad to see your sense humor is still intact, Chen," Xiumin keeps smiling as he slings his arm around Jongdae's shoulders. Jongdae is aware that he is supposed to feel threatened, but he also knows that Xiumin won't actually do anything to him.  He may have left the gang, but they both know that there are many members that are still loyal to him, and Xiumin would experience a lot of unnecessary problems if Jongdae were harmed.

"You know me too well, Xiumin-ah," Jongdae smiles his Cheshire Cat smile which is just as unsettling, if not more than Xiumin's own rabid hamster smile.

"It was good seeing you today, Chen," Xiumin says, though his tone implies the exact opposite. "You'll have to drop by so we can catch up sometime, yeah?" Xiumin removes his arm from Jongdae's shoulder, rejoining s.

"I'll see if I can pencil you in," Jongdae narrows his eyes at the poorly concealed threat in the other's words.

"You do that," Xiumin responds as he and the other members make their way out of the alley in the opposite direction from which they entered.

As soon as he's seen them round the corner out of sight and out of earshot, Jongdae relaxes visibly and takes in a calming breath. "Minnie-me!" he calls towards where he left his sister, "Can you please bring Oppa's backpack?" As he finishes his request, instead of waiting for a response he drops to his knees to inspect Xiumin's bleeding victim.

"Yah, Kim Joonmyun, are you okay?" Joonmyun finally manages to pull himself into a sitting position as he narrows his eyes angrily at Jongdae.

"I'm peachy keen, no thanks to you!" he spits at Jongdae, the dislike clear in his voice.

"Woah there cupcake, no need to be so nasty. You'd be in a lot worse condition if I hadn't shown up when I did." Jongdae reaches into the backpack MinDae brought over and fishes out his first aid kit.

"Don't you cupcake me, Chen. They were nearly done with me anyway." Joonmyun hisses as Jongdae begins gently wiping off some of the drying blood with a pad of rubbing alcohol.

"Oppa, who's Chen?" MinDae inquires innocently.

"Nobody, puddin' pop. Can you hold Joonmyun oppa's hand while I finish cleaning up his boo-boos?"

"Okay Oppa," MinDae says to Jongdae. Taking her place beside Joonmyun and inserting her small hand into his much larger one, she says to him sweetly, "If it hurts, go ahead and squeeze my hand as tight as you want."

"And trust me, Joonmyun, had I not shown up, you'd be lucky if you were even still conscious right now."

Joonmyun shoots another dirty look at Jongdae before he once again is hissing in pain at the sensation of the burning alcohol.

"Don't be such a baby," Jongdae mutters as he finishes cleaning up his face, applying Neosporin and Doraemon bandaids to the cuts, which causes MinDae to giggle.

"I only did your face so you don't look like a member of the Walking Dead cast when you're going home. I trust you can do the rest yourself?" Jongdae asks as he once again gets to his feet and then bends down to help him up.

"I can do it myself," Joonmyun responds angrily, pushing Jongdae off of him.

"Whatever you say," Jongdae responds, leaning back to watch Joonmyun try to get up.

After watching him struggle for a good five minutes, Jongdae sighs and rolls his eyes before bending down once again and wrapping his arms around Joonmyun's torso, pulling the older boy to his feet.

Once he made sure the class president was standing solidly, Jongdae tipped his snapback at the boy, uttering a sarcastic, "good day," before wrapping his hand around MinDae's and leading her out of the alley.

Before turning the corner in the opposite direction Xiumin and his gang went, Jongdae calls back to a struggling Joonmyun. "Be safe getting home! I wouldn't recommend coming this way again!" He chuckles at the annoyed expression on Joonmyun's face as he turns away the final time.

Finally out of sight and on his way to his house, Jongdae feels a tug on his hand.

"Yes?" he asks, quirking his eyebrow at his sister.

"Joonmyun oppa is very handsome, don't you think so?"

"Yes, I do."