Lee Hi found herself being persuaded—more like dragged against her will—to Suhyun’s house later on that day.

It was fair to say that the petite girl felt more than apprehensive, in more ways than one. She wasn’t even sure they could be called friends, what with their rocky start and all, but the younger girl gave off the impression on being adamant of not taking no for an answer. Her brother surprisingly enough, seemed to accept the friendship with open arms—literally. It was almost as if she had inherited two siblings with the way the pair took her in like she was their own.

Another thing that made her cautious of going over their house was that her parents could either go into two main categories, stern and scary or kind and welcoming. Of course there were other branches of how parents behaved, but she was only accustomed to the two main types growing up. But all those preconceptions were instantly broken when the time finally came to meet the parents.

Lee Hi could feel surprise rushing through her when the father looked up from reading the newspaper and the mother popping her head around the kitchen door—where there was a mouth-watering scent swirling from the room—bright smiles emerged on their faces as they came to greet her into their home with welcoming arms, very much like their children did.   

This gave the auburn haired girl more than enough reasons to break down her barriers, to smile and be herself slowly bit by bit.

“You know, we could technically adopt you, it’s not like you would have to change your name.” Suhyun brought the topic up over dinner, as if it was no big deal.

“And we could totally renovate the attic, so you would have a big room!” Chanhyuk chimed in with a cheesy grin, the siblings exchanged a high five, evidently on the same page of whatever idea they were currently planning on executing.

“Honestly, you kids are so noisy. Why can’t you be like your friend, Lee Hi here?” The mother chided with a mock stern face, shaking her head before a smile graced her face as her attention was averted towards the silent party at the table. “More rice, dear?” Although she was already shovelling the serving spoon filled to the brim with the grain substance onto her place before she could even utter a sound, so she merely smiled.

“If anything, we should adopt Lee Hi and leave you two at your grandmother’s house.” Whilst the father was helping himself to yet another spoonful of chicken porridge, a cheeky grin flashed across his face when the children began to whine in dissatisfaction, only to be silenced by a simple look from their mother. Nevertheless, both still grumbled under their breaths—nearly causing the usually blank faced girl to laugh, so she covered in an attempt to stifle her actions. This caused the brother to lift his head up, quickly checking if his mother was paying attention in their direction when he motioned for her to move closer until they were inches apart.

“If you think our mother’s bad, you should meet our grandmother!” The bespectacled boy whispered in feigned confidence, only to be swatted across the head by the former merely seconds afterwards. The woman shook her head as she waved her wooden spoon clad hand warningly in the air, almost as if daring for her son to oppose her again. The father let out a bellowing laugh as he got his oldest child into a headlock, the latter squirmed as he let out exaggerated wails until he was finally released, his glasses nearly falling off his face in the process. Whilst Suhyun had a kiss on the forehead, much to Chanhyuk’s dismay. The mere sight itself was quite bittersweet for Lee Hi as she simply continued to eat.

“You are very fortunate to have a mother, who prepares so much food for you, only to receive complaints as thanks for her effort.” Was all Lee Hi said as she took a sip of her green tea, only to have the woman in question clap her hands—evidently elated by her comment, as she started shovelling even more food onto her plate if it was humanly possible—what with the food that was already stacked there.

“Ah, you’re so sweet, Lee Hi-ah. My kids could learn a thing or two from you~” She practically sang, turning a complete one hundred and eighty degree character change, almost as if she was some kind of cartoon character. “You should come over more often, hm? I’ll make you more delicious food, I’ll put some in our spare Tupperware containers so you can bring it home with you before you go~”   

The auburn girl waved her hands in front of her face, slight panic etched on her face. “Ah, that’s not necessary, Mrs Lee. You’ve already given me so much already—“

“There’s no point in trying to argue with her on this one, once she has an idea in her mind she sticks with it.” The father let out a chuckle, his eyes forming the same similar crescents that were present in both children. Lee Hi couldn’t help but laugh along.  

She shot a meaningful look in her children’s direction. “I don’t know why it took you so long to invite sweet little Lee Hi over.” Before she turned to smile at the girl in question, nearly making her blink at the constant emotion change, though this time she turned more serious, reaching out to pat her hand with a sombre smile.

“Ah, I was so worried my kids wouldn’t make any friends so quickly when they only just moved to your school. My husband and I ask that if it’s not too much trouble, please continue to watch over my babies. I wouldn’t know what I do if anything was to happen to them.”  

“Thank you for being our friend, Lee Hi-ah/unnie!” The siblings chimed as they stood up to bow at her. With that, the father lifted up his glass along with three of them with Lee Hi slowly lifting up her own in the air, a paternal smile curled on his lips. “Cheers to Lee Hi!”

Instantly, hollers erupted from the dining room—the loudest were of course, the siblings as they shot eye-smiles in her direction. Suhyun giggled as she leaned over to the girl. “Looks like we’re one step closer to getting our parents to adopt you!”

Lee Hi merely smiled behind her cup, not sure what she had done in her past life to deserve such good people entering in her life.  

I think this must be the best sleep I’ve had in ages. Was Lee Hi’s first thoughts as she awoke to a new day, she smiled as she rolled over her bed and stretched her arms over her head relishing in the popping sensation of her back before she opened her eyes. Her gaze was blurry for a few seconds before she put her glasses on—which were too big on her face to wear outdoors, for her liking—until it quickly become clearer. After getting home last night, but of course not without the Tupperware containers she had been promised by Suhyun’s mother. The family had all gathered to wave her off as she made her way back home later on that evening. It was strange, that she didn’t really want to leave. She had never imagined being welcomed so quickly, even though she was practically an outsider to them, feeling as if she was intruding on intimate family moments.

It’s much brighter outside than I thought it was going to be. The sunshine was practically running havoc upon succession of slipping through the cracks of her curtains. So far, no suspicious feeling or thoughts had arisen yet as she snuggled back into her bed, feeling the call of the mattress and pillows much too tempting to resist.

“All I have to do is have some breakfast, get changed, then go to school.” She nodded to herself contently, lifting up her gaze to peek at her clock, she usually woke up a few hours before she was meant to.

10:23 ticked innocently back at her.

She rolled over, the urge to succumb to the tempting lullabies of sleep by thinking to herself, just five more minutes wouldn’t hurt, right? Almost as if there was a voice at the back of her mind, nudging and nagging for her to wake up, she snapped to attention as her consciousness was fully brought back into reality.

“, I’m late, oh I’m so late right now, I can’t believe I overslept!” She let out a stream of profanities in her panic induced state, nearly falling off her bed as she threw off her duvet and pulled off her sleeping clothes to walk—or rather stumble, in her case towards her wardrobe—which didn’t end well either as she opened the wooden door with such a brutal force, it caused the door to knock roughly into her forehead.

Which, once again, resulted in another torrent of curses to escape as she winced at the flash of pain. The skin surrounding her forehead was already starting to turn a red colour. I can practically hear the glee from the higher power at my expense.

Lee Hi’s morning routine was ruined and torn into shreds, from the moment she tried to wear her black tights—ladders seemed to appear on both strands from being pulled and strained harshly in her haste, much to her dismay. So she ended up discarding them—going one day without them shouldn’t be so bad, at least she hoped so—after nearly poking her eye out when she made an attempt to put on her contact lenses—maybe people wouldn’t recognize her with glasses, that wouldn’t be so bad right? The buttons on her white shirt weren’t in the correct places in her rushed attempt, her school tie hanging loose and untidy and don’t get her started on her hair. The auburn strands were practically sticking up in all directions possible due to the static of the rapid speed of her hairbrush grooming her hair, so she merely shoved a beanie hat over it for the time being. In short, she was quite unrecognizable, unless you really looked closely and gave her a second more thorough inspection.

I’ll just sort it out when I get to school toilets, it’s not like I would bump into anyone since they would already be in their lessons anyway. She tried to reassure her rapid heart, not even going to bother looking into the mirror to see her reflection when she already knew she looked a state. Well, that will be my good deed for the day, have people laugh at my expense.

She nearly let out a yell of frustration when just as she grabbed her bag, her pencil case fell out—along with its contents. “Come on, why does this have to happen of all days?”

Lee Hi was glad to see the back of her apartment as she stomped through the main exit door, not really caring at the moment if she disturbed any of her neighbours as she took a different route to the bus stop than she normally took in the mornings via a shortcut through the hedges. Which she wouldn’t have thought passing through there was such a good idea once she had already reached the end of the lane as she would inevitably emerge into the main lane with bits of foliage stuck in her hair and clothes, in hindsight—the time where it would have already been too late.

“—aren’t you going to share that, hyung?”

“Get your own food, this is all mine—Yah! Seunghoon, don’t act like such a bad influence by stealing my food!” Jinwoo hissed, as he held his food protectively to his chest.

“I hafve mo ibea what bou’re taling about, hyuun.” I have no idea what you’re talking about, hyung. The perpetrator said through a mouthful of food, with the biggest grin plastered across his face despite trying to play the innocent card.

“Aish, such disobedient children.” Jinwoo tsked in feigned annoyance before an arm wrapped itself around his shoulders with Bobby nagging him to lighten up with Seungyoon bringing up the rear of the group, his attention placed on his phone whilst holding onto his guitar case.

Mino walked silently along with the snapback clad Hanbin, his gaze straight ahead as the group walked towards the bus stop. None of them really cared that they were late, it wasn’t as if it was a new occurrence in their daily lives—they showed up when they wanted to, to the lessons they showed interest in. He ran a hand through his black hair, whilst the other was shoved into his black jean pocket. Scum, huh?

“—yes Suhyun-ssi, I’m on my way now and no I haven’t been kidnapped and being held as a hostage. I’ll see you later, yes I’ll text you when I get to school. Ok, bye mum.” The black beanie clad girl continued to walk in a straight line, where the bus stop was just a corner away, just as she was walking she happened to miss a certain group walking towards her from her left, before she shoved her phone back into her blazer pocket—which was probably the only thing that look decent on her since the rest of her wasn’t exactly up to par as she rolled her eyes at the overbearing concern of her friend.

“…Was that…?” Bobby let the sentence hang for a few seconds as he stopped rooted to the spot, his gaze stuck on her legs which weren’t covered by their usual attire of black tights. Hanbin whacked his friend at the back of his head, whilst shaking his own in evident disapproval.

“She looks terrible.” Jinwoo didn’t bother to sugar coat his words, though the clocks in his mind were running like wildfire. Taehyun let the lollypop in his mouth dangle before he closed it again.

“Looks like someone’s had an eventful morning.” The leader of the group merely continued to walk, but instead of their initial intended destination, he followed behind the tracks of the oblivious Lee Hi, who was far too absorbed in her own world to notice anything with the rest tagging along. One stopped when he noticed something on the ground, he blinked before picking it up to see a familiar face before simply pocketing it and following his friends’ lead.

Aish, how am I supposed to explain the reasoning behind my lateness today? The bespectacled girl bit on her lower lip in thought, placing her hands just under her bag straps. Then again, whatever excuse I would give, they would only just give me a detention regardless of how believable my lies are. She let out a weary sigh. It’s not like I could say I had a doctor’s appointment without a doctor’s slip to prove it either.  The auburn haired girl fumbled through her pockets once she reached the bus stop, she couldn’t find her bus pass. Please, please don’t tell me I’ve forgotten it…or worse, lost it.

The next thought processes that raced through her mind consisted of looking for her purse, which she eventually managed to do once she found it right at the bottom of her bag underneath all the other junk lumped in there. However, the feelings of relief were blown away in an instant when she realized that she didn’t have enough money even for a one way ticket journey to school.

The urge to scream was being very, very tempting to her at that precise moment. Tears of frustration were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. Why…why did this all have to happen on today of all days?

“Yah, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, literally.”

This is really turning out to a nightmare of a morning, I should have never left the comfort of my bed. “Please, don’t. I’m not in the mood.” She remained firm in her voice however as she harshly shoved her purse back into her bag.

“Not in the mood for scum, I see?” Mino continued to taunt her, his usual smirk plastered across his tanned face. Whilst the others came into view, they blinked as her gazes prodded her untidy profile—which was always kept pristine and clean. They’re just staring at the freak show, not that I’m surprised. Inwardly, she bitterly laughed.

“I’m being serious, don’t start right now.” At that moment, it seemed like a good idea to shout out her statement, however at the height of her emotions she didn’t realize that her face was getting increasingly damp and especially by the stunned looks she received, she had come to the conclusion that she was crying. Crying in front of the last people she wanted be seen in her vulnerable state. She cleared , wiping her tears onto her sleeve as she increased the distance between her and them. This was most definitely a different side to the confident girl who had left them hanging in the classroom yesterday.

Aish, what’s wrong with me? Letting myself to look so weak in front of the bullies of the school, huh they’re probably going to spread rumours that I’m a cry-baby. She was startled out of her thoughts when she felt a presence move in front of her, to which she immediately backed away only to be stopped. “Didn’t I tell you I’m not in the mood—“

“The way you look is annoying me.” Jinwoo shot her a meaningful look as he fixed her mismatched buttons into their correct places, he went as far as redoing her crooked tie until it looked as it should be just under her collar. Mino, who was standing a few paces away, scoffed in disbelief how they could interact with her so easily after what she had said to them, as if it meant nothing.

“Do you have a spare hair bobble?” Taehyun was next in line, as he looked to her expectantly to which he merely received a blank expression. He rolled his eyes as he took off the black tie from his own wrist, took off the black beanie from her own head and started to comb through her hair with his fingers until he was satisfied there weren’t any kinks before gathering the hair together gently before wrapping the hair bobble around a couple of times to secure its place. He noted how she winced when his hand lightly brushed the red-looking spot on her forehead, frowning for a second before he stood back to view his work with a nod of approval.

“I see those times of having long hair yourself are coming in handy—, that hurt!” Seunghoon howled out, clutching his injured foot which had been stamped on while the latter of the two didn’t even bat an eyelid.

Lee Hi ducked her head when the sound of wolf whistling came from outside of the circle around her, from what she could guess they were just truants with nothing better to do with their time. What they were wolf whistling around, she didn’t exactly know. The next thing she knew, she felt someone wrapped their jacket securely around her waist, thus covering the majority of her previously exposed thighs.

Oh…She blinked in realisation, inwardly chiding herself for being so naïve as she raised up her gaze to see Mino with his arms crossed over his broad chest which was now only covered with his white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He glanced at her face for a moment, his eyes passed over each individual feature on her face until it eventually stopped. What is he staring at?

He simply learned forward which caused her to mirror his actions, except she was moving backwards. He rolled his eyes before he reached out a hand around her neck to keep her still, his face kept coming closer and closer until they were merely inches apart. All the while, she was struggling to free herself from her hold. Why is he so close?  

It was only when she could feel a slight breeze of cool air hit her forehead, causing her eyes to widen. His face was so close that if she were to tilt her head…she would have lost her real first kiss.

Then she remembered the incidents from the day before, why was she letting them touch her so informally as if they were all friends? I must be getting soft or something. So, without a single moment of hesitation, she roughly pushed him away as she backed away but miscounted her steps as she felt herself stumbling backwards, but found that someone had already caught her before she fell.

“You alright there little one? Be more careful next time okay?” She was greeted by the sight of Bobby’s eye smile, as he went as far as reaching out a hand to her hair. What the—have all these guys gone through some kind of brain transplant? Why are they being like this? Or is it possible that I’m still dreaming?

She broke out of his hold as she speed walked away from Bobby who become visibly confused by her sudden actions. I need to get away from them—who knows what would happen if they me? Besides, I don’t have my bus card or the right change to catch the bus, so might as well walk to school. The thought itself was gruelling, it would take her up to half an hour, if not more to get to the school by that time it would nearly be dinner time anyway…maybe she could sneak back to her apartment and pretend to be off sick? That sounded more plausible than any other excuse she could think of.

She was just under halfway crossing a road, almost lazily checked her surroundings before she heard the sound of a car moving towards her at speed. The auburn haired girl froze for a split second before backing away on instinct yet she as still close enough to be hit before she felt herself being hauled back onto the pavement just as the car zoomed past. She could feel not only herself trembling, but also the person who was holding her around her waist.

 “Yah, didn’t you see that car coming? You could have been knocked over!” But she couldn’t find her voice to speak, her heart felt as if it was lodged in , her heartbeat must have been working overtime as the adrenaline kicked in. 

She could just about make out the whisper grazing her ear, asking whether she was alright, as if the person was hallucinating that she wasn’t in his arms, but collapsed on the road. Slowly, she turned around to see Hanbin staring at her with hooded eyes before he slowly backed away from her as if realizing how he was acting, how he could have overstepped the mark.

“Why did you suddenly walk off like that?” It was Seunghoon who popped the question. From the looks on all their faces, it was a question that seemed to be playing on all their minds.

“I-I couldn’t find my bus pass and I didn’t have any spare change for the bus so I was going to walk to school.” Was her feeble excuse, still feeling shaken up about what had just happened.

Mino let out a chuckle, though it sounded too dark to be light-hearted. “You couldn’t have done the normal thing and asked one of us for money?”

“It’s not like we’re exactly on good terms now, are we? Didn’t I already say that I didn’t want anything to do with you guys?” She shook her head, one hand reached out to hold her other arm with evident distrust in her eyes. Someone cleared their throat, which caused her attention to shift to Seungyoon, who stepped forward, his arms behind his back.

“How about a fresh start, huh? How does that sound?” He held out her bus card with an inviting smile, with the rest crowding around him—instead of the typical cold and intimidating auras they would normally radiate, the kinds of expressions that appeared all ranged from content smiles, cheeky grins and smug smirks.

Lee Hi’s attention rested on her card, relief sank into her stomach before her gaze slowly raised up to their faces. Fresh start…huh?

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gUYS, guys. You wouldn't believe what happened to me this morning. I was writing the part where Lee Hi woke up late for class in the early hours of this morning (I had a 9am lecture) and when I woke up, it was like 9:15ish, looking back on it now it's quite funny actually. 

But at the time, I was pretty much Lee Hi (except, not as untidy, as least I hope not haha) 

Anyway~~~~ Another update! I don't know where all this motivation is coming from, maybe it's because I should be doing uni work haha (nah it's ok, I got it covered) I probably just jinxed myself -_-

I watched the MAMA awards, if I'm honest, I really missed 2ne1 >< I really, really, really, really, really hope that somehow they will attend some other award show and perform. Because I live for the fancams of their fellow idols //// fans haha 

If Hi Suhyun performs too, even better. 

ANyway, if anyone's still here, I can see that Got7 and EXO are the most popular choices, haha but there can only be one! Ah, I've written done ideas for each haha, but if there's a group not been mentioned or one you would really, really want to see, just let me know :) 

Until next time, I will leave you with these right here.