Throwing the bag in the locker and slamming it shut was the first thing I did once I arrived at school. The few students busying the corridor were a mere blur to me and I almost bumped into one of them; there was something squeezing my heart and putting pressure on my chest, making it difficult to breath regularly. I almost tripped on my own shoes if it wasn’t for two arms that caught me at the right time.

“Yuri, are you okay?” the voice belonged to none other than Kai who was staring at me with obvious concern. When I choke on my breath, he knew he had to take me away, and so he did, pulling me gently to a far corner where nobody could hear us or see us.

“What’s wrong?” his voice was a mere whisper as his thumb grazed the skin of my left cheek, and that’s when I looked down and started crying, trying hard to not sob and drag attention. Kai seemed to freak out and no matter how many time he asked, I couldn’t find the power nor the courage to tell him that I might had killed someone this morning.

Like on queue, Namji appeared a moment later, looking oblivious with her headphones on, bobbing her head up and down while enjoying what she listened to, until she noticed what was going on and shook my shoulders. I supposed the tanned male told her to accompany me to the girls’ restroom where she rubbed my back gently while I splashed my face with cold water and continuously rubbed my hands together, trying to get rid of the hideous odor of blood that only I could smell.

“What happened?” she asked once I was done drying my hands and face. I looked away from her prying eyes and instead met mine in the reflection of the mirror, glassy and red and blinking every three seconds. I ignored her question, ignored the anxiety on her face, and ignored the steady hand she kept on my back.

Once I set foot out of the restroom, Sehun appeared with a face as troubled as the others’, gaze flickering over the mess I was, but he didn’t shower me with questions and instead dragged me away from the questioning eyes, turning slightly to his friend who stood bewildered in his spot

“Cover for me, Kai”

“O-Okay, I got you mate” the other guy’s voice echoed in the hall as we left the building and headed to the backyard where some trees were scattered here and there and were nearly covering the wall separating the school ground and the streets.

“Go ahead and climb the tree” Sehun said and ushered to the closest one to the wall. I looked at him like he grew a third eye and two more arms. “Hurry up! We’re gonna get caught” he pushed me toward the tree and I started struggling.

“I don’t climb trees!”

“What?  What do you mean you don’t climb trees?”

“I’m afraid of heights in case you forgot, you bloody idiot! And I’m n ot a monkay as well”

He huffed exasperatedly before showed me where to put my foot and hand every time and actually pushed me by the bum.

“Hey! Are you freaking insane?” I nearly shouted and he rolled his eyes “Do that again and I’ll shove my fist down your throat”

“Why don’t you just stop talking and actually move your cute little up?!”

“I’m trying!”

“You’re doing it like a snail! We’ll be here all day at this rate”

“Hold on tight to the branch—No! The other one, now, there’s a small gap between the bricks in the wall, put your right foot there and swing your left leg over the edge” I did as he said, “Brilliant! Stay there, I’ll be right up”

I looked at him in bemusement as he swiftly climbed the tree like a monkey, making it look a lot more easier than it actually is, then he joined me on the wall, before he jumped down to the other side.

“Get down” he said when he looked up, expecting me to do like he did. Realizing that I looked dumb as I stared at him with an open mouth, I sealed my lips and swallowed my own saliva.

“Come on, you can’t be possibly afraid of this height!” he exclaimed incredulously, “Just jump, I’ll catch you” and with that, I let myself fall into his arms, ones that tensed around my waist as he stumbled few steps back, his frame hitting a red truck behind. My hands held to his biceps, and for the first time, I realized that Sehun was rather strong, even if he wasn’t a figure of rippling muscles.

“See, that wasn’t so bad” he smiled as he set me on my feet and then caught my hand, dragging me away from Seoul High.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere …” he mumbled enigmatically as we headed to a mechanic garage where dozens of bikes were at. Sehun probably was quite familiar with the place since he waltzed with practiced ease while pulling me behind.

A mob of jet black hair came first into view when we walked inside. Once Sehun cleared his throat, a young man stood up and flashed a bright smile at his male friend who mirrored his gesture and welcomed him in a brotherly hug.

“Great to see you Zitao”

“Great to see you too, Set”

“Don’t call me that” Sehun glowered but the man named Zitao only laughed. “So now you show up, after all this time, with your girlfriend, and—” before any of us could correct his assumptions, he stopped talking himself and stared at me for quiet a while “I know you from somewhere …” he rubbed his chin in thought, “You … you’re the girl who dropped her bookcase in the streets, the one I gave a ride to that day”

I narrowed my eyes. I could barely remember his face that day because I was pretty damn late “it’s been almost a month, how can you remember?”

“I always remember the pretty ones” sehun’s eyes zeroed at him before the guy with more-than-slanted eyes wiggled his brows and laughed it off.

The two males walked away to talk while I marched between bikes, observing details that suddenly seemed really important and interesting to me than the whole world; honestly, I needed anything that could distract me.

After few minutes, Sehun came back with clothing in his hand and he wore a stylish leather jacket. His necktie had gone somewhere and the first two buttons to his shirt were undone, giving the perfect view of his defined collarbones.

“Would you like to change that skirt? It’s remotely cold and it might rain” he offered and I nodded, accepting the clothes he provided and hiding in a dark corner where I could slip on the pants and take down the skirt then shrug on a leather jacket; it looked expensive, with an European cut.

Once I came into sight, Sehun was standing by a yellow and black bike and holding too helmets.

“Are we riding this?” I asked absentmindedly as I praised his looks; damn, the boy was looking like a bad boy from the wrong side of the town. He nodded and reached his hand, hurriedly undoing my necktie and taking off the single object that was holding my locks together. He put them into his pocket before offering me a helmet.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

It was thrilling.

The feeling of wind wrapping around me and playing with my hair while I held on tightly to Sehun’s torso, linking my arms in front of him, hearing his chuckle rumbling through his back when I let a ecstatic squeal. It was exhilarating.

We kept riding fast, approaching Seoul’s suburbs but never leaving the actual city, just getting away from the noise and the crowd. The pace decreased when the bike took a turn to the left then up, driving on a slightly slanted narrow way that had trees and bushes on either sides. The unpaved road made it somehow difficult for the bike to drive smoothly, but it all didn’t matter anymore when I became more aware of my surroundings.

As we were in mid spring, the weather was still relatively cold, but it didn’t prevent the nature from blooming in the most beautiful way. Different types of plants were blossoming randomly everywhere, making the whole area look like a surreal symphony of vivid patterns that flourished rather charmingly under the shy streaks of sunlight. Giving that we were standing on one of the highest hills, I was able to see few buildings from the distance, towering majestically like huge and thick needles sticking out of the ground. Being almost outside of the city and observing it from afar made me comprehend how much intimidating it is, a realization that I grasped once I was away from the hullabaloo.

“So why you brought me here?” I asked and wrapped my hands around the fence that prevented us from falling, waiting for an answer that was reluctant to come.

“Well, I thought that you might need some alone time, away from the probing eyes and question, and probably away from trouble”

“Oh” I voiced out quietly, the word ‘trouble’ abruptly jerking me back from haven to terrible reality “I’m indeed in serious trouble” my confirmation came out trembling as I could feel the tears burning the corners of my eyes.

“Look, you have two options; either you set your mind off whatever happened and we spend the day wherever you want, or, you tell me about what’s disturbing you and get it off your chest” he arched a brow as he waited for my response. As much as the first offer was tempting and as much as the word ‘we’ agitated my heart, I had to come out clean.

“I hit Minah,” I started “like, I hit her pretty bad” he frowned hard and looked at me like I was ridiculous and silly. “What? That’s it? You’re upset because you—”

“—no, that’s not it!” I started to panic, “I punched her and hit her so hard that the girl stopped moving and, and…” my breathing went harsh and shallow “and she stopped b-breathing and there was blood everywhere…” shock registered on his now paler face “She looked lifeless, Sehun! What do I do now? What if I really killed her?”

The worst thing was that Sehun might think that I was a freak, but my assumption vanished when he pulled me against him and wrapped both arms securely around me, his action causing my stomach to do summersaults.

“I’m sure she just fainted” he tightened his embrace “You didn’t kill her, I’m sure, don’t worry, you’ll be okay, everything will be okay” he said in a rushed whisper, and after he pulled away, he crushed his lips on mine in a hungry but short kiss that left my mind fizzing for few seconds. As silly and cheesy as it sounded, his kiss gave me a sense of protection, as short as it was, and a feeling of yearning.

Knowing that I was furiously blushing, I growled at him “Why is it that you always kiss me when I’m in my most vulnerable state?”

Despite the redness in his ears, he chuckled “You don’t seem to mind at all”

“Jerk!” I yelled in absolute embarrassment as I launched myself at him and started throwing powerless punches at lightening speed, and he just laughed as he run away from me, while I chased after him.

“What if you just faint right now?”

“For the umpteenth time, nothing will happen to me, I’m perfectly fine, but if I eat, I might just throw up, maybe I’ll do it on your shoes”

After we drove back, we headed to the garage, gave Zitao the Kawasaki back, and then resumed the way walking. It was half past seven and it had been exactly one hour that Sehun was still trying to make me eat something. What a sweetheart. Really.

“How about a drink?” he was really desperate into making me stomach something down.

“Okay, fine” I