I stared at the board in third period and just watched the teacher right about moles. I honestly don't care about molecular bonds or anything Chemistry related. I was chewing on my eraser to my pencil and did not understand a single thing that was written on the board.

“I'll just go ask Jihae later.” I mumbled to myself as the bell rang. I walked out of class with the words “you're useless” ringing in my head and having learned nothing new. I quickly shook my head and hurried to the cafeteria, looking for Jihae to explain Chem to me.

     I am such a mess. My backpack was on one shoulder, I had a bunch of papers and books in one arm, and my water bottle was in my other hand. Being uncoordinated was not an advantage when I was bumped rather harshly in the hall. All my papers went everywhere and I had to bend down to try and pickup everything. I was about halfway through when someone came over and helped me. God, this is embarrassing.

“Than-” I said as I looked up to find Kyuhyun helping me. I stopped. I am NOT thanking this kid.

“What? No gratitude? How rude.” He said as he looked right at me with a cocky smirk. This kid is gonna get it. I just rolled my eyes and stood up. “You should learn some manners Minji.” He said as he trailed behind me.

“Funny thing. I do have manners, they just seem to disappear when I'm around you.” I said without looking at him. I walked faster to stay in front of him, smirking to myself.

“Why? Am I not good enough for you to be polite with?” He asked as he easily matched my pace.

“Hardly.” I muttered, refusing to meet his gaze. He only chuckled and I saw him shake his head. This was how we usually greeted each other. Usually we were really rude to the other or just playfully teasing each other. Today was obviously a rude day.

“How were your classes?” I ask. I only realized that I hadn't even bothered to find out how he was doing.

“Boringly easy. You should major in music too, we would have a blast.” He said with a sigh.

“More like drive the teacher insane and explode the building.” I said with a laugh. He laughed with me. We arrived at the cafeteria and sat down at Jihae and Eunmi's table. Kyuhyun had just sat down when a boy about his height walked up to our table.

“Hey Kyuhyun? Can I sit here?” He asked in honorifics and I almost spat out my water. It was strange to hear someone speak so formally. I was always as rude as I possibly could be the majority of the time we spent together.

“Hey! Of course!” He said as he patted the seat next to him. I gave Kyuhyun a curious look.

“I'm Hyunki, I have fifth and sixth period with Kyuhyun.” He stated. I only nodded before diving into my food. God was I hungry.

“How about we all go to the club tonight?” Eunmi asked the whole group. My eyes widened and it was hard to swallow my water. Club? I've never even thought about clubbing before. To be honest, I was that girl in your class who sat at the back and never did anything but study. Of course I had that type of clothing that would make you look bad-. Who doesn't?

“Sounds like fun.” Jihae replied. Kyuhyun only nodded at the suggestion.

“Can I come too?” Hyunki asked.

“Of course you can! The more the merrier.” Eunmi said in response. She turned her attention to me. “You're coming right?”

“I prefer places that are quieter with no alcohol and grinding bodies.” I said as I ate another spoonful of my lunch. I imagined going to a cafe, drinking a latte while doing my homework. I was only looking at Eunmi but I could practically hear Kyuhyun and Jihae roll their eyes.

“Come on Minji! It'll be fun!” Eunmi said as she shot me with the best puppy eyes I have ever seen in my life, including my little brother's.

“It's only Thursday though.” I said without meeting her gaze.

“Which means tomorrow's Friday which means nothing important is gonna happen at school.” She said, still giving me her puppy eyes.

“O-okay.” I replied with a gulp. Just stop looking at me. I kept thinking. She could not know that I would seriously do anything if she kept pulling those out.

“Your parents wouldn't approve. Are you sure?” I heard. I just sighed and guilt began to haze my thoughts, distracting me from the rest of the conversation. What if my parents found out? Well, technically they won't seeing that we don't live anywhere near here. I finally decided to try not letting my parents' expectations control me for once, only once. When the end of school came, I found myself staring at my collection of clothing. I honestly did not have anything to wear to a club. Meanwhile, Eunmi pulled out countless black mini-skirts and tube-tops. I sighed. I'll just go with the black theme then.

     I ended up wearing a pair of ripped, black skinny jeans with black skater shoes. On top, I wore a plain white T-shirt and a leather jacket I received as a gift from a friend. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and sat on the bed, waiting for Eunmi. She walked out of the bathroom and scanned me over.

“Tsk, tsk. Minji, is this the best you can do?” She asked as she observed me from every angle. I suddenly felt really self-conscience.

“I don't own...that type of clothing.” I said as I looked down.

“You can always borrow something from me.” She said. I looked over at her very, er, revealing apparel.

“I think I'll pass.” I said as I quickly looked back at her and gave her a smile. She only rolled her eyes.

“At least let me put makeup on you.” She said as she started walking towards me. I tried to reject but it was more of a command rather than asking for permission. I found myself in Eunmi's chair with my eyes closed as she applied mascara, eyeliner, and eyeshadow on me. After some lip-gloss and cover up, she ushered me into the bathroom to look at myself. I almost screamed. Who the eff was this girl that was looking back at me? Her eyes were way to big and her skin too perfect. I could feel every pigment of eyeshadow on my eyelid and had to resist the urge of wiping it off. Eunmi hurried to her phone and gasped.

“It's already nine! Hurry up, we need to go!” She said as she grabbed a very tight leather jacket from the bed, her purse, and ran out of the room. I quickly stuffed my phone, keys, and money into my pocket before hurrying after her.

†††

     I ended up huddling in a corner at the bar anyways. The loud beat of the song was starting to give me headaches and the place was way too hot. The plaec was way too stuffy and I almost suffocated just breathing the air. When we first walked in, a bunch of guys were checking Eunmi out and I was glad that I wasn't in the spotlight. That's when the drunk guys came up and started requesting dances. I found an empty booth in the corner. I sat so that it shielded me so that no one could see me and rubbed my temples. I closed my eyes, trying to drone out all of the noise when I heard a huff and felt someone plop down in my booth. My eyes opened immediately to find a boy about my age looking just like me. He plopped down with his eyes closed on the other side and I assumed he didn't notice me. When he opened his eyes, they widened in shock.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I'll leave.” The boy said as he quickly stood up.

“No, it's ok. You can sit here if you want.” I said quickly. He smiled and sat down again, closing his eyes.

“You don't look like you're enjoying yourself too much.” I said as I examined his face. He was really cute. His cheeks were really round and his hair was dyed brown, I think. The dim lighting made it hard to see much, but he was adorable.

“I'm not.” He said as he opened his eyes and smiled at me. My heart started beating faster. “You don't look like you're having a good time either though.” He said as he propped his head on his hand.

“I'm not.” I admitted.

“Why are you here? You don't look like one to be in these type of places.” He said as he looked at my apparel.

“I got dragged here by a friend. I normally don't go to places like this. What about you? What are you doing here?” I asked him as I tilted my head to the right.

“Funny story, same as you actually.” He said with a laugh, his eyes sparkling. “My name is Henry by the way, Henry Lau.” He said as he stuck his hand over the table. I grabbed it and shook it.

“I'm Lee Minji.” I said.

“Well it's nice to meet you.”

“So if you don't normally come to places like this, where do you go?” He asked me.

“Cafes normally. I like the smell of coffee and the quietness. It helps me think better and I actually get homework done. What about you?” I asked.

“The library.” He replied. It wasn't until now did I notice that Henry was not intoxicated at all.

“Do you drink?” I asked bluntly.

“No, it doesn't taste good and I feel like crap the next day. Why bother?” He said. I chuckled at his response.

“What university are you attending?” He asked, hands folded under his chin.

“Kyunghee.” I said. He mouthed a wow and I just laughed.

“Don't expect too much Minji. He doesn't care about you. He's just talking to you because he can't talk to anyone else.” Those words whispered in my ears and sent chills down my spine. I quickly brushed them off though when Henry began telling stories about his years in high school. Time went by quickly and I didn't really know what time it was until Kyuhyun came over to our booth.

“I see you've met someone new.” He said as he plopped down next to me. I wrinkled my nose.

“You smell bad.” I told him. He smelled like alcohol and it mixed with his usual clean scent. He just shrugged.

“Who is this?” Henry asked as he raised his eyebrow.

“No one of any importance.” I replied, shrugging.

“You're not very nice.” He said with a frown. I just rolled my eyes at him.

“This is Kyuhyun,” I told Henry. “Kyuhyun, that's Henry.” I said quickly.

“Nice to meet you.” Kyuhyun said as he stuck out his hand.

“Are you two dating?” Henry asked. Kyunhyun and I burst out into laughter.

“No, we're just friends.” I told Henry and he nodded.

“Well, I'm gonna go. Be back later.” He said as he stood up and walked over to the bar. I just hope he doesn't get drunk.

     Henry and I conversed for almost an hour. By the time Jihae decided it was time to leave, which was one in the morning, we had exchanged numbers and knew each other well enough to be more than just acquaintances.

“Hey, next time your friends want to go clubbing we can go to a cafe or something.” He said as I stood up to leave.

“That would be nice.” I said with a smile before heading back with my friends.

“Remember Minji, no expectations.”

     When we arrived back home, I washed away all remains that screamed I was out partying. Eunmi was really tipsy and was knocked out by the time we got home. I crawled into bed, enjoying the warmth of it. Just as I was falling asleep, an annoying vibration came from my phone. I checked the new text pessage I had just received.

To: Minji

From: Henry

Good night! Hope you have sweet dreams.

I quickly replied:

To: Henry

From: Minji

Thanks! You too! =)

I couldn't help but smile at his simple text. Somehow, joy spread throughout my whole body. I quickly turned off the light and fell asleep.

    I was a little bit terrified when I took in my surroundings. The path looked very familiar and a chilling voice made it hard to breathe. It was not menacing yet the simple sentence brought dread to the pit of my stomach.

“Glad to see you Minji.”