Round: 3
The Battlefield: SM Town

THE SCENARIO

After finishing off your muffins, you felt so incredibly happy and satisfied~
Nothing, absolutely nothing, completes your day the way muffins do.

You head off towards the direction of your house, mentally moving The Chocolat Bakery to your must-always-go-to list.
"Yayy. Home at last!" You mumble to yourself, wanting to unwind after today's series of surprising and interesting events.

Little did you know...
muffins wouldn’t be the only thing that would surprise you in your new neighborhood.

ONEW'S MOVE

 

"Honey, can you look at my roast chicken for me? Someone's at the door." Your mom asked you as you guys were just preparing dinner until someone rang the bell.   "Okay, mom." You walked over to the stove, watching your dinner cook.   You heard your mom unlock and open the door, "Hello!" A bright voice greeted her and you slouched infront of the stove, hungry. "Good evening! We're your new neighbors!"   "Oh, hello~" You heard your mom titter back as she greeted your neighbors.   "My name is Hana Lee."   "Nice to meet you, Hana! I'm Hyori Park! Thank you for the welcome~"   "Oh, we're always happy to have new neighbors! This is my son, --"   Ting! The stove went off, indicating the chicken's cooked.   "Mmm...yummy!" You sighed happily as you opened the stove using your kitchen mittens and set your dinner on the table. You were hungry even though you just had muffins with Onew, you're a lean mean eating machine, but thank goodness, it doesn't show at all.   Onew...you thought as you stared at the chicken in front of you, it's too bad I didn't get to ask where he lives. He had to rush off after eating with you, presidential duties and all.   "Well, you need to meet my daughter! She's the same age as your son!" Your mom chuckled and called you over. "Yumi! Come over here and meet our new neighbor and her cute son!"   You shook your head, your mom can be very weird--even embarrassing--at times.   "Mom--ONEW!" You gasped, your mouth dropping open in surprise at seeing your neighbor's 'cute' son.   "Yumi!" He looked equally surprised.   "You're our new neighbor?" You both said at the same time.   "You two know each other already?" His mom asked.   "We're seatmates!" Onew beamed at you.   "Aw! That is sooo cute! My daughter's so lucky!" Your mom clasped her hands, delighted.   "Mo~m!" You complained, embarrassed. What did your mom mean by that?   "Well, of course honey! You're lucky! Onew can be your guide around the neighborhood and even at school!" Your mom frowned at you confusedly for a moment. Oh. Of course.   "Of course, I'll personally guide her!" Onew promised. You made signals at Onew by widening your eyes and shaking your head. By saying those words, your mom would definitely make sure you and Onew are together. Always.   Onew looked at you unsurely, confused by your gestures. "Uh...I'll guide her throughout the whole school year?" He looked at you for confirmation if this was the right thing to say.   You shook your head more and mouthed "sshhh!"   "For...our whole high school years then?" He tried again and you made a small slashing motion with your throat.   Stop it, Onew. You'll regret it. My mom can be very --   "I'll guide her forever?" He tried once more and you mentally face palmed. Onew's cuteness is very much at par with his body language reading skills...NOT.   "Well! Isn't that much too soon?" Your mom laughed. "But I wouldn't mind if my daughter dated you! Such a well-mannered and handsome boy!"   You gritted your teeth. Here it comes again. "Mom! Dinner's cooked!" You tried to distract her.   "Yes~ is that roast chicken I smell?" Onew's mom sniffed delicately.   "Yes! Have you guys eaten dinner yet?" Your mom ushered them in.   "No. Not yet Mrs. Park, right mom?" Onew looked excited.   "Ah. But you know what?" Mrs. Lee said, "I know what you can add to roast chicken to make it more juicy!"   "Omo! Is that so? You must tell me what it is!" Your mom looked excited.   "Definitely! I'll even give some of it to you!" Both of your moms left you and went over to Onew's house.   "Wait! Mom!" You called out but they had already crossed over the street and were probably discussing secret recipes now.   "Well~ looks like it's just us two now." Onew smiled at you. "First we're seatmates, now we're neighbors? Wow, really. Lucky, huh?"   "Yeah. I'm really lucky." You smiled back, waiting for your moms.   "I wasn't talking about you." Onew raised his eyebrows and sat on your couch.   You shrugged, not knowing what to say to that. Suddenly, the phone rang. "Hello?" You rushed to it.   "Honey!" Your mom cooed on the other line. "Listen, we might take a little longer here than I thought! Hana has a lot of recipes that I really want to try! Soooo....maybe you and Onew can go eat first or talk and stuff..." Your mom's voice drifted off as you heard Onew's mom on the background.   "Oh, and Hyori! You can use this to make your rice cakes more--"   "Omo! Now why haven't I thought of that before?" Your mom exclaimed and after a second or two, she went back on the line to talk to you. "Sweetie, I have to go. This is something I can't afford to miss! Bye~" Then your mom hung up.   You stared at the phone in disbelief. Your mom's love for cooking is not really helping right now.   "What's wrong?" Onew asked as you clicked the phone off.   "Our moms..." You sighed.   "Let me guess, they're sharing recipes right now." Onew sighed as well when you nodded. "Oh well." He shrugged. "There's not much we can do about that right now."    "I guess not."   "So..." He looked at you slyly, a smile forming on his lips. "Want to go out first?"   --   The sun was almost setting as you guys made your way in the neighborhood. You walked ahead of Onew while he stopped to tie his laces, which you didn't notice at all, you thought he was just behind you the whole time. Your eyes flickered to the house next to yours.    WOAH. Onew's house is so HUGE! You thought to yourself as you glanced at it up and down. Although, that is if Onew's house is the one on the left. If it's the one on the right, then it's pretty ordinary. Just like yours. You were about to ask Onew which one is his when...
“I can’t stand him! He’s so fake!”
You stop walking, that voice sounded oddly familiar…it seemed to be coming from around the corner of the street.
Curious, you make your way to the wall and peek behind it, where three guys from your class were standing. You distantly remember their names being Kai, Tao and Kris.
This was just great. What the heck are those three bullies doing here in your neighborhood?!
“Just because he’s so rich, he thinks that everyone has to like him!” You furrowed your eyebrows, who could they be talking about?
“Lee Jinki…that spoiled brat thinks that just because his dad is one of the richest men in Korea, he can do and say what he likes and get away with it. It’s driving me insane, Kai.”
Your eyes widened. Lee Jinki was Onew! You stayed hidden and continue to listen in on the conversation.
“Today with that new girl, he sure was quick to jump up and come to her aid.”
You instantly felt bad. Just because Onew helped you, these boys were saying such hurtful things behind his back!
“Well he has no real friends. Maybe he’d get to the new girl before his dad does.”
The three burst out laughing. You’re both confused and sad at that moment. The poor guy…
“You don’t have to stay and listen to them if you don’t want to Yumi, you know?”
You quickly turn around, eyes going wide yet again.
“Onew…I-I…uh…”
The look on his face tells you that he’s hurt, yet less than a second later he has a huge smile on his face, as if he was totally unfazed by the boy’s words. But you know that he heard them.
“Here, come this way.”
He smiles at you once again and quickly grabbed your hand, pulling you in the other direction.   “Uhm...Onew...” This was such an awkward moment.
He looked back at you, cute smile faltering at his next words.
“Yeah. My house is the one at the left.” He answered your silent question from a while ago. Also...wait! Was that sadness in his eyes?
Your jaw dropped open. So the other boy’s weren’t lying and you were right the first time. That is his house! He really was rich!
Onew continued to lead you somewhere until you come to a sudden stop. You looked around. In your confusion earlier you didn’t even notice that you had left the main road and had come into the woods nearby.
It was quite nice here.
“it’s quite peaceful here, isn’t it? I like to come here when I need to clear my head.” 
You look up at Onew and nodded slowly.
“Why are we here though?” You asked, wondering what it was you two were doing in the woods.
“Well, we have to wait until the other boys leave so we can go hang out at the neighborhood, right?”
You nodded again, that was true. There was no way you were going to walk past those guys!
“Here, sit.”
You look up as Onew dusted of a small rock and pointed to it, you took a seat. 
“Thank you.” You say softly.
“No problem!” He said with a small grin your way.
You can't help but look up at the boy as he looked around for another rock to sit on, before finally finding one and sitting down on it. 
He was so different now than he was at school and at the bakery.
He looks up at you and you immediately look away, slightly embarrassed that you had been caught staring.
“It’s okay to ask me about what those boys were saying Yumi, I won't be mad.”
At his words, you looked up uncertainly. It was true that you wanted to know what it was the boys were talking about, but you noticed that it seemed to be bothering Onew.
“I don’t really—“
“Can I tell you about it? I need to talk to somebody.”
You look at his pleading eyes and can’t help but nod your head. The once bright person seemed so sad right now. You found your heart aching for him.
He took a deep breath and began to speak. “Well…if you couldn’t guess already, my parents are rich. I know it doesn't seem that way since my mom is really friendly. She's, in face, the complete opposite of my dad.”
He looked up, as if expecting you to interrupt. You don’t, and his eyes became hopeful. He continued.
“Ever since I was little, I was always expected to be perfect. I am an only child and I had to be tutored and taught countless lessons everyday so that I could one day take over my father’s company…My childhood was filled with nothing but tutors, heavy books, documentaries, and lessons...I didn't even get to play with any kid from school.” He looked down, his hair hiding his eyes.
“because of that…I've never really had any real friends. All the ones that I did have were all after my money or because they were afraid my father would do something bad.” His voice was soft and vulnerable, making you want to reach out and just hug him. 
You don’t know what to say. You had no idea that someone so utterly bright and sweet would have ever had such a cold and lonely past. "While I was growing up, I did my best to make friends. I succeeded for some time but...there were still some people who hated me. I think you have an idea at least who they are. Right?" He let out a small sigh.
“How