He groaned as he was roughly shaken awake. “Ugh… what? What is it?”

“Hyung, you’re gonna make us late for school.”

“… but it’s the weekend,” he mumbled as he began to fall asleep again.

“Hyung,” the boy yelled, and he snapped awake.

“Aish. Alright. I’m awake,” he hissed as he grabbed the pillow underneath his head and hurled it at the boy who ducked while laughing and ran out of the room. “I swear. One of these days…,” he grumbled. “Yah, did you eat breakfast already?”

“Aniyo, I woke up late too,” the boy called from the living room.

“We’ll just grab something on the way. I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.” He tossed his legs over the side of the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Peaking around the door frame, the boy replied with a smirk on his face, “Including all that you have to do to look pretty for your classmates?”

“JunSu,” he growled as he sprinted after him, and caught him by the back of his shirt, dragging him back to put him in a headlock. “Aish. You’re one to talk considering how many times you want me to pay to get your hair dyed.”

Laughing, JunSu tried to get free. “Nuh uh.”

“Tch. Last week it was red hair. What’s next green?” He smirked.

“Good morning master JaeJoong, and JunSu. Did you two sleep well,” a maid asked once she approached them.

JunSu broke free of JaeJoong’s hold, and smiled at her. “Ne. Hyung’s just a little cranky.”

“Aish.” JaeJoong pushed him playfully. “That’s what happens when you don’t know how to wake people up properly.”

The maid smiled. “That’s good. I have a letter from your father. He wanted me to give it to you today, master JaeJoong.” She held out the letter and waited for him to take it. “Well, I have work to do. If you need anything, you know where to find me.” Without another word she made her way down the long staircase.

JunSu’s smile fell. “You don’t think…”

JaeJoong frowned as he opened the letter, and JunSu observed him as his eyes roamed over the contents. His fingers clenched the piece of paper. “That bastard…,” he trailed off as he crumbled up the paper and threw it over the railing.

“Tch,” was the only thing JaeJoong heard from JunSu before he ran down the hallway and to his room.

“JunSu, wait,” he called as he ran after him, only to have his brother’s door slammed in his face. “.”

Frustrated, he went to his room to get dressed, and headed down the stairs. “Could you tell JunSu that he doesn’t have to go to school today," he asked the first servant that he ran into downstairs.

“Uh, ne sir. Is he not feeling okay?”

“Lets’ just say it’s an early birthday present.”

“Ne sir.”

Sighing heavily he made his way to his car.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“You think you’re so smart don’t you, huh? Now that you’ve become a subordinate you think you’re better then us,” ChinSun, Boa’s favorite person to be around said before kicking her in the stomach.

Boa coughed. “I don’t think… I know I’m better… then all of you, because I don’t… have to beat someone else down… just to feel better… about myself...”

Snarling, ChinSun and the other seven girls that had accompanied her began to beat Boa into the ground. “You . I’ll…”

“Yah,” a deep voice yelled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

All the girls stopped and swung around to face YunHo. “Oppa,” ChinSun began.

“Save it,” he said glaring at all of them before walking over to kneel beside Boa, and help her to her feet. “Are you alright?”

She didn’t say anything at first and just let him help her, blushing when he tossed her bag over his shoulder and picked her up bridal style. When they were almost at the nurse’s office, she spoke, “You’re only making it worse.”

He ignored her and entered the nurse’s office. Laying her down on a bed, he stepped away for a moment and searched the cabinets for a medic kit. Finding some bandages, gauze and peroxide, he walked back over to her. “Are they always like that,” he asked as he poured some peroxide on some gauze, and leaned in closer to pat it on the scratch on her eyebrow.”

She was embarrassed with him being so close and tried her best to hide it. “I’m used to it by now.” Hesitating, she added, “You don’t have to do this, you know. I’m sure a nurse will be here soon.”

He smiled and finished cleaning up the rest of her wounds. “I don’t mind. I’m glad I got there when I did.”

“… but now they’re just going to pick on me more.”

“Not if I can do anything about it. Remember, you’re not a regular student anymore.” He bandaged her up within a matter of minutes.

“… but…”

“No buts. Come on, let’s go to class.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He hadn’t said a word to her the whole time, in fact, she was starting to believe that he was ignoring her on purpose, and he did nothing but confirm her theory only moments ago. She had tapped him on the shoulder, but when he turned around to face her he walked right by her like she didn’t even exist.

So, now, here she was, looking for him again, but to no avail.

Sighing, she walked over to the drink machine and put two dollars in. She made her choice and waited until the drink to fall out. It amazed her, when instead, it never did. 

“Who was it?” His voice had made her tense, because she was under the impression that nothing good could come from him.

“JaeJoong-Oppa…,” she started when she turned around, but silenced herself when his chest came into view. He kicked the machine and her drink fell out. “W-Why would you care?”

His eyebrow rose. “You can tell me who did it, or I can tell YunHo that you’re madly in love with him.” Putting some coins in the machine and pressing the button for his drink of choice, he added, “Well?”

Her eyes widened, and she stared at him in shock as he opened his drink and began to take a sip of it. She hadn’t expected that she could do something like it, but her hand moved on its own accord, and tilted his drink up, the contents spilling all over his chin and shirt.

Staring down at his shirt, his eyebrows narrowed. “You’ve got a lot of nerve…”

“I wouldn’t tell someone like you even if you threatened to tell the whole school,” she snapped.

“Someone like me?”

“Cold, and heartless people that play with others feelings.”

His eyebrows narrowed further if at all possible as his eyes met hers.

“Stop acting like you’re high and mighty,” she yelled. “And don’t try and pretend as if you care. Just because you’re such an unhappy person doesn’t mean you have to drag others down with you. You really hurt that other girl’s feelings the other day and you didn’t even care regardless of what the situation truly was. Still don’t. Besides, why would anybody want to use a person like you to get to YunHo? I…,” she was cut off when she was pushed against the wall, his arms barricading her in.

“You don’t know anything about me or YunHo, and you remember that.” He lowered his arms to his side, and tilted his head. “… but I get it. You’re on all the other girls’ sides, because you’re just like them. Blinded by what you see on the outside instead of actually trying to understand the individual. You people make me sick.” Turning on his heel, he made his way down the hall, stopping for a moment to call out over his shoulder, “Don't waste your time.” He continued on his way, tossing his drink in a trash can as well.

Boa could only stand there and take in his words. Maybe she was wrong… in denial… about a lot of things. Sighing heavily, she remembered the conversation between JaeJoong and the girl. Could he blame her for being skeptical, let alone in denial, because she had understood the girl’s pain?

She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled an envelope out. Crumpling it up, she headed back to class.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

JaeJoong entered the classroom and stripped himself of his uniform jacket.

“Yah, what happened to your shirt,” YooChun asked while snickering. “Which girl did you piss off this time?”

“Aish,” JaeJoong replied after throwing his jacket at him.

YooChun removed the jacket from his face. “Smells like strawberry.”

YunHo just smiled and sat down on the desk closest to the closet where JaeJoong stood. “It was Boa, wasn’t it?”

“Shy, but doesn’t take any bull,” YooChun cooed. “I’m beginning to like her even more.”

JaeJoong grabbed another uniform shirt out of the closet and tossed it over one of the chairs before beginning to the soaked shirt. “There’s nothing to like.”

Scoffing, YunHo said, “It’s been almost a week and the two of you have already been avoiding each other. Whenever she enters the class you put your earphones on, and whenever you enter the class she pretends as if you don’t even exist. So, let me guess. Today, you felt bad after I told you what happened, and left class to go find her. You went to ask her if she was okay, but it didn’t go exactly as you planned it would, did it?”

“Something like that,” JaeJoong mumbled.

“… and that caused you to end up with whatever that is,” he pointed at JaeJoong’s shirt. “… all over you.”

“Ne, and it’s strawberry juice.”

YooChun laughed.

Rolling his eyes, JaeJoong asked, “Where’s everyone else?”

YunHo’s eyebrow rose. “They went to the gym to play basketball. Me and YooChun stayed behind to wait for you. You should know that if you ran into Boa though.”

JaeJoong paused in buttoning up the new shirt. “Oh? She wasn’t with the others,” was his reply.

“That’s weird,” YooChun said.

Frowning YunHo added, “Not if you think about what happened this morning. The other female students have been picking on her a little.”

At that exact moment, as if on cue, Boa entered the classroom. “Uhm… do you guys mind if I talk to… JaeJoong-Oppa alone?” she said, frowning slightly and staring at the floor.

“Sure,” YooChun said as he brought YunHo out of his trance and dragged him out of the classroom. Once they were in the hall, he whispered, “Is it my imagination or were you just checking Boa out?”

YunHo’s cheeks tinted. “W-What? Pfft. I was… checking to see if her injuries were healing properly. Yeah… that’s it.” He cleared his throat. “We should go join the others in the gym.” Without giving YooChun the opportunity to reply he made his way down the hall towards the gymnasium.

YooChun only shook his head and followed behind him.

“Did you have more to add to what you said earlier,” JaeJoong asked bitterly as he folded his arms across his chest.

“Aniyo,” she said, shaking her head still not giving him eye contact. “Maybe you were right. Maybe I am wrong… about a lot of things. I get it now. Message received.”

“Eh?”

Her eyes met his. “I think I understand why you don’t like the girls that try to pass letters through you, or use you to get to YunHo. It’s because you think that a person should confess their feelings to their object of affections face, right?”

JaeJoong unfolded his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets. “You came up with that in thirty minutes?”

She nodded. “I realized that I don’t just want to be another one of those girls. I want to be strong and tell him how I really feel face to face one day.”

“I’m impressed,” was all he could say.

Smiling softly, she asked, “Does this mean we’re okay?”

His eyebrow rose. “Eh? Don’t get the wrong idea. You still have a long way to go, and I still don’t like you.”

“I think I can live with that.” Her smile grew.

“Tch,” he replied, but couldn’t help but to smile too.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: You know the deal. R&R please. ^^