It was Monday. Which meant school. Which meant she’d have to face Ahbin. Ahbin whom she hadn’t spoken to since Saturday. That Yixing would be absent from school Monday and Tuesday due to a competition out of town troubled Eunbi, yet at the same time she thought it might be a good thing as it gave her time to talk to Ahbin without him around. But that didn’t mean it was any easier, for her nervous heart was racing whilst she entered the school building that morning. At least no one was bothering her anymore. Well. The psychical bullying was the only thing that’d changed completely. The verbal had lessened, though there were still a few words thrown in her direction once in awhile. She’d come to ignore most of them though, since she knew they were mostly the result of jealousy. Then again, she was pretty sure everything would escalate in a few days, once everyone got to know about her relationship with Yixing.

“Eunbi.” she spun around to face the owner of the voice, thereby coming face to face with her homeroom teacher, who made her way over. It was nothing unusual about the situation and Eunbi paid no further attention to the fact that the older woman wanted to speak with her. Well. That was until she heard how the principal was waiting for her in his office. Eunbi couldn’t understand why she was supposed to meet with him. It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong. At least not that she could recall.

“Head straight to class after you’ve met with him.” the woman stated with a strict, firm tone before disappearing down the hallway towards the classroom, thus leaving Eunbi standing there, confused and a bit hesitant. The principal’s office was no place you wanted to be, and it made no sense to Eunbi why she would be sent there. Believing that it had to be some kind of mistake, Eunbi made her way over. She was so caught up with those thoughts, how she had done nothing wrong and that she was innocent, to even consider the fact that something could be amiss.

The secretary sat at her desk, typing away at her computer, when Eunbi advanced through the door and explained how she had an appointment with the principal. The woman nodded once, glanced down at a calendar, and then looked up to meet eyes with Eunbi.

“You can go in.”

And she did. Eunbi pushed open the door and stepped inside the well lit room. It wasn’t her first time in there. But that didn’t keep her from finding something new to look at, something new to be fascinated by. It was slightly harder this time though, to focus on anything else but the thoughts running through her mind, as she wanted to know the reason to why she was there. Eunbi gave him a quick bow and then took a seat in the armchair standing in front of the desk.

“Good to see you.” she remained silent. Waiting. Somewhat hoping that he’d cut to the chase right away so she wouldn’t have to feel so burdened anymore. He didn’t of course. He started rambling about grades, about mid-terms and graduations. He went on and on about how important education was, how high school was a necessity to succeed in life. Eunbi listened to all of this and nodded when she thought it fit. That any of it could have a connection to her didn’t even cross her mind. She couldn’t even come up with a good enough cause for her to be there.

“Don’t you agree?” Eunbi nodded, if not slightly confused, before she averted her gaze and settled it on the wall behind the old man. She wasn’t entirely sure as to why he was mentioning all that. More so because she found her grades rather okay, she’d done good on her mid-term and she took school seriously. If there was anyone who should be called to the principal’s office it was Luhan and Sehun. The two of them didn’t, as far as Eunbi knew, even care about their studies.

“And I guess you’re wondering why you are here?” she nodded once more and then watched as he began to flip through a file on his desk. Her blood froze a little when she saw the big bold letters on top of the first page. Letters that spelled out; investigation. This had to be some kind of joke, some really bad joke someone was playing on her for she could, for all she was worth, not understand why they’d started an investigation. She’d done nothing wrong. Not caused trouble and definitely not cheated. So why? What was so bad that they needed an investigation?

“Some information about the mid-terms have surfaced, and it’s come to my attention that a few of the students cheated.” Eunbi looked up from the papers, only to realize why she was there when she locked eyes with the principal. He thought she was one of those students that’d cheated. No. No. And No. Eunbi shook her head, so overwhelmed by the accusation that she couldn’t utter a single word. There had to be some kind of mistake, for Eunbi would never cheat. She thought it was one of the worst things one could do.

“I know it’s a grave accusation. But I assure you the school board will look into this. I’m just making one thing clear though, that drastic measures will be taken and those who are caught will be expelled.” Eunbi felt faint, felt horrified and anxious. She couldn’t believe this. And why her? Why was she suddenly included in the group of suspects? And why was this information coming just now? She found it rather weird considering the fact that nearly a month had passed since the mid-terms. Eunbi sighed. Someone must’ve been incredibly bored to come up with such a malicious rumour. To make matters, she remembered Luhan. She remembered how there’d been no incidents for quite some time. How she’d come to wonder whether he would leave her be.

“You can return to your class.” he dismissed her. To which she bowed, stood up, and then headed out of there. Her thoughts were running wild in speculation. But Eunbi became more and more certain that Luhan was behind this the more she contemplated the whole situation. He was after all the expert in making her life a living hell. This however, was taking it too far. Then again, he didn’t care about her. He didn’t care if she was expelled or not. So with all that in mind, she made her way over towards Luhan’s classroom on the first floor. There was just this one problem. He wasn’t there and she had no idea where he could be. It wasn’t like Sehun, whom she nine out of ten times would find behind the school smoking a cigarette. Luhan on the other hand didn’t smoke. At least not that she knew of. Eunbi refused to let the matter slip though, and instead of returning to class, decided to search the hallways for the older male. She was so determined to find him that all thoughts about Ahbin were temporarily forgotten, which in a sense, was kind of a relief.

Luhan was rather troublesome to find. More difficult than she’d imagined actually, because it took her fifteen minutes before she located him. He was sitting in the staircase up to the roof, headphones in, eyes closed, and head resting against the wall. The sight was quite unusual for Eunbi, who’d never seen him like that before. Still. None of that mattered for she kicked him in the shin and then watched as his eyelids flew open.

“What the .” Luhan snarled, irritated. He was upset that he’d not been left alone. Eunbi couldn’t care less though, whether he wanted to sleep or not, for she was damn furious at him.

“You. Why did you tell everyone I cheated on the mid-terms?” she demanded answers, demanded reasons as to why he was spreading rumours so disgustingly untrue she wanted to punch him. Didn’t he realize he jeopardized her whole future? Did he not understand the consequences that might follow? Fueled up by the thoughts of getting expelled, Eunbi kicked his shin again. The reaction was immediate and she tensed when he moved to stand.

“I don’t know what the you’re talking about.” Luhan readjusted his blazer, completely unfazed by the expression upon the younger girl’s face. He had no clue what she was going on about. Mid-terms. Cheating. He didn’t know anything about that.

“Yeah right.” she rolled her eyes, immediately grabbing onto his wrist when he tried to step around her. There was no way she would let him escape. Luhan however, felt more surprised than anything. He thought it was funny even, that she’d latched onto his hand.

“So you are into skinship now, huh? Did your little boyfriend change that?” Luhan grinned. He didn’t mind the skinship. Not at all. It was different for Eunbi, who shivered when he leaned in a little too close. The action distracted her long enough for Luhan to grasp onto her other hand, and he was instantly given the upper hand after he shoved her against the door. Eunbi had far from given up though, despite being trapped.

“You think this is fun? Can’t you see I’m about to get expelled because of you. Because of what you’ve said.” her voice grew louder and louder with every word and she was yelling by the time she finished. That’s how upset she was. School meant everything to her and to possibly have that taken away would be disastrous. Of course, Luhan wouldn’t understand that. He did probably not realize how important school was for Eunbi.

“I don’t know what the you think you’ve heard. But I haven’t said anything to anyone. And I sure as hell haven’t ratted out to some damn teacher.” Eunbi scoffed. She didn’t believe him. Not a single word coming out of his mouth convinced her. And she made that known right away.

“You think I’d believe that?” she shoved him in the chest and watched as he staggered back a step or two. It wasn’t enough and Luhan was suddenly fired up, irritation obvious as he glared at her. The intense situation was slowly getting to him in more ways than one, and he adjusted the grip he had around her wrists before moving on to push her back against the door. Eunbi reacted strongly at this, for she’d had enough of his ways and how he treated her.

“Could you stop with that. It’s getting real tiresome.” she expected laughter, expected a smirk and a snort. Eunbi was so certain he would make fun of her that she, when none of that happened, eyed him with great suspicion. That he kept quiet surprised her more than anything, because she’d truly believed he would snap. That he would make her regret her words. Instead, he stared. His gaze unreadable. Eunbi didn’t know what to believe for she felt puzzled and somewhat annoyed by his act. A feeling that only increased as she couldn’t figure out what his intentions were. Luhan liked it though. In fact, he loved the distressed expression Eunbi displayed so much that he moved about to take a hold of her chin. This specific action caused Eunbi to react in ways Luhan would’ve never guessed. He even found himself a bit stunned when she started to scream bloody murder.

“This whole staircase and the door behind you is soundproof.” she’d be disappointed if she thought anyone would come and rescue her. It wasn’t going to happen and Luhan took great advantage of that, for he decided to torture her some more once she’d quiet down.

“I don’t think you should let your boyfriend know about this little meeting. I mean, who knows what he might think.” he smiled and gave her a knowing wink. One Eunbi tried to ignore. One Eunbi tried to push away in fear of acknowledging what she deep within feared. Luhan realized pretty quick however, by the devastating look upon her face, that she understood what he meant.

“You see,” he paused and tilted her chin up so she was looking directly at him, before he ran his thumb over her bottom lip. Eunbi shuddered at this and her whole body tensed when she saw how he leaned in closer and closer. It even came to a point where she felt his breath against her lips.

“it’s so easy to destroy things.” with that, he pushed her aside, pulled open the door, and then disappeared down the hallway. Thus leaving Eunbi, who was left speechless and utterly confused, all alone. She could barely take in what’d happened and her heart was racing so fast she could feel the beats pulsate in her ears.