4 Years Ago

"Yun-Hee!" 13 year old Min-Ji yells after her friend after school. Her shoulder length hair bounces as she runs towars her friend, but the other girl just ignores her until Min-Ji is close enoung to tap Yun-Hee on the shoulder. At the age of 13, her personality was rather immature. The only interaction she had with people was Yun-Hee and her sister, who had other friends to be with. Their brother Key was in the middle school, while they were in their last year of elementary so they didn't get to see him as much.

"What?" She smiles, but it doesn't show in her eyes.

Min-Ji pulls her to the side away from everyone so she can speak privately to her friend. "I got my period for the first time last night." she whispers excitedly.

"You didn't get it untill now? Everyone else has theirs already, you're so slow." Yun-Hee roles her eyes.

Her words hurt, but Min-Ji laughs nervously. This is her only friend and she doesn't want to dissapoint her. "I guess I am, huh? Hehe..."

"Yeah. Me and the girls were going to go hang out, so bye." she starts to walk off but Min-Ji grabs her hand. "What now?"

"Well..." she starts nervously.

"Spit it out already before I'm late." Yun-Hee hisses.

Min-Ji musters up the courage. "Can I come with!?"

"No, this isn't for slow dogs." Yun-Hee stalks off.

The next day Min-Ji walks into the school and everyone is giggling at her as she comes in. *What are they all laughing about?* she wonders to herself.

"Hey, dog!" a girl in her class calls. "Fetch!" the girl throughs a pad at her face, and Min-Ji catches it before it falls on the ground. "You'll be needing that." the girl laughs with her friends. Another girls walks by and taps her watch, saying "I think you're a little late." Then some boys pass boy and fan the air. "Ew, what smells?" "So gross."

Tears well up in Min-Ji's eyes and she runs out of the classroom and into the bathroom. *Yun-Hee told them!* she sits in one of the stalls and cries, and then gets detention for returning to class late later on.

~~~~

A few weeks later Min-Ji walks up to Yun-Hee, who had ultimatley been forgiven when the teasing died down. "Yun-Hee I might get a puppy! I want to name her Yunnie, after you." she smiles happily at the idea.

"Gross, I don't like dogs, they smell and poop everywhere. Why would you want one of those? Oh, well I guess it would fit right into your family." Yun-Hee's friends laugh. Min-Ji had been called a dog by everyone since a few months back when Yun-Hee threw away her chopsticks and told Min-Ji to eat it her lunch like a dog. Of course she obeyed, and she received that nicname from everyone in her grade. But now she doesn't really care, except when Yun-Hee says it like this.

"Oh.. okay, I can name it something else then." Min-Ji forces herself to smile. After school she told her mom that she didn't want a puppy, that they were stupid and stinky and pooped everywhere. The sudden change of heart confused her mother but she thought it best not to ask.

~~~~

The hurt only continued, but Min-Ji never did or said anything to stop with it. Eventually they had passed elemantary and gone to middle school. Min-Ji still stuck to Yun-Hee like glue, and Yun-Hee only got worse. Min-Ji was treated like a slave and a punching bag, but she dealt with it to have a friend, even if it wasn't mutual. Because Min-Ji believed Yun-Hee could be nice. Before sixth grade she had treated Min-Ji fairly, and Min-Ji wanted to believe in that nice Yun-Hee. But instead of being nice, she became the exact opposite. Yun-Hee was sick of Min-Ji, and she wanted to get rid of her quickly.

"Min-Ji, get my phone from the locker room, will you? I think I dropped my phone there." It was late after school, Min-Ji had stayed behind to watch Yun-Hee practice for track. Min-Ji ran off to get it obediently. Yun-Hee walked to the front entrance of the school and saw some 9th graders that she had befriended."Oppas, there is some fresh meat in the girl's locker room." she said innocently smiling. They got her hint and ran off to where Min-Ji was. "Though better get her off my back." Yun-Hee walks off.

Searching the locker room for any sign of Yun-Hee's phone, Min-Ji hears the door open and close. "Is that you, Yun-Hee? I can't find it anywhere, are you sure you dropped it in here?" she looks up to see the boys and her eyes go wide. "Th-this is the girl's locker rooms, what are you guys doing in here?" she steps back instinctively, but one of them grabs her arm and tugs her towards him and another grabs before she can scream.

Key wipes his face, glad to finally be done with planning for the student counsil. "Why did I join the student counsil, too much work." he complains to himself. He's the last onw to leave, because he remembers to grab his gym uniform to wash. As he walks by the girl's locker room he heres shuffling and a bang on the lockers. *What are people doing in there this late?* he wonders, and then hears a muffled scream. His eyes widen and he pushes the door open, slamming it against the wall inside, only to see three guys pinning his sister down with her shirt half ed.

They look up at him in surprise. "! He's in the student counsil!" they scramble, but not before Key lands a solid punch on one of them, hitting him square in the jaw.

"That's right get the out of here!" he yells, kicking one in the stomache. The guy hits the wall behind him and then runs off. Key hears a sob and he looks at his sister, curling up into a ball crying. He leans down and reaches to pet her hair but she flinches. His heart throbs at his sister being afraid of him, and he slowly pulls her towards him, whispering small words of assurance. "Shh, it's alright. I'm here for you, Min-Ji, you'll be alright."