A few days had passed. They were all the same: I went to school, I did my homework, and sometimes I went out with Yuri. My everyday life. Then all changed. Before I knew it, my life was turned upside down. It was Monday morning and I was walking to school. The weather was nice, so I had decided to walk. Usually, I would take the bus but I had time this morning and I enjoyed walking alone, it was the time when I could think about everything. As I arrived and was about to pass the front gate, I heard a girl scream. It came from a street just across the school. I ran to where the sound came from. Then I saw them. There were four guys, they were laughing and bullying a girl. She was surely the one I had heard scream. She was afraid, I could see it from where I was. Tears were running down her cheeks. Then one of the guys slapped her in the face. Before I knew what I was doing, I ran towards them and shouted: “Leave her alone!”

The four boys turned around and when they saw me, they started to laugh. “Take a look! Your knight in shining armor is coming! Hey my prince! What are you gonna do?” One of them said, their leader I supposed. I realized not only was I alone against them but I had also never fought in my whole life. One more thing I had never done. They came towards me and I couldn’t help myself from sighing from relief when I saw the girl escape. In a way, it seemed like I was making fun of them and it had pissed them off. “Are you making fun of us? Hey guys, did you see?!? Prince Charming is making fun of us!” They all laughed as they came closer. I looked at them and I realized one thing: I was about to get beaten up. I knew I should run to save myself but I was petrified, I couldn’t move, I could only watch them come closer, closer, closer… I closed my eyes, as if it could save me. In seconds I would be punched, or maybe kicked. But, before they could start beating me up, someone shouted: “Leave him alone!”

“What now? Why is everyone interrupting us?” the leader said, exasperated. I opened my eyes to see a guy coming near. I instantly recognized him. It could have been from the way he walked or because of his blond hair. But the truth was, he was the only guy this short at our school. Jonghyun. He walked until he was next to me, then took my hand and yanked at it so that I was standing behind him. I felt shivers run through my whole body. The adrenaline for sure. Jonghyun spoke once again; “I said: leave him alone!”

“Or?” one of the guys asked. Before Jonghyun could answer, the leader punched the guy who had just spoken in the arm. “Drop it! Let’s go guys!” And just like that, they left. Jonghyun turned around and let go of my hand. It was strange, my hand felt really cold now that he didn’t hold it anymore. He looked at me and said: “Are you alright?”

“Yes. Huh… Thank you Jonghyun Sunbae.”

“You’re welcome Minho. Oh, and you can call me Jonghyun. Or Hyung.” He smiled at me.

“How do you know my name?!?” I was quite astonished.

He smiled once again. “You do know my name too.” Then and there, I blushed. Me, Choi Minho, 17 years old, blushed like a girl in front of my Sunbae Hyung. I was saved as the bell rang. “Thank you Sun… Err… I mean Hyung. Sorry, I have to go.” With that, I ran like my life depended on it.

At lunchtime, I joined Yuri to eat. As we weren’t in the same class, we could only see each other during breaks. I didn’t know if I should tell her about what had happened this morning. I sat next to her. “Hi Yuri!”

“Hey.”

“How’s your day so far?”

“Great!” She lifted her head and I saw she was smiling.

“Wow! How come you’re so happy?” I asked her.

“I have to tell you something. It happened this morning… Something incredible!” Still listening to her, I lifted my head as I felt a strange impression, like I was hypnotized. I saw him. Jonghyun. He was walking towards our table. Wait! Is he coming here? I don’t know why but I panicked. I quickly looked down at my lunch like it was the best thing I had seen in my life. Obviously, Yuri felt something was strange. I realized I hadn’t listened to what she had told me when she stopped speaking. She waited, then said: “Minho! Are you even listening…? Wait! Why are you blushing?”

“Yah! I’m not blushing! It’s hot in here.”

“Sure, sure!” She laughed.

“Hey.” We both lifted our heads to see Jonghyun standing in front of our table. Yuri quickly answered: “Hi!” But I could see she wondered what was going on. Jonghyun turned towards me and waited. And waited. Then it hit me; I had to say something. “Err… Hello, Jonghyun Sun… Hyung.”

He smiled. “Hi Minho. Can I sit here?” As I wasn’t saying anything, Yuri answered: “Sure.” Jonghyun sat beside me. And a girl sat beside Yuri. Wait a minute! Since when was there a girl? As if he had read my mind, Jonghyun said: “Oh, this is Yoona. A friend.” I looked at her. “Hi Yoona.” She smiled shyly and answered. “Hi.” Yuri said nothing and kept eating her lunch. I did the same. In fact, Jonghyun was the only one talking. When the bell rang, I stood up but Jonghyun took me by the wrist to stop me and said: “I have to talk to you. Can we go home together?”

“Err… Okay.”

“Great!” He smiled and left the cafeteria. “I think we need to talk too.” Yuri told me. “Call me when you’re home.” She winked at me and left too. I realized I was still standing beside the table. And I was late. ! I ran towards the classroom.

There was one hour left. I sighed. If someone asked me now, I wouldn’t be able to tell the subjects we saw after lunchtime in class. The first hour, I couldn’t concentrate because my wrist was burning. My skin was normal, there was nothing wrong with it. But my whole wrist was on fire. It was quite strange. I didn’t know what it came from. I thought about it but nothing came to my mind which could explain this mystery. I tried to calm down and concentrate on what the teacher was writing on the board but I couldn’t. Another thing was bothering me. Why did Jonghyun want to talk to me? Did he want to make fun of me because I can’t fight? Was he going to blackmail me? For what reason? The strangest thoughts came to my mind: I saw him beating me up to a pulp; I saw him pushing me against a wall in a dark street where no one could see us; I saw him lifting his arm to punch me in the face, maybe saying he was the real leader of the group of bullies. I saw his face right in front of mine, only inches apart, his eyes staring at me, seeing through my mind. How is that even possible! He’s far too short and I’m far too tall! “Minho,” he would say. I watched his lips move as he talked. “Minho.”

“Minho! If what I’m trying to explain annoys you, you can just get out,” the teacher said. I blinked twice. “Sorry! It’s interesting… Err… I mean… I’m listening…” Everyone except the teacher laughed. “Come see me at the end of the class.” Oh no! Just what I needed. When class was over, I went to the teacher. She looked at me and said: “Listen Minho! I don’t know what happened today, but you were not yourself. You’re a good pupil so I’ll forget it. But please, don’t let it happen twice.”

“Okay. Thank you very much Mrs. Lee!” I bowed and left the classroom. It had been a close one! As I arrived at the front gate, I saw Jonghyun waiting. Was he waiting for me? When he saw me, his face lit up. “Ah! Minho! I thought you were already gone.”

“Sorry Hyung. The teacher wanted to talk to me.” I waited then added: ”But why didn’t you go home if you thought I was gone?”

He started to walk. “I don’t know. Come on, we’re not gonna stay in front of the school all night long.” I followed him. After five seconds, he said: “Maybe I was hoping you didn’t forget our promise.” I laughed.

“Did we make a promise?” He slightly punched my arm.

“We said we would walk home together.”

Suddenly, I wanted to . “First time I hear about this promise thing, Hyung. It’s more like something lovers would do.” I winked at him and he puffed his cheeks before sticking his tongue out. I started to laugh. “You’re so cute!”

“What?” He seemed confused. Oh Gosh! Had I really said it aloud? ! I felt my cheeks start to burn. “The puppy! I was talking about the puppy!” I exclaimed, pointing at a young dog across the street.

“Oh!” He gave me a puzzled look.

“Anyway, you wanted to talk to me, didn’t you?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Huh? Ah, yeah! That’s right! I wanted to know, is everything alright? Those guys didn’t come back, did they?” What was he talking about? Oh, yeah! The guys from this morning.

“No, they didn’t. But I’d like to ask you one thing; how come they left when they saw you? Are you a gangster or something like that?”

He laughed. “A gangster? Obviously not. They fear me because I’m the director’s son.”

“Mr. Kim is your father? Oh, I understand. They don’t want to be expelled.”

He nodded. “At least there are some benefits being the director’s son,” he said.

“I guess you’re right.” I smiled at him. During the rest of our way home, we talked and laughed together. Then he stopped and said: “We’re at your house.” I looked up and he was right. I was home. “Huh? But how come you know where I live?”

He just smiled and pointed at another house, not far from mine. “You see the house there?”

“Yes.”

“I live there.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah,” he was still smiling, “we’re neighbors.”

“Oh. You’re right!” I never knew he lived just beside me.

“So…” He seemed to hesitate. “We could… Err… Like… Walk to school… Ifyouwanttoobviously.”

Wow! I was not sure why but I was really happy. “Yeah, Hyung. That would be great!” Just like that, we bid goodbye. And just like that, we became friends.

Yuri called me that night. “Lunchtime was quite strange,” she said, ”I didn’t know you and Jonghyun were friends!”

“We’re neighbors,” I answered.

“But, how come you never talk about him?”

“I don’t know, I don’t always talk about my friends.”

She chuckled. “So you’re friends?”

“No… Err… Maybe… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” She seemed confused.

“I guess time will tell.”

“Okay. And Yoona?” As she said nothing more, I asked: “What about her?”

“Do you like her? I mean, you were quite strange in front of her.”

“No, I don’t like her. Plus, I wasn’t being strange.”

“Sure you were.” She paused. “But you know, I know you don’t choose who you like, but I don’t think Yoona is the one for you. She seems nice and all but I know her quite well. She’s not really like that, it’s just a façade.”

“How come you know her so well?” I asked her.

“We’ve been in the same class for years. Trust me, she’s not a good person.”

“Don’t worry Yuri! I don’t like her.”

“Sure?”

“Sure,” I reassured her.

I heard her sigh. “Good.”

“By the way, what were you talking about at lunchtime?” I was curious, I really wanted to know her incredible piece of news.

“What? Err…Ah! I remember. So you really weren’t listening to me!”

“Sorry, Riri.” I tried to suppress my laughter.

“Don’t think saying sorry will save you! And stop calling me Riri, it gets on my nerves!”

“Okay, okay.” I laughed out loud, I could almost see her pouting, her phone in her hand, ready to hang up. “So, what was it?”

“Something incredible happened this morning! I…” She was interrupted by a knock on her door. I heard her speak with someone then she said: “Sorry, Minho. I have to go. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Bye.”

“Okay. Bye, Yuri.”

Lying in my bed later that night, I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about what Yuri had said on the phone. I didn’t like Yoona, that was for sure. But Yuri said I was acting strange. Whose fault was it then? Jonghyun’s? No! It couldn’t be! It must be because I was hungry. Yeah, that was it! Reassured, I fell asleep.

A/N: Chapter 2 is here! ^^ So Jonghyun and Minho met. I know, it seems a little strange Minho never knew he lived beside Jonghyun. But, who knows? Anyway, chapter 3 is the way. See you soon. =)