Upon entering the school, seemingly every girl glared at me, staring at mine and Youngmin’s clasped hands.  I trembled as we made our way down the hall of stares –not enough for someone looking on to notice, but Youngmin could definitely feel it.  Not in fear of the others, but because of my own uncertainty and nervousness of holding his hand.  Although he and I had held hands before, this time it felt different.  I couldn’t delude myself anymore –I liked him, and he liked me.

Now what?

We reached our usual meeting place upstairs, successfully maneuvering through the mass of students blocking our way.  Boyfriend was already huddled together with Ara Cha and Hyesoo.  Jeongmin was the first to notice us and he grinned broadly, eyes shining.

“Finally!” he exclaimed, shoving between Minwoo and Ara Cha.  “It took you long enough!”  Stumbling over his own feet in his hurry, he stopped in front of us, the gummiest smile spread from ear to ear.  “When did it become official?  What happened?  Who confessed first?  Oh my gosh, did you guys kiss?”

The others made it over and Ara Cha playfully shoved Jeongmin’s shoulder.  “Yah!  Stop acting like a girl.  It’s my job to ask the questions.”  She faced me, a hungry gleam in her eyes.  “Did you kiss him?!”

I blushed crimson.  “Y-yah, what’s with all of the questions?”

Youngmin pulled me closer to him, a protective arm around my waist.  “You guys are embarrassing her.  Stop it.  Probably freaking her out, too.”

“So are you going to answer us?” Jeongmin prodded.

“Why should I tell you anything?” Youngmin teased, but I knew underneath that playful façade he was as embarrassed as I was.

“I can tell you what happened.”  Kwangmin’s smooth voice carried over everyone’s heads.

Youngmin glared at the dark-haired boy.  “You don’t know what happened.  I didn’t tell you anything!”

Kwangmin smiled sweetly.  “Twin-telepathy, dear brother,” Kwangmin explained, tapping his head.  “Besides, it wasn’t hard to figure out when you got back Saturday night, smiling like a babo and all.”

“Just say what happened already!” Jeongmin screamed in frustration.

“Youngmin oppa took me to dinner, then the park, then Lotte World, then home,” I summarized quickly, expecting the end of the world if at least a little bit of information wasn’t given.

The lot gave me dubious looks.  “That’s it?” Hyesoo asked skeptically.

I nodded.  “That’s pretty much what happened.”

“So you became a couple after a simple date?” Hyunseong mused.

That struck a chord in Youngmin.  “It was not simple!  I planned that for an entire week!”

I gently placed my hand on his arm, calming him down.  “And all your hard work paid off.  It was fantastic.”

Ara Cha inspected me closely.  “We.  Want.  Details,” she demanded.  I gulped nervously.

“I kissed her,” Youngmin revealed in the same casually tone as if he was saying he had turned in his homework.

Five pairs of eyes widened, but Kwangmin didn’t look surprised.  After that, the entire story came out, Hyesoo, Ara Cha, and Jeongmin squealing in giddiness.

  “Oh my goodness,” Ara Cha squealed.  “Why didn’t you call me right away?”

“It was 12:30!  You were asleep!”

“I wouldn’t have minded if you woke me up to tell me that!” she argued.  “And I tried to text and call you all of Sunday, but you didn’t respond.”

“I couldn’t because Sunday is family time.  I didn’t have a chance!”

Jeongmin was having his own argument with Youngmin.  “I can’t believe that you weren’t going to kiss her!  Are you stupid or something?  Pabo!”

“I didn’t know if she was going to reject more or not,” Youngmin countered.  “I was scared out of my mind!”

“At least you had a shred of intelligence to go back.  I swear, if you had left without kissing her, I would’ve personally ripped you limb from limb!  I was very nearly going to do just that when we didn’t hear from you all weekend.  I thought you had chickened out!”

“It’s time to go to class,” I finally said, exhausted with the interrogation.

“But the bell hasn’t-” Minwoo began, but was cut off by a shrill ring –the bell.

“Bye, everyone!”  I waved, lightly tugging at Youngmin’s hand to follow me.  “We’ll see you at lunch!”

“You better,” I heard Jeongmin mutter as we left.

When we were far enough away, Youngmin leaned closer to me.  “Are you okay?  You’re shaking like a leaf.”

I nodded.  “I-I’m fine.  This is still all really new to me,” I muttered.

We entered the classroom, nearing our seats.  Youngmin stopped me before I could sit down, taking my face in his hands.  “I love you.”  He pecked my forehead, causing me to blush.  Before I could return the sentiment, our teacher ordered us to sit down and class began.

School was a nightmare.  I really hadn’t though dating one of the most popular boys in school would affect anyone other than Youngmin and me.

How naïve.

Whenever he wasn’t with me (which was rarely, but it did happen), girls flocked around me, trying to corner me and beat me up and whatnot.  Of course, they never got that chance.  Still, it was annoying and a little sad.  I guess a lot of hearts were broken the moment Youngmin and I walked in together that morning holding hands.  It made me wonder if this is what happened with Hyesoo and Kwangmin.

Track practice was easier, sort of.  Only one person stopped me there.

Chung Ae.

She tried to corner me in the locker room, but I easily pushed her away, inwardly scoffing.  You’d think she’d learn.

I ran hard on the track, clearing my head.  That wasn’t too much of a problem, as long as I avoided Chung Ae.  I thought I was doing fairly well, but I was in the Zone and not completely aware of my surroundings.  One moment I was loping around the track, the nest my face met asphalt. 

“Omo,” I groaned, picking myself up, dazed.

“Oh, Jin Haneul-ah, are you okay?” Chung Ae’s sickly sweet voice me back down to Earth.

Brushing myself off, I nodded, pushing her hands away as she tried to ‘help’ me.  My legs were wobbly and shaky, my hands a bit scraped up, and the place my cheek had hit the ground stung, but other than that I was fine.  I tried to start again, to finish out the run, but as soon as I took a step forward, my knees buckled underneath me.  This time, I caught myself before I could face plant, pain searing my hands and knees. 

“Ow,” I growled, frustrated.  Checking, I found red stains on the points of pain.  Great.

“Jin Haneul-ah, are you okay?” Chung Ae continued to drill me with that shrill cry of hers.  Once again she attempted to help, but I shoved her back.

“Get away from me.”  Anger boiled inside of me.  I may have been out of it, but I knew what must have happened –Chung Ae tripped me.

“Jin!” a second, more welcoming voice called out my name.

“Youngmin oppa,” I shakily got to my feet, but I felt stable enough.

“What happened?”

I sent Chung Ae a withering glare.  “I tripped.”

Youngmin paused.  “You…tripped.”

“I tripped,” I confirmed, giving a single nod.

“How?”

 Again, I glared at Chung Ae.  Not knowing how to answer, I stayed quiet.  Whipping his head between Chung Ae and me, he figured it out on his own.  Taking my arm, Youngmin started leading me away.

“Where are we going?” I demanded, wondering why he was leading me off the track.

“I’m taking you to the trainer’s room.”  His response was clipped.

I stopped in my tracks, digging my heels in the ground.  “No.”

He turned to look at me.  “No?”

“No.  You don’t need to miss practice and I can handle a couple of scrapes.”

Youngmin shook his head adamantly.  “But we need to clean those.  What if they get infected?”

“I’m pretty sure that they won’t get infected in 45 minutes.”

“You know what?  I’m done arguing with you.”  I smiled victoriously, shifting my weight to turn back around.  I didn’t get the chance to do much more than that before he lifted me up, holding me in his arms.

“Let go!” I seethed in a whisper, humiliation coloring my face red.  “Put me down!”

He shook his head defiantly.  “Ani.”

“Jo Youngmin, put me down this instant.”

He ignored me, tightening his hold when I squirmed.

“We need to get back to practice.  We don’t have time to visit the trainer’s room.” I persisted in my useless argument.  Youngmin might say I’m stubborn, but he can be just as bad, if not worse, than me.

Despite my continuous fighting, we arrived at the trainer’s room.  Youngmin pushed the door in, walking inside and setting me on one of the stiff beds.

“Stay here while I go ask the trainer for the first aid,” Youngmin ordered sternly.  He took three steps and then turned back to me.  “I meant it, stay put.”  With that, he stepped into the trainer’s office.

Sighing, I stared at my bloody hands.  Sweat and grime blended with the oozing red, my pulse throbbing underneath the broken skin.  Examining my knees, I found them to be in the same condition –blood, sweat, dirt.  Just as I was pondering what my cheek looked like, Youngmin returned with the white plastic kit.

“You actually listened to me for once.” He let out a relieved sigh.  “I didn’t think you would.”

“Well, it was either you or Chung Ae.  I decided on the lesser of two evils.”

Youngmin scowled, opening up the first aid and taking out the materials.

“Hold still.  This will sting,” he warned.

I nodded my head, steeling myself for the pain to come.  When he placed the damp cotton on my palm, stinging needles shot through my hand.

I showed no emotion.

We were silent as he tended to my injuries.  The rest of the room was empty considering practice still had yet to end.  Once Youngmin had cleaned and bandaged my hands, he started on my knees.  After my knees he focused on the cut on my cheek.  It stung worse than my palms and knees, probably because of the sensitive flesh. 

“Mianhae,” he murmured.  I hadn’t realized that I’d winced until he said that, cupping my cheek with his free hand.  Eventually the stinging subsided to be replaced with an uncomfortable tingling.  Youngmin carefully taped on a bandage, his fingers lingering a moment longer.

“So what really happened?” Youngmin’s dark eyes stared intently into my light ones.  He was not going to be fooled with a lie.

I sighed.  “Chung Ae tripped me…I think.”

“…You think?”

I nodded, shrugging.  “I was in the Zone.  One moment I was just running along, the next I was on the ground and Chung Ae was above me.  Since I don’t trip on my own, it’s not hard to figure out what happened.”

Youngmin let out a slow, angry breath.  “At least you didn’t beat her up.”

“Eh, she wasn’t worth it, I decided.”

“Beating her up is my job.”

Gawking, I stared at him bewildered.  “Did you not just hear what I said?  She isn’t worth the effort!”

“Well, she hurt my girlfriend.  I’m not going to stand for that.” Youngmin’s eyes smoldered with anger.

“I can handle myself,” I insisted.  “I was just distra-”

Before I could finish, Youngmin’s lips clamped onto mine.  My heart rate rapidly increased, pounding hard within the confines of my ribcage.  Face flushing, I pulled back slightly, but Youngmin followed my movements, leaning further into me.  He wound his arms around my waist, holding tightly.  I let him kiss me, responding tentatively myself.  His small movements promised caution, sincerity, but most of all, love.  It was soft, yet passionate; controlled, yet overflowing with emotions.  Slowly, bit by bit, I melted into him, kissing him back with more confidence.  His lips moved tenderly over mine in a gentle caress.

“You little !”

Our heads shot up to the interruption.  Chung Ae stood at the entrance, face contorted in rage, eyes burning holes into my soul.

“I can’t believe you!” she screamed, storming over to our location.  “How dare you kiss my Youngmin oppa!?”

I sighed in exasperation.  I really didn’t want to deal with this right now.  “Chung Ae, he’s not yours.  I don’t know if he was in the past, but he isn’t now nor will he ever be.  Now, if you aren’t here to use the training room properly, please leave.”

Her face flushed in anger, her eyes glinted with tears.  Whether those tears were of anger or broken-hearted sorrow, I wasn’t sure.  Probably both.  Clenching her jaw, eyes set with determination, she lifted her hand.  I waited for her to slap me, to vent out all of her emotions in that one action, that one release, because once was the only chance I would give her.  I stared back at her steadily, steeling myself for the pain that was sure to come.  Her hand came swinging around, palm open menacingly.

Before our skin could make contact, Chung Ae’s hand was interrupted midflight.  Youngmin glared at the girl, murder in his eyes.

“Don’t ever touch Jin,” he warned in a low voice, his grip on her wrist tightening.  Chung Ae whimpered in pain, clawing at his hand desperately.  “If I hear that you’ve done any harm to her, I will personally make your life miserable for as long as we both remain in the same school.  And listen to me carefully; I never held any interest in you.  I’ve never particularly liked you let alone crushed on you.  So leave us alone.”

My body refused to move, paralyzed at the scene playing out before me.  Chung Ae struggled continuously, whimpers spilling from .

“Do you understand?” Youngmin articulated slowly.

After a brief hesitation, Chung Ae nodded.  Youngmin released his grip and the girl stepped away quickly, rubbing her red wrist.

“Get out of here, and don’t ever try to lay a hand on Jin again.”  Youngmin’s tone was cold and hard.

Thoroughly frightened, Chung Ae her heel and ran out the door.  Silence rang in my ears, both of us unmoving –me out of paralysis, him for trying to keep in the anger that rolled around him in waves.  Unexpectedly, Youngmin threw a fist down, pounding the stiff, padded bed.  I jumped, surprised.  The paralysis that had controlled my body slowly ebbed away and tentatively I reached out a hand, wrapping my fingers around his fist comfortingly.  His head hung low, his hair masking his features, casting them in shadow.  His body remained rigid, but his fist relaxed until it lay limp in mine.  With my free hand, I brushed back his hair.  His eyes were shut tight, jaw clenched.

“Youngmin oppa,” I whispered, afraid if I spoke louder he would break.

Slowly letting out a breath, he opened his eyes, a stew of emotions tumbling within.  Anger, sorrow, regret, and…fear.  Without a second thought, I wrapped my arms around him comfortingly, cradling him in my arms.  He clung to me tightly, like a scared child holding onto his mother, head buried in the crook of my neck.

“Thank you,” I murmured, so quietly I didn’t think he would hear.

But he had heard and he turned his face to mine, confusion added to the mix of emotions.

Understanding he didn’t know what to say, I continued.  “Thank you.  I don’t think she would have truly left me alone if you hadn’t done something.  Don’t feel too bad.  She’s done worse.”

Youngmin sighed, “I know, it’s just –I just… I guess I’m not used to hurting girls like that, or scaring them.  Did you see her face?  She was horrified.”

Sensing a nervous breakdown, I caressed his cheek.  “And that is what I love about you,” I smiled softly.  “Even if you truly dislike a person, you still feel bad about doing wrong to them.  And I hope you never get used to hurting girls, because then you would stop being you.”

He gave me a weak smile, hugging me again.  “Look at this,” he mused, chuckling weakly.  “You’re the one hurt; I should be comforting you.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Honestly, I’m fine.  I know you like playing the big hero saving the damsel in distress, but it’s just a couple of scrapes –nothing I can’t handle.”

Youngmin sighed, a playful smile on his lips.  “What am I going to do with you?”

I shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

A sly smirk revealed glinting white teeth that suddenly appeared sharp and pointy.

“I can think of something,” he growled, leaning closer.  My heart thumping, he cupped my face, molding our lips together as one.

Aigoo! I know it's been forever and I know you all might want to kill me right about now, but I have a good excuse! I've been so caught up in my AP classes and work that I hardly get any time on the computer. *mutter* And I may or may not have been grounded from the computer *coughstillamcough* *mutter*  But for some good news, on my long unnoficial hiatus, I gained another subscriber! That adds up to 23!!! Just in case you guys don't know how to do math ^^"

Anyway, not much left to the story. There will probably be a couple more chapters, but the ending is in sight. Thank you all for staying with me this long and for being there with me throughout the journey of this first story with me!

Again, I am so sorry for the long wait. I will try to update faster!