“Cocky bastard,” you mumbled under your breath, as you brushed past him. He made your blood boil and it was all you could do not to punch him square in the nose.

“It’s rude to mumble, Shin Kaemi,” he mocked, following you out the door. You ignored him, rolling your eyes and readjusting the books in your arms. You didn’t have time for this.

“What? No witty reply?” he asked, his voice right next to your ear. You didn’t even flinch – you ditched that habit a long time ago. His lack of awareness for personal space was something that you had to (unfortunately) get used to, if you wanted to make it through school without living in fear of his teasing and taunting.

“Yah, Shin Kaemi! I’m talking to you,” he said, a little annoyed. You knew this was what irked him the most, being ignored. You held back a small grin, not giving him the satisfaction of even an ounce of acknowledgement.

“SHIN KAEMI!” He shouted, stepping in front of you and blocking the path. You looked at with a blank stare before slipping past him on the right and continuing your journey to your locker. He simply stood there with a stunned look on his face. It never failed to fluster him when you ignored him like that.

“Is Kai bothering you again, Kae?” Your best friend, Eun Chae asked, shaking her head in disapproval. “I don’t see why he picks on you. It’s not like you ever did something to him, right?” You let the smirk you had been holding appear as you remembered how it all got started, way back in middle school.

--

“Kim Jongin!” The teacher said, her eyes wide with shock at the boy with the red marker in his hand. He looked rather pleased with himself, despite the trouble he was currently in. You on the other hand, had a horrified look on you face as you stared down at the once pristine white canvas pencil case.

“Yes, sonsaengnim?” Jongin said innocently, capping the red marker as if nothing was wrong. You couldn’t believe the guts of this… this twerp. Your eyes narrowed in hate as you placed the pencil case on the desk beside you.

“YAH! KIM JONGIN!” You screamed, shocking the teacher, the rest of the class, and more importantly, Jongin. He raised one eyebrow at you, a bit taken aback by your powerful vocals.

“HOW DO YOU EVEN LIVE WITH YOURSELF?” You screamed at him, your face red with anger. “YOU COME TO SCHOOL LATE EVERYDAY, NEVER DO YOUR WORK AND ARE ALWAYS GETTING INTO TROUBLE. DON’T YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAN PICK ON ME? DON’T YOU THINK YOU’RE BEING TOO MUCH?” A shocked silence had settled over the class with your outburst, and several students had actually cowered in fear. Even the teacher had taken a step back from you. Jongin looked at you with what could only be described as a mixture of shock and amazement.

And then he laughed.

“Ha- you-haha-red-haha-think I care?” he managed to splutter out between peals of laughter. Your face was growing redder the longer he laughed until you finally snapped. A stinging slap rang through the silence as you slapped him. His laughter stopped instantly and he looked up at you, this time, only shock shown on his quickly reddening face.

“How dare you think that you can just come into this classroom and destroy other people’s property and then act like it’s no big deal?” You seethed, your breathing raspy and shaking with anger. “Well, I’m letting you know Kim Jongin that it is a big deal. You can’t just do whatever you want and expect people to go along with it. Do you know how conceited that is? I used to think that you could be better than this, but I guess not.” You sighed heavily and looked away, snatching the defaced pencil case off of the desk, and shoving into your book bag.

“This isn’t even that big of a deal, you know,” you said quietly, your voice sounding more tired now than anything. “But I’ve had enough of this. Hope you’re happy.” And with that you left the classroom, leaving a very shocked teacher and classmates behind.

Later that year, just a few months before the end of the spring term, Jongin finally decided to approach you. You didn’t even give him the time of day then. It wasn’t until the last day of school that he finally managed to make you acknowledge him.

The day was sunny, and you had finally managed to clean out your locker, dumping all the unrecyclable items into the bin at the end of the hall. You were just about to bring the remaining trash to the dumpster outside when you felt a chill run down your spine. Turning around, you saw a very livid Kim Jongin glaring at you.

“YAH! SHIN KAEMI!” He yelled, despite his closeness. Taken quite off guard, you flinched, eliciting a smirk from him.

“What do you want?” You asked, your voice firm despite the shock. “I don’t have time for this.” You brushed past him, carrying the small bag of trash with you.

“You think it’s okay to just embarrass me in front of the class like that, huh? To slap me like that, huh?” He said, coming to block your path. You looked up, rolled your eyes and walked past him again.

“You’re still hung up on that? God. Get a life, Kim Jongin.” You were surprised that he hadn’t gotten over that. You had most certainly gotten over it a long time ago, and didn’t see the point in worrying about something that was long past. It annoyed really, that he hadn’t even taken your advice to heart, but one can’t fix every broken thing, now can they?

“Don’t ignore me!” He whined, following you very closely. You felt uncomfortable at this, but decided to keep walking. Maybe if you just continued on your way, he would give up and leave you alone.

“I said, don’t ignore me, Shin Kaemi!” he slammed his hand into the locker next to yours and you turned around, eyes wide. “I don’t like being ignored.” You tried to take a step to the left, but his other hand slammed down, trapping you there. You wouldn’t be able to fit underneath his arms, and you weren’t going to crawl between his legs, so you just stood there, unable to move.

“Wh-what do you want, Jongin?” you asked, dropping all formalities, despite him being older than you. It was the first time your voice had wavered, and there was fear evident in your eyes.

“I said don’t ignore me. I hate it,” He could see that you were shaken by his sudden forcefulness, but he didn't move.

“Yeah, and, so? I don’t really care about you so why should I pay you any attention?” you said, trying to regain some of your composure. He drew back a little at your words, but still he didn’t move away.

“You cared enough to say something before,” he pointed out, a small smirk forming. “You must care now.” You gave him an incredulous look. Was this kid crazy?

“I am telling you truthfully that I don't,” you said, setting your lips in a firm line. “Now please, get out of the way. I have to go home.” He shook his head, and again didn’t move.

“No,” he said simply, drawing his body closer to yours. “You don’t get to go home yet. Not until I say so.” You’re lips curled into a snarl and you swiftly kneed him in the stomach. He doubled over and you took the chance to grab your bag and go down the hall. You were just about to exit the door when you heard him call after you.

“YAH! SHIN KAEMI! I’LL MAKE YOU PAY ATTENTION TO ME. YOU JUST WAIT! I WILL DEFINITELY MAKE YOU LOOK ONLY AT ME!”

You paused for a moment, but brushed the threat off and raced out of the door.

-END-

You smiled as you remembered how you and Kai first met. But your smirk disappeared as you saw the look that Eun Chae was giving you. She looked like she knew something you didn’t and you did not like that.

“What?” You asked, frowning. “It’s not my fault he’s an idiot.” Eun Chae shook her head at you and simply rolled her eyes.

“What a story,” she said, a small smirk playing at her lips. “I think I have my answer now.” She began to walk away, leaving you annoyed and confused.

“Yah, Noh Eun Chae! What do you mean?” you came after her, but she began to run and you chased after her. “Hey! Come back here and tell me what you mean!”

All the while, Kai was leaning against his locker, smiling at your retreating back. He remembered his promise from so long ago. He was glad that you did, too.

••••••••••••••

5.3.2012: I made some edits, as I looked over this and realized that I sometimes used the incorrect pronoun. I think I caught all of them, so if you see something, just let me know!