"I can't stand them." Jihyuk grumbled with his head down.

 

"Who?" Do-il asked his friend, who just shook his head and stalked away. Confused, he shrugged his shoulders and continued down the school hallway.

 

"That new girl-"

 

"-Hwang Heijung.."

 

"She's so odd."

 

"Where did she come from?"

 

 Do-il listened intently to the rumors flying around the school. Off to the side of a bunch of lockers, a small group of girls stood with their hands over their mouths

 

He scoffed and pushed past them. "Heijung-ah, what's your next class?"

 

"Heijung-ah?"

 

"They know each other?"

 

Heijung turned away from her locker at the sound of his voice. She pursed her lips and pushed up her sleeve, referencing her schedule she'd scrawled on her wrist.

 

"Hmm...physics." She pushed her sleeve down. "But you already knew that because we're in the same class."

 

Do-il chuckled. "I'm trying to make conversation."

 

"Congratulations." She shut her locker before heading toward the conversation. "You succeeded."

 

"What are they doing walking together?"

 

"Doesn't he know she's crazy?"

 

"Doesn't she know how dangerous his father is?"

 

"He's going to get himself killed!" Hajin sputtered. Jihyuk shook his head. "Haerim said no one was supposed to go anywhere near CherriBomb."

 

"And if Haerim told you to jump off a bridge would you do it?" Jihyuk chuckled.

 

"Depends." Hajin bit his lip. "How mad is she and do I have ample amount of time to escape?"

 

"Very and no." Haerim popped up in between the two boys and giggled.

 

"Then over the bridge I go." Hajin shot Jihyuk a look and melted into the crowd of students.

 

"Strange boy." Haerim pursed her lips.

 

"What are your plans for your second day at Jungsang?" Jihyuk asked her with his hands in his pockets.

 

"Find appetizing school food by lunch." She stated, matter-of-factly.

 

"All of you Yangpa girls are on drugs, I swear."

 

"That's why our food was so good!" She her arms into the air.

 

Jihyuk just shook his head and grabbed one of her wrists, dragging her upstairs.

 

"Is this what I think it is?" Haerim's fingers twitched over the doorknob.

 

"You ruin all the fun." Jihyuk sighed, kneeling down to shift one of the floor tiles and revealing a key. He shimmied past her to unlock the door only for her to burst right in. "You're such a child."

 

She simply nodded and look around the room.

 

A piano stood off to the side, facing a section of fluffy couches with amps on either end.

 

She tip-toed through the shag carpeting and sat at the piano bench. "It's so...posh."

 

"Everything around here is." Jihyuk looked over his shoulder as she started to play.

 

Haerim's fingers flew over the keys daintily, rehearsing scores she'd thought she'd long since forgotten.

 

"You're so good." Jihyuk shook his head. "Why'd you stop?"

 

She pulled her hands away from the keys and clicked the heels of her unbuckled engineer boots. "Soomi's better."

 

"You stopped before you met Soomi." Jihyuk pointed out.

 

"I switched to guitar when you and Byunghee started." She said, running her finger along one of the black keys. "I didn't want you guys to leave me behind. Then I moved to the states anyway."

 

Jihyuk leaned on the piano. "We wouldn't have-"

 

The door swung open.

 

"What are you scum doing in here?" Park Pyo Joo screwed up his face in disgust.

 

"Oops." Jihyuk coughed.

 

"Oh, lady scum." Jung Maru bowed at Haerim, who remained seated.

 

"This is our territory." Pyo Joo scoffed. "Strawberry Fields members only."

 

"It's your territory?" Haerim's eyes grew wide. "Did you pee around it to mark it or something?"

 

Pyo Joo's nostrils flared. "Why you-"

 

"Careful around her." A tall boy walked into the room.

 

Haerim recognized him. "You rat!"

 

"Actually, my name's Seunghoon. Yoo Seunghoon." He said thoughtfully, his hands in his pockets. "And I'm the leader of Strawberry Fields."

 

"What kind of name is Strawberry Fields?" Haerim snorted.

 

"What kind of name is Eye Candy?" Pyo Joo sneered in Jihyuk's direction.

 

"What else would you call a band full of hot guys?" Haerim asked, pursing her lips.

 

"Oh, thanks." Jihyuk piped up.

 

"No problem."

 

"I think it's time for you to go." Maru said evenly.

 

"That's funny because I don't think there was ever a specified time to go." She said, checking her wristwatch.

 

"Do you have a death wish?" Pyo Joo asked, enraged.

 

Haerim tossed her head back and forth. "It's not really a wish but more of a goal."

 

Jihyuk pressed his lips together to keep from smiling.

 

Seunghoon grinned softly. "We can't have people like you touching our equipment. It's just too costly to leave open for the unknown."

 

"People like who?" Haerim smirked. "Let's go, Jihyuk."

 

She got up and started toward the door.

 

"Oh and I'm terribly sorry about what happened at Ground Zero the other night but you riff-raff were simply too loud." He said over his shoulder.

 

"Keep moving." Jihyuk grumbled in her ear, pushing her through the door.

 

"'People like you'?" Haerim scoffed, heading for the school's main entrance. "As if he knows anything."

 

"Haerim, where are you going?" Jihyuk called after her.

 

"Home." She shouted with her fists clenched at her sides. "Are you coming?"