Warning: This chapter will have more grammar and/or spelling mistakes than usual because I had little time to proof-read it.

College has been very draining lately and my schoolwork is piling up high but your readership and uplifting comments keep me going so thank you for the 50 subs!

Chapter Four

I exit the glass doors of my hagwon class and unthinkingly collide with a tall lean figure; I stumble and manage to catch my balance but the books cradled on my arm fall down the floor with a loud thud.

“Sorry!” Tao’s distinctive accent rang in my ears. I reach down to pick up my books but he and his companion have beaten me to it.

“Thanks.” I muttered, letting my hair fall down my face in an attempt to hide my burning cheeks. They dust off my books and hand it to me.

“Didn’t realize it was Kai’s new friend.” Tao says. I feel my cheeks redden even further.

“I’m not sure if friend is the right term. More like uh… classmate?” I corrected, remembering our previous conversation in the fire exit staircase.

They both shrug. “Doesn’t seem like it.” Tao says.

“Anyway, I’m Lay and he’s Tao.” His companion says with a nod of his head. Just like Tao, he had a distinct non-Korean accent.

I smile at them nonetheless and introduce myself. “Krystal Jung.”

“We know.” Tao says with a laugh.

“Uh… do you attend hagwon classes here too?”

Lay was the one to speak this time. “No, we’re both Chinese and we attend additional Korean language studies here.”

“Oh.”

“Are you on your way home?” Tao asked.

“Yes. Uh… It’s nice to meet you both.” I say meekly. I give them a ninety-degree bow and they return my gesture with enthusiastic waves as they enter the hagwon center.

“It was nice to finally be able talk to you! You should hang out with us sometimes. You could even bring Choi Jinri if want to, I bet Chanyeol would like that.” Tao called after me and Lay hits his arm in a chastising way.

Confused, my response came in the form of a question. “Uh sure?”

Days passed by quietly and my school days were nothing but uneventful for the most part. I found myself coming to the fire exit staircase beside our classroom every time Sulli had extra-curricular activities to attend to during lunch.

I couldn’t say my friendship with Kai has progressed that much. Sometimes he would share with me his earphones and he’d introduce me to Korean songs that I wasn’t familiar with and I would hear him hum under his breath, other times I would quietly sit by the staircase while I eat lunch and he would let me watch him practice his dance.

His friends have been friendly with Sulli and I; they’d smile or casually wave at us now and then, much to Sulli’s delight. Kai, I have noticed, have been awkwardly struggling to seem more approachable to other students now. I’d like to think this small change in him had something to do with the suggestion I had made to him before.

“Krystal, Sulli is here.” My mom’s voice echoed through the open door of my room.

I bounded down the stairs with my hair flying behind me like tongues of flame. Sulli stood by the door with her overnight bag over her delicate shoulder.

“You have a beautiful home Mrs. Jung.” She chirped brightly.

“Thank you, Sulli. You girls have fun, alright? Just come find me if you want me to cook you something.” My mom tells her before she heads outside our backyard to continue her gardening project.

“OMG I am so excited I even brought chick flick DVDs and nail polishes! We are so doing each other’s nails!”

“Chill Sulli! You’re going two hundred miles per hour, slow down!” her tinkling laughter chimed all over the spacious foyer.

I dragged her upstairs and we changed into our pajamas. She was splayed across my bed with a celebrity magazine on her hands while I sat on the carpeted floor and finished painting my toes with sparkly pink polish.

“So how’s hagwon, any cute boys in class?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Not really. I go there to learn, not ogle at boys.”

“Oh I get it, you only have eyes for Jonginie.” She said in a singsong voice.

“Call him that and I bet you’d be sporting a good black eye in no time, not that I think he’d hit a girl.”

“Have you ever even asked him why he and his friends get into so much fights?” Sulli asked absentmindedly.

“The thought never really occurred to me. Besides, he doesn’t really like talking about himself that much.”

Sulli huffed at my dull response. “He’s had a tough childhood though, so I kind of get it. I’ve heard from my mom that he used to see a psychiatrist when he was younger.”

This caught my interest. “Why though?”

She shrugged. “His parents died from a house fire when he was young but that’s about it that I know of. My parents used to be good friends with them so it’s kind of hard for them to talk to me about it.”

For his age, Kai seemed like a very strong and willful person--- as if he had undergone something really painful in the past. Hearing this from Sulli I understood a little bit more of the enigmatic feeling he seemed to emit. He was very guarded--- aloof, even--- and I could always sense a kind of poignant sadness behind his seemingly cold stares.

With Sulli’s eyes dutifully on the magazine she started speaking and suddenly broke me from my reverie, “There’s a music festival at school next week. Do you want to go?” she was lying down on her stomach now with her feet crossed in the air.

“I’m not sure, maybe?”

“No maybes, we are so going. Kai’s friends are in a band and they’re really good.” She tells me with eager eyes and added in a dreamy voice, “And Chanyeol plays the guitar well, so we really have to go.”

“Well, how are you progressing with your secret crush on Chanyeol so far?” I asked, amused.

“You know, the usual.” She said with a shrug and flipped the page of the magazine.

“The usual?”

“The usual.” She repeated. “It’s not called a secret crush if it’s not kept a secret, is it?”

I sighed. “You’ll never really know if he likes you back if you don’t tell him, not to mention actually try to speak to him instead of ogling at him all day.”

“I’m going to confess to him only if you confess to Kai. Besides, I don’t even think he knows I exist.”

“Yes, he does. Heck, everyone in school knows who you are. You’re like Ms. Congeniality or something. And for your information, I don’t have anything to confess to Kai!” I said too defensively. “I don’t like him that way.”

“Sure, keep telling your self that.” She says with a roll of her eyes.

“Whatever, Sulli.” I tell her. My recent encounter with the two Chinese boys suddenly came to mind and I recalled it to Sulli. Her response was that of an ear-splitting shriek as she sat upright, the magazine on her hand flies across the room.

“Why are you only telling me this now?” she shook my shoulders with my fervor.

“I just remembered.”

“Oh my god, he wants us to hang out with them? When? Where? OMG I can’t believe this is happening, this is like a girl’s dream come true!”

“I’m not sure if Tao meant it though. I think he was just being polite.”

“Wow, thanks for bursting my bubble.” She glared at me playfully. “At least he knows my name.”

I recapped the polish and plopped on the bed next to her freshly painted feet.

“If he really meant it, don’t you think it’ll be a bit awkward? I’m not really used to hanging out with boys.”

“Me too, actually. Gosh why are we so good at math and science but fail miserably when it comes to boys?” She says with a long sigh.

I stretch my arms above my head and blow strands of hair out of my face. “Tell me about it.”