The school was fairly quiet as I walked down the halls, quietly going to my locker. I felt weirdly rested, more alive, even though the ache was still present in my chest. It felt weird going home after school and doing my homework but it was more relaxing to come back in the evening from work and not have any homework to do. I guess it’s really true that if you go to bed earlier you can rest more, but until now I didn’t have the luxury of it.

With a small skip in my step I arrived to my locker, vary of Kim Jongdae. I haven’t seen him around in a while and his presence never meant good, it always brought more trouble. He was eating some chips while reading something, books somehow resting between the lockers and his hip. Sometimes, Jongdae had weird ways of making things work out.

I opened my locker, half expecting a bunch of letters falling on me since yesterday I was greeted with such presents from Oh Sehun and Byun Baekhyun, but it was surprisingly empty. Throwing my backpack like I usually do, I pulled my hair in a ponytail first, struggling since it wasn’t long anymore and I couldn’t pull it high like I always liked to. Deciding it was better to leave it at the middle, I ruffled my bangs. Today we have P.E. and if I tie my hair now I’ll have more time to change, I heard we are going to be at the pool today, we’ll have swimming class. As much as I love water and swimming, it felt weird and somewhat scary going back to the pool...to the place where Oh Sehun tried taking his life. It felt like the place held too many memories for me to go back there, when in fact, it really didn’t. I’m pretty sure Oh Sehun already forgot about once being saved by Song Chae-Yeong. I vowed to myself to forget as well, so why couldn’t I? The short lived silence and freedom I had came crushing down when Byun Baekhyun and Oh Sehun rounded the corner, Kim Jongin hot on their tails. Great, they were coming and I’m still here. Knowing that I couldn’t run away when they already saw me, I just continued searching for my pencil case, trying to appear relaxed because my heart was beating at a mile already.

“Bro!” I heard Baekhyun call as he bro-hugged Jongdae, leaning against Sehun’s locker before he was forcefully pushed away.

“Can you be more quiet?” Sehun hissed, snapping his locker open “I have a bad headache”

“What did you do?” Jongdae raised an eyebrow, throwing a glare at Baekhyun when he took a fistfull of chips.

“Didn’t sleep all night, got high” Jongin answered for Sehun, grinning as he stole a chips from Baekhyun.

“Again, Sehun?” Jongdae scoffed, slapping Baekhyun’s shoulder when he tried taking more chips.

“Man, give me some more!” He whined, lips jutting out when Jongdae turned more away from him. Did they really not see me or were in a disposition when they were ignoring me? Not that I’m complaining, it’s the best they can give me, really.

“Well it’s not my ing fault!” Sehun snapped, showing his locker close, making me jump “He’s back in town and I have to stay with him in that god forsaken house!”

Who was back and who was he staying with? What house was he talking of? Sehun had his apartment, I was there too and Mrs. Kim and Yoonseok both proved that.

“Woah, man” Baekhyun suddenly became serious, eyes trailing down the hallway “He came back? For like...forever?”

“ no” Sehun huffed, leaning against his locker. Did they really not see me? Why were they speaking so casually about Sehun’s personal matters when I was there a few feet away, it was making me uncomfortable. I don’t want to know more about Sehun, it’s enough the few things I already do know. Like, he thinks his friends are fake and he says he has no family, his mother is gone somewhere too and he lives in the same apartment complex as Jongdae’s grandmother.

“That’s the least I want, Baekhyun” Sehun rolled his eyes and I tensed when I felt eyes on the back of my head, was he looking at me? Gulping, I took my pencil case and because sometimes I’m clumsy, it slipped from my hands, falling to the ground. I cringed at the loud snapping sound, no doubt getting their attention now. It was quiet in the hallway as I waited for something, anything, to happen...except that Jongdae was loudly chewing the chips, no doubt with his mouth opened. I wanted to tell him to shut his mouth when he was eating, but that would get me in instant trouble and I was desperately trying to stay away from it. Kneeling down, because no way I’m bending down when there are four males behind me, I got my pencil case and rose back, turning around. My mouth opened as a silent gasp left my mouth, all four eyes were on me, one chips on the dirty floor. I eyed it, wanting to bolt until I could, but Jongdae’s loud whine made me jump, scaring the living soul out of me.

“Baekhyun!” Jongdae screeched, hitting his friend’s head “Stop wasting my food, boy!”

“But you pulled it away too fast, you selfish bastard!” Baekhyun argued back, glaring now at a smirking Jongdae.

“I told you to leave my chips alone” Jongdae shrugged, making Jongin chuckle. Sehun’s face was blank like always, unfazed by his friend’s childish behavior. He blinked at me, for some reason scaring me more. He was too quiet, quiet Oh Sehun was usually scarier, he always attacked when you least expected him to.

“Well, pick it up” For a reason I thought he was speaking to me, my eyebrows furrowed, but then I saw Baekhyun taking the chips from the floor and eyeing it.

“You’re not going to eat that?” Sehun asked, looking finally away. I took a deep breath, turning to leave when Sehun called out my name. I wanted to ignore it and run, but too afraid he’d do something worse later, I turned back towards them.

“Where are you going?” He asked, pushing off the lockers.

“To class, obviously” I muttered, taking a tiny step back when his gaze darkened. I was really asking for it sometimes with the way I spoke to them, but I couldn’t stop myself, my defensive mechanism was me being rude and sarcastic.

“It’s a little bit early to go to class, don’t you think?” Baekhyun asked, suddenly a lazy smirk spreading on his lips as he handed Sehun the chips he picked up from the floor.

“Not at all, some students come to school to actually learn, not to get their frustrations out on others by bullying them” I snapped at Baekhyun, confident stance faltering when I saw each boys face darken. I really did it this time, again Song Chae-Yeong! But surprising everyone, Sehun chuckled, taking bigger steps towards me.

“And some students are actually so much more smarter than you, Chae-Yeong” He muttered, face amused “They know when to shut up and run...something you still haven’t learned”

“Actually, if I do that you’ll just come whining to me how you don’t like it and will show me later--you keep speaking like all the things I do are stupid while you are, really the one that--” I shut my mouth tightly shut, when Sehun pushed me back against the locker, cringing at how close he was standing. Could he just simply move away or do anything that would get him far away from me? I can’t even imagine I let this guy hug me, was I in my right mind? Sehun was glaring down at me and as much as I wanted to see the other boys reaction, Sehun’s defined body was blocking my view from them and probably their view from us as well. He lowered his head a little bit, making me look down, feeling uncomfortable.

“What happened, Song Chae-Yeong?” He chuckled, face amused “Cat got your tongue?”

I wanted to speak back but the scent of cigarette coming from him was overwhelming, making my head spin. How much did he smoke? He never smelled of them this badly.

“Not going to answer me?” He asked, tone light as he glanced at the chips in his hand. I shook my head, following his gaze when his eyes suddenly snapped back at my face. The look he gave me meant no good and I wanted to bolt but it was too late, he was already gripping my jaw. I hissed, trying to pull my head away but he just tightened his grip and it made me hiss more, forcing my mouth open. My eyes widened when he popped the chips, the one that was on the dirty floor, in my mouth and held my mouth close, actually placing his full palm against my lips, sealing them shut. I protested in disgust, feeling as the chips melted in my mouth, glaring hard at Sehun. What was his problem? Did he really have to do it? He just proved how disgusting he really can be. Pushing him away, I spit what was still in my mouth out, glaring back up at him as Baekhyun laughed loudly and Jongdae had a really fake grin on his face. Jongin looked amused too and Sehun had a proud look on his face.

“