I walked down the dark alleyway counting the stack of bills in my hand. No one believed I could win, but I did with only a busted lip and possibly broken rib to show for it. I smiled at the memory of the previous fight. I had never felt so alive. I was on such a high on life, I actually laughed out loud. I ce on to the main street heading towards my little shack of a house. This would be able to pay the light bill for at least two months if I preserved energy. Maybe I should stop and treat myself I thought to myself as I passed an all night diner.

“Get away from me” I heard a young voice yell from the corner of the diner then there was laughter and threats. I took a few steps back to look down the alleyway. There was two grown men cornering a young girl who looked frighten but was standing her ground. I sighed wondering what to do. I really didn’t like bullies but I wasn’t exactly on my top game at the moment. When I saw one shove her in the wall, I decided I had to do something. I started walking slowly down the alleyway towards the three figures.

“This has nothing to do with you, get out of here or we will deal with you next” One yelled at me once he noticed me heading their way. I didn’t say anything just started running, I jumped and with all my forced punched him in the face. The other one was still in shock so I did a quick turn kick into his groin. They both were in a small daze which gave us a few seconds. I grabbed the girl’s hand and we ran out of the alleyway. I pulled her into a smokey dark diner a few blocks down the street. We found a booth in the back and hid for a moment. I watched the men run by the diner looking for us.

“You okay?” I finally asked as I leaned back in the booth. The girl was shaking slightly looking down at her hands.

“I hate my mother” She said simply. I didn’t know where that came from and partly didn’t want to know.

“Well, me to. Hungry?” I said as a waitress walked over to our table.

“The waitress defiantly didn’t think we were there to eat until I showed her some money” I said laughing at the old memory. Nana nodded and mumbled Romeo and Juliet. I laughed at the analogy.

“What?” The manager asked sitting next to Nana.

“Our friendship was one of Romeo and Juliet, my boss pretty much hated…”I looked down at Nana not sure how to put it; her mother or her boss.

“My mother” She said answering for me.

“ Which we didn't know until later in our friendship and once it was found out it caused  a lot of issues, but somehow we still stayed friends even if we didn’t see each other for a weeks at a time” I said as the waitress finally brought us our food.

“You have a boss?” Eun-Ha asked shyly. It was weird seeing her be so timid.

“Used to, I’m trying to move away from that lifestyle which is why I went to your school. I wanted a new beginning, with new friends, and possibly a new boyfriend.” I said smiling thinking in a few days SungJae and I would be on our first date. Seol-Chan snorted and looked down at his food. I had the urge to kick him from beneath the table but I restrained myself. I figured he was just upset because he couldn’t be with Se-Yi but that was his choice, not mine. If he really wanted to be with her, he should have. We talked until the sun began to go down. I hadn’t realized how long we had actually been there. We started to pay for our meal just as three men walked in and sat down. My body instantly tensed up. I sat straighter up and dropped the smile I had been wearing, apparently it was noticeable by everyone.

“What’s wrong?” Eun-Ha asked softly trying to look towards I was looking.

“Don’t” I said quickly everyone turned away from where I was looking.

“Just act normal, don’t look and don’t say anything. I don’t want any trouble here” I said through a smirk as the men watched. I didn’t want them to believe I was phased by them.

“You’re kind of scary looking” Do-Nam said looking at my new demeanor. I nodded softly and stood up as our waitress brought our change. I took a half stepped back so the rest of the group could file out. Nana took the lead and walked by the guys without looking towards them. They noticed her but said nothing. I followed behind waiting for their response.

“Haven’t seen you around lately” One asked looking down at his menu as if uninterested.

“Haven’t been around” I said without hesitation and kept walking out the door. Nana had kept walking leading the group back towards the school. I could feel the tension slowly falling the farther away we got.

“Sorry about that” I said once I felt the men weren’t going to follow us.

“Who was that?”Do-Nam stopped and turned towards me.

“He runs the fight crowd” I said simply shoving my hands in my pockets.

“There is a lot about you we don’t know isn’t there” Sun-Woo said slowly. I nodded honestly and took a step towards the school hoping the conversation would end.

“What about SungJae? Does he know all of this?” Seol-Chan asked crossing his arms.

“What is up with you and worrying about him?”I said louder than I meant to.

“It’s not him I’m worried about it’s…” Seol-Chan yelled back but instantly stopped.

“It’s what? You don’t know him and you barely know me… what is it?”I said not as loudly but almost desperate.

“It’s nothing, I’ll stop butting in. Just be careful okay?” He said backing down. I was surprise to see him back down. He was the type which would argue with a brick wall if he wouldn’t look weird.

“We should just go home” Eun-Ha said slowly. We all agreed and separated to go to our homes. The next day Eun-Ha walked up to me and Se-Yi before class started.

“Are we still going to do the surprise?” She asked in a whisper looking towards the door to make sure Seol-Chan wouldn’t walk in.

“What did I tell you? To get the stuff and I’ll figure out the place and time…I have an idea hopefully it will work. I’ll let ya’ll know before the day is over with” I said with a smirk. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with Seol-Chan at the moment but I did want to hang out with the group some more. During the break, I snuck out quietly and went straight for Seol-Chan’s car. I opened the passenger door  and got in the seat then slammed the door shut. The sound caused the manager to jump a foot in his seat wide awake.

“You should really lock the door” I said with a sneaky smile on my face. He looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“What..what..what are you doing here?” He said slowly clutching the pillow in his hand.

“I wanted to talk to you about Seol-Chan birthday, what is his schedule like Saturday?” I said innocently.

“umm…just practicing…they are getting ready for their new album” He said still a little surprise “You don’t think people will get the wrong idea if you are in here…alone…with me”

Now was the time for me to look at him crazy, I couldn’t respond because my phone vibrated. I smile to see SungJae had texted me telling me he was excited about tomorrow.

“Is that SungJae?” The manager asked with a small smile. I nodded and texted him back before speaking.

“I wonder if I should invite him” I said more to myself than to him.

“NO…you can’t…I mean you can’t even tell him about the party…I mean I don’t want any fans to find out and ruin it…which by the way what is the plan?” He said awkwardly. I wonder if SungJae would say anything about it. I didn’t think he would but I wouldn’t want to test it so I decided not to say anything about it to him.

“Well that’s where you come in…do you think you could let us into his practice room? We were going to bring a cake to him” I said smiling widely trying to persuade him. He seemed a little taken back.

“Come on, we have thought about everywhere else and nowhere is private enough or big enough or a place Seol-Chan would go without suspecting something, please please!” I said starting to beg a little. He started nodding trying to shut me up.

“Okay okay okay but who all is coming?” He said relaxing and finally accepting the idea.

“Just the group that came for dinner” I said sitting back waiting for the next questions.

“What time?”

“umm, Saturday at two?”

“Make it three, What all are you bringing?”

“Umm…cake…presents….snacks…I don’t know, they are getting that stuff”

“Okay just meet me tomorrow and I’ll give you a pass. Try to come in one car”

“We don’t own a car…”

“That’s right…lets meet here at the school and I’ll pick you all up at three…that’s great idea and easier to get you guys in” He said almost excitedly. I nodded smiling widely just as the back door opened and slammed. I peaked around the corner to see Seol-Chan sitting in the seat almost upset. He jumped when he saw me.

“What the? What are you doing here?” He said accusingly towards me. I looked towards the manager and said the first thing that came to mind.

“I told you I was in love and we were deciding how to get married, See you later” I said smiling and jumping out quickly. I practically ran all the way back to the class room where the group was waiting for me.

“I got the place” I said smiling. They all asked where it was?

“Too many ears here” I said noticing the group of girls intensely listening. They nodded and went back to their chairs. I wrote Se-Yi a note to text the rest to meet here at three on Saturday. She nodded and started texting quickly as Seol-Chan walked back in looking at me strangely.

“Do you think something really is going on with her and my manager?”Seol-Chan whispered in Se-Yi ear. I felt her turn to me which caused me to smirk.

“I don’t know, why?” She asked interested.

“She was in his car, what kind of girl does that?” Seol-Chan said crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. I smiled actually excited for the week to come; no fights were involved just a date and a small party.