Minsun sat in front of her dressing table in her room, fiddling with the ‘J’ pendant given by Joongki as her mind wandered off elsewhere. She began to reminisce the time when she bumped into some of the basketball members on her way to visit Taecyeon last time. She ended up spending time with them instead since Taecyeon was asleep at that moment and she simply didn’t want to disturb him.

“The teachers are all trying to help Junsu, but it’s difficult since nobody is telling the truth. All they ever think about iis to save their own .” Chansung said, he looked away to hide the rage visible on his face.

“If only…” Junho sighed.

“If only what?” Wooyoung asked impatiently.

“If only we could get back that recording.” Junho looked at Chansung. The latter nodded before he explained.

“Actually, we secretly recorded the meeting between us and Joongki that night. But he knew about it.”

“He took Chansung’s video cam away. There was nothing we could do that night. We were outnumbered, plus, his men weren’t jut some random high school thugs.” Junho added.

Gongmun High

10.20 a.m.

The bell rang, and the students’ dull expression instantly lit up. They all began to loose up and chat with each other, the scene gradually turned brighter. The whole tense, formal astmosphere of the prestigious school just now seemed to vanish. Everyone was relieved that recess had started; except for one particular student of course.

Minsun had always kept her cold, ice-queen persona regardless the time and place. But then, who would look all smiley and happy when the whole school were whispering audible, nasty words – about her, of course - to each other whenever she passed by?

Minsun ignored them anyway, and kept walking forward with her head high, her steps ordered. Unlike other recess time when she felt sort of lost and not know what to do, she had a sure destination in her mind that she would like to go to during this particular period today.

“I’d like to talk to you.”

Joongki looked up, ignoring the incoming spoon-feeding by a pretty girl by his side. He grinned cockily when he saw Minsun’s serious face hovering above the couple.

“This is rare. Seo Minsun is actually requesting to have a talk with me, in person.” Joongki told the girl and they laughed together. Minsun managed to keep her cool anyway. Such lowly and mere mockery was nothing to her. There was much more important thing which required his attention other than her getting upset at his antics.

“Let’s go somewhere quiet.” Minsun added, but her statement somehow gave Joongki a big laugh. He laughed so much that his stomach begain to hurt.

“Oh my god. That is even more unbelievable. Seo Minsun, is that really you?”

“Are you coming or not?” Minsun’s tone started to sound more demanding this time around.

“How will I now if you’re not trying to molest me or something?” He said jokingly, still mocking her.

“Stop delaying me. I have something important to talk about. With you.”

“Say it here then,” Joongki raised his eyebrow as he lazily leaned back and even crossed his stretched legs. He even motioned the girl next to him to keep going with the spoon-feeding.

“Fine.” Minsun took a deep breath. “I want to go out with you, on one condition.” Minsun said in all seriousness, but Joongki was still looking at her with his arrogant smirk, thinking that everything she said was a big joke.

“Uh-huh? And that condition is?”

“I want you to help Junsu. I don’t care how you’re going to do it, but release him from the police. And I’ll date you for as long as you want.”

Joongki laughed as if she just said a very funny joke, so Minsun took out the expensive necklace he gave her, dangled it in front of his eyes for a while and then attempted to wear it in front of him. Joongki’s playful expression turned serious all of a sudden.

“Stop.” He ordered. Minsun obeyed him and waited for him while looking intensely at him. He got up from the grass and then walked towards her, taking her hand - the one which was holding the pendant - in his and dragged her away from the spot.

Minsun’s heart raced when Joongki began to lead her to a quieter, shady spot in the school. They walked around the nearest building and entered an empty science lab. Joongki locked the door behind him, and then turned around to reveal a serious look on his handsome features. He stared at her as if she was some interesting, new science discovery and then quietly took away the necklace from her hand, only to put it on her once again. The close approximity between them caused Minsun to blush, her heart pounding so hard that she wondered if he could hear it out loud. Minsun gritted her teeth, secretly convincing herself to just bear with him as  he pulled her hair over the necklace to let them fall freely and then gently caressed her lock, from her neck to her chin, and then pushed it up. He looked into her eyes as he leaned closer to her. Minsun was determined to not show her fear in front of him so she returned his direct gaze with a malicious stare of her own, but it was that look which drew the most interest from Joongki.

Without warning, the boy pulled Minusn’s body towards him, only their clothes barely separating them now. He buried his hungry lips on hers and possesively wrapped his arms around her small body, leaving her helpless as he forced his lips on her own, kissing her hungrily as if it was a way of putting his claim on her. Minsun forced her eyes shut and grabbed on his shirt in desperation; a desperation in wanting to convince Joongki with her offer while hoping that all these nightmares were about to end soon.

He finally pulled back and smiled in satisfaction as he saw the frightned look in her eyes. He chuckled.

“Don’t be scared. You’re mine now, I’ll never hurt you.” He whispered into her ears and hugged her tightly that she found it hard to breathe.

“Joongki and Minsun officially a couple.” Junho read the  latest entry in their school forum out loud, while Chansung, who was sitting there with him, had his jaw hung open. Yesterday, Junsu suddenly was released, the police simply gave a ‘It was a misundertsanding’ excuse, and today, suddenly, it was this.

“No matter how I think, it’s too weird isn’t it? Could it be…”

“She’s doing this for Junsu hyung?” Junho continued, exactly voicing out Chansung’s assumption.

“The school forum now had more posts about Gongmun than Miryung High. It must be one of Joongki’s guy. I already spot a few suspicious guys from the party. We need to find them. Now that everything else is settled, we should stop them from using the forum to spread more stories about Minsun.” Chansung said his thought out loud. Junho nodded in agreement.

“More people from this school will hate her. That was exactly what Joongki was planning, trapping Minsun in his lies .”

“That sly guy.” Chansung gritted his teeth.

“Come on, Chan. We have to carefully plan how to seize these guys.”

The two finally left the computer lab since recess was about to end anyway, but one particular boy was stuck to his seat, about a couple of rows at the back from where Chansung and Junho was, shocked to hear their conversation.

A cold sweat ran down his temple.

“Minsun, you idiot… Are you ing serious?” Wooyoung muttered under his breath.

“Is it true?”

“What is?”

“You dating Joongki.”

Minsun sighed. “Yes, it is.”

Khun narrowed his eyes at her before he regained his focus on the road. She looked so cool about it that it almost made him angry. He purposely drove that day, just so that he can pick up Minsun from school and directly asked her about the rumor he heard that morning.

“Didn’t I tell you to be careful with him?”

“I am being careful. The whole time if that assures you.”

“Minsun, dating him doesn’t sound like you’re being careful at all.”

“It’s the right thing to do for the time being.”

“It’s not!” Khun slightly raised his voice. He realised right away that he was not being himself by letting anger engulfing his thoughts so he paused to keep himself composed again, and then continued, “Putting yourself to danger is not, tell me which part of all these is right?”

“You clearly know why I’m doing this. It’s for Junsu sunbae’s sake. A friend’s sake. If you’re in my place, wouldn’t you obviously do anything to save a friend?”

“But I’m talking about Joongki right here!”

“I can take care of myself. You can’t treat me like a little girl forever, no matter what your reasons are.”

“Stop being stubborn, Minsun!”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t trust Joongki. You dating Joongki is not going to happen. I’m going to meet him face to face and make him take back this whole thing.”

“What if you end up like Taecyeon?”

“What if anything happens to you?!”

“I told you I’ll be fine!”

“YOU ARE NOT FINE!”

“Oppa, watch out!”

Khun’s eyes widened at the incoming car as he accidentally steered the wheel off their lane into the opposing lane. Minsun quickly pulled the steering to her side. Khun pressed on the brake pedal the moment he regained his control after that few seconds of panic, right before the car slammed into the stone wall at the side of the road.

The car was put to a halt in an instant.

It all happened so quickly they barely breathed throughout the most critical 5 seconds of their life.

Both panted for air as they slowly registered what had just happened. Khun was the first to look up. Frantically, Khun released his seat belt so his arm could reach for her.

“Are you okay?!” Khun pushed away the disarrayed locks from all over her face. He heaved  in relief to see that she wasn’t injured. He leaned on the backrest as he heaved another sigh. He temporarily closed his eyes and pinched his bridge.

“I… I need some air,” he said and then stepped out of the car. Minsun watched him, feeling guilty for driving him out of his mind with her behavior and stubbornness.

Minsun released her seatbealt as well and then got out of he car. She carefully stepped closer towards Khun from behind. He was closing his eyes, like he was silently telling himself to keep his mind straight. Timidly, Minsun grabbed the sleeve of his arm.

“I’m sorry. You were right, I am being stubborn.” Minsun said, her eyes guiltily glued to the ground like she was some sort of a criminal caught in her act.

“Minsun, I-”

“To be honest, I am a little scared of him, but I hated that feeling. I don’t want to be scared. I want to do what I feel like I have to regardless the consequences. I… don’t want to regret aymore. Please understand.”

Khun turned around to face her. He took a deep breath and calmly released it. Gently, Khun took a lock of her hair between his thumb and his fingers, and neatly placed it behind her ear. Under the dim street light, again, he tried to examine if any part of her face was bruised. Once he was sure that she was completely fine, he pulled her into a hug, a comforting one.

Usually, Minsun would push him away at such intimate display of affection, but this time, she was rather submissive, thinking this might comfort him too. She placed her small hand on his back, and slightly rubbed it up and down.

“I’m sorry,” Minsun said gently.

“No,” Khun whispered. “I am sorry,”

Minsun nodded, accepting his apology.

“Minsun, please, just don’t get hurt,” Khun added.

Minsun stepped out of the car, and then turned around to wave at Khun with a bitter smile on her face. Khun thought he would leave after Minsun entered her house, but she kept waiting there, waiting for him to leave first, so he did, just for the sake of not wanting to worry her. Minsun waited until his car was gone from her sight, and then sighed lightly as she turned her heels towards the main gate of the mansion. However, she paused before she key in the password number of the gate.

Minsun looked around suspiciously because she thought she heard ruffling noises from the nearby bushes. The area was usually quiet, and the houses were all far apart from each other so most of the time nobody else lingered outside other than the residents of the house.

”Who is it?” She shouted, not loudly but enough for people nearby to hear her. There was no answer so she quickly punched in the number, thinking about entering the compound of the Jung Residence before anything happened, but she jumped when suddenly a louder ruffling noise was heard, as well as a person grunting in pain.

“AHJUSSHI!” Minsun quickly called for her security guard, but her panic quickly disappear when the boy who was rolling on the ground looked up. She managed to recognize him right away despite the scratches on his face, probably from hiding under the bushes.

“Wooyoung, what are you doing here?!” Minsun asked, her hand on her chest, as if telling her heart to calm down.

“I… I wanted to see you, but your school is too far away. I wanted to wait here, but there are so many cctvs around, I’m afraid one of the neighbors might call a police soon.” Wooyoung stood up, brushing away the leaves on his clothes and pants. Minsun walked up to him to remove a leaf on his ruffled hair.

“Why do you have to be so weird all the time? Get in.” Minsun simply ordered and then left him and went through the small gate.

“W-we- Yah, who are you calling weird? Geez, you’re such a weirdo yourself...” Wooyoung talked to himself since Minsun easily ignored him out there. Wooyoung quickly followed her trail, but had to pause once he stepped through the gate. It was as if he had entered a teleport which led him to a different world. The landscape of her house was not just wide, but filled with so many healthy, big, fantasy like plants and trees. Waiting ahead of the paved path was a big mansion, like a modern castle shown only in movies or romance comics.

“Do you- Do YOU really live here?” Wooyoung asked as he jogged towards Minsun, catching up to her.

“What is it that you want to talk about?” Minsun asked when they finally reached the end of the paved path, now entering under the spacious, high-roofed front porch of her mansion.

“Oh, yeah! I heard you’re dating Joongki now, is It true?” Wooyoung asked as he causally threw his bagpack on the coffee table and plopped his body on the middle of  the three seater sofa, making himself home without being told. Minsun managed to say something about that in her head, ‘Shameless, as usual,’.

“Oh, this sofa is so soft!” Wooyoung’s eyes widened. He looked at Minsun, looking amused, “I’ve never sat on anything like this!”

“I haven’t answered your question.” Minusn reminded Wooyoung who seemed too busy gawking at the stuffs in her home.

“Oh, yeah. Answer it now.”

“Yes, it’s true.”

Wooyoung’s jaw dropped.

“Aren’t you asking me why I’m doing it?” Minsun asked, slightly sounding annoyed, since she had just convinced and explained to Khun about the same thing.

“Yeah, why are you doing it? He’s the one who framed Junsu, and beat the crap out of Teacyeon hyung. Don’t tell me it’s because of Junsu hyung.”

“But I did agree because of Junsu sunbae. I just… felt the need to do something, and if it’s within my ability, why not?”

Wooyoung could relate to her answer, which was why he was quiet in an instant, but then, Joongki wasn’t your average high school boy, just like what Taecyeon said. Since Wooyoung suddenly stopped replying, Minsun thought he already bought her answer, so she left him there and headed to the kitchen. Wooyoung jumped off the sofa and followed her.

“What if…” He paused, eyeing the cookie and the warm milk in that Minsun was pouring into mugs, thinking he had to have those as well after he had this talk with Minsun.

“What?” Minsun set her mug on the kitchen island and sat on one of the stool as she began munching on her cookie without having the feeling to invite her guest to join her. Because he would do so on his own eventually.

“What if something happens?”

“What, exactly happens?”

“Like, that Joongki guy goes crazy and he wants to do something weird to you.”

Minsun rolled her eyes at his ridiculous idea, but then, she caught the deeper meaning behind the silly suggestion.

“I’ll find a way somehow. I’ll be very careful from now on.”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine? I mean, you’re a girl and he’s not so much of a gentleman and-”

“I. Will. Be fine. Can you guys stop talking about it like it’s the end of the world tomorrow?”

Wooyoung sighed and scratched the back of his head, even though it wasn’t itchy to be honest. He looked uneasy, he kept squirming whenever he had the chance, whether he was sitting down or standing, which showed how genuinely worried he was.

“Maybe you should get a bodyguard or something? You’re rich so that wouldn’t be a probem.”

“Then I’ll have to tell my mother everything, and I don’t want to.”

“Then you can tell us whenever you’re with him. We’ll be acting as your and take care of you in case Joongki gone nuts.”

“No, thanks.”

“This is so stupid, I can’t believe he would release Junsu just because you agree to go out with him!” Wooyoung finally screamed out of frustration. “If only I knew earlier, I would have stopped you and Taecyeon hyung from breaking up!”

“Wooyoung,”

“Sorry, didn’t meant to bring that up. BUT! Can’t you see how ridiculous that idea is? Dating Joongki? Ugh.”

“No matter what you said, I’m going to keep my promise. He released Jusnu, I’ll date him. He’ll get sick of me in no time and by the time comes, we’ll stop dating, okay?”

“UGH!” Wooyoung threw his head back, his fingers all curled in tight fists.

Suddenly, Minsun’s phone rang. She pulled it out from her pocket and looked at the screen for a second before she answered it.

“Hello?”

“Who is it? Who’s calling you late at night like this?”

Minsun gave Wooyoung a subtle glare as she left her seat and walked to the adjacent room, which was the sun room which looked out to the patio. The glass wall surrounding this little space showed the beautiful scenery outside. To Minsun’s annoyance, Wooyoung tailed her to the room, determined to listen to the conversation.

“Who is it? Is it Joongki?”

“Who’s that?” Joongki asked from the end of the line.

“Nothing, just… my annoying cousin is coming over.”

“NOONAAA!!! Play with me, come on! Stop talking with that jerkface!!!” Wooyoung began to act like a real, young, bratty, spoiled, annoying little cousin who only comes over to cause trouble.

“Okay then. I’m just calling to tell you that we’re having a date this Saturday.”

“Where and when?” Minsun asked, ignoring Wooyoung who was pulling on her arm, swaying it left and right.

“You decide.”

“N-now?”

“Yes, now. Now would be good.”

“Well… Lotte World at 10.00 a.m.” Minsun slighty whispered so Wooyoung wouldn’t be able to listen but to no avail. Since she had experience there, she was hoping a date at a familiar place would make her feel less awkward and less nervous. Plus, there were always tons of people there so she didn’t have to worry about being alone with Joongki.

“Lotte World it is. See you Saturday.”

“Yeah.”

The phone call was quickly disconnected.

“It’s Joongki, isn’t it?! You’re going to have a date with him this week, aren’t you?!” Wooyoung quickly jumped into his interrogation mode.

“Shut up, Wooyoung,” Minsun lazily ordered him, too tired to keep up with his nosiness as she walked away from the sun room, back inside at the kitchen. Wooyoung kept tailing her like a cute, lost little puppy.

“I’m gonna stalk you guys and make your date unsuccessful.” Wooyoung threatened, but Minsun obviously didn’t received the intention. Wooyoung to her was just a harmless, yet annoying little pest that she didn’t have to worry about. Not that she had a bad thought about it. She actually enjoyed his antics, they were what made him special to her. She always felt most like herself when she was talking to him. She never had any pressure or had to pretend as someone else when he was around.

“It’s late now, and your home is too far away. Stay here for tonight. I’ll bring you to the guest room.” Minsun told him, ignoring his so-called threat just now.

“Wow! Really?! How about your parents? Wouldn’t they hate me for being here?”

“They’re not around. They won’t be back until next Monday.”

“Then, can I see your room?”

“What? What for? Of course not.”

“Show me your room! I want to know how it looks like!” Wooyoung kept whining.