I.

Yuri is walking home from dance practice all by herself. With her bag hanging on one shoulder, you can see the burden and fatigue in her eyes and on her body. She is just one step away from collapsing. And that doesn’t even include the stress that she is under. Yuri now has to form her own crew and sign that very small crew up for the Dance Contest. Upon arriving home, she quickly heads to her room without greeting her aunt who has been watching over her since she was a kid. Yuri locks herself in her room and calls her friends up.

“Hello?” Min says on the other line.

“Hey Min, it’s me Yuri. Listen, Soo Young booted me from the group and now I have to form my own crew so that I can compete.”

“Oh. Is this what this call is about?” Min asks.

“Yeah. Listen, I was wondering if you could, you know, join me in this?” Yuri asks.

“You know what, Yuri, as much as you are my friend, I wouldn’t want to break away from the school crew.” Yuri’s heart sinks upon hearing this. She’s actually expecting her friend to say yes. “Because we’ve done so much already and I don’t want to throw that all away. Besides, getting my kicked by Soo Young is the last thing I’d want to happen to me.”

“What?” Yuri asks in disbelief. “B-but, but you’re my friend and we’re supposed to stand together.”

“I know, Yuri but you see, Soo Young has a problem with you. Not with me. Not with us. And to tell you the truth, as much as we hate Soo Young, we fear her too and we don’t want to piss her off.” Min explains.

“I can’t believe this.” Yuri can feel the tears welling up in her eyes. “You won’t even stand with your friend?”

“Sorry. We just…can’t.” Min hears Yuri’s sighs and cries on the other line and starts to feel pity for her.

“But why? You’re telling me that you’re afraid to take a stand against that…that…that bully?! I can’t believe you! After telling me that I should stay strong against Soo Young you’re just gonna leave me alone like this?! Just because she’s captain! What about my dreams?” Min starts to feel even worse for Yuri when she mentions “her dreams”.

“Woah. Hold on. Your dreams? What about our dreams?”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. Our dreams. You see, that’s the problem with you, Yuri. You only think about yourself.”

“Min? What are you talking about?”

“You said it yourself. What about my dreams? So that means you only want us to join you because you want to fullfil your dreams of becoming a dancer. You’re after the glory!”

“Like Soo Young isn’t!!” Yuri says in defense.

“Look, you are seriously wasting my time and this conversation is a pathetic one. Very lame attempt at trying to get other people to side with you.”

“But I’m-”

“If you want that competition so much. If you want all the glory and all the fame, you underdog, go out there and prove them wrong! Show ‘em who’s boss!”

“Min!”

“I’m hanging up. Bye, Yuri. Thanks for wasting 10 minutes of my dinner time!” Min hangs up. Yuri lets out a deep, sad sigh and drops the phone on her bed. Yuri lays down and cries her heart out, not knowing what to do. She feels so alone and unloved. Even her own friends are rejecting her. Yuri inches up and buries herself in the sheets, crying.

“Why is it that people hate me so much? What have I done wrong?” Yuri sobs. “I’m always being rejected, being fooled, being stepped on! When will I ever be appreciated?” Yuri cries herself to sleep.

[THE NEXT DAY]

Yuri wakes up at 8:30 am and lazily gets up for school. She knows she’s running late but she doesn’t care.

What’s the use of going to school? It’s not like I’m welcome anymore. Yuri gets up and goes down to their dining room to get something to eat. She sees that her aunt has already left for work as she is the only one at home. Yuri rolls her eyes and pours herself a glass of orange juice. She sits in the living room and turns the TV on to the morning news. Yuri tries to forget about the dancing competition as there is no way that she can achieve her dreams.

I know they say that you have learn how to stand on your own but I didn’t know that being on your own was this hard. Yuri finds it hard to focus on the news and flips channels, only to turn the TV off a few minutes later. She goes to the kitchen to eat some ice cream at 9:00 am. Yuri has never felt this depressed.

Great. I have a dream. I have talent. Thing is, I don’t know how to make it happen. No matter what I do, I still can’t figure out a plan on how to perform. I don’t want to perform on my own but then no one wants to be part of my ‘crew’. Yuri is halfway near the tub and realizes that, puts the lid back on and puts it back in the freezer. Now she’s bored and depressed to death. Because of this, Yuri finds herself dozing off once more on the sofa.

[THAT AFTERNOON]

Yuri wakes up at around 2:30 pm and decides to go out for a short walk. She puts on a simple white shirt and slips into her jogging pants and rubber shoes. While walking down the street, she starts to hear faint hip hop music coming from a street on her left. Yuri turns her head to that direction and sees 5 girls and 2 boys dancing hip hop. She smiles and remembers the competition, which saddens her. Yuri feels jealous of them because they will compete and she won’t. Now that she’s not part of her school’s dance team, she decides that it’s just right and fair and not wrong to approach the dancers. Yuri crosses the street and upon reaching the street where the group is dancing, she leans on the brick wall and watches them. They are really good. The power and passion that they put into their dance really shows in their presentation. Yuri admires them.

“You guys are good!” she cheers. The leader, Hyomin, sees her and eyes her from head to toe.

“Who are you and where are you from?” asks Hyomin, giving Yuri attitude. Attitude is something Yuri never fails to bring despite being a down to earth and all-around good girl. When it comes to bringing attitude, Yuri serves it up.

“Kwon Yuri. I’m from Seoul Performing Arts School. You?”

“Hyomin. Seoul Talent Academy. Say, you’re from SPAS?”

“Uhh. Yeah.”

“Hahaha.” Hyomin laughs. “You’re from Park Gahee’s old school.”

“You know Park Gahee?” Yuri asks with amazement. “Small world!”

“Sure. Park Gahee is our mentor.”

“Gahee was our mentor. Where is Gahee?”

“Gahee’s in charge of the choreography. She’s the captain. Her number is different from ours. We’re only practing ours.” Hyomin explains. “But she choreographed this.”

“I see.” Yuri nods her head. She remembers the traumatic encounter she had with Gahee last year when she was a new student. “Gahee moved to your school. Why?”

“I think she had some troubles with your school. The dance students, namely.” Yuri can’t help but smile and giggle slightly.

“I think I’m the problem she was referring to.”

“Part of. But the problem mainly was with her friends.” Hyomin raises her eyebrow. “But no need to know that. I want you to meet my friends. Eunjung, Sulli, Luna, Hara, Jaejoong, Micky. You guys, this is Yuri.”

“Hey!” Yuri waves at them. The others stare her down and give her mean looks. Yuri starts to feel uncomfortable around them but bears with it. At least she’s not being rejected.

“Say, you’re not here to spy on us, are you? Like, were you sent by your friends to spy on us and leak some dance steps? Relate information to them?” Yuri is taken aback by this suspicion.

“What the heck? No! My friends ditched me! The dance captain kicked me out of the team! In short, I’m a dancer but I’m not dancing for my school! I’m just here because I don’t have anyone to talk to and it just so happens that you guys are into dancing so if I may, I’d like to dance with you.” Hyomin and the others laugh and mock her.

“You? Dance with us? Get real!” Micky sneers at her. Yuri’s brows furrow. She is being embarrassed once again.
“I may not know your dance leader but I think I have to agree with her. She has a reason for kicking you out and that’s because you can’t dance.” Eunjung jokes.

“Shut up!” Yuri snaps back, humiliated. “Showdown!” Hyomin’s jaw drops and she crosses her arms in front of her chest.

“Bring it, !” she yelps.

[music: “Ppang” by JJ]

Yuri is always game when it comes to dancing. If Yubin can freestyle rap, Yuri can freestyle dance. As soon as the music comes, Yuri moves gracefully and shows off her hip-hop skills. From popping to locking to gyrating, Yuri knows them all. The guys and girls are blown away, thus making them frown. Hyomin is not taking her and jumps in front of Yuri, showing off her hip hop skills. The song reaches the bridge and the two girls get it on, pulling each others’ hair at first, pushing each other at first.

“You are such a ! I don’t know you but if you’re gonna give me attitude, you’re gonna wish you didn’t come at all!” Hyomin grits.

“Attitude? You got attitude? You’re hella weak! Bring it!” they continue to dance but after challenging Hyomin, telling her to bring it, Hyomin attacks Yuri, hitting her head and making her fall to the floor. Yuri finds herself caught up in another catfight. Hyomin and Yuri pull each others’ hair. Hyomin tries to win over Yuri but Yuri clenches her fist and sends it to Hyomin’s nose. Eunjung and the others attack her, beat her up. Hara picks her up by the hair and slams her face down the pavement. Micky and Jaejoong kick her sides.

“THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR TRYING TO BREAK MY JAW, ! WHERE’S YOUR ATTITUDE NOW, HUH?!” Hyomin yells. The others continue to beat her up until she’s all bruised. They then mock her and Yuri lies on the pavement bruised and crying.

“HEY! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF THAT GIRL, YOU S!” comes a voice from afar…

Yuri could only hope for rescue.

II.

Bom wakes up all spinny and dizzy, kind of like the feeling of being drunk. She looks around and finds herself all alone at home. Her mother has gone off to work and her father, well, he no longer lives with them. Bom sits up and feels a sick feeling in the pits of her stomach. The sick feeling crawls its way up to her esophagus and when she feels it in , she removes the sheets from her body and runs to the bathroom, gets on the floor and throws up in the toilet. Bom vomits gallons of food and whatnot and as soon as she has nothing left to vomit, she hazily sits on the floor with one arm on the toilet lid. She gets up and flushes the vomit. Now she feels hungry. Extremely hungry. Bom rushes down to the kitchen and gets the chocolate bars, the cookies, the chips and eats them all uncontrollably at the same time. She pauses for a while to take a look at the time and sees that it is only 7 in the morning.

“CRAP!” Bom yells. “SCHOOL STARTS IN AN HOUR!” Bom puts the food down and runs back up to get ready. Then she realizes that she has just eaten a lot of food and like she did earlier, she kneels on the floor and induces vomit. The food she ate comes out in liquid form. After that, Bom washes herself up, takes a shower, gets dressed and heads to school. Luckily, she arrives on time.

Daesung is in the classroom, studying his piece when he sees Bom hurriedly making her way to her seat. Daesung greets her with a smile but senses that something is wrong with her.

“Hey. You look kinda flushed. Are you okay? You’re sweating buckets!” Daesung notices this. Bom produces a handkerchief from her pocket and wipes the sweat off her forehead.

“Yeah. It’s uhh…kinda hot.” she complains.

“Kinda hot? I’M FREAKING FREEZING IN HERE!”

“You got some chocolate? Food? Anything?”

“Have you been purging again?” Daesung asks.

“Please!” Bom ignores his question and just begs for food. Daesung pities her and hands her the small bag of chips he has in his bag. He watches with horror as Bom devours the entire thing in less than a minute. “I’m just hungry. Been having cravings.” Daesung’s eyes widen at the sound of that word. Cravings. Oh God.

The teacher comes in and gives them free time. Time to do whatever they want to for as long as it’s related to music. Bom, of course, goes to the piano room to practice her piece for the upcoming contest. Daesung accompanies her.

“I’ve been feeling really bad, Daesung. Kind of like sick or something. I woke up this morning feeling really dizzy and I threw up bucketloads, Daesung, bucketloads!”

“Are you sure you didn’t induce that?”

“Well, I did vomit after eating a lot and that was induced but the first one, right after waking up was not induced.”

“It could be something else. You look very sick now. Take care of yourself. The competition’s in a month or so!”

“I know. I have to watch my health. I have to start eating properly.” Bom starts to play the piano and sing her number. Daesung just stands in the corner, observing her, trying to see what’s wrong with her.

“What’s wrong with you?” he just can’t help but ask her. “I mean, why this? Why now?”

“I have no idea. Maybe I ate something foul yesterday.”

“What did you eat yesterday? You barely ate yesterday! You did but you threw it up!”

“I drank actually.” she admits.

“You drank? Well no wonder! You got drunk last night that’s why you threw up!”

“No. I didn’t drink alcohol yesterday. I had hot chocolate with…” Bom is a bit hesitant to mention his name.

“With what? Rhum? Whiskey?”

“No! Shut the up!” Bom snarls. Daesung backs away and puts his hands in front of him. “I drank hot chocolate with Changmin. I invited him to my house.” she finally admits.

“Oh. My. God.” Daesung nearly drops the coffee mug in his hand. “You and-” Bom jumps up and covers his mouth with her hand.

“SHUTTHEUPPLEAASEEEE…”she grits her teeth and says this in a fast paced manner. “Nobody knows about this yet, okay. Only you. I’m letting only you know because you’re my best friend.” Daesung tries to speak but Bom’s hand is pressed on his mouth. She removes it and allows him to speak.

“What is it?”

“I think. I think…I’m pregnant.” Daesung’s jaw drops. He mouths the words ‘Oh-My-God’. Bom looks down in shame. She knows that she has done something wrong and her friend disapproves of it.
“But are you sure?” he asks with concern.

“I’m not. But I think I am. I need to tell Changmin about this.”

“Boy, I don’t think his reaction will be good.”

“Well, I don’t either.”

“It’s okay, Daesung. I won’t panic. I’m not even sure yet.” Bom says in an effort to calm herself down. She is a bag of nerves right now and if she’s pregnant, her mother will kick her out of the house and it’ll affect her health so she won’t be able to compete. And Changmin? She doubts that he will support her. Bom can see her life collapsing before her eyes. In despair, she steps away from the piano and sits on the floor, her hands on her face. Daesung sits next to her and puts an arm around his best friend.

“Are you okay? It’s not official yet, okay? Don’t sweat it.” Daesung says.

“But I think I am. And if I am, I don’t know what I’ll do.” Bom can feel tears welling up in her eyes. “Let’s go to the drugstore after this and buy the test thingy.”

Daesung feels kind of embarrassed to go with Bom and buy pregnancy test sticks but since she is his friend, he’s willing to go through whatever judgement and face humiliation for her.

“So if you’re pregnant, are you still going to compete?” asks Daesung. Bom barely moves and buries her face in her hair and arms.

III.

The Acting Department is busy rehearsing for the upcoming play they’ll be presenting at the Aristrocrat Party. Nichkhun, as usual, is playing the lead role and Chansung and Jo Kwon could only glare at him with eyes wishing for his death.

“Look at Mr. Perfect over there!” Chansung grist his teeth. “Remember the plan, Jo Kwon?”

“Yep boss.”

“Inform the others too.” Chansung says with an evil smile on his face. Jo Kwon stands up and excuses himself from the rehearsals, saying that he will just use the bathroom. Jo Kwon looks quickly at Chansung and nods. Jo Kwon makes his way to the frat house where the guns and the drugs are. Jo Kwon goes to the bathroom and loads the guns and after loading them, shoots a mirror. He shoots the three other mirrors on his right before putting it in and exiting the bathroom undetected. He then goes to Nichkhun’s locker and stuffs the guns in it. Jo Kwon tries to locate the stink bombs and finds out where Nichkhun placed them, along with the other guys. He sets the timers on to 1 minute.

What Nichkhun and the others failed to realize is that Jo Kwon and Chansung taped the label ‘PROPERTY OF NICHKHUN HORVEJKUL’ on the packages, making it appear as if Nichkhun planted all the bombs himself. The guns are also in Nichkhun’s locker but Jo Kwon has a spare one in his pocket. This is what he’s going to put in Nichkhun’s bag along with the .

Back in the Acting Department, the students are too busy reading their lines and working on the blocking for them to notice Jo Kwon come back after quite a while outside. He looks for Nichkhun’s bag and upon finding it, puts the gun in it. He sprinkles some on the floor, around Nichkhun’s bag and carelessly leaves it somewhere beside Nichkhun’s bag.

“WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!” yells the drama teacher. The entire class falls silent and they all look at him. The students start sniffing and one yelps out.

“IT’S COKE! !” says the guy.

“Yeah. It smells like drugs.”

“Looks like someone’s drugged out.”

“WHO BROUGHT TO SCHOOL!?” the teacher yells “WHO?!”

Chansung suddenly stands up and announces something to the class.

“Guys, why don’t we inspect our bags and our classmates’ bags to see if anyone here has .” The teachers and students agree with him and start looking. Nichkhun runs to his bag and is shocked when he pulls it to his side. The other students are shocked too. Nichkhun holds a bag filled with and pulls out a gun from his bag. The students and the teacher look at him with disappointed, doubtful, and angry eyes.

“I…I didn’t bring this.” he tries to explain. As if that’s not enough, several students and teachers outside are shrieking and running. They look out and the teacher tries to step out to check what’s happening but is forced back in when the foul stench enters his nose and toys with his nostrils. Victoria Song aggressively opens the door and tightly grasps a bomb in her hand.

“I FOUND THIS IN MY LOCKER! OUR TEACHER FOUND IT UNDER HER TABLE, TOO! SO MANY STUDENTS FOUND SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN THEIR LOCKERS. AND IT SAYS, PROPERTY OF NICHKHUN HORVEJKUL!” Victoria screams before the Acting Department. They may not know who she is but all eyes are surely on her. “Nichkhun how could you?! And I thought you were decent!!”

“But Victoria!”

“Shut up! I’m not talking to you anymore, you !” Victoria slams the door and walks away. Nichkhun is left feeling humiliated and afraid. He knows he didn’t do any of this but he remembers planting stinkbombs.

“Young man, please report to the Principal’s Office, now!” the teacher commands. Nichkhun walks out of the classroom with his head down. Chansung and Jo Kwon feel a great feeling of exaltation and pride at the sight of Nichkhun being reprimanded.

[IN THE OFFICE]

The teacher shows up at the Principal’s Office and tells the Principal about what Nichkhun has done. He relates to her about the drug found in his bag, the gun found in his bag, and the stinkbomb prank that he played on some students and teachers.

“Ha! Think that’s the only one? Your student there shot the mirrors in the boys’ bathroom.” The teacher looks at Nichkhun with eyes flaming with anger.

“I think we have to inspect your belongings.” The principal says. She stands up and leads them out of the room. “Come with me.” They go to Nichkhun’s locker and they ask him to open it. Nichkhun opens it and sure enough, the guns that Jo Kwon put are in there, shocking the Principal and the Teacher.

“Illegal possession of weapons, possession of illegal substances, wrecking havoc, and destruction of school property. 4 offenses in one day. 4 major offenses.” the Principal looks at Nichkhun. “You’re a very talented boy, Horvejkul, but you don’t have to do things like this for attention.”

“But I did-”

“Don’t lie your way out of this, son. Your bag’s bathing in and it had a gun in it. Your name’s taped on the bombs. You got guns in your locker. What does that say?”

“I really didn-”

“And now you’re conspiring?” the Principal asks, lowering her specs. “I’m sorry my son but we have no choice but to expel you.” Nichkhun’s heart sinks at this news and feels tears in his eyes. He can no longer continue his passion because of something he didn’t even do. The young Thai actor walks back to the classroom to gather his things and go home. The Principal and the teacher watch him with pity. Some part of them wants to spare him the humiliation because he really is a good actor but he did wrong and must be given due punishment. Chansung and Jo Kwon see this and smirk. Finally! They’re gonna get the recognition they deserve.

Nichkhun gets on his bike and rides home. Outside, Jay Park and the other boys are clapping their hands while throwing trash at him. Nichkhun really wants to fight back but the fear of being punished even more stops him.

Upon arriving home, Nichkhun aggresively puts his bike down and enters the house. His parents are gone and his older brother is in America. Since no one is around to criticize him and ridicule him, he lets himself cry freely.

IV.

Some students don’t know about it yet [and their hearts will break once they find out] but Onew knows it. He actually saw the whole thing happen from his radio booth, behind the thick blue curtains. He saw Jo Kwon go to the bathroom and shoot the mirrors. He saw Jo Kwon set the bombs. He saw Jo Kwon put the guns in Nichkhun’s locker. In short, Nichkhun is innocent and has been framed by his friend.

Onew may not be friends with Nichkhun. Hell, when he first saw Nichkhun he was very jealous of him and wanted him out of the school as much as the other guys did because he was getting the girls and Onew wasn’t but seeing Nichkhun’s situation now really breaks his heart, too. He never even got the chance to talk to him and get to know him better. If I’m not mistaken, Onew slandered him once on his radio show but did not mention his name, only referred to him as ‘the actor I know’.

Now that Onew’s turned a new leaf, he decides to talk to Nichkhun, just to get a better insight on him. He leaves the radio booth and since his schedule today isn’t that busy, he decides to go for a short walk and hopefully chance upon Nichkhun’s house. He doesn’t know where it is but he just wants to find out more about Mr. Horvejkul.

He reaches a small white house with a bike lying on the grass. He doesn’t know if this is it but he’s heard from me (because I heard it from Victoria) that Nichkhun lives in #81 Monrose street. The small white house. Onew is so sure that he walks up to the door and rings the doorbell. No answer. He goes for it again. No answer again. Finally, he calls out and the door opens. He sees Nichkhun with a flushed face and swollen eyes, signs that he’s been crying.

“Who are you and what do you want?” he asks.
“I’m Onew. Lee Jin Ki. I’m a writing student and a DJ. I was just wondering if you know, maybe we could get some drinks at the bar or at 7/11 or someplace?” Though Nichkhun doesn’t fully know Onew, he lets the young DJ in his house.

“Want something to drink, Jin Ki?”

“No. No thanks.”

“Well you must want something to drink. After all, you’re the one who asked if we could go to 7/11.”

“I just came to…”

“To what? To get my story and broadcast it on your radio show? Forget it! I’m not telling you anything.” NIchkhun angrily answers. He’s not angry with Onew, he’s just feeling the pain of being expelled.

“What happened to you? You used to be really cheerful and stuff. Why are you so mean now?”

“I got expelled. For something I didn’t even do.”

“Dude. I know the entire thing-”

“You don’t know the entire thing.” Nichkhun cuts him off. “I don’t know why so many people want to bring me down?! This is the only thing that makes me happy and people stop me from doing my best.”

“This is the only thing that makes you happy? Dude, you got girls all over you…”Onew is starting to feel really awkward with the location. “Look, let’s just go to the beerhouse, alright?” Nichkhun nods and with Onew, they walk to the beerhouse.

[AT THE BEERHOUSE]

“Two bottles of soju, please.” Onew orders. The soju arrives and the two continue talking.

“Why are you so unhappy? You got girls all over you. People love you so much. You have a great set of friends. Why are you sad?”

Nichkhun’s story is about to start.

“I was born in America. When I was 2 years old we moved to Thailand and back to America. We kept on moving and moving. Do you know why? Because my mom kept on changing her men. After my dad committed suicide, which I was lucky to not have witnessed, my mother became depressed and sought happiness in other men. She went from boyfriend to boyfriend from the US to Thailand she looked for men. We were so tight on money that my mom worked as a e for a short while before returning to joblessness. We went back to America and lived there for quite some time with my grandparents. They sent me and my brother to school but they couldn’t keep us because they had their own lives, too. So we had to come to Korea. Here in Korea, my mom met a new guy who she then married. But this new guy is a perfectionist. He doesn’t hurt us but he’s a perfectionist. Nothing’s ever good enough for him so we, my brother and me, are forced to work our assess off until we come up with something perfect. He discovered our penchant for acting but since he’s not that rich, he could only afford to send one child to this school. That child is me. My brother developed jealousy and began to hurt me and scold me and blame me for all his misfortunes. My mother and stepfather are always away so I don’t get to see them. My brother left for America and I don’t know when he’s coming back.” Nichkhun explains his sad story. Onew feels touched. “I don’t know what it’s like to be appreciated and loved. Because you see, girls and friends aren’t what I’m after. I’m after my happiness and I found that in acting. But then I got expelled and now…I’m nothing.”

“We’re gonna get you back on track, Nichkhun. Don’t you worry.”

“How are you going to do that?” Onew reveals a friendly grin.

“Watch me.” Onew drinks the last drop and bids Nichkhun goodbye. Nichkhun decides to stay for a few more drinks. He could use them to drown his loneliness.

Onew takes his phone out and dials my number. I am still in school working on the paper when my phone vibrates. In the library. Thank God for silent mode. I leave the book on the table and hide in the aisles of books. I answer his call.

“I’m here in the library. Make it quick I’m doing something.”

“Listen to me, Hwang, this is very important. I got to talk to Nichkhun earlier. I just got out of the beerhouse and he told me his story. I’ll tell you the details later but right now, I want you and Victoria to do something for me.”

“What is it?”

“Nichkhun did not do anything. He is innocent. Those and guns , it was done by someone else.”

“Who?”

“Jo Kwon.”
“! No lying?!”

“This is real , lady! I saw him from behind the booth curtains. He shot the mirrors, and did all kinds of crazy crap to frame Nichkhun.”

“But why? They’re friends, right?”

“Jo Kwon’s an . He’s another one of those anti-Nichkhun people. Anyways, I’ve done my spying and I know Victoria has, too. Jo Kwon and his friends have this secret hideout at the very back of the school, the most unvisited part of the school. They call it the frathouse and that’s where they and several other boys hang out. Nichkhun was part of it but he isn’t now. What I want you to do is sneak into the frat house at dismissal time and take pictures of everything and I mean everything.”

“We know about the frathouse. Ji Yeon and I have been there before.”

“Great. All we need now is the evidence. You need to go back and take pictures.”

“But what if they see us?”

“I’ll take care of that, don’t you worry. And I’ll try to drop by to help you.”

“Thanks Onew.”

“You’re welcome.” Onew gets home and sits on the sofa with a bag of chips waiting for him. While watching and eating, he thinks about the situation and what he just saw.

I wish I had caught it on tape. Or on webcam or something. Onew gets his bag and grabs his MacBook Air. He turns it on and tries to check if his camera was connected to the laptop at the time and turns out it was! His Sp-EYE-er camera was on and it happened to have recorded Jo Kwon’s activities, some of them at least. Onew watches it and reviews it. Sure enough it’s Jo Kwon he’s seeing causing havoc on his own.

My phone rings again. I answer it and as expected, it’s Onew.

“I got some of his actions on cam.” he tells me gleefully.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’mma show you tomorrow. We’re gonna make history!” I smile a wide smile as our plan is coming together.
“Good boy. Now work on something to report on.” Onew grins and agrees before hanging up.

V.

Yubin is in the auditorium again, working on her rap. This time, she has the auditorium to herself. She takes out the sheet of paper she has in her pocket and unfolds it. It is on this sheet of paper where her rap is written. While prancing on stage and occasionally sitting down, Yubin hears the door open but chooses to ignore it. She is too focused on her rap and too angry to care about whoever comes in.

It’s Bom. She’s come to the auditorium to do the same thing Raina did last year-cry her eyes out. She sees Yubin sitting in the front row and as courtesy to her, she sits in the back row and proceeds with her drama. Her sobs are muffled and soft at first but each time she recalls the incident with Changmin and all her troubles, the sobs get louder and louder and soon, she is weeping out loud. Yubin is obviously distracted and turns her way.

“Hey lady! Can you please shut up! Someone’s trying to concentrate here. If you want to cry your out, go to the bathroom!” Yubin rudely says.

“Well at least that’s your only problem! Try stepping into my shoes and let’s see if you won’t bawl your eyes out.” Bom replies not bothering to look at Yubin.

“, don’t talk . You don’t know what drama is.” she says. Bom is infuriated and stands up, walks up to Yubin to confront her.

“Try suffering from an eating disorder. Having to throw up every single food you take in. Try having with a guy and ending up pregnant. Try being sick and once you’ve tried it, come back and give me a report.” Bom confronts Yubin with swollen eyes and red cheeks.

“That is what you call the effect of your stupidity. That is what you call the price of not using your brain. Why the hell would you have with a guy when you know the consequences? Why would you throw up every single thing you put in your mouth? The reason why you’re sick is because you’re stupid. Everything that’s happening to you right now is your fault!”

“You have no idea how much I want to slap you across the face right now!” Bom says in between gritted teeth.

“Oh really?” Yubin challenges her. “Try me.”

“I’d rather not. You’re not worth my time.”

“You’re actually wasting my time right now. I don’t even know your name. Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m Park Bom Lee. I’m a new student from the voice department. You?”

“Kim Yubin. Lady rapper.”

“Oh. So you’re the one the others have been talking about. You rap well?”

“Would I get into this school if I didn’t? It’s like asking you if you sing well.” Yubin replies stubbornly.

“You just won’t lose now, won’t you?” Bom asks, annoyed. Yubin smirks at her and takes a seat.

“Siddown.” she tells Bom. Bom sits next to Yubin and they start talking.

“Do you know what my drama is, Bom? Or should I call you Bom Lee?”

“No. Bom would be fine.”

“Good. Do you even know what my drama is? I was born in Daegu to a drunkard father and a of a mother. She was a dancer and a waitress and that was how she kept us alive. My father spent all my mom’s money on drugs and alcohol so she had to leave him. We stayed in Daegu but in some other place far from where we used to live with dad. So I spent my childhood with my mother in Daegu. She still worked as a waitress and a dancer at this one bar while I was left alone at home, neglected. She never cared for me, I never really saw her as a mother. Not that she beat me up or anything but because she just didn’t have time for me. I was left alone most of the time in our very small house. One night, mom picked up a guy from the bar and brought him to our house. Eventually, she married this guy but the guy was abusive. He’d hit mom and me and at times when I was noisy, he would lock me up in the cabinet or in the storage and not let me out until I cried and cried and cried. Mom seemed to have a thing for bad guys as the guy was a heavy drinker. He drank a lot and when he’d get really drunk, he’d trash the house and my mom. I witnessed all that from behind the closet doors…”

“So you were born poor?” asks Bom, tears starting to stream from her eyes. She notices that Yubin is about to cry as well. Talking about her family brings her to tears. It is the only thing that can make her cry.

“If you could call it poor, then yeah. Thing is I lived in a small house with careless parents.”

“When did you learn how to rap?”

“I learned it when I was 10 years old. Not really rapping, more like poetry. I began to write poems with hopes of turning them into songs but since my voice is not really that good, I decided to rap instead. With years of practice and several painful experiences in life, I learned how to rap and I began joining underground battle raps, winning every single one I joined. What I didn’t know was, one of the people I rapped against had a connection with this school. He knew someone here and he said that I was good and he could get me a scholarship. All I had to do was send the Dean a video of me rapping and the Talent Board would evaluate my ability to see if I was really suited for this school. I did as told and last year, when I finally bought the camera I always wanted to buy, I videoed myself rapping an original composition as well as something from Eve and sent it to this school. After a few months, a letter came back, saying that I was eligible for admission to this school.”

“You had a rough life, Yubin.”

“And it still is. Say, are you going out today?”

“Yeah. I have to go get a pregnancy test.”

“The stick thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go to the drugstore together then we can head to my house and I’ll show you where and how I live.”

“I think we can go now.” Bom says. Yubin nods and the two get up, walk out of the auditorium together and out of the school. They first go to the local drugstore to buy a pregnancy test and then head to Yubin’s house. All the while, Bom keeps on looking at the small stick in her hand.

“That’s supposed to tell you if you’re pregnant or not?” Yubin asks.

“Yeah. Don’t you know how this works?”

“I do. But sometimes I doubt its accuracy.”

“You don’t have to. This thing is accurate.”

The two ladies who at first were insulting each other but are now friends reach Yubin’s house. Yubin’s house is a bungalow, meaning it has only one floor. There’s a beat up car, a messy front lawn, a rusting mailbox, and the house itself with the brown paint starting to come off.

“This is where you live?” Bom asks surprised.

“Yeah. Come home to this hell everyday. Well, come on in.” Bom follows Yubin as she enters her humble abode. The inside is not so bad but a bit messy. Things are everywhere and some chairs are out of place. There is a small TV on a long table.

“Who do you live with?”

“No one. I live alone. But if you come with me and promise to keep this thing secret, I won’t have to feel alone.” Yubin leads Bom to her bedroom. Her bedroom is very messy with the sheets on the floor, the lampshade broken, the pillows and blankets in disarray. Bom starts to feel uncomfortable in her house. Yubin reaches for the knob of the study desk’s drawer and pulls out 3 small bags of heroin and a syringe. Bom covers in shock.

“Oh my God. You do d-drugs?” Yubin nods her head.

“It gives me the extra kick I need for freestyling. You’ve not heard me rap yet, haven’t you?” Bom shakes her head, frozen and in a state of fright.

“Well you wouldn’t want to. I rap like a beast, especially when I’m on heroin.”

“Where’d you get that?”

“I won’t tell you. It’s a huge secret of mine.”

“How long have you been on heroin?”

“Long enough…” Yubin grins. Bom sees her around in school a lot but she has never seen her grin. And admittedly, she looks pretty when she smiles. Pretty hot, that is.

“Uhm…I don’t want to have to ask this but, do you have a bathroom here?”

“Sure. Of course! It’s on the left of this room.” Bom nods and heads to that direction. Contrary to popular belief that if the house is dirty, the bathroom is dirtier, her bathroom is pretty decent looking. Bom takes out the pregnancy test from her pocket, pees on it and the result…

VI.

“Ji Yeon! Onew’s got something new!” I tell Ji Yeon excitedly. Ji Yeon is still carrying her sketch book and coloring materials. “He knows what happened to Nichkhun.”

“But Nichkhun got expelled, right?”

“Yeah but he knows the truth. He knows what really happened!” Ji Yeon’s heart skips fast and a smile starts to form on her face. Her cheeks turn red and her eyes smile with joy.

“I knew he would change! Now you believe me?”

“Whatever. Listen, we have to get Victoria now. Victoria has to know about this.”

“Victoria hates him now.” Ji Yeon says with a disappointed look on her face, but you can still see the pink blush on her cheeks which came about from mentioning Onew’s name.

“Victoria won’t after she finds out about this.” I tell her. “We’re gonna do some spying.”

“More spying?”

“Even more spying. I brought this camera here with me because we’re gonna go back to the frat house and take pictures of the things there.”

“We’re gonna go in?” Ji Yeon asks. “But what if we get caught?”

“Onew will take care of that. He told me he would. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure we get away safely.”

“Yeah! What’ll he do?”

“I don’t know. But I’m sure he’ll think of something.” Ji Yeon nervously nods. “Now come with me, let’s go get my camera.” I rush to my locker with Ji Yeon and take out my camera.

“Wait. What about Victoria? Are we gonna tell her now?”

“No.” I say. “I want to surprise her.” Ji Yeon smiles and together we head to the frat house. We eye it and see it in all its dirtiness and evilness.
“How are we gonna get in?”

“We have to check first, Ji Yeon. Make sure that no one is inside.” Ji Yeon checks the inside of the house carefully and sees no one. She gives me the thumbs up, signaling that we can break in. We do…carefully. The door is locked but the windows aren’t so we pass through the windows. Ji Yeon and I are thin so we fit into the windows perfectly. The house is as stinky as we expected it to be. Ji Yeon and I look around and see all sorts of weapons and drugs and magazines and torture stuff, whatever! If it’s bad, you’ll find it here. Using my Canon camera, I take pictures of the things and the house itself and after taking pictures, I tell Ji Yeon to confiscate some of them. The guns, drugs, and magazines are in boxes, making it a bit hard for us to move them but before moving the evidence out of the house, we decide to study the magazines found in the room. Most of them are magazines, as I’ve mentioned but the torture and weapon magazines are what strike us the most. While flipping through the pages of the shock issues, Ji Yeon and I can’t help but cover our mouths and make gaggin sounds at the sight of bashed brains and mutilated bodies.

Just then, we feel a great presence behind us.

“JUST WHAT DO YOU GIRLS THINK YOU’RE DOING HERE?” asks the huge voice from behind. Ji Yeon and I freeze on the spot. We slowly stand up and turn to face him. Chansung and three other guys are staring at us evilly.

“What’s all this ?” I ask, trying to sound brave though my voice is shaking. Ji Yeon prefers to keep quiet and tremble.

“Why do you care about our ?! You have crossed the border! This is tresspassing!”

“Well you have crossed the border yourself. Illegal possession of weapons, drugs, and ographic materials!” Chansung hits me across the face while the other two hit Ji Yeon. They beat us up til our knees and arms are full of scabs and wounds. I feel hard punches on my stomach and kicks to my sides. Ji Yeon feels them, too. And what seems like just a scene from an action movie, they tie us up together and Jay Park and Jo Kwon hold guns to our heads. Now I am really afraid and I just want to shrink.

Where’s Onew when you need him? I think. Ji Yeon and I helplessly sit there, tied to each other, praying for some kind of miracle to happen.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YOU S!” comes a voice from outside. Jay and Jo Kwon drop their guns to check it out while Chansung holds a gun to my head, shifting it to Ji Yeon’s head from time to time. Jo Kwon and Jay Park step out to check it out and pretty soon, they are screaming and yelping in pain. Kicking the door open, like a hero in an action movie is Nichkhun Horvejkul.