"What are the Eye Candy boys doing with the new girls?"

 

"They wormed their way in quite fast."

 

"Hey Rimmie, you plan on actually spending a full day at school today?" Minkyung asked, linked to the other girl by their elbows.

 

"Planning is for squares." She winked. Jihyuk grabbed her blazer's collar, holding her back.

 

"You'll be attending the full day."

 

"My mother's been dead six years. I don't need a new one now." Haerim scoffed. Minkyung winced.

 

"I've got class on the other side of the building so I'll see you at lunch." Heijung waved before weaving through the hallway.

 

"Same." Do-il muttered before disappearing after her.

 

"They think we don't know they're going to the same place or something." Kyungjong scoffed. Soomi shook her head and they went off in the opposite direction as the other pair.

 

"I've got to go." Minkyung squeezed Haerim's wrist.

 

"So do we." She nodded. "Catch up with you later."

 

Minkyung waved as the leaders headed off together. "Are you coming to class?"

 

"Not with you." Hyunsoo stormed off. Guiltily, he waited for her to follow and walked the rest of the way with her.

 

"I hate life." Jinri groaned and opened her locked.

 

"Hey, Jinri." Pyo Joo called from down the hall. She hid behind her locker door. "How are you today, princess?"

 

She wrinkled her nose at his greasy grin. "What do you want?"

 

"Someone's not a morning person~" He practically sang. "Are you waiting for someone?"

 

She coughed. "Actually-"

 

"Sorry I'm late." Hajin popped up alongside Pyo Joo and winked.

 

"It's okay." Jinri managed, choking. "Let's just go."

 

Pyo Joo's eyes narrowed as Hajin closed the girl's locker with a smirk.

 

He grabbed her hand and pulled her away, down the hall. "Can't that guy take no for an answer?"

 

Jinri laughed loudly. "You should be the last person to say that. He's just like you."

 

"But I'm better-looking." Hajin squeezed her hand. "Right?"

 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She shook her head.

 

"I'll tell you what helps me sleep at night." He chuckled.

 

"You're so gross." She tried pulling her hand away. He pulled back, resulting in Jinri ending up very close to Hajin's chest.

 

He grinned down at her. "I'm only kidding."

 

 

 

 

"Did you hear about Hajin and that new girl this morning?"

 

"The one Pyo Joo's after? She's so lucky!"

 

"Try telling her that." Minkyung snorted. The two girls gossiping next to her turned to glare at her.

 

Haerim slammed her desk against Minkyung's and had taken to laying across them.

 

"You're so lazy." She rolled her eyes.

 

"Society is pressuring me to be too active. I need to rest when I can." Haerim sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. "Even if when I can is in the middle of trigonometry."

 

Minkyung gawked. "You are so full of that it actually stinks in here."

 

Heijung joined them, shadowed by Do-il, and walked her fingertips up Haerim's thigh.

 

She slapped the drummer's hand away. "Not in public!"

 

"I saw nothing." Do-il blinked.

 

"That's a good boy." Haerim sat up and looked around. "This is boring."

 

"You promised you'd stay in class today." Minkyung pushed her back down.

 

"It was against my will." She pouted dramatically. "Jihyuk thinks he controls me."

 

"You obviously control Jihyuk." Heijung wiggled her eyebrows.

 

"I heard nothing." Do-il blinked a second time before walking away.

 

"I don't control him." Haerim rolled her eyes.

 

"Of course not." Heijung nodded. "Just make sure you tell us before you get knocked up."

 

Minkyung squeaked. "I call dibs on godmother!"

 

The other girl muttered a "damn"  before sinking into her seat.

 

"Neither of you are going to be a godmother." The leader massaged her temples. "It's not like that."

 

Heijung seemed taken aback. "Well why not?"

 

"Because that's gross!!" Haerim shrieked as the bell rang. She stomped out of class, leaving the other two behind.

 

She grumbled all the way to the music room Jihyuk showed her. Paused outside the door, she pressed her ear against the cool wood to listen. Only one pair of hands was capable of playing such a complicated and intricate melody. Haerim cracked open the door to peer in as Soomi and played at the piano, leaving Kyungjong awestruck beside her.

 

"You play these chords here." She picked his hands up and placed them on the keys. Sliding over a bit to make room for him to sit next to her. Kyungjong began to play a rhythm as Soomi layered more chords over it.

 

"She's good." A gruff voice rumbled in Haerim's ear. She backed away and closed the door.

 

"I thought he was supposed to be helping her." She chuckled. "She's teaching him and showing him up at the same time."

 

"Your girls don't seem to like being helped." Jihyuk shoved his hands in his pockets.

 

"That's because they don't. They're completely self-sufficient." Haerim listened for the tune again. "Unfortunately that makes them incapable of working with anyone but each other."

 

Jihyuk smiled wryly, listening to the two pianists play harmoniously. "They'll learn."

 

"I sure as hell hope so."

 

 

 

 

"Who are you waiting for?" Hajin asked, leaning over Hyunsoo.

 

"No one." The shorter boy snarled. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head slightly, watching the classroom door out of the corner of his eye.

 

"Either you're creepier than I thought," Hajin nudged him. "Or you've fallen for Oh Minkyung."

 

"I am not and I have not." Hyunsoo spat. "How could I possibly like her?"

 

"How could you not?" Hajin chuckled lowly, chased away by the other's swears and curses.

 

"Uh, Hyunsoo?" He received a tap on the shoulder and turned around slowly. "Are you alright?"

 

Hyunsoo looked Minkyung's slim form up and down. "Obviously not. What are you doing later?"

 

"Working at the hospital, why?" She checked her wristwatch until he answered her.

 

"Just wondering." He looked to his side nervously. "Can you do me a favor and let the others know I had to bail? Something came up."

 

"What's in it for me?" Minkyung crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at her shiny, black shoes.

 

"You can't just do something for me?"

 

She shook her head.

 

"Fine, I'll owe you one." He rolled his eyes. "Okay?"

 

"Go." She finally said, sighing. He took off without a word. "You're welcome, punk!"

 

 

 

 

 

Minkyung got to what was now the usual table, large enough to seat all ten members of the combine Eye Candy and CherriBomb, late.

 

"Where were you?" Jinri asked, full of food. Minkyung snatched a wrapped cupcake off of the girl's lunch tray.

 

"Busy." She hastily unwrapped it and began to devour it.

 

"Where's Hyunsoo?" Kyungjong asked. Hajin took his lack of attention as an opportunity to steal a piece of his kimbap. Soomi was quicker.

 

"He bailed after class." Minkyung wasted no time on manners, ravenously dining on the packaged food that would probably have outlived her.

 

Jihyuk put his soda down. "Did he say why?"

 

"All he said was something came up so he had to go." She shrugged, looking over at Haerim, who ended up giving up her whole lunch.

 

Jihyuk and Do-il exchanged glances, Haerim furrowed her brow.

 

"Don't worry about it." He slid his can of coke toward her. "I'm just going to give him a call."

 

He excused himself to a quiet spot around the corner of the building. He pulled out his phone only to have it slapped out of his hand. His head snapped up to see Park Pyo Joo grinning maliciously before retreating behind his master.

 

"What do you want?" Jihyuk asked, an acidic tone soaking his voice.

 

"I want those girls gone." Seunghoom said calmly. "There's hardly room for the two of us at Jungsang. They'll only get in the way."

 

"Or pave a new way." Jihyuk chuckled, looking past Seunghoon's shoulder to his group. "Nothing you can do will stop them, you know."

 

Seunghoon chuckled. "Watch me."

 

"I'll watch you try. Your wannabe thug is already afraid of Haerim." Jihyuk cocked a crooked smile. "Tell me, Pyo Joo, is it because she reminds you of someone?"

 

Park Pyo Joo paled.

 

Jihyuk's eyes narrowed. "I will do everything in my power to keep those girls out of your reach."

 

He plucked his phone out of the grass and made his way back to the table, leaving a smoldering Yoo Seunghoon behind.