"Okay, I might've hit his shoulder, but I didn't hit him that hard. If he's going to gang up on me, the least thing he could do is buff up. What a cry baby."

"Shut up. I had to pick you up from the police station earlier. They know you so well, they even know my name. That's bad, Jaejoong. Plus, why did you pick a fight with him in the first place? That's idiotic of you," Yunho complained, giving his friend a cold glare. "I even had to miss that dance competition, but since so many people wanted to see me, they were able to delay it to tomorrow night. Thanks a lot."

"Oh? So what I'm hearing is that you don't want me to lend you money--"

"Sorry! I was just joking! See? Haha! It's a joke, okay?" Yunho interrupted, pretending to laugh. His laugh sounded force and unwanted, but it didn't matter to Jaejoong. He already knew that Yunho was just using him. Besides, if one guy was always after for your money, you would obviously know that you're being used. 

Better than being a burden, Jaejoong thought. At that very moment, Yunho received a text message from his back-up dancer. When his eyes scanned over the message, it skimmed through it twice. He read it again thrice. At the forth time, Yunho gasped sharply, causing Jaejoong to flinch from the sudden sound. The gloomy man blinked his eyes, giving Yunho a strange expression.

"What happened?" Jaejoong asked.

"The dance. They moved it right now. I'm up in a few minutes and I still have to change! Oh shoot-- Taxi!" Yunho shouted. A white cab drove to the side, where Yunho opened it with quick movements. He hopped into the car, and gave Jaejoong an anxious look. "Well? Get on!"

"Wait, you aren't expecting me to come with you, right?" Jaejoong asked. Yunho rolled his eyes and pulled Jaejoong into the cab. 

"Mister, do you know where Kirin High School is?" Yunho asked the driver.

"Wait, our school is Seoul High School," Jaejoong pointed out. Yunho blew a raspberry and childishly rolled his eyes. 

"They moved the place, too. Come on, Jaejoong. I thought you knew these type of stuff better than I did," Yunho complained. He turned back to the taxi driver, and leaned closer. "Well? Do you know where Kirin High School is?"

"Yes. In fact, my daughter goes there. Is that where you want to go?" the man asked. Yunho nodded and thanked the taxi driver. The car began to move, and soon enough it was on the road. Yunho smile to himself and glanced at Jaejoong, who was already sleeping. He frowned, then pulled out his flashy clothes from his backpack and grinned.

With these clothes, I'm sure to get a bonus and win! Not like I need it, though, Yunho thought to himself. 

"Oh, so now you decide to come and pick me up?" Jessica snapped, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently against the platform of the train station. Yuri scowled and shivered in the cold. Although Jessica was still in her winter school uniform, Yuri was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt. The blond woman pointed her finger at the thin layers of clothing Yuri was wearing. "Is this what people in Korea where during the fall?"

"N-No!" Yuri stuttered, her teeth chattering endlessly. "I need to go to your school. I was supposed to wear this tomorrow since the competition got delayed, but they suddenly moved it today at night. If I'm correct, it's going to start in about ten minutes or so." She paused for a moment, and reached to grab Jessica's shoulder. "You are coming with me."

"What? Why? This is your competition, not mine," she pointed out.

"Come on! I don't even know where the field is, and it's your school," Yuri complained. 

"But I have to study…"

"Please? I promise you won't regret it!"

"Liar," Jessica accused. "You're always bad with keeping promises."

"That's not true!" Yuri defended. "Remember that time where… where… Okay, so you might be speaking the truth. I'm sure that there was a time where I did keep a promise, though. Anyways, just come with me for today? You ditched me this morning and I had to ask a total stranger if he saw you. Unfortunately, he didn't, so I couldn't give you your lunch."

Jessica heaved a sigh. "All I have to do is see you dance, right? Then we can go right back?"

"Right back. I promise. I heard from this girl that I had no chance against this stupid guy, so I'm probably not going to win. I just wanted to try it out. You know how much I love dancing," Yuri said. "Plus, weren't you the one to hop out of my comfort zone?"

"That's true. I did say that earlier." Jessica pulled out a coat from her backpack and gave it to Yuri. "Here, where this at least. It's cold, and you must be freezing!"

Yuri grinned. "Thanks! I knew I can count on you!"

"Of course you knew. You always count on me."

Ten minutes had passed, and Yunho found himself changing in the boy's bathroom of Kirin High School. Compared to his own high school, the bathrooms in Kirin were less clean and small. There was an unwanted odor hovering above the atmosphere, and Yunho just wanted to get out of the bathroom as quickly as he could. Once he zipped up his silver jacket, he unlocked the bathroom stall and quickly fled to the back of the school. He knew that Jaejoong was an impatient guy and he also knew that if Jaejoong had to wait for him any longer, he would be dead in less than a second.

"Hello? Jung Yunho, we're calling for you. You have ten seconds to appear in the middle of the crowd," the announcement said. Yunho widened his eyes and ran across the hall. He pressed his hand against the window and looked down. There was a huge mob of people forming an uneven circle. At the center of the circle, there was nothing except for Yunho's back-up dancers. He spotted Jaejoong looking irritated, and he was standing next to the announcer.

Shoot! Jaejoong, tell him to stall some time! Yunho thought, running down the stairs of the building. On his way, he occasionally glanced out the windows available for him to view on. When he was on the second floor, he stopped for a brief moment. His sneakers squeaked loudly, echoing the screechy noise throughout the walls of the hallways. His eyes followed a panting woman, who was wearing a thin, white shirt with a pair of nice blue jeans. It only took seconds for him to realize that she was the new student, Yuri.

"Why did she show up?" Yunho mumbled. His eyes snapped back to Jaejoong, who was staring up at the window with irritation marked on his face. Yunho slightly jumped back, and ran down to the first floor. "Oh yeah! Jaejoong was waiting for me!"

Right when he took a sharp turn around the corner of the hallways, he accidentally collided with a fragile figure. He managed to gain his balance through a few smooth back steps, but the other person fell from the forceful impact. Yunho gasped, and stared to see the blond woman in pain.

"Oh shoot! Are you okay?" Yunho asked, reaching out for his hand. "You don't seem to be from Seoul High School. Do you go to Kirin?"

"Are you Jung Yunho?" the female asked, ignoring Yunho's question. Yunho slightly, scowled, but nodded his head. The woman gave him a look of annoyance on his face. "Finally! I've been looking all over for you! Since you're so slow at changing, I had my friend Yuri take over your spot temporarily."

"And you are…?" 

"Jessica. Jung Jessica. Sheesh, you literary take forever changing. What are you, a girl?" Jessica mocked. 

Yunho scrunched his nose. "Well, you have such a kind personality right there."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Are you lost? If you are, follow me. I'll show you the way out."

Jessica extended her hand. Yunho was about to take it, but realized that there was a thin branch in her hand. He looked at her with confusion written all over his face. Jessica only rolled his eyes, and pointed the stick at him.

"Well?" she started.

"Am I supposed to grab at the end of the stick or your hand?" Yunho asked, cautiously reaching his hand for the stick.

"Yeah, grab the 'stick.' It's an olive branch, for crying out loud," Jessica snapped. The two suddenly heard loud footsteps running towards their direction. From another corner, Jaejoong came out with his hair flying all over the place. He panted heavily and turned his head, where he found his friend grabbing onto the familiar olive branch he saw this morning. His eyes wandered above, where he met the most familiar and kindest pair of brown eyes. He noticed that the atmosphere had changed when he came, but in a positive (or negative?) feeling.

Ba-thump.

Jaejoong shook his head and ignored the heat that filled his cheeks. "Yunho! What the heck happened? I thought you ditched me!"

"When do I ever ditch a dance competition?" Yunho asked, frowning. "Plus, what are you doing here?"

"Finding you, duh. They called your name five times, and a girl is killing the crowd! Don't you hear the screams?" Jaejoong exclaimed. The three of them all kept quiet. Gradually, a faint sound of girls cheering and guys whistling were heard. Yunho widened his eyes, shocked to hear someone actually gaining so much cheers before his stage. Yunho dropped the other end of the olive branch and ran up to Jaejoong.

"Thanks, Jaejoong! I'll owe you later! Right now, I got to go," Yunho said quickly, running out of the school.

Right when Yunho left, there was silence. Jaejoong only stared at Jessica, who looked away and tucked her branch in her book. Although her movements were quick, Jaejoong was able to realize that the pages in her book were empty. There wasn't a single drop of ink on the book. They were only a few feet apart, but Jaejoong could sense the woman tense up. He noticed how her back cringed as if she feared him, and realized that she was avoiding eye-contact with him.

Did I do something wrong? Jaejoong wondered.

"Well, we better go. Your friend might need your support," Jessica said, barely audible. To make it less awkward for her, she opened her book and walked right pass him, gently brushing her shoulder against his arm. Jaejoong's strong gaze only followed her light steps, and he had to turn his head slightly in order to get a better view of the empty book she was "reading." Why on earth would she be carrying a book and pretend to read it?

Don't ask, he told himself. It's a waste of time.

Though his curiosity overcame his mind. He turned his body around to face her back, and shoved his large hands in his pockets. He shifted his weight to one side, and didn't waste a second for his words to slip out of his lips.

"Hey Blonde! What're you reading?"

The woman stopped. Her wavy hair stopped bouncing side by side, and stopped its track like a lost train. Her eyes, which were tired and glistering from yawning too much, turned dead cold. Her expression hardened, and her teeth gritted themselves against each other. She turned her head slightly to her right and raised her eyes just above her shoulders to have a good look at the man.

"'Blonde?' Excuse me, but who are you to be calling me 'blonde?'"