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day three
 

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Haru let out a sigh as she settled under a tree in the yard of the school.

 

Despite it being a stinking hole compared to her middle school, at least this place still had a nice, proper yard. It was about the only place where she could get some peace and quiet. Maybe she'll check out the school rooftop tomorrow since she's going to be hanging around here for a month.

 

Haru's goal was to make as less contact with other breathing, moving, talking lifeforms as possible. Her first encounter with a fellow human her age here in Korea wasn't so great after all.

 

All the people in her class – or every person at school in general – were just too loud for her liking. She preferred quiet places, where she could hear the gentle breeze sweep past her or the sound of the trees swaying in the wind. It all brought her a peace of mind.

 

Haru closed her eyes.

 

One month is a long time. She was just hoping and praying that she'd make it quietly through her days without getting any more disturbed than today.  She just wanted this month to quickly pass without any troubles.

 

This was never the place for her; not now, nor then.

 

~

 

"Isn't she so cute?" sighed Jimin, gazing outside lovingly at the big elm tree in the yard. "Hwang Haru."

 

"Say her name again and I'll push you out the window." Jungkook snapped.

 

Taehyung got him in a headlock and gave Jungkook's hair a ruffle. "Lucky bugger aren't you? Stealing the beauty's lips on her first day!"

 

"It was an accident," corrected Jungkook, pushing the smirking boy away. "Beauty? More like straight-up ."

 

Jimin stifled a snicker. "She challenged the Jeon Jungkook! And she called him a, what was it?" The cheeky boy laughed, ignoring Jungkook's death glare. "Pup! She called him a pup!"

 

"Exactly," the fourth boy, Hoseok, joined Jimin by the window and smiled. "She's got all that personality. I like her."

 

"Yeah, a rotten one…" muttered Jungkook.

 

"Stop badmouthing her already," Taehyung flew over and gave him an elbow to the side. "You don't even know her."

 

Jungkook paused. "What if I did?"

 

Taehyung fell silent and turned to him. "What?"

 

"Nothing," Jungkook replied and began walking down the hallway.

 

"Where are you going?"

 

"Toilet."

 

Taehyung let out a sigh. "I'll never get what's going on inside that head of his…"

 

Jungkook didn't understand what it was about that girl that made all the guys around her go goo-goo over. She wasn't anything special. He's seen better. There were loads of girls out there who looked prettier than her and most of them, had a way better personality than her.

 

He scoffed and pushed the thoughts away. He was just wasting his time thinking about someone like her. Taking a detour, Jungkook made his way towards the library.

 

He took his spot in the usual seat near the window, which was always bathed in sunlight. Settling down, Jungkook placed his head on the table and closed his eyes, letting the warmth soak into his skin.

 

It was quiet.

 

The silence allowed memories to pour into his brain.

 

It was in Autumn, on a cool night filled with crisp breezes and the fresh smell of damp grass after a short rainfall. He was drenched from head to toe and had been sitting on a swing in that one park for a long time, so long that he had forgotten how'd he got there.

 

The last thing he remembered was being alone.

 

When the rain had stopped, that wasn't the case anymore.

 

"Why are you crying?"

 

He hadn't replied. He didn't remember replying at all, not even once.

 

That voice, however, would say a few things once in a while, during the moments they had together that were lapsed in silence.

 

When he came to his senses, she was gone.

 

"–kook! Jungkook!"

 

Jungkook opened his eyes to find Taehyung shaking him by the shoulders. He sat up and groggily and let out a big yawn, stretching out his arms.

 

"What time is it?"

 

"Home time." Taehyung scoffed, giving the tired boy a half-smile. "It's pretty amazing no one told you off for skipping class by sleeping in the library for two periods."

 

"Who'd dare?"

 

"And I was wandering why you were spending such a long time in the toilet."

 

The two boys walked out of the deserted library and made their way out of the building.

 

Jungkook had known Taehyung since they were babies. They didn't become proper friends until elementary though.

 

As a kid, Taehyung was a pretty weird one. The one reason why Jungkook refused to become friends with him in the first place – despite the close bond between their families – was because Taehyung had this strange habit of doing the peace sign after everything he does.

 

Everything.

 

Finished a test? Bam. Two fingers up and spread apart in V formation. Taking pictures? There it is. Greeting someone? Up it goes. Executing a cool line before a fight? Yep, it's there.

 

Taehyung would never fail to bring those two fingers up; he did it so much that it pretty much became a predominant feature of him. Due to that weird habit, it earned him the nickname 'V'. Jungkook grew used to it after a while so that then, was the beginning of a new friendship.

 

"Oh yeah, just to let you know," started Taehyung as they walked out of school together. "Punsu High boys are after your after the beating they received from us last time."

 

"Let them come," Jungkook wrapped an arm around Taehyung's shoulder. "They're no match for us anyway."

 

"Exactly. So they're bound to play dirty."

 

"Relax," said Jungkook as he headed in a different direction, waving at Taehyung as he left. "Everything's gonna be fine."

 

With a final look of worry, Taehyung let out a sigh and went on in his own direction.

 

Punsu was one of the weaker gangs in the district. Jungkook doubt there was anything they'd be able to do to threaten him. The most they could do was probably kidnap one of the guys, but that would mean they were really asking for a death wish. If that did happen, someone was not going to get out of it without a few broken bones on Punsu's side.

 

Not that they had the guts to do it anyway.

 

Sookwang reigned as the district's strongest, so there were always different schools who started fights just for that position. Jungkook thought that was dumb. You'd risk the lives of your brothers for a mere title?

 

He scoffed. The way small high school gangs worked around this district really reminded him of life back at home.

 

They were always so power-hungry.

 

That's why he left in the first place.

 

His thoughts halted as soon as he saw a familiar face up ahead. She looked over and their eyes clashed, slowly moving from disbelief onto a no-way-in-hell-was-this-happening moment.

 

Both voices yelled out in complete sync.

 

"You!"

 

~

 

"You!"

 

Her day just couldn't get any worse.

 

"Seunghyun, what is she doing here?" scowled the boy as he walked up and stood by her side, scrunching his eyebrows.

 

"Hoh," Mr Choi from Haru to Jungkook. "You two know each other?"

 

"No," the two replied, followed by a death glare, aimed towards each other.

 

"Haru is our new boarder," Mr Choi smiled. "Haru, this is Jeon Jungkook. Get along you two."

 

Haru crossed her arms and stared the landlord down, arching her brow. "You never told me there were other boarders here."

 

The older man shrugged. "You never asked."

 

Before she could voice up and protest, she felt a hard, cold object press against her back.

 

"Hands up."

 

In a heartbeat, out of pure habit, Haru grabbed the object behind her and swiftly manoeuvred around until she had her unknown opponent disarmed. In front of her stood a surprised man with his hands in the air as she pointed the gun at him.

 

There was dead silence.

 

"…Woah."

 

"Jiyong, you play too much," piped up Mr Choi from behind Haru.

 

Haru's eyebrows pinched. She turned her head around. "You know him?"

 

Mr Choi pointed a finger at the other man, who still had his hands in the air. "He's the other border. Kwon Jiyong."

 

Haru turned back to the man and sighed, throwing the gun at him. "Is there anyone else you should tell me about?"

 

"You're Hwang Haru right?" exclaimed the man, stepping closer to examine her. "We heard you were coming!"

 

"Not 'we'," cut in Jungkook. "Nobody even told me."

 

"Yeah, because no one cares about you," chuckled Mr Choi, receiving a frown in return.

 

Kwon Jiyong was a lanky looking fellow; skinny arms and legs, together with a small face and quite pointy chin. Despite his baby-face and overly-happy exterior, he had a mature cut; black hair swept over to one side.

 

Haru made a face, moving her head back as he inched in closer. "How old are you exactly?"

 

He flashed her a proud grin. "Twenty-three."

 

"You look thirteen."

 

"He's been told,"

 

All heads turned over to the new voice. Haru's eyes flew over to Mr Choi.

 

He cleared his throat. "Last border, Lee Chaerin. Twenty-two."

 

The last border was a beauty. She had clear white skin and pink lips. Her eyes were complimented by thick, winged eyeliner and her small face was framed by long, wavy blonde hair which was tucked behind her ears, revealing a line of piercings that strangely suited her. 

 

In within a second, the badass face Chaerin had on disappeared completely, replaced by a big grin as she closed in on Haru, pulling her into a tight hug.

 

"Haru! We've heard so much about you!"

 

"I still don't understand why I didn't," muttered Jungkook in the background.

 

Haru had a thing about people touching her. She didn't push Chaerin away though. The beauty smelt too good. It was like a whiff of strawberries, roses, jasmine, cotton candy even and everything nice. Haru didn't understand how that worked, but it worked.

 

The pretty girl grabbed both Jiyong and Jungkook by their sleeves and pulled them all in for a hug as well.

 

"Our family is getting bigger!" The older girl exclaimed happily.

 

Both Haru and Jungkook wasted no time breaking out of the group hug, almost simultaneously.

 

"We are not family." The two said in sync, followed by a don't-copy-me glare shot at each other.

 

"Ah, youngsters these days," sighed Mr Choi, making his way into the house. "We should have a welcoming feast tonight."

 

Cheers erupted – mainly coming from Jiyong – as all of them forwarded into the house together.

 

Chaerin linked her arm around Haru's and gave her a smile. "We're going to have so much fun from now on!"

 

Haru would've liked to tell her otherwise but seeing the girl's warm smile made her decide against it. She simply returned with the smallest lift of her lips and nodded.

 

"I guess."

 

~