"Well, that was boring." Sungjong flung a few papers in Kyungmi's direction.

"It's too easy," Kyungmi agreed. She had printed out several worksheets from math websites for them to work on when she visited. Unfortunately, they turned out to be too easy, and they were done in only ten minutes or so.

Sungjong sighed. "I'm bored. I wish my stupid leg would heal so I could go to school already!"

"Don't push yourself," Kyungmi warned him, poking his cheek (trying to avoid any bruises). "Your mother told me you nearly fell down the stairs yesterday."

Sungjong's cheeks turned pink. "I just wanted a snack!"

There was a comfortable silence as Sungjong glared huffily at the ceiling. Kyungmi doodled on the back of the papers.

"Do you know what you could do for me, actually?" Sungjong suddenly asked, sitting up. Kyungmi felt proud of him. He barely winced this time.

"What do you want, Sungjonggie?"

"I really -- and I mean really -- want pocky right now."

Kyungmi tried to hold back a laugh and failed. "I thought you don't like sweet stuff."

"I'm having a craving!" Sungjong said defensively.

"Are you pregnant or something?"

"Kyungminnie, I have been bedridden for more than two weeks. I'm dying of boredom. Sometimes, a guy needs a little treat. Look at me, all bruised and battered and bored! Don't you want to help your best friend? Pleeeease?" He gazed at her with big, puppy dog eyes.

Kyungmi sighed, although she was going to get him the pocky anyway. "I'll get some at the convenience store, it's not that far away. Maybe a ten minute walk?"

"I'll be here." Sungjong had grabbed a theory textbook and was poring over it.

Kyungmi breathed in the fresh air as she stepped outside. She was the kind of girl who'd rather stay in a library or in her room than go outside, but it was nice to walk around every now and then. Usually she decided the best time to go for a walk (or to visit Sungjong) was when Halmeoni was being weird again. Not that she wasn't every second of the day, but still.

Kyungmi went to the convenience store and grabbed the first box of pocky she saw. The person behind the cashier was heavily pierced and looked very intimidating. Kyungmi instantly lost her nerve.

"H-h-h-hello," she stammered.

"That'll be two fifty-three," the person said in monotone.

Kyungmi handed him the money and quickly hightailed it out of the store, nearly tripping over a homeless man sitting near the entrance.

"S-sorry!"

She was just about to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find the homeless guy.

"The war is coming," he said in dramatic, hushed tones. Kyungmi reeled at the scent of booze on his breath.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"THE WAR!" He howled, making Kyungmi reel back in fright. "THE WAR, KID, THE WAR! ARE YOU PREPARED?"

"N-NO SIR!" She shrieked back on reflex.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE PREPARED, KID!" He roared, pointing a finger at her so violently she thought she was going to fall backwards. "YOU HAVE TO GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME! GATHER YOUR ARMY! PICK UP YOUR WEAPONS AND FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN, SIR!" Kyungmi screamed back at him, beginning to panic.

"THE DEMONS ARE COMING! THE DEMONS OF HELL, BRINGING ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE! ARE YOU READY TO FACE YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE, KID?"

Kyungmi decided to run away at that point. Unfortunately, the crazy homeless man was coming after her.

"UGWAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Kyungmi wailed as she tore down the street, the insane hobo stumbling along after her. He was surprisingly fast.

"KID, DON'T RUN AWAY! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE DESTINY! YOU MUST BE TRAINED FOR WAR!"

"I AM UNABLE TO GO TO WAR!!!" Kyungmi yelled behind her shoulder, hyperventilating. "I'M ONLY SEVENTEEN!"

She raced down the street and turned a corner -- only to nearly run into someone else who was running at top speed as well.

The two of them collided painfully and nearly fell over. Kyungmi hissed in pain as she rubbed her forehead.

Finally, she looked at the boy to apologize ... and realized who it was. Her eyes widened.

"S-Sungyeol?"

Sungyeol froze when he saw her. She immediately saw him clam up and go all quiet and bashful, like he always did around her. She liked him for not being so crazy like L's other friends (notably Dongwoo and Woohyun), but she also felt a little jealous whenever she saw Sungyeol joking and laughing loudly and pushing L and the guys when she wasn't around. She wasn't THAT scary, was she?

"LEE SUNGYEOL!"

Sungyeol whipped his head around the corner. Kyungmi saw a middle-aged woman running after them, looking extremely pissed.

"!" 

"KID, COME BACK HERE AND EMBRACE THE REVOLUTION!"

Kyungmi turned around to see the hobo moving like a cheetah towards her.

"!"

Sungyeol grabbed her hand. "C'mon! This way!"

The two of them raced down the street and turned several corners in a snakelike way. Kyungmi felt a stitch in her side and her breath catch painfully in , but she couldn't stop now.

Finally, after they made it to an alleyway on a completely different street, Sungyeol let go of her hand. The two of them collapsed against the side of the buildings, breathing heavily.

There was a long silence as they got their breath back and their heartbeats slowly pumped back to normal. Then they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"I-I can't believe -- that just -- happened!" Sungyeol gasped, clutching his sides.

Kyungmi wiped a tear from her eye, giggling like crazy. "T-that was so weird!"

The chuckles finally died down as they mulled over the absurdity of their situation.

"So, who was that lady?" Kyungmi asked him. "That you were running away from?"

"Oh, she's ... uh ..." Sungyeol's cheeks turned pink. "She's my Nanna. She's sort of my ... caretaker. She's really strict and overprotective."

"A Nanna?" Kyungmi said, curious. "Are you rich or something?"

Sungyeol looked even more embarrassed. "I ... er ... I try not to boast about it. It's bad enough my friends have to know I'm such spoiled rich kid, I don't want the whole school to find out."

Kyungmi nodded. "I understand. Are you one of those classic misunderstood rich kids whose parents always try to force them to do something they don't want to do like in the dramas?"

Sungyeol groaned, now looking like he wanted to crawl into a hole. "Please don't say it like that. It's true, I guess." He stared down at his shoes and kicked at the concrete sidewalk. "My parents want me to get into business when I'm older. Maybe take over the company. I just want to be a journalist or a reporter and travel the world and find bad things and spread them around to help save lives or ... or something. I love to write, but they ... they don't listen." He seemed to realize he said too much, because he quickly looked away.

Kyungmi nodded again, then shook her head. "I was going to say I understand, but I think it would be an insult to you because I actually don't. My Halmeoni doesn't care about those things, so I feel bad pretending to be sympathetic and understanding when I'm actually not."

Sungyeol laughed weakly. "That's nice of you. I think. Who was that guy you were running from then?"

"Oh, he was, uh ... some crazy hobo I met down the street."

This got Sungyeol to start laughing again, and Kyungmi couldn't help but join in.

"Well, I better go find Nanna again ... she'll hate me for running away from my violin lessons ..." Sungyeol looked a bit nervous, then shy, then gave her a small smile. "See you at school?"

"Yeah, uh -- o-okay! Bye, then." Kyungmi waved at him as he walked away. She turned around to go back to Sungjong's house, then frowned.

"I think I'm lost."

The people passing by ignored her.

*♦*

Well this was a random chapter. Why, you ask?

I know the main romance is L and Kyungmi. But another big part of the story is Kyungmi making friends outside of Sungjong and L, and either growing out of her social awkwardness, or having L's friends (who are all pretty different as it is) accept her for how she is.

And honestly, since Kyungmi is closest to L and Sunggyu, she'll most likely only talk to them when they're at school. She needs to have some separate time away from the love interests to develop her relationship outside of the group, with the other people. I dunno, that's just what I guessed when I wrote this out. I have the entire storyline planned out, so ...

So, sorry for a chapter with no L-Kyungmi cute moments. I promise the next chapter will be full of cutesy moments!