I should seriously consider being a recluse again or maybe I should move away?

That was just one of the hundreds of similar thoughts lingering in her mind as she stared in a deadpan manner towards the seemingly never ending pile of letters with intricate designs and were adored with glitter on her doorstep as she was going to leave her apartment that morning. She scowled in evident annoyance, practically kicking the paper mountain before walking out to lock her door.

Aish, is it really that difficult for them to understand the word ‘no’?

She didn’t have any trouble in forgetting the incident in school where the strangers made their appearance, acting as if they were God’s gift to humanity. As they strutted with sheer confidence and bestowed a gold envelope as if they were expecting her to emit a reaction akin to Christmas coming early.

They didn’t seem to take the hint then either that I didn’t want it. Instead, they had merely sent her another one, with a note saying something along the lines of ‘we understand that you must have been shy to accept this publically, so there’s no need to be so modest this time’— which by this point, the letter was probably already in a black bin bag somewhere in a rubbish tip.

The auburn haired girl had just barely managed to wake up in time to catch the bus as she stepped—more like stumbled—out of her apartment complex. She had woken up to the insistent ringing of her alarm clock which quickly led to ruffled clothing from rushing to change from her sleeping attire to having a couple of spoonful’s of cereal and using her brush to tug at her hair knots, all whilst keeping a careful eye on the time.

She was instantly hit with the cold air blasting around, causing her to shove her hands into the warmth of her coat pockets. The sky was painted in pale blue streaks with the occasional appearance of white fluff, the sun was nearly halfway rising to the top, but provided little to none warmth whatsoever. Lee Hi buried her chin into her scarf which was just strewn around her neck in her early morning rush, wishing nothing more than to curl up inside her duvet where she wouldn’t be assaulted by the cold winds against her bare skin.

Before she knew it, she was already standing by the bus shelter, a few other fellow students were straggling around but none that she really knew. The auburn haired girl nearly released a sign of relief at not seeing anyone she recognized, allowing her some time for herself as she leaned against the shelter wall. It’s strange, just over a week ago, I was just like these students.

Lee Hi glanced around her surroundings, idly. She would usually do this, it used to be part of her old routine. Just simply observing the actions and behaviours of others, simply because she could and that people were often too caught up in their own affairs to notice. Sometimes, she caught herself often wondering what it would be like to laugh freely with friends, to just forget.

Then, she would always chide herself for thinking such things. Back then, she had convinced herself that she was better off alone, even if it meant having the deal with the pangs of loneliness. There were times when she couldn’t bring herself to converse with others, in fear of history repeating itself. It was just simply easier to be alone.

The image of a smiling Suhyun and the sound of Chanhyuk’s laugher instantly came to her mind. And part of her heart clenched at the thought, perhaps being alone was getting just a tad bit boring.

Those happy thoughts were melted away at the sudden intrusion of no one other than the people—or rather the curveballs that life was currently shoving at her—who were not satisfied with leaving her alone, the YG boys. She had found herself, on more than a couple of occasions, looking over her shoulder in case they would creep up on her.

Aish, I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. She inwardly cursed, straining her ears—since it would be most likely that she would be able to hear them first before they could make their appearance, for a moment before she relaxed. It would have been too early for any of them to go to school anyway, they usually came in late as per usual, whether they actually went to their classes was another thing entirely. Otherwise, what was the point in going to school in the first place if they just ditched their classes?

But they were the least of her problems right now, she just needed to avoid them as much as she could and hopefully some unlucky kid would annoy them, thus displacing their interest.

Well, a girl could only dream, anyway.

The bus journey ran relatively quicker than normal, the pests in her life were nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t something that she really believed in, but she thanked her lucky stars that she was catching a break for once—and before she knew it, she was already walking through the school hallways towards her locker.

Even Lee Hi wasn’t completely oblivious to the air of excitement and blushing faces of the girls, their high pitched squeals and traditional—of course, jumping around. Is there a new teacher, or even student? What kind of person can draw out these kinds of reactions anyway? It most definitely wouldn’t be any of the YG boys, even if they were gifted with good looks, their personalities were absolutely and utterly .

However, whatever this new interest was to her fellow students, it didn’t spark any personal interest within herself as she was drawn back into her own musings. Perhaps, she was just being a little bit too optimistic about being left alone, when she went to open her locker—no exaggeration intended—more and more flower petals and letters poured out, these grand gestures were becoming increasingly frustrating.

She merely shoved all the of unnecessary debris out of the way as she took out of her books, ignoring the whispers and stares that were being aimed in her direction. It was inevitable. She grabbed as much of the letters and other junk as she could with her free hand and dumped it into the nearby trash bin before shutting her locker door on her way to her class.

Do they really think the way to go about thanking people is by harassing them? If this is how they treat their…guests or whatever it is they are, I don’t know how they’re getting money from such pushy techniques.

Lee Hi suppressed the urge to sigh, trying to push it to the back of her mind as she tried to focus on preparing her mind for her impending class. At least I’ll have this to distract me for a while, even if something else will happen in the day.

She walked around a corner, just about making out the excited chattering emitting from all around her, but she didn’t pay much attention as she tried to pace her breathing. The auburn haired girl could feel her heartbeat racing with inhibited irritation pulsating through her veins. You can do this, you can handle this Lee Hi. Just get through today then drop by that ‘Gentleman’s Club’ later to politely tell them to shove their letters and other crap where the sun doesn’t shine.

Walking into the classroom, the noise suddenly came to an abrupt halt. But this didn’t concern her as she walked to her usual seat—that is until she realised that was someone standing behind it. The same person who was holding it out for her, her gaze slowly rose until it reached a smiling face who motioned subtly towards her seat.

You have got to be kidding me right now.

Instead of taking her usual seat, she quickly pivoted on her heel to walk to the back of the classroom and sat in the first seat she came across just as the teacher came in. The bespectacled man simply took one look at the suit clad male before returning back to empting his briefcase for his notes. So much for teacher authority, huh?

It didn’t seem that the boy was deterred by her cold shoulder attitude, not in the slightest as he simply walked over to where she was sitting and literally just stood behind her, as if he was her shadow or something. He didn’t even move to take the vacant seat which was right next to her. She didn’t know whether to feel relief or paranoia, the emotions inside her were mixed up. It wasn’t like she could exactly walk out of the classroom, though having said that, it would be most unlikely that the teacher would even say anything, even if she were to do so—this guy would most likely follow her around like a lost puppy anyway.

Saying it’s going to be a long day would be the understatement of the century.

It didn’t take long before Suhyun had messaged her in confusion, she guessed through the dull sound of her phone vibrating in her pocket, obviously word had quickly got around of her current predicament.

How am I supposed to get rid of this guy? She inwardly frowned, tapping her pencil on her book absentmindedly. Half of her attention was placed on trying to solve her school work and the other remaining part was focused on how she was going to get rid of her most recent problem. Brown eyes slated as they flickered to the question before returning back to the answer box, she scribbled down her workings out until she reached her answer before moving onto the next question.

“Excuse me,” She stiffed slightly upon hearing his soft tones. He didn’t intrude into her personal bubble but she was more than aware of his presence. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this but that answer is incorrect.”

Lee Hi’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked back to the question then at her answer for what it felt like the umpteenth time. She went through each part, more thoroughly this time round until she eventually came to a different answer. She inwardly cursed herself as she hastily rubbed out the wrong numbers. Aish, I’m being careless. 

“No need to be so hard on yourself, you are doing very well on the rest of the questions.” That was all he said before silence erupted more once between the pair. She tried to go onto the next question, but the fact that he was practically hovering over her shoulder wasn’t exactly helping her at the moment, if anything it was making it worse knowing that someone was watching her every move.

“If you really wanted to help, why don’t you take a seat instead of looking like a piece of furniture?” The auburn girl inquired, her tone nothing less than deadpan as she directed a critical look over her shoulder. He seemed conflicted at first, as if not knowing what to do. So, she made the decision easier for him as she reached out to push the chair on her left back slightly.

“It’s either you take a seat or you leave, otherwise you’re just being a disturbance.” Was all the ultimatum she gave, inwardly praying that he chose the latter of the options. However, much to her own dismay, he silently took the vacant seat to her left. It wasn’t actually an ideal situation, but at least now she didn’t have him constantly breathing over her neck.

This time, as she went through all the questions set, checking each part she had them all right—without his help.

Finally, the clock chimed thus indicating that the lesson was over, Lee Hi raised her eyes to the ceiling for a moment in concealed relief. Just when I thought this lesson was never going to end. Then, her eyes narrowed slightly as she could make out movement from the left of her peripheral. But this leaves me with another problem to deal with, how am I supposed to deal with this guy? I’m sure he must have better things to do then trail after a high school student.

The auburn haired girl waited until the rest of the students pooled out of the class, not wanting anyone to overhear what she was about to say. Though, some more than others were taking their sweet time leaving as they stared at the back of the room, causing their cheeks to flush at being caught in the act before they finally scampered off before she cleared , making sure she had his attention before she started.

“I’m telling you this unless you aren’t aware of it. You are under no real obligation to follow me around after this, you probably have more productive things to do with your time.”

She had already packed all her belongings away as she stood up, dusting off her skirt idly then walked to the front of the classroom, her phone was going mental in her pocket as it vibrated every other second.

Aish, this girl. Absolutely no patience whatsoever, she can’t even wait until I’ve left my class. Lee Hi rolled her eyes, reaching out her hand into her pocket before pulling out her phone, not surprised at all to see more than a dozen message notifications popped up on her screen, all from the same source. She was midway through replying back—she could only muster up the energy to look at a few of the texts, they roughly had the same message anyway—when she felt a slight tug on her blazer sleeve. Give me strength, honestly this guy…

“Wait, I can understand that you find my presence alone a burden, but there’s nothing else that’s been entrusted to me to do by the host club.” He rubbed his arm uncomfortably, his face melted into an expression of being lost. “I’m just a rookie, the only things that I do is arrange the teas and pastries and clear up everything away and I’m not even good at that without breaking something. They don’t really trust me to do anything else…would you mind if I stick around, I’ll be quiet and won’t disturb you!” He was quick to reassure, his eyes widened with panic as if he was afraid his words would offend her.

Lee Hi didn’t even bat an eyelash. So, they’ve just saddled me with someone they didn’t want around? How gentlemanly of them to throw away people they don’t need. She shook her head in disbelief, though from his perspective it gave of the impression that she wasn’t most pleased to have him around. He stood up straighter, leaned forward to execute a perfect ninety degrees which slightly caught her by surprise.

“I apologise for taking up your time, Lee Hi-ssi. But please, even if I may be a burden to you, allow me the chance to prove myself to the rest of the host club.” He requested sincerely as the boy remained in his stance, not even moving an inch as he waited in anticipation with his gaze patiently on his shoes. Lee Hi glanced at him for a moment as if scrutinising his true motives, a pregnant silence broke out between the pair.

“Do as you wish.” Was all she stated as she pivoted on her heel to depart from the room, fully intent on getting to her next class without bumping into people she wanted to avoid. Not wanting to waste time or lose sight of her, the male quickly went to follow her. The auburn haired girl lost count on how many corners and hallways she passed, not paying much attention to the silent male walking behind her as if he was supposed to be some kind of protector—she nearly scoffed out loud at that thought but deemed it unnecessary.

It wasn’t long before a daunting sound entered the other end of the hallway, Lee Hi’s jaw clenched slightly something that her acquaintance had duly noted. Regardless of this, the girl continued to walk on with her gaze set directly in front of her, not straying once to the oncoming boisterous group.

However, by the looks of things, it didn’t seem like they were planning to do the same as her. Cue annoying and cliché nicknames.

“Look who’s here, it’s the little princess.” Bingo, how predictable. She thought dryly, but did not react to the taunt, already feeling exasperation rising within her as they took up nearly all of the hallway leaving barely enough room to squeeze past. Seungyoon’s eyes seemed to light up at the sight of her as he waved.

“Aish, do you ever look in a mirror?” Jinwoo clicked his tongue, he didn’t appear to be overly excited as her arrival on the other hand, his eyes scanning from her head to her toe with such high scrutiny it would have made anyone cower in nervousness. For the girl in question, she could hardly care less. Well, it’s not like I’m trying to impress anyone, I’m just here to do my work.

Seunghoon grinned toothily at the shorter male. “You’re just being picky now, hyung.”

This conversation is irrelevant. Lee Hi inwardly sighed as she simply walked around the group—which wasn’t easy, mind you, though her attempts were only in vain.

“Your forehead doesn’t look as swollen.” Taehyun commented idly, his gaze burned into her for a moment then his head tilted to the side. “Did you apologise for causing unnecessary harm to whatever it was you bumped your head on?”

“You’re so cold, hyung. I don’t understand how you even have admirers when you’re like this!” Bobby looked dumbfounded for a second as he shook his head in disbelief with Hanbin looking as disinterested in the situation as ever.

“Excuse me, as much as this conversation is riveting, I’m sure that this young lady would like to get to her class on time.” I had forgotten he was even here. Lee Hi blinked as she turned to face the blank faced male who was now standing beside her, unknowing she could feel the corners of her lips quiver upwards. Not sure whether to consider this act as brave or senseless.

Mino scoffed, cocking an eyebrow. “And who the hell are you?” The tanned male eyed the stranger with an overdose of malice, until his eyes spotted an overly familiar crest stitched onto the blazer and his eyes darkened.

“I thought I had warned your friends yesterday, are you trying to provoke me?”

“My reasons for being here is only to assist this young lady with whatever she needs.”

The attention and spotlight rapidly switched over to Lee Hi, much to her annoyance. She herself didn’t even really understand why this boy was assigned to watch over her, it wasn’t as if she was paying for it. The latter reached out a hand to squeeze her hand for a split second in reassurance then released his hold before she could fully comprehend what was going on. 

“I didn’t know you swing in both ways, let alone go for a host.” Mino shot her a demeaning smirk, though beneath the façade, he was bottling up rage.

“That’s because she has high standards,” The teenager spared an offhanded glance in their direction. “It seems clear that none of you quite fit them, what a shame for you all.” This time round, Lee Hi fully welcomed the smile that graced her face as a small snigger escaped .

I think I could tolerate this boy, just a little bit. But he doesn’t have to know that.

It was evident that if the situation wasn’t cooled down, it was inevitable that violence would soon break out by the looks on their faces, none looked pleased in the slightest. But before any of them could even land a hit onto his face, she stood out in front of him.

“I think enough has been said, we’ll leave you guys to do whatever you were doing before we came.” Lee Hi motioned towards her newly acquired companion to follow as she fluidly walked around the group with the male following close behind without a hitch this time round. Once they were a reasonable distance away and not within an earshot, she turned her head towards the male walking beside her.

“Since you’re apparently my self-proclaimed helper, you can start by stopping all the gifts and letters your host club has been bombarding me with.” He scratched his neck sheepishly, as a guilty smile wormed its way onto his face. He reached into the inside section of his blazer and drew out a single red rose. Lee Hi nearly scowled at the mere sight.

“I guess this means then you wouldn’t want this?” He grinned bashfully to which she shot him a deadpan look for a moment then returned her gaze back to the front. Yet, still undeterred by her reaction, he balanced the rose onto the top of her right ear, despite the fact she rolled her eyes at the gesture, she could feel the edges of branching upwards.

“…That girl has been making quite a lot of interesting friends lately.” Seunghoon whistled lowly, nodding his head as he watched the pair’s interaction with a close eye.

“Why did it have to be that guy? Aish, now it’s only a matter of time before she’s introduced to the rest of them.” Taehyun grumbled, a dissatisfied expression plastered across his face as he brushed back his hair with a single hand, ignoring the passing looks he received.

“…Looks like we’re going to have to step up our game a little sooner than we anticipated.” By far, it seemed that Mino was the one who didn’t look troubled by this, in fact he was smirking proudly as the clocks began to turn in his mind.

For a change of scenery and mostly because she didn’t feel like being cooped up indoors for lunch, her company for the morning was called away leaving him apologetic and guilty as he promised he would try to come back as soon as he was permitted to do so. Lee Hi shrugged it off, giving him a nod of acknowledge as he scurried off. Though inwardly, she was sighing in relief that she would finally be rid of him—for how long she didn’t know, but for the moment she didn’t really give a damn.

She found herself sitting underneath an aging tree—well, using her blazer as a blanket on the ground. Though externally, she was cool and collected, if you were to look at what she was really feeling on the inside, Lee Hi was trying her very best not to freak out about how much dirt and insects were around her.

She had no idea why Suhyun was so into all of this. There was no amount of money in the world that would be able to force her into camping in the wildness, nope, no, no way.

“Isn’t this so pretty, unnie?” She could vaguely hear the younger girl saying in the distance. No, it isn’t. While she was able to admire how the sunshine filtered through the thin, transparent almost, layers of the leaves. How the branches were being mobilised by the occasional breeze as if they were waving at people passing by and how much life was sprouting around her in the form of foliage and more distressingly—bugs—this really just wasn’t her cup of tea in the slightest. So mostly just to appease Suhyun, she merely hummed under her breath.    

The auburn haired girl took a tentative bite out of her sandwich, after checking there wasn’t anything on it when Suhyun settled herself down—or rather threw herself right next to her—the latter stretched her arms high above her head before placing her head onto the older girl’s shoulders in evident contentment.

“Ah, I could never get tired of this.” At least one of us is enjoying it. Lee Hi bit harder on her sandwich this time bitterly.

“Chanhyuk oppa and I used to explore these kinds of places when we were younger, it was so much fun.” She had a faraway look in her eyes before she released a sigh. “All good things come to an end, as they say, he grew to love something else.” Lee Hi on the other hand, remained silent. It was up to Suhyun how much she wanted to reveal, it is no good prying into other people’s business simply because of curiosity rather than concern.

“But enough about me, you still haven’t told me about the handsome guy that was with you!” Unsurprisingly, her aura shifted in the opposite direction as she clung onto the older girl’s arm. It was becoming less concerning that her personality could change with a snap of her fingers and more troublesome than anything else. How on earth Chanhyuk coped all these years, I'll never be able to undestand.

“It’s not important.”

“Aigo, you’re no fun, unnie.” She blew a raspberry, slumping back against the tree trunk as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Aren’t you already used to me being like this? If it’s boring for you, make some new friends.” The auburn haired girl closed her eyes, feeling a wave of fatigue hit her.

“Aigo! Don’t joke about such things, unnie!” Suhyun was quick to retort, pouting as she unlocked her ams to lightly whack the older girl's arm with an overdramatic display of anger.

Then, a comfortable silence broke out between the pair. The younger stared at her friend for a while before a smile broke on her face, she leaned back against the tree trunk then placed her head back onto Lee Hi’s shoulder.

“You want to know something, unnie? I hope that we can go on many adventures together.” The girl in question felt a brief smile flicker across her face, she merely patted the cat eyed girl’s head in response. Maybe, maybe one day. 

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Hello! ^-^ It's been a while huh? 

I'm now off uni for Christmas! Even though I've got work to be getting on with, ah ;_; 

Here's another chapter for you guys! Thanks again for the support :D I can't thank you guys enough, seriously! OH, I think I should have mentioned this before, but ~~~~~SPOILER ALERT~~~~~~ the rival group/host club is not IKON, just so you know! 

Anyway, if I don't post anything before Christmas (I'll see what can get done before?) I hope you all have an awesome Christmas and a Happy New Year! :D