6th Grade – Fall Semester

Two minutes.

Luhan had exactly two minutes to get his textbooks out of his locker before Trouble comes along. After fumbling through the lock combination, he flung the door open and jammed his notebooks from his previous class in. He grabbed his history textbook first before searching around for his algebra one.

“Where is it?!”

He hurriedly ped his backpack, thinking that maybe he left it in there. Upon spotting it, Luhan let out a sigh of relief. All he has to do is take it out, close his locker, and he'll be in the clear. Everything will be fine, and –

“Well, look who's in a hurry to get to class,” said an all too familiar voice in a sneering tone.

Luhan mentally groaned. He was so close.

“Aren't you going to face me when I'm talking to you?” the voice questioned, and Luhan could hear the snickers coming forth from the other two who always followed Trouble around.

Reluctantly accepting his fate, Luhan dropped his textbook, having no need for it anymore, and slowly turned around to face his personal tormentor – someone who had made it his mission to give Luhan a hard time whenever he can.

“What do you want, Sehun?” Luhan asked, sounding slightly exasperatedly.

Sehun smirked. “Now why would you ask that question? You know our routine.”

Luhan huffed. “I really have to get to class, so maybe you –”

“Do you want to go in yourself or do you want me to help?” Sehun asked, cutting Luhan off. He took a step forward, his eyes dark and determined.

Luhan flinched. “I'll – I'll do it myself,” he stammered, taking a step back towards his locker.

Pleased with a cooperative Luhan, Sehun gave the other boy a mocking smirk before eventually pushing him inside his locker and slamming the door shut.

“Next time don't try to talk your way out of it, Lulu. It's a waste of time,” Sehun stated, face absolutely smug as his other friends laughed.

Clenching his fist in the dark, confined space, Luhan cursed under his breath.

One of these days, he's going to get Sehun back. No doubt about it.

“Have fun in there,” Sehun said while tapping Luhan's locker. Luhan could hear the other boys laughing as they walked away.

He kicked the door, partly in frustration and partly in hopes of letting his friends know that he was trapped inside his locker for the third time this week.

Unfortunately for Luhan, his friends were already in class and wouldn't be able to come get him until class was dismissed for break.

“What was it again?” Yixing asked from the other side.

Luhan sighed before answering, “21-5-12-30.”

After a few seconds of Yixing turning the dial on the lock, Luhan heard a resounding click and the door opened to reveal his two friends – both of whom were shooting him pitiful looks.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Yeah,” Luhan said, stepping out of his locker and wincing at the stiffness of his joints.

“You should really report him to the principal,” Yixing said, frowning at the way Luhan's face scrunched up in pain as he moved his arms.

“That's not going to do anything. He'll just find a new way to torture me,” Luhan answered matter-of-factly before grabbing his lunch box.

“How long do you think he'll do this?” Kyungsoo asked.

Luhan shrugged. “I don't know. Hopefully not forever.” He closed his locker and followed his friends to the cafeteria.

“I don't get it,” Yixing said in between bites of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“You don't get what?” Luhan asked, popping a grape into his mouth.

“Why Sehun picks on you and only you.”

“Yeah, that is strange, now that I think about it,” Kyungsoo added, looking at Luhan curiously. “Why only you?”

Luhan huffed. “How am I supposed to know?”

“It doesn't make much sense either – considering you guys were friends since pre-school,” Yixing said, putting down his sandwich to sip his juice box.

“Were,” Luhan restated. “That's the key word.”

“What happened then?” Kyungsoo asked. “Why aren't you friends anymore?”

Luhan frowned. “I honestly don't know. He never told me.”

“Have you asked him?”

“Of course I have!”

“When did he suddenly change his mind?”

“I think it started last year – when we came back after summer break. He was different and everything changed.”

“Hmmm,” Yixing hummed.

“What?” Luhan asked, eyeing the boy suspiciously. Kyungsoo also stopped to look at the other boy.

“Maybe you did something terrible to him in your previous life, so now he's getting you back for it,” Yixing reasoned, his face uncharacteristically serious.

Luhan rolled his eyes at Yixing. “Then why would he wait to do it now? He could just be mean to me from the beginning.”

“Luhan has a point,” Kyungsoo added with a nod. “Something happened.”

Yixing opened his mouth to say something, but Kyungsoo cut him off. “In this life, Yixing.”

Not pleased with how the others weren't taking his theory seriously, Yixing stuck his tongue out at them, earning nothing but laughter in return.

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