I was scurrying down the stairs, two steps at a time. The steps at my house were made of white marble and felt cold underneath my feet. My mum was out at a party, I heard, and my dad wasn't in his bedroom. So I was scurrying downstairs to check if dad had gone out as well. 

            Fortunately he was sitting on the soft brown leather couches in the library reading a book. I ran up to him and hugged him tightly and I began to cry. Hearing my muffled cries, my father put his book down and combed my hair with his hand. It felt comforting. Then he spoke soothingly. "Why are you crying, Minji?"

            "I had a nightmare and when I woke up, no one was here." It was painful trying to explain it but I still did because I wanted to be a brave little girl back then.

            "I'm here aren't I?" Dad crooned. 

            I nodded and then said, "Yes." when I realised that he couldn't see my actions.

            "Now tell me what it was about."

            I gulped and narrated my dream. "We were going on a family picnic and I was flying the white butterfly kite that mum had bought for me from France. You were cooking sausages on the BBQ and I could smell it but when I turned to you, you were gone and then a cold hard wind blew. I lost hold of my kite string and looked back at the kite, only to see that it was no longer a kite but it was mum. She was flying away from me. I tried to run after to her because I wanted to fly with her but I couldn't reach her and she couldn't hear me. In the end I reached a cliff and I didn't know and I could feel myself falling when I woke up."

            After some time, my father laughed, not in a mocking way, but in a way to lower the tension in the room. "It's just a bad dream Minji." Father explained pulling me away from his embrace. He looked at me, his beautiful blue green eyes were full of warmth and light. "In the end, you will wake up to something better, like right now."

            I forced a smile although I still felt a little shaken. Dad smiled gleefully back and pecked my left cheek. "Do you feel better now?" I gave a slow but strong nod. And then I woke up.

                        I guess I was startled. My father never kissed me on the cheek when I had a nightmare. It was always the forehead. The cold wind blew at me and I heard the sound of leaves rustling nearby. I tried to orientate myself and then I concentrated on my surroundings. Large oak trees surrounded me but from the distance I could see a playground beyond a grassy plain. 

            I got up and stumbled a little, letting my right hand grasp the tree trunk I was leaning on for support. It was sturdy and cool in my grasps and strangely, I was aware that my wrist felt numb and the jolt of pain had eased. I must have slept for a while.

            I walked slowly out to the swing that squeaked eerily while being pushed by the wind. I sat abruptly on it making a louder creaking sound. I've never been to this park before. It was very nice having a playground and a natural forest behind it. I looked at the group of trees shrouded together almost hiding any sign of activity within the tall thick trunks and deep green leaves. Strangely, my hand wandered to my left cheek and it. My father's kiss still lingered and I smiled to myself. Good dreams do come after a nightmare.

            By taking random roads I found my way back to school and then headed for home on time. 

            "Minni!" I heard the urgent tone in Junsu's voice and whipped my head around only to feel him crash into me for a huge hug. "Where have you been? I was so worried."

            "She's obviously okay now Junsu." Hana stood calmly behind him. "Don't fret."

            "Aren't you worried about her?" Junsu asked. "She's your older sister."

            "Worried. Why would I be worried? She's not even our real sister." Hana yelled at her brother, ignoring me completely. I was used to it, of course. 

            "But she makes the best ramen ever." Junsu gave Hana puppy eyes.

            Hana only turned away from him and tried to ignore him.

            "I know you were worried little sister." Junsu cupped her shoulder. "You were running after Minni until she was no longer in your sight. That's why you came back to tell me and was so out of breath." Junsu added as if he was revealing what was obvious.

            I was touched at Hana's actions.

            "Thank you for being worried about me. I really appreciate it." I smiled happily at her. 

            She looked at me and then turned away. "You are so weird." She commented and I could hear her tone soften. Junsu grabbed my hand and Hana's.

            "Let's go home before mum gets worried." Junsu exclaimed. Then he turned to me and asked me. "Where have you been? You haven't answered yet."

            I tried to think of an excuse. "I got tired and went to rest at a park and accidentally fell asleep." I improvised.

            "Okay." Junsu smiled, satisfied.

            I looked away and my face broke off in concern. All I remember is that I was running after a black shiny car and then a car from behind was about to hit me. What happened after that?

                        "Where have you all been?" The mistress exclaimed as we opened the door and entered the house. "It's already so dark."

            "We had a little mishap along the way home." Junsu said. "It was nothing really."

            "What happened?" The mistress scrutinised her children, making sure they were okay.

            "Minni decided to run after a stranger's car and we had to go looking for her." Hana explained in a casual tone.

            I looked at the mistress and saw her glaring at me. I bit my lip and instantly knew what was going to happen next. She whacked me across the face with her left hand.

            "Mum, don't hit Minni." Junsu bursted and rushed to stand between the both of us. 

            The mistress looked at her son and spoke calmly. "She was trying to run away with a man. She thinks this life is hell and wants to abandon us."

            "No, Minni is not like that." Junsu turned to look at me. "Right, Minni?"

            I nodded slowly. "I am not going anywhere with anyone except my uncle." I spoke strongly despite the stinging in my cheek.

            The mistress stared at me alarmed with my defiance, then she stalked out of the room. Junsu looked at me worriedly, it was so surprising how he resembled Yunho so much. "Are you okay?" he asked and I nodded silently and he sighed with relief. He turned to Hana with a displeased expression. "Why did you say that to mum? You know how strict she is towards Minni."

            Hana shrugged her shoulders. "I told her the truth. It didn't sound so bad." She tried to keep calm but her pitch was a little higher than usual so I knew that she was shocked that the mistress had hurt me. At the same time, she seemed unhappy with me for some reason so I thought I should just leave her alone. She left the room when she felt uncomfortable with the silence.

                        For the following week, I had a strange feeling that I was constantly being watched at school. I was with Kimmi and Yunho most of the time but strange things started to happen when I was on my own. One day I was walking down the corridor and a girl walking past accidentally knocked into me and apologised. Another time, I found fresh gum on the centre of my desk. I considered that someone must of accidentally dropped it there and didn't want to throw it out so I covered the gum with a scrap piece of paper throughout class time and removed it at the end of the school day when no one was around. Well almost everyone. 

            Just as I had thrown the bit of gum in the bin, Yunho walked into the room. "Why are you still here?" Yunho asked with his polite smile. "Surely you're not going to sleep here."

            I laughed softly. "No, I just finished with something."

            "Okay." Yunho inserted. "So now you're going to meet up with Junsu and Hana and walk home?"

            "Not really." I replied honestly. "Junsu has soccer practice today after school and Hana usually spends her time with Jaemi in the library studying."

            "So you have something extracurricular as well?" Yunho asked.

            I shook my head. "I walk home alone today."

            Yunho was taken aback. "All by yourself?"

            "Yes." 

            Yunho raked his fingers through his hair roughly.

            "What's wrong?" I asked eyeing the annoyed expression on his face.

            "Well if I knew that you have been walking home all alone every Thursday, I would have offered to walk you home myself." Yunho explained. 

            "It's perfectly fine. I wouldn't want to bother you anyway." I added. "You're already busy with school duties."

            Yunho lifted his index finger signaling his disapproval. "It would be an honour to be able to walk you home." He bowed down like a butler. "May I take your bag?"

            I looked at him and felt so touched. I was so happy to have someone so generous towards me. I couldn't help myself but laugh, actually laugh, in a way that you could feel water in your eyes begin to pour out of joy. I lifted a finger and wiped away a tear and watched as Yunho's giant smile shrink to a soft smirk. 

            "Let's go." Yunho said excitedly. We walked out of the classroom side by side and headed for the stairs. "I'll lead the way down the stairs so we can give way to others who are walking up the stairs." He suggested. As if he was psychic, a female student ran up the stairs. I guess I was distracted and loss balance while I was walking down. I slipped and fell forward making Yunho tumble forward and land belly first on a flat platform. It took me a while to get off of Yunho and sit on the stairway floor. 

            "Are you alright?" Yunho scrambled to me. 

            "Yeah." I replied although the jolt of pain in my right wrist returned. Concerned, Yunho held me by the forearms and examined my body and face for any damage. I laughed hesitantly but it was very faint. "I'm perfectly fine. I’m sorry for falling on you like that."

            "Oh my, it's Yunho and Minni." The girl from earlier was at the top of the stairs looking down at us. And beside her was Jaejoong who was staring down blankly. "How romantic!" She squealed in a way that seemed very fake; she was probably trying to win Jaejoong's heart.

            Jaejoong turned to her and shook his head slowly. The girl, frightened, backed away but he moved towards her until she was pinned against the wall. With one hand on the wall, he leaned in, his nose almost touching hers. "This is what you call romantic." He crooned and put a strand of hair behind her ear. The girl melted before him and he crept a little closer while her eyes slowly closed. I was about to turn away because I didn't want to witness such a disgusting scene but suddenly Jaejoong turned to look at me. On his face was a sickly smile. He didn't reach for her lips but moved to her ear and I could see him talking to her in a whisper I couldn't hear. The girl fluttered her eyes open and then a horrid look was upon her face. Jaejoong no longer looked at her sweetly, he looked coldly at the girl who sank to the ground with tears in her eyes. Jaejoong then ignored her cries and walked down the stairs without a glance at any one of us. 

            I rushed up to the crying girl. "Are you okay?" My hand reached for her shoulder. 

            She looked up at me with a glare. "Please leave me alone." She croaked and seemed a little irritated. 

            "He's not worth it." I told her and headed down to Yunho who was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. 

            "Are you sure he's not worth it?" She exclaimed so that I could hear. "It's not because you want him all to yourself?"

            This time Yunho butted in. "Minni doesn't choose someone easily. And she doesn't take love lightly as well." 

            "It's not worth falling for someone who makes you cry so sadly, not unless he can make you smile more than you cry." I concluded then walked towards the school exit with Yunho tailing along.

                        At the corner of my street, I told Yunho about the mistress, calling her my mother and describing how strict she was. I decided that he shouldn't walk me to the front of my house just yet.

            "I understand." Yunho agreed and gave me his happy expression again. "I just realised something."

            "What is it?" I asked curiously.

            "You always smile at me." Yunho commented. "I am so happy that I am able to make you smile."

            "Of course." I beamed at him. "My friends and my family always make me smile." I saw him stiffen and I grew worried. "What's wrong?"

            Yunho scrutinised me then pinched my nose tightly. "You're so cute." I shrieked in pain. He lifted his hand in a good bye and walked off.

            "Are you after Jaejoong or Yunho?" Hana appeared out of nowhere just when Yunho disappeared. 

            "What are you talking about?" 

            "Don't you know?" Hana blurted. "Almost every girl in the school is after you because Jaejoong seems to have some interest in you."

            "What?" I was appalled.

            Hana looked away disapprovingly. "And if they found out that Yunho was with you as well, you're going to be dead."

            I was rooted to the spot. I finally understood why these strange things were occurring lately. It was envy.

            "Aren't you coming home?" Hana called. "I don't want you running after a car again. It was so worrisome for me yesterday." 

            I was even more shocked but my astonishment was nothing compared to the look on her face. She was flushing at what she had just said. I walked up to her with a perfect grin on my face. She was worried about me too.

            "Don't give me that creepy look." She ranted. "I just wanted a nice healthy dinner and no one in the house could cook besides you."

            I still felt enlightened. "I'll make you a warm pot of vegetable soup with creamy white potatoes tonight. I know you love potatoes."

            Her flush brightened and she looked away. "You better." She mumbled a threat.

            I laughed joyously.

                 "Morning Minni, Junsu and Hana!" Yoochun ran to the three of us as we were both approaching the school gates the next day. Kimmi was behind him trying to catch up and Changmin was the furthest, maintaining a steady walking pace. 

            “Good morning!” Junsu and I said in unison.

            "Morning Yoochun, Kimmi and Changmin!" Hana said sarcastically, mimicking Yoochun's tone and expression, then she walked off into the school.

            "That was rude Hana." Junsu yelled at his sister. Hana ignored him.

            "At least she said 'hello'." I added. 

            Yoochun nodded. "That's right."

            "Hey guys." Kimmi caught up and now was trying to catch her breath.

            Junsu turned to Kimmi. "Why are you running?"

            "Yoochun suggested we race and I didn't want to lose to that creep." Kimmi told us in an irritable tone. 

            "You lost anyway." Yoochun pointed out.

            "That's because you had a headstart. You said we started at the count of 3 and you just dashed off after you said 2." Kimmi raged at her neighbour. "I should have let Changmin do the counting."

            Yoochun gave her a sweet smile. "Stop making up petty excuses for losing."

            Kimmi kicked him and he fell to the ground in pain. "At least I'm stronger than you, you petty pretty boy."

            "Hey, you stole my word." Yoochun looked up from the ground.

            "Morning." Changmin said dully when he finally caught up.

            "Morning." Junsu and I said together again. 

            Junsu slung an arm around his friend. "Shouldn't you be stopping them?"

            "You bastard! Do you really want to die or something?" Kimmi yelled and Yoochun flinched a little. 

            Changmin shrugged his shoulders. "I think I like spectating." 

            "When you think about it, their fights are pretty interesting to watch." Junsu admitted.

            "Just yesterday, Yoochun came over for dinner and they were fighting over who should get the last lamp chop."

            Junsu laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. "Who won?"

            "Well, Kimmi threatened to bash him so I guess she won."

            "So she got the last chop?"

            "Nope! I stole it while they were arguing and after she won, Kimmi was too satisfied and Yoochun was too sulky to notice that the table was already cleared." Changmin concluded.

            I giggled. "How cheeky?"

            The arguing couple stared at Changmin as if they were cheated. Their deathly glares didn't affect him. He turned away from them and pretended not to notice their anger. 

            Kimmi and Yoochun looked at each other with distaste. "It's your fault that I couldn't have the last meat last night!" They said at the same time in the same tone as well.

            "Good job Changmin." Yunho walked up to us. "Because of your lust for food, you have made two responsible students argue unreasonably."

            "They argue anyway when I'm not around." Changmin muttered.

            "Morning Minni!" Yunho smiled at me.

            "Morning."

            "Morning!" Junsu saluted his role model.

            "Good morning kiddo!" Yunho pulled at his cheek. 

            "Oh, morning Jaejoong." Yunho called over my shoulder. 

            I turned around to see Jaejoong walking silently into the school gates. His hair was messed up and he was loosening his tie in the process. He looked up and gave a nod then entered the school without uttering a word.

            “Jaejoong seems strange this morning.” Kimmi began.

            “At least he’s not bullying you anymore.” Yunho looked to me.

            I gave a small smile to show my small sense of relief but something inside me told me that this wasn’t going to be the end.