Soomin set her bag down as she plopped into her seat with a sigh. She leaned forward, placing her elbow on the desk and propping her head up on her hand, her gaze directed at the blackboard without actually processing any of the words written on it.

A couple days as Taemin, and so far all she had accomplished was to gain the attention of the school bully. Approaching Minho wasn’t as easy as she had previously thought, and even the confrontation the day before hadn’t gotten her anywhere, albeit as odd as it was.

Another thing she hadn’t realized was how much of a loner her brother was. It wasn’t that Taemin was shunned per se; she had exchanged a few words with some of her classmates without picking up any looks of disdain, but it seemed like her brother didn’t have a set group of friends. The only person that would come up and talk to her, when he wasn’t talking to Yesung, was Kyuhyun.

“Morning Taemin. How you feeling?”

Soomin looked up to see Kyuhyun take a seat sideways in his chair before turning to face her, setting his bag down lightly on his desk.

“I’m alright,” she replied, quickly deepening her voice to her brother’s level. “I heal fast,” she joked.

Kyuhyun breathed out a smile. “That’s good, but you should be more careful around Jonghyun. He’s pretty hot-headed, and—”

“Reckless and impulsive. Hey, don’t you think he reminds you of a dinosaur? Kinda like a mindless velociraptor,” she commented dryly, cutting him off.

“And you should avoid making comments like that,” Kyuhyun finished, giving her a look. “Although, I don’t remember you being so sarcastic.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked him, raising her eyebrows.

“No, just… different. I’m just saying, it looks like Jonghyun’s searching for a reason to beat you up, so you shouldn’t give him one.”

Soomin smiled to reassure him, glad that Taemin had at least one good friend. “Hey, do you know why Jonghyun’s so close with Minho? I mean, sure they’ve known each other for a while, but they are total opposites.”

“Since middle school I heard. Apparently they went through some rough times together or something. Minho only recently became a model remember? Speaking of which, he’s probably at some photoshoot at the moment, since we usually don’t do much in P.E anyway.”

Wait. Phys. Ed?

“When was the last time you washed your shorts? They reek!”

“Yo, get your jockstrap outta my face!”

“Check out this rash. Does this look like athlete’s foot to you?”

And that is my cue to leave.

Soomin didn’t even need to enter the change rooms to be disturbed, the doorway was enough to get rid of any little determination she had mustered to play the part of being her brother. Sure, there was the upside of seeing half boys, but seeing as there was the chance of seeing the wrong half, she wasn’t going to risk it. Plus that huge factor of her secret being exposed; she could already imagine the consequences.

“Dude! Taemin really is a girl!”

Screw that.

Jonghyun slipped one of his hands in his pant pocket, an unlit cigarette stuck out of the corner of his mouth. He casually walked on the sidewalk right along the school fence, trying to find a secluded area out of the direct line of sight of any of the entrances of the school.

Taking a step, he turned to lean against the fence as he pulled out his lighter. The tiny flame lit brightly against the shadows of the trees, and Jonghyun forcibly breathed out a line of smoke, watching it dissipate in the air in front of him.

“What a fun couple of days,” he muttered sarcastically as he eyed the cigarette in his hand.

Jonghyun was more of a social smoker, and merely kept the act up because it seemed to impress the others around him. Normally he would never smoke without a buddy, but he was annoyed and slightly stressed at the moment.

Minho had reminded him to ‘stay out of trouble’ before he left for his photoshoot. As if Jonghyun needed another mother. He was also a little worried about the fact that the model still had evidence of their accidental scuffle the day before. All because of that kid.

Jonghyun ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. For some reason, he couldn’t get Taemin off his mind. Usually quiet and indifferent, the shorter boy seemed to have grown a backbone in the past few days, and Jonghyun couldn’t stop thinking about it.

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he closed his eyes, leaning his head back as he relaxed.

“Ew. Is that smok—”

Jonghyun’s eyes snapped open and he turned to see Taemin appear around the corner. His jacket was open, the black tie loose around his neck. The top few buttons of his dress shirt was undone, and Jonghyun thought he saw a strap underneath the white shirt before Taemin’s fingers immediately buttoned it up. The shorter boy briefly paused before rolling his eyes and continuing on with his pace.

Taemin walked right by him without another word and Jonghyun narrowed his eyes. He made a fist, slamming it sideways into the fence right by the other boy’s head.

Startled, Taemin spun around in rage. “What the hell was that for?” he demanded as the wired fence rattled from the impact.

“Guess I have your attention,” Jonghyun replied with a smirk.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Taemin retorted with a scowl. “Jerk.”

Jonghyun quirked an eyebrow as he looked down at the shorter boy. “What I don’t get,” he started, “is how a girl like you can act so tough.”

Taemin’s eyes briefly widened before they narrowed to glare at him. “Someone needs to sort you out. You can’t even tell the difference between genders, and there’s only two.”

Jonghyun stared back evenly as if he was going to physically retaliate, and he saw Taemin visibly tense. In actuality, Jonghyun was in deep thought as he eyed the boy in front of him. “I’ve decided,” he stated with a smile.

“Decided what?” Taemin replied in monotone.

“You’re joining my gang.”

“What?!”

Jonghyun furrowed his brows as if he had thoroughly thought it out, which he had. “You’ve got guts, you’re unpredictable and you’ve got quite the temper. Plus, you beat Heechul,” he stated with a nod, his gaze elsewhere as he listed off his items. “I think the gang could toughen you up a little bit more, make you less of a creampuff.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Taemin replied in a shrill cry. “No way am I joining your group of delinquents and ruining my reputation. You’re crazy Jonghyun. I don’t know what kinda sick game you’re playing—”

“God,” Jonghyun cut in, “you even whine like a girl.”

He glanced over in time to see Taemin blink in surprise, a stunned expression etched on his face. Jonghyun threw his cigarette, which was far from being finished, to the ground and stubbed it with the toe of his shoe.

“Whatever,” Taemin replied simply as he turned to walk off.

“We’re having a gang meeting after school tomorrow,” Jonghyun stated as straightened up. “You better be there.”

Taemin spun back around to face him, color rising in his cheeks. “Get it through your thick skull Jonghyun! No means no. How many times do I have to repeat it?” he demanded in frustration.

“You’ll be there, or else.”

Taemin visibly grit his teeth as he turned around, and Jonghyun heard the irritation in the shorter boy’s tone even as Taemin walked off.

“Get off my back, Jonghyun!”