Somehow, Mi Young managed to get your phone number and she's been texting you ever since.

"Is Baekhyun with you?"
"Where are you? Are you with him?" 
"Remember, don't tell anyone. Or else..."

You still haven't told anyone about your encounter with Mi Young in the showers. You didn't want to take the risk. Not after what Ma Ri did to you when you first came to this school. Speaking of which, you can't stop thinking about that girl. *What was her name again? Hye..Ho..Hae Ra? Hae Ra is it?* When you think about it, she didn't really do anything to you. She just stood by Mi Young and Ma Ri and do what they tell her to do. Why is that so? Surely there must be a reason. *She looks like an innocent girl. Why is she hanging out with them?* 

Right then, a hand waved in front of your face and you snapped out of your thoughts. "Yah, you seem to be distracted lately. What's up?" D.O was walking beside you while the rest were busy doing their own stuff. It was recess and as usual, the thirteen of you sat at the gazebo to avoid the stares from other students. You sat upright and flashed a smile at him. "I was just thinking about home that's all." D.O raised his eyebrows. "Feeling home sick?" You nodded. Honestly, some part of you do feel a bit homesick. *Guess I'll make a call to Mama later.* You told yourself. D.O patted your shoulders. "Gwaenchanhnya Ryoko ah. There's tons of stuff here that'll distract you from feeling homesick. And by 'stuff' I mean people like.." He then nodded his head to the others who were busy chatting away. The both of you laughed and you playfully punched him. "You're right oppa. Say, can I ask you a question?" D.O sipped his drink and nodded. "Sure, what about?" 

*Maybe oppa can help me.* You took a deep breath before asking really softly so that the others won't be able to hear. "Can you choose the people you want to be with? Like, force them to like you or something." D.O rubbed his chin, giving it a thought. "Maybe. But that wouldn't be fair would it? You can't force love." You nodded at his response. "But what if you force that person to love you, and somehow, that person seems to love you back?" *What if Baekhyun eventually falls for Mi Young after what she did?* D.O furrowed his eyebrows and place his hands under his chin. "I'm not sure how to answer that but, I think we should except the love we think we deserve. If that person thinks he deserves that love even though he was forced to then, it's his choice I guess." 

"We except the love we think we deserve." You repeated. D.O looked at you and leaned in closer. "Why are you asking me all this? Are you having some guy problems? You know you can always talk to me without beating around the bush right?" You gawked at him. "A-ani, it's not me oppa. It's uh..a friend of mine." D.O exemined you for awhile before leaning back in his seat. "Whatever you say Ryoko. But remember, you can talk to me about it. Don't have to feel embarrassed." He winked at you. You laughed and patted his shoulders. "Arrasso Love Guru." The both of you cracked up.

Right then, your phone vibrated in your pocket. "Yeoboseyo?"

"Yah where are you? Come meet me outside the cafeteria. I need you to do something for me. I'll give you five minutes. Or else.." with that she hung up. *Five minutes?!* You shut your phone and quickly stood up. But Sehun grabbed your arm. "Where are you going? There's still ten minutes of recess left." Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at you. You gulped. *What am I going to say?* "I um..have my periods. It's an emergency." You quickly pulled your arm away and left the gazebo. *Three minutes left.* You reminded yourself. The rest at the gazebo were a little bit surprised by your actions. Especially Tao. "Periods? What is that? Some kind of extra class?" Kris rolled his eyes and hit his head. "You're really clueless aren't you?" 

"Ouch hyung! What was that for? What is periods?!" Chen leaned in and whispered something to the maknae. His eyes widened. "WHAT?! GROSS!! WHY DID YOU TELL ME THAT HYUNG?!" Tao closed his eyes and covered his ears while the rest laughed at his silliness. 

*Two minutes left. Why must the cafeteria be so damn packed?!* You quickly made your way towards the entrance of the cafeteria, pushing the other students out of the way. 

"Sorry! Coming through! Sorry!"

"Yah, watch where you're going!" "Is she crazy?!" "Who does she think she is?!" 

You ignored what the other students said and managed to reach the entrance. You looked at your watch. *One minute left. Where is she?* Right then you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned around expecting to see Mi Young but standing in front of you was Hae Ra. Now that she was standing so close to you, you can't help but notice how pretty she was. Even prettier than Mi Young who was considered the diva in the school. She had loose curls on her hair and had white milky skin. There weren't any blemishes visible on her face either. Her lips were plump too and she had rosy cheeks. 

She gave you a little bow and gestured you to follow her. "Excuse me but, where are we going?" Hae Ra glanced at you and spoke softly that you had to lean in a bit closer so that you could hear. "Mi Young unnie is waiting for you in the toilet." You blinked. *Unnie? That means Hae Ra is younger?* "I hope you don't mind me asking but, how old are you?"

"I'm 18."

"Really? Then we're friends. I'm 18 too." You said with a smile. Even though she's one of Mi Young's accomplices, something tells you that she's different. Hae Ra could just give you a small nod and a smile. The both of you turned at a corner and Hae Ra ushered you into the girl's toilet. When she pushed the door open, the smell of cigarrettes filled the air. You almost choked. Inside, you saw Mi Young and Ma Ri, both sitting on the sinks, puffing away. *I didn't know they smoke.*

Mi Young saw you and a smile crept up her face. She threw her unfinished cigarette bud in the bin and walked towards you. The smell of tobacco stuck on her uniform. "Ryoko, I'm glad you are here. I need you to do something for me." You tried your best to hold your breath and nodded. "I need you to convince Baekhyun to pair up with me for the performance for the school's anniversary. You see, I'm in the singing class with him and this is my chance to get close to him without any distractions." 

*Help you? I'm not sure if oppa himself wants to pair up with you. This is going to be tough.* You just nodded without saying anything. You didn't want to breathe in the tobacco smell. Mi Young had a wide smile on her face and she hugged you. "Thanks. Now that you're one of us, you're a lot better than I thought." *One of you guys? No way. Never.* You thought to yourself. But all you could do was smile and quickly bow to her before leaving the toilet. Once you were outside, you took a deep breath of the clean fresh air. "You might want to put some perfume on." A voice said from behind. You turned to see Hae Ra standing behind you with her hands held out to you. You looked at it and she actually had a small bottle of perfume in her hands. 

You thanked her and sprayed some of the perfume on yourself. "What did unnie asked you to do?" Hae Ra asked. She actually looked nervous. She was biting her lower lip and rubbed her arms. You looked at her. *Why does she seem so scared? And doesn't she know what Mi Young wants me to do?* "Uh..she just told me to get oppa to pair up with her for the performance that's all." Hae Ra's eyes widened. You held her shoulders. "What's wrong?" She quickly shook her head and smiled. "A-ani. It's nothing. I...have to get to class now. See you." She gave you a small bow and disappeared. You cocked your head to the side. "What is going on here?" You said. You shrugged and made your way to class for the next leson. 

It was history class but you couldn't pay attention. You were too distracted, thinking about ways on how to convince Baekhyun to pair up with Mi Young. Kai couldn't help but notice how distracted you were too. *What's that smell? Is that...the smell of cigarettes?*  Kai turned to face you and he tried to lean in a bit closer. His eyes widened. *It couldn't be. Ryoko doesn't smoke...does she?* He tried leaning in closer and sure enough, the smell of tobacco was coming from you. He took out a piece of paper and wrote something. After he was done, he passed it to you.

"Hey, you smell of tobacco. You don't smoke do you?"
 

Surprised by his question, you tried to take a whiff of your uniform. The smell was still there even though you sprayed some perform on yourself. You quickly wrote a reply.

"I don't smoke oppa."
"Then how come your uniform stinks?" 
"There were some girls in the toilet earlier and they were smoking. The smell must have stuck to my uniform."

*Let's hope he buys it.* You thought to yourself. Sure enough, Kai bought it.

"Well, you better spray some perfume before any teachers catch you."

You folded the paper and nodded at him. He shook his head and continued to pay attention in class. You heaved a sigh or relief. A few minutes later, the final bell rings and everyone started to pack their stuff. Since you didn't have any CCA today, you could finally attend your Korean classes. 

Sorry for the short update! I really wanted to focus on Hae Ra but I didn't know how so I tried my best.
I'm having my exams again soon so I'll be updating a bit slower.