I was just an average junior in high school. Not too popular, not too pretty and, let’s just say I was the shy sort of girl who doesn’t like being noticed by several people all at once. My parents didn’t make too much money, so I didn’t have the nicest clothes. They were nothing too fancy, but not too ugly either. I used to live in Toronto, since my parents immigrated there after they raised enough money from work. Now, we currently live in Seoul, Korea. My dad found a job as a manager in this really big clothing company. My mom works as a restaurant waitress. Me, I go to ShinHwa high school.

                It was the beginning of semester two classes when I first moved in. I joined a math class and did not know anyone. Everyone had already met each other back in grade nine so they already had their own group of friends to be with in class. No one took any notice of me. The teacher introduced me as I walked into class. My classmates kindly greeted me, and then returned to where they left off.  I was lonely throughout most of the class period, but as I doodled into my notebook, I noticed a guy sitting nearby staring at me. No matter how I moved and fidgeted, he would still be staring at me. He never spoke a word to anyone so I assumed he didn’t have any friends in the class either. I brushed the thought off after pondering for a while. It didn’t alarm me to have people stare at me anyways, regardless of how uncomfortable or awkward I felt.

                When the bell rang, I packed my books into my bag and stood up to leave. As I rushed to the door, someone placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see that it was the guy who was just staring at me. He was holding nothing but his IPhone in a white case with Hello Kitty on the back. What kind of guy likes Hello Kitty? I dismissed the thought immediately when the boy started talking.

                “Hey! I’m Zico! You’re new here aren’t you?” he smiled warmly at me, and bowed. I smiled back. He seems really nice to me, even though I’ve heard rumors of him being a violent gang leader. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy to be violent.

                “Hello, Zico! I’m Kim! Yeah, I am new here. How are you?” I bowed back and we walked out of the class together, heading to our next class. We talked as we walked towards Hangul (Korean) class. As I walked, I noticed certain girls glaring at us. Always the pretty girls, so I assumed that they were jealous. I chuckled and ignored them. Why were people sending them mixed vibes? One group were completely jealous, while another group were so frightened. So strange! But as me and Zico continued talking, I told him about my favorite music, music group (SHINee and Big Bang!!) as well as my favorite food.

                “So, what are your hobbies, exactly?” I asked Zico as we walked into class. The teacher was not there yet, so the class remained loud like any normal class of students would be. He smiled sincerely while he fidgeted with his cell. He had really long brown bangs falling from the furthest left of his head, covering his right eye. His eyes had eyeliner lining them and at first glance, he would seem, to everyone, like he’s glaring because of the way his eyes gaze out at his surroundings. He wore a white jacket with a big and loose turtleneck. He also wore baggy jeans with black high ankle shoes.

                Zico grinned in a devilish charm that I assume was the very reason why those pretty girls were so jealous. “I rap and dance. I joined a band but I can’t sing… the name is Block B!” He began to rap to one of his songs that he came up with until the teacher walked into class three minutes after he started. The teacher named Miss Kang eyed Zico and he immediately became quiet. I laughed at his charisma when he rapped but I couldn’t help noticing people staring at me with a look of pure fear. Were people that scared of him? I don’t see anything wrong, or any reason why I should worry. And so, our relationship developed from being complete strangers to best friends.

Then one day, a new student came to our class. His name is Kim Ki Bum, but most of us call him Key. He’s such a nice guy, but he often acts very motherly towards his friends and he’s also very hyper and out there. I learned that he’s extremely talented, able to copy a dance exactly after watching it once. He’s danced to pretty much all the girl singer group dances. I couldn’t help getting jealous over him. He knows this and always teases me about it. But one problem, every time I’m with Zico, he will glare at him. And whenever I’m with Key, Zico will be glaring as well. Those two guys are never together. I asked Zico many times but he never tells me. So reluctantly, I asked Key.

                “Key oppa!” I called to him in when I found him leaning against a locker studying. “Oppa” means “close older brother” in Korean. Key looked up from his notes and smiles and waved at me.

                “Hi, Kim! How have you been?” he greeted me and patted my head. I looked up and smiled but couldn’t hide my confused expression from Key. He looked down at me, concerned and asked me, “What’s wrong?”

                “I’ve always wanted to ask but why do you and Zico always distance yourselves from each other?” I looked at Key who suddenly became oddly troubled. He shuddered, his hand on his forehead.

                “Sorry, I have bad memories in the past. Kim, have you heard any rumors spreading around the school about Zico? Anything related to being part of a gang? Murder, perhaps?” Key looked serious, and kind of sad. I was shocked. But I wanted Key to continue, so I nodded.

                “Yeah, I heard people talking about that when I first came to this school… but Zico’s way too nice to be a gang leader. I trust him, and all this time he hasn’t even hurt a fly. Didn’t even touch a single hair on my head, so how could someone like him be a murderer?

                “Kim, I’m warning you. Be very careful when you’re around him. You never know what he’s capable of. Do you see this scar?” he showed me a long scar that ran up his forearm. My eyes widened in horror at the mere sight of it. Key continued, “This was what happened to me when I tried saving my girlfriend. He lied to her saying I was cheating on her. He told her that he’s always loved her but couldn’t ever face me and hurt her. She believed him all thanks to his sincere personality and lying skills. I tried saving her, but…” a tear ran down his cheek.

                I smiled weakly and looked at him in an apologetic expression. I wiped away his tear and he smiled. I was sorry for his loss, but what do I do about Zico? It wasn’t like I could just stop being friends with him without an excuse.  Key sensed my discomfort and offered to come with me, but I refused. I didn’t want him getting hurt for my sake.

                “Hey, Kim, can you come over to my house today after school? I need to ask you something. It’s kind of urgent.” Key said, changing the topic to something happier. I agreed to meet him at 3:30. We said goodbye and headed our own separate ways after that. I headed towards music class.

In class, I got distracted as I was still thinking about Zico. Several times, I missed my solo cue. Thankfully, my music teacher is never angry, and plus, she knows that I don’t need practice, as I was quite good on the clarinet. Thinking back on the conversation I had with Key, I decided to confront Zico, calmly, without angering him. I felt it was a better choice to get this over with sooner than later.

                 I found Zico at his locker after school, when everyone left. He smiled and waved at me. I waved back and came up to him just as he slammed his locker door closed. I asked him how he was. He quickly replied but rushed away before I could say anything else. “I’m in a rush, sorry! I’m meeting up with a few people at the mall today, and I’m already late! Bye!!” Zico ran down the halls. I stared at him, confused. It’s a Monday and it’s also a school night. Why would he be going to the mall? Before leaving his locker, I found a piece of paper lying on the floor. He must have dropped it when he slammed his locker door close. I picked it up and realized, in horror, what it was.

                On the simple piece of note paper, it said “Kim, is it? Haha! Sounds like an over-used name to me. Well, don’t worry; I’ll help you out for sure! Just earn her trust and bring her over. We’ll have a lot of fun for sure. But make sure no one knows about any of this. I sure as heck don’t want my own leader to get arrested when they find out. ^^”

                I dropped the piece of paper, my mind went blank. I looked up and I was suddenly thrown against a locker. Hands slammed against the lockers, one on either side of my head, I realized I was in danger. I nervously looked up and saw Zico’s face glaring down at me. I opened my mouth to scream but I was too late. With one swift move, he covered my mouth with a cloth… and I drifted off…

I woke up to find myself tied to a chair. My mouth was gagged and I was in a pink and beautiful dress. The room was dark. I was scared, my mind was foggy. The door opened. It was him. Twirling a knife, he looked at me… and smirked.

He walked closer to me, now clutching his hand on his knife, shining from the light casted down on it from the small window close to the ceiling. My eyes finally saw clearly around the darkness. There was one other person in the room. Zico’s friend… I assume it’s probably the one who wrote the letter. Seeing how scared I looked, his friend smirked. Crossing his arms, he said “You’ve been a very bad girl.”

Zico laughed. He said, “So, you finally found out about me? Well too bad but it’s already a bit too late. I was going to kidnap you sometime this week anyway. But I guess you’re lucky. I got you on the first day of the week. Mondays are always full of surprises, aren’t they?” He leaned in close to my face. I shrunk back. I was scared; I had no idea what to do. I didn’t want to die. I promised Key that I would meet him at his house today. He had something to tell me, but I can’t see him anymore. A tear rolled down my cheek and I looked down, frightened of what Zico would do to me.

He saw me cry and he held up my chin. “Crying now? But you love me so much as your best friend, how could you be scared? Did you never trust me at all?” he glared intensely at me. I shook my head. I opened my mouth to say something but no words came out. Zico’s friend came over. He said, “Just kill her already. Someone might discover us.”

Zico shook his head, smirking. “Naw, Let’s play around with her. Where’s the rest of the gang? Tell them to come over.” Then he looked down at me. “Now where were we? Ah, yes. The rumors you’ve heard about me… Now you know. But considering how naïve you are, I assume you never believed any of them?” I looked up at him, unsure of whether to give him eye contact or not.

“I trusted you. You’re a nice person. Why? Why do you do these things? What have I ever done to you that you would want to kill me?!” I started screaming and then I broke down, sobbing. But Zico had none of it. He slapped me, but when I didn’t stop crying, he slapped me on the other cheek. Soon, he was hitting me every three seconds, making my face turn crimson red. I was about to faint from exhaustion and I was about to give up when I saw Zico hold out the knife, ready to give the final blow. All of a sudden, everything went blank. Was I dead already? I started hearing voices. Sounded like Key, but he was really angry. He was screaming and yelling. Zico… I could hear his voice too… there was a lot of banging going on. I wondered what’s going on. But before I came up with any idea of what’s going on, I fainted, but not before I heard Key scream my name.

I open my eyes slowly. Where am I? Ah, I feel so sore… sitting up, I look around and I realize that I’m sitting on a bed, with white sheets, white pillows and just about every part of the bed was white. I look around and concluded that I’m in a hospital. I turn to see Key lying on the bed next to me. I tried standing up, but it was no good. My body was in no condition to move around at all. I called out to Key.

“Key!! Wake up!!” I yelled. He shuffled slightly, and opened an eye. Then, upon realizing the owner of the voice that rudely woke him up, he jumped out of bed in shock. He ran towards me in disbelief and shock and hugged me till I couldn’t breathe. “Hey! Key!! You can let go now.”

Key let go of me, embarrassed. He said, “Kim. Sorry, you were asleep for so long. 3 days or so… I missed you.” He smiled at me. I smiled back. I still have no clue what happened so I began questioning him.

“I was waiting in the mall when my friend called, telling me they saw Zico slam you against the locker and walk out the school with you. He got nervous so he had to tell me. When I ran out the mall, I happened to see his car drive into this run down hut. I followed him and I decided to wait till the right moment to confront him. I called the police, of course.”

I look at Key, shocked. So that’s what happened to me? Why was I so clumsy and clueless to fall for him? I started crying but Key came and put his hand on my cheek. Before I said anything, he leaned in and kissed me. My eyes widened by surprise, did Key really like me, even more than friends? But why would he like such a stupid girl like me? But before I thought any further, I realize that I had started kissing him back.

“I will always protect you. Never again will I let anyone hurt you.” He smiled at me, “Sarangheyo. It means I love you.”

“I know what that means, dummy!” I smacked his arm playfully and laughed. But then I added, “I love you too…”

Suddenly, the TV , and a music video appeared. I almost got a heart attack when I saw Zico on the screen. I could recognize the guy who had been with Zico in the dark room where I was tied up.

“Trying so hard will kill you, follow me baby
Because everything about me is perfect
(gugugaga gugugaga)
Only look at me baby, you’ll go crazy!
Where ever I go there is screaming.
Coming from people’s mouths.

I‘m ta-ta-ta-ta-talkin baby
Around me so many ladies
If you take me lightly you might get burnt
I’m ready so don’t be lazy”

 

I turned to Key; he looked at me with an uncomfortable expression plastered on his face. Something isn’t right. Zico was supposed to be arrested, was he not? Why did he suddenly show up on a music video on TV?