An old but nevertheless impressive-looking red Hyundai pulled up in front of the gated building. Rows of trees and foliage cast leaf-patterned shadows on its rooftop. The driver, a sleeveless-clad man pulled off his shades and drummed his fingers on the wheel, watching as his passenger exited the car.  “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive into the compound?”

Suhee shook her head. “You can’t, it’s staff-only. Don’t worry, it’s just the library. I’ve been here a thousand times.” Yongguk quietly smiled and nodded in acknowledgement, revving up his engine. “Take care then. I won’t be back for dinner by the way, let omma and appa know?”

“Okay. Have a productive day at the studio, Yongguk oppa!” Suhee called back as she slipped through the gates, falling into a brisk walk. She quickly approached the community library, intent to return some books she’d read over the past two weeks.

Her best friend from high school, Eunyoung had bailed out on today’s supposed outing because she wanted to take care of her boyfriend who was sick. In cases like these Yongguk would normally be kind enough to take her out somewhere to make her happy, but today he had some composing work to do. So Suhee ended up making plans to renew her book selection, and then do some present-shopping for her brother at a mall nearby before heading home. It was quite early, so there was plenty of time for her to kill.
 

Suhee thanked the counter assistant and hugged her books, striding out of the building. It felt good to browse through so many tantalizing-sounding book titles, picking the best out of them. At least home wouldn’t be so boring when there’s something to read.

The sun didn’t shine as bright as it did earlier, which meant it was probably late afternoon. Zipping up the volumes, Suhee belatedly realized it made her sling bag quite heavy. She sighed. Guess the present hunt at the mall will have to be quick.

It took a short walking distance for the tree-lined sky view to disappear, now replaced by skyscrapers. Suhee pulled down the front of her army cap and stopped at a junction, waiting for the light to turn green. It was taking forever though, and the waiting area was beginning to get crowded. She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable standing with so many people and shimmied her way to the back.

Suhee suddenly heard a cat-call directed at her from a group of colorful youngsters lounging on the pavement nearby, followed by laughter. Instantly regretting her luck, the girl ignored them and tried to move further away. Moments later, a girl unexpectedly detached herself from the group and came up to Suhee.

She was wearing heavy makeup and tiny pastel blue shorts, her hair dip-dyed in various colors. To Suhee, the chick screamed trouble. She glared at the newcomer coldly, silently telling her to back off. Why wasn’t the traffic light turning green yet?! “You’re Im Suhee, aren’t you?” Suhee looked up in surprise when her name was mentioned and the girl sniggered, dragging her to the side to talk.

“I’m Jungin. You’re from my English class, remember me?” Suhee blinked. “I only know that name as the girl who’s never in class,” she blurted unintentionally. It made Jungin laugh really hard. “You’re no fun, dear.” The almost-stranger patted Suhee’s bag and yanked it towards her.  Aww, did you put rocks in your bag, Suhee? Come with us, we’ll teach you how to have some fun tonight.”

“No thanks, I have plans already.” Suhee pulled her bag back, trying to avoid the girl and move away. She didn’t even care about crossing the road anymore; she wanted to be as far as possible from this weird person.

“Well just cancel them. We’re more fun, really.” Jungin’s voice was honeyed but her grip on Suhee’s arm remained tight. They watched as the crowd moved away from them without Suhee, the light having finally turned green. Suhee realized she was helpless. At this point, the rest of Jungin’s group had come closer, directing their attention fully towards them. They all had brightly dyed hair – in fact, the tallest boy had the strangest, extremely eye-catching combination of mint-blonde hair and eyebrows.

“What are you doing?” Suhee heard a male voice say from behind them before Jungin was yanked off Suhee. The y girl squealed in surprise and held her hand as if it hurt. Whirling around, it was an angry-looking Youngjae staring Jungin down. In a swift move, the mint-blonde guy got up and shoved the boy roughly, making him stumble. “Don’t ing touch her.”

Youngjae’s eyes were ablaze and the rest of the group closed in menacingly towards them. Fearful and confused, Suhee clung to her friend’s arm for dear life. A fight would probably have started there and then, had Jungin not held the boy’s arm and muttered, “Let it go, we’re just messing around. Zelo.”

The tall boy backed away and brushed the shoulder of his black jacket carelessly, still staring Youngjae in the eye. “Watch your step,” he snarled. “I’m only doing this for her.” Zelo cocked his head towards Jungin, wrapping an arm around her waist and left. Youngjae just kept silent, boring holes into the boy’s back as the rest of the group spat on the floor and followed suit.

Suhee was at a complete loss of words, focusing on calming her hammering heart. She didn’t get involved in near-fights quite often, much less to be the cause of one. Suddenly Youngjae cleared his throat, and the girl realized she still had her hands on his arm. She quickly let go, blushing. “S-sorry.”

Youngjae smiled wanly and looked over at her. “The streets aren’t as safe as you think after all, huh?” He stated, referring to the time when she and Himchan argued walking her back home. “Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine.” The brown-haired girl clasped her hands together nervously. In fact, her head was b with questions. Youngjae seemed to know Jungin and the Zelo guy. Were they his friends? He was dressed completely unlike them though – in a baggy white shirt and black sweatpants, with a black beanie pulled over his head. The fringe peeking out from his beanie shone with an orange tint under the sun. Not quite the brunette color she had expected.

“Where are you going?” he asked suddenly. Suhee pointed weakly at the direction of the mall. “Well, that was where I was supposed to go…” she trailed off quietly. Youngjae smiled. “How about I take you home?”

“I take the train, though.” Suhee breathed. Youngjae shrugged. “I can accompany you. You live close to Illa right?” She nodded as a silent acceptance to his offer. “I can’t thank you enough for saving me just now,” she bowed. Youngjae shook his head, pulling her up. “I’m just returning the favor,” the boy winked. “Let’s go.”

At the bus stop, Youngjae watched wordlessly as Suhee bought some ice-cream off the vendor. He grinned when she offered one to Youngjae. “It’s vanilla,” she smiled back. “You like that, right?”

“I like everything,” he responded, eliciting her laughter. “Thanks.” There was short silence as they enjoyed their confectionery, waiting for the bus to arrive.

“So… you know those people?” Suhee asked Youngjae hesitantly. She couldn’t help but be curious at the heated exchange that took place earlier. The boy sighed. He was anticipating this question. “I guess you can say so. It’s all in the past though,” he added firmly. “We stay out of each other’s way now. It’s nothing much really.”

On the bus ride home Youngjae and Suhee found themselves chatting like old friends, breaking into laughter every few moments especially while discussing university life. Of course, the boy would waste no time in dissing the quality of food at the cafeteria, which Suhee was fortunate enough to not experience because her mother often prepared lunch and snacks for her to enjoy during breaks. He made it sound so terrible Suhee actually scrunched up her face listening to him.

“Aww come on, you gotta be joking… It can’t be that bad!” Suhee laughed in disbelief, stretching her legs under the seat in front of hers. Beside her, Youngjae tutted dramatically and slapped at his knees, dissatisfied with her reaction. “It’s trueee nuna, don’t you believe me?” He whined. “My friend actually experienced it, she found a cockroach leg in her kimchi soup!”

The brown-haired girl giggled and put her hands up in defeat. “Okay Youngjae, I believe you. I’m never eating in the cafeteria even if I starve to death, happy?” At her 180-degree change, the brunette was slightly surprised with his mouth hanging open like a retard. Suhee chuckled and pulled the boy’s black beanie down, covering his eyes with it. “Babo,” she cooed and laughed harder because with the beanie over his face Youngjae looked like a gigantic mushroom.

Suhee felt really cheered up, because no guy had been as nice and talked to her as easily as Youngjae did today. Yongguk, Himchan and Daehyun were exceptions of course, but they were in positions where they honestly didn’t have a choice. Granted, she was awkward and rarely interested in mainstream topics like the movies and whatnot, but Suhee clicked immediately with the younger Youngjae. Maybe it was the magic of boring bus rides. Who knows? Youngjae, on the other hand, was just glad he had someone to listen to his babbling. It’d been a while since he made a friend – since he left his old life behind, to be precise.

To be honest, the girl genuinely didn’t expect the boy to be so friendly with her – from the way he had treated her in the café, and from how he was like back in university. He really did seem like an arrogant brat, even if his appearances were completely different. The girl realized the bigger problem now was getting him to shut up, though. Not that Suhee minded – she could listen to his stories all day, because Youngjae laughed at himself while telling them and he probably had the most addictive ha-ha-ha she had ever heard.

The bus pulled to a halt slowly at their stop. They alighted, Suhee skipping a little when she stepped onto the ground. Nothing could drag her mood down today, despite the little brush with danger she had earlier. Youngjae stuck his hand in his pockets, watching her as they walked. He shook his head a little at how carefree she was, but it made his heart lighter as well.

The conversation that flowed freely earlier was left behind on the blue bus, and they were quiet once more. The sun was setting gradually, casting orange rays over the pavement as they strolled past Illa Café. Suhee and Youngjae looked at the familiar sign and to each other at the same time, grinning.

A few streets later, the pair finally arrived at the twin black gates of Suhee’s abode. It was a small but well-kept bungalow with a spacious lawn garden, a white double swing sitting peacefully on the grass. To own a property in a busy area like this would cost through the roof. It was no shocker to Youngjae though – his parents’ house was at least three times the size.

“Care to come in for a drink? You must be tired,” the girl offered with a smile, gesturing towards the house. Youngjae shook his head, declining politely. Somewhat disappointed, Suhee unlocked the gates and let herself through as Youngjae lounged outside. “Have a good night then! See you at Illa soon,” she waved at him shyly. Youngjae smiled back and nodded, waving as he watched her disappear into her house.
 

Youngjae’s walk back to his apartment was a thoughtful one, while picking up his microwavable dinner and some energy drinks from a family mart on the way because he was lazy to cook. He had rented it specifically to be close to his workplace so life would be more convenient for him.

Swinging his plastic bag around, he thought about what a far cry things were now compared to back then. While he still lived in the family home, everything was so easy. Youngjae was chauffeured around, had an unending flow of cash and his popular clique of friends was just a phone call away. It seemed cool then, cutting classes to drink and party all night long. He didn’t even need to study because he was intelligent enough that mugging the night before was adequate for him to pass his exams. If that failed (not that it had so far), he could always bribe his professors.

Then he made one stupid mistake by knowing her, the girl who pretty much ruined life as he had known. Now he was blacklisted from all the good universities, had shamed his family and worst of all he can’t do anything about it.

It seemed like an adequate punishment to kick out and try to live on his own, even if he could have taken the easy way out by studying in Canada instead. He wasn’t doing too badly by himself really, but without a degree there weren’t many jobs that would take him in. So being a café boy would have to suffice for now, even if it meant almost no career advancement. Youngjae just needed to survive at the moment, and that was exactly what he was doing.

Then he smartly saved a damsel-in-distress that knew exactly who he was before this, from the people who made his university life hell in the first place. It was a brilliant move on his part, just brilliant. To top that, Youngjae was quite clear that he actually liked Suhee and wanted to be her friend. He was definitely asking for trouble.

Trouble. The boy hoped it was too distracted to come after him this time. But what if it goes after his new friend?

Suhee… Youngjae wasn’t going to let a girl be the reason for him to quit a job he had only just secured, was he? Even if this girl meant a risk of exposing the ugly undercurrents of things he’d rather forget… and possibly be the cause of things that were to come.

Youngjae took a deep breath. The brunette will keep a close watch on the situation, and if he screws up again he would probably have to jet to Canada like his parents begged him to. Who knows? Maybe that would be better for everyone.