While there were rumors of a midnight round, no one ever mentioned anything about it so we all headed back to the dorms to call it a night. Of course, even the teachers knew that none of us were actually going to be asleep by ten in the evening, so they just left us with a reminder that should any funny business arise, someone was definitely going to pay. Now that coming from, let's say Ian, or even Ms. Cruz or Mr. Jung was nothing we would ever take seriously, but it had been Ms. Jiyeon. We were all suitably terrified.

I watched everyone walk back up to the main building. As much as I wanted to just sink into the comfort of my unshared room, I was stuck here for the moment. Who's brilliant idea was it to use rock-paper-scissors as a means to determine who was doing kitchen duty tonight?

At least I wasn't alone. Wooyoung was stuck with me, and that was a good thing. There were a few others from each class too. A few girls from 3C, plus Joon and Doojoon, then Leeteuk, Heechul, Sooyoung and Hyoyeon. The second years were all here too, so I guess it wasn't so bad.

Only I had no concrete idea what I was supposed to be doing. Why were we even doing this? What life lesson were we going to learn with washing the dishes? I stared at the plates and cups before me. Wooyoung was already elbow-deep in the suds singing some song to himself. The others were the same, each talking to their sink-mate, having fun as if it were a normal occurrence for them.

I sighed. At least the teachers weren't here, unless you count Mr. Hodong asleep by the door.

I sighed again. Furtively, I watched Wooyoung as he went through the dishes one by one. He was whistling now. I was confused, he looked very comfortable with what he was doing. I almost thought he would be the first to complain and walk out. That was how I knew him to be- he never seemed to take anything seriously, and he usually joked his way around responsibility, yet here he was doing the dishes as earnestly as one could.

I felt a hand on my elbow, and I jumped at the contact.

“Go back to the dorm, I'll do it.”

I stared at Junho. Hard. “Huh?”

His face remained the same, stoic. “I'll do it. Go on up.”

I didn't need to be told twice, and without even stopping to say goodbye to Wooyoung, I hurried back to my room.

Only to find the one thing I dreaded the most. They lied when they told me I had the room to myself. It was there. She smiled at me and waved, and I just stared back. Why was she even here?

“I'm your room-mate, I hope you don't mind.”

Did she read minds now?

Ignoring her, I went straight to the empty bed and pulled out my phone and the charger from my bag. I plugged it in quick before I forgot. Checklist: I needed to shower, brush my teeth, fix up for tomorrow, and then get ready for bed- and not forget my phone. Alright. Now that that was settled, I stood to grab a towel and my clothes, but the vibrating of my phone pulled me back.

Come out. I'm bored.

I stared at Jay's text and then at Renn. It wasn't even a decision and I hurried downstairs, creeping out the back to make sure no one even saw me. I was pretty sure it wouldn't even notice me gone. It was already in bed with her headphones on when I left. I doubted she'd be able to tell I had gone and returned at all.

I found Jay sitting on top of a rock behind the dorm buildings. He was wearing that silly pink sweater again. He hadn't noticed me arrive yet, and I took my time walking towards him. He still had the sides of his head shaved, though the hair was already growing out somewhat. I don't think I know which hairstyle I preferred on him. Then or now, I think he stood out either way.

I stood in front of him for a moment before he turned to face me. He nodded at me as he scooted over to the side, giving me space to sit next to him on the rock. Even when he sat a few inches away from me, Jay was very warm.

“Don't think I've forgiven you for this morning. You're just a lesser evil than what's inside my room.”

He laughed a little. “Yeah, I get it. So, what's with you and Seunghyun?”

My brow shot up on its own, and I turned my head to face him. “What about him? We've been in the same afternoon class since first year.” It was only after I said that I realized how defensive I sounded. There was nothing between Seunghyun and I, nothing the gossip-mongers would could ever work a story about, but after this afternoon, I had a feeling things were going to change, and that can't be a good thing. “Nothing. Can't a girl be friends with a guy?”

He shrugged. “It's Choi Seunghyun.”

“That's low even for you. I've been in the same class with him since first year, he's actually nice.”

“Or he's especially nice to you.”

I rolled my eyes. “You really called me out for this?”

“No,” he sighed. “Wanted to know if your leg's better.”

“I can walk? I got here perfectly fine. It's just...a scratch? It doesn't hurt anymore.” How easy was it for Jay to just shift the whole conversation like that?

“That's good...and about this Tuesday, I was really serious, there's something I want to show you.”

“Why can't you just tell me about it?” I was curious, that I had to admit. The earnest tone in Jay's voice was rare, and I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and hand him this chance.

He shrugged again, looking off at the distance. “It's supposed to be a surprise.”

I frowned. That won't do. I'll need all the details I can get if I'm going to ask for permission to leave on Tuesday. Not that it was difficult asking for permission. I almost always get the green light to go wherever I wanted to, just as long as my parents knew exactly where I would be, who I would be with, and what time I would be coming home. It was the one arrangement that let me do the things I wanted to do. However, Jay being so secretive right now was not a good thing. Even if I wanted to say yes, there were many things to consider.

After a few more minutes of Jay talking randomly, we walked back to the dorm. A relaxed Jay not trying to fit in or look cool with the rest of the guys was a fun Jay to be around with, and I had to admit enjoying this time with him. Of course, everything had a hitch, and there we now stood in front of the dorms, with Ian and Junho deep in conversation. And yes. They saw us. Neither of them looked happy.

Ian especially.

I was so dead.

He kept his eyes on both of us, Junho too. What I was actually more curious about at the moment was what they could have possibly been talking about. Why would Ian talk to Junho? Why would Junho talk to Ian? What could they even be talking about?

Jay seemed unfazed next to me. Hands in his pockets, in his usual swagger, Jay didn't look like he thought he was in trouble at all.

Ian's eyes narrowed at him. “Junho, you and Jay go on ahead to the meeting point. We'll join you in a bit.”

Junho nodded at him, even from behind him, and lightly pushed Jay towards the grounds again. In my head I was screaming, Yes! Midnight Round! but I didn't think it was very appropriate to share those thoughts right now.

“Would you like to explain yourself?”

I shrugged. “We were just talking.”

“I told you to stay away from him. You never listen to me.”

I rolled my eyes, “You didn't exactly give me a justified reason too. And I cannot believe you put that thing in the same room as me!”

He breathed an exasperated sigh. “Why are you being so difficult lately?”

“Why don't you just leave me alone?”

Okay, that wasn't the smartest thing to say. Ian was already fuming. I knew the guy was just really, really worried about me and all that stuff, but did he really have to try and control as much as he could in my life? I already had enough of that from my parents, I didn't need any more from him.

He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up. I couldn't stop the grin from forming on my face. “Did you know when you do that, your hair goes everywhere.”

“Don't even start. You're giving me enough headaches as it is.”

“Look,” I took a different approach, “I know you're worried, but there's nothing to worry about. Seunghyun, Jay, it's nothing. We're just friends. Can't we be friends?”

“Seunghyun I don't worry about. It's Jay.”

I laid both hands on his arms. “You have nothing to worry about.”

He didn't believe me, but that last sigh was him giving up. Again. Which was always a good thing for me.

…

The midnight round wasn't anything competition related. Just that we were allowed the luxury of hanging out later than usual. The teachers said it was because we all needed a time out to really get to know each other. In the future, we would meet all sorts of different people, but no one would ever compare to the set of people we had known back in high school. I still didn't understand what they meant with that. Why were they, all of a sudden, glamorizing everything? Didn't they know how difficult school was? Well, sure, they probably had some idea, and I'm positive they were once high school students too, but what were they getting at?

In the sea of people here, were they actually telling me that the person that I would depend on in my time of need, even way into the future, was already before my eyes?

[A/N]: Yeah. This is what's causing the delayed updates: Catharsis Factor