I've known Chwe Hansol for a long time. We were friends in highschool. He was obnoxious, always talking loudly with his friends or flirting with girls. He never studied. I studied, though. I didn't have a lot of friends and girls were another species to me.
     I don't know how we became friends, or rather, I don't really wanna remember, because the story involves my head almost being shoved in the toilet and Hansol charging in the bathroom like a bull and dragging me out to the courtyard. Opposites attract, I suppose.
     He wasn't a good student. Countless of times he'd get called to the principals office to be reprimanded for his hair or hanging out with one of the rich girl honor students and "poisoning her mind," like in A Midsummer's Night Dream with Hermia and Lysander.       Anyway, it didn't matter who you were, naturally you'd have a crush on Choi Hansol some time in your life. All the guys wanted to be a part of his squad. All the girls wanted to throw their hearts at him. Of course, some kids made fun of him because he was a "halfer", but even then, you'd never hear from them again after Hansol or his fanclub got to them.
    Despite his horrible work ethic, disrespect for school dress code, and short attention span, he was a good person inside, because he's saved me countless of times.
 
    "Hey!! Hong Jisoo!" my classmates would call my name, only to follow up with a heavy slap to the back of my head. It was their way of greeting me. I hated it, but it was me against what seemed like the entire school. The only person who backed me up was Hansol.       "First rank on our last test, amazing, right?" they'd laugh at me for being smart. They'd all laugh at me for being quiet and nice to my elders and having my mom pack my lunch. They'd all laugh at me for being a normal person, for being myself.      I could only look down at my text books I'd be carrying. It would make me feel stupid.      "You guys caught me," I'd chuckle quietly, sadly, almost cynically.      "Hong Jisoo, you've got enough brains for everyone. Why hog all the spot light for yourself? Why not do our work, too? You're smart enough, aren't you, First Rank?" they would laugh and grab my neck with their arms. It made me feel nervous. Anger just seeped through me, but I couldn't even move.      Hansol hated it as much as I did, but he was able to do things about it.      "Hey! You guys are ing wack. Get the hell out of here," he'd sneer, pulling kids off of me and punching them straight in the face, along with his friends who followed whatever he did.       Hansol was always doing things for me. I was older than him, but he'd still take the front and protect me. It kinda sickened me, but I was thankful.             I hated him even more when he'd invite me out for whatever, to see new action movies, get some lunch, or just sit in the park and scout out some pretty girls. He said he was only scouting them out for me, because he seemed to really like that honor student girl. I didn't know her name, but I just referred to her as "Hermia."      But we did a lot of stuff together. He helped me with bullies. I helped him with homework. We did a lot of stuff together.       I wasn't sure why though, so I'd ask him.      He'd only reply after a lame chuckle and a shocked look,       "It's because we're friends."      It sounded weird to me, but it was cool, I guess.       The first years of high school were rough. Really rough. Hansol made it a bit better.         Everything went pretty well while we were juniors. Three years went by happily. I was happy. People liked me better, my grades went up higher than they used to be. Girls talked to me. I was really happy.      Hansol was making my life better.      Until he started hanging out with some other kids.      They were three other guys, Seungcheol, Wonwoo, and Mingyu. They were the most popular guys in school, just like Hansol was.      I didn't hate Hansol for hanging out with those three. I hated those three for hanging out with Hansol. I wasn't jealous, it was just that they were making him do things he would never do on his own. He wouldn't even think of doing the things those three made him do.        I wasn't able to hang out with Hansol much during school, because he was always with Seungcheol, Wonwoo, or Mingyu. He was hardly ever with me anymore. I could actually feel our friendship slipping away from me. It felt like we were becoming strangers, and it was kinda scary. I couldn't ever admit that, though.      I went to his house one day to just catch up with him.       He opened the door, looking like he was expecting someone else, because as soon as he saw my face, his expression faded.       He took me up to his room, to which he just sat on his bed, playing with his phone as I stood around, looking at some pictures of us from school activities he still had on his cork board. There were some pictures of the girl he liked, too-- that honor student girl. I felt somewhat relieved knowing that he still gave a crap about his old friends. He still remembered us, and it made me hopeful.      "This was a long time ago," I pointed to a picture of him and I on a field trip. I remembered that day pretty well, but the picture made the memory more vivid.       Hansol looked up at me, nothing being expressed, "Huh? Oh yeah," he nodded, going back to his chat conversation on his phone. He was uninterested. I wondered if he remembered the field trip like I did.       It was quiet between us and it made things really weird.       "Where'd you get this?" I asked, trying to get a conversation started.      I picked up small tin sitting on his dresser. It looked like an innocent tin, probably filled with candy or something. I hadn't seen it before. When I held it in my hand though, it was dense and heavy. Hansol kinda flipped when I picked it up.       "Dude, don't touch that," he grimaced, standing up. Before he could take the thing away from me, I opened it.       There was a large folded knife, a spare blade, some money, and a small plastic bag filled with white powder. My mouth dropped open and Hansol grabbed the tin away, sealing it back shut and just staring at me. A look of discouragement and fear was in his eyes. He knew what he had was wrong, and because of that, he was scared. I was even more scared. What was he doing? What the hell did he get himself into?      "Um," I began, my fingers freezing. What was I supposed to say now?       "I don't think... you should come over anymore," Hansol whispered grimly, a frown appearing on his face.            I was shocked, but at the same time I thought that this was expected. Who knew something like this would tear a part our friendship? Who knew Choi Hansol would get involved in drugs and fights?       "Hansol, I-" I couldn't even finish whatever I was going to say, because the door suddenly opened, Seungcheol, Wonwoo, and Mingyu appearing before it. They all took a glimpse at me, raised their eyebrows, and then looked at Hansol.       Hansol in return looked away, quickly throwing the tin under his blanket. There must have been a penalty for having someone find out about their hobbies.       "Yo, Hansol, who's this dude?" Wonwoo smirked, setting a hand on my shoulder.       "Oh! I know, Hong Jisoo! The top student, you know? That kid everyone used to pick on," Mingyu laughed, "First Rank!"       Seungcheol bobbed his head, an amused smile on his face, "Whatcha doing here, Hong Jisoo?" he asked, giving my back a hard whack. I almost fell forward, and they all laughed again.       "Why is he here, Hansol?" Mingyu asked.      Hansol just shook his head, "I don't know. He just came in here, no warning. I don't know him."      I couldn't move, say anything, or yell. With a push to my back, they all began hitting me after giving each other sly grins.