“GUH!” Jaesoon grunted as his back made contact with the metal locker. He felt a bruise forming on the back of his head, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his stomach from the punch he endured earlier.

             “Hand it over, dweeb.”

            Jaesoon slowly opened his hand, dropping his favorite headphones into his assailant's hand.

             “Heh, I don’t even know why you still try. You’re not any good,” The Kingka plugged Jaesoon’s headphones into his stolen mp3 player and walked off, feeling accomplished with himself.

            Jaesoon stood up, checking his head for blood. Thankfully, he only found a bump on the back of his head, which could easily be hidden by his hair and knit cap. Jaesoon took an extra harsh beating, simply because he was caught rapping in the hall. According to his family, Jaesoon was a talented rapper, but the bullies at school didn’t seem to think so.

            Jaesoon pulled himself together, subtly limping toward his classroom. He had a thing about not letting on how he was bullied. Neither his family nor teachers knew about his beatings but he preferred it that way. He didn't want them to worry.

            Jaesoon sat in the back of the classroom next to the quiet oddball with long, messy black hair. It’s not like this guy was his friend, but he was the least likely to talk to Jaesoon and figure out he was in pain. As Jaesoon pulled out his notebook, he noticed the shaggy haired boy struggling with his bangs as he ate a fresh and juicy peach.

             “You probably shouldn’t eat in class.” Jaesoon said softly, but the boy still heard him. Ignoring his advice, he simply smiled holding out a peach for Jaesoon.

             “Want one? There’s a peach tree out back?” He smiled but Jaesoon declined.

             “No thanks. Besides, that tree is supposed to be off limits.”

             “So, what’s your point? Peaches should be free for everyone, just like the sky is free and grass is free. Why would you want to put a limit on peaches?”

            Jaesoon shrugged at the boy’s bizarre way of thinking. He didn’t talk with the oddball for the rest of the class, mostly because he went off into his own little world.

             “Ok, class,” their science teacher garnered their attention. “As you all know, today, we’ll be starting our paleontology unit today. As such, I’ll be assigning a special two week group assignment.”

           The class cheered at this news but Jaesoon wasn’t too enthusiastic. He hated group assignments, mainly because he was never chosen and more often than not was forced to do the assignment alone.

             “Don’t get too excited,” the teacher interrupted. “I’ll be choosing your groups today.” The class groaned as the teacher continued. “The groups of six are as follows...”

            Jaesoon started to zone out as the teacher began to call names. He was a bit anxious, considering how cruel some of his classmates could be. Although his primary bully was in a different classroom, he noticed how other students would be laughed at and teased. He was afraid that he’d become a target in the classroom as well as the hallways.

             “Jung Jaesoon,” Jaesoon’s head perked up upon hearing his name. “You’re in Group D with Lee Kikwang, Yang Yoseob, Son Dongwoon, Yoon Doojoon and Jang Hyunseung.”

            The shaggy black haired boy next to him smiled, but Jaesoon was confused. He hadn’t been formally acquainted with his classmates, and had no idea who was who. He could tell the oddball next to him was one of his partners but he wasn’t sure which one.

             “Alright, your assignment is to research, one of the periods of the Precambrian era. Group A, you are to research the entire Paleozoic era. Group B, The Triassic period of the Mesozoic era...”     The teacher continued to hand out assignments when she came to Jaesoon’s group. “Group D, the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era.”  

            Jaesoon smiled. He already knew a bit on dinosaurs so this assignment would be a piece of cake, assuming his new group mates didn’t torture him.

             “Alright, you have two weeks to prepare a ten to fifteen minute presentation on your period. Tell me about the timeline, the environment and mainly, what kind of creatures inhabited your period. You may use posters, presentation boards, power points, whatever you’d like, just have it done and ready to present to the class by Friday, the 22nd, for your midterm grade. I expect you all to do your share of the work. Now, break into your groups and begin your planning.”

            With that, the class broke up, finding their groups. Jaesoon remained in his seat as the shaggy boy scooted closer to him.

             “I’m Jang Hyunseung, in case you were wondering.” The boy introduced.

             “Jung Jaesoon,” Jaesoon responded. The two boys were soon joined as four others, one by one, sat in the desks nearby.

             “I’m Yang Yoseob,” spoke the short haired, childlike student. “I like candy, toys, ice cream and other things. Nice to meet you.”

             “I’m Lee Kikwang,” a brown haired boy gave a sweet eye-smile, behind his large glasses. “I’m not as dumb as everyone thinks I am.”

             “I’m Son Dongwoon,” The mature, foreign looking boy with braces spoke shyly, careful not to smile.

            Last to introduce himself was the athletic-looking boy in a blue, backwards baseball cap. Jaesoon was sure that, if anyone, this would be the boy to bully him. “I’m Yoon Doojoon. I like soccer, and the color blue. I’m also acrophobic.”

             “Hyung, what’s with the cap?” Yoseob asked, his eyes directed at Doojoon. “You never wear hats to school.”

            Yoseob and Doojoon were the only ones who knew each other beforehand. They had been neighbors for a while but hadn’t really become friends.

             “Oh well...uh...” Doojoon nervously looked around the room before lowering his voice to the others. “Actually, I got a bad haircut.”

             “It can’t be that bad,” Kikwang smiled.

            Doojoon sighed, lifting his cap. The other five boys tried stifling their laughs at the boy’s short hair styled in the shape of a raindrop.

             “Actually,” Doojoon joked. “I kinda like it. I get AM and FM on this thing.” He flicked the center tip of his hair and his group burst into laughter, urging him to put his cap back on before the other students noticed his hair.

            Jaesoon couldn’t hold back his laughter, he had no idea what had come over him. It was the first time he’d ever laughed so hard among his peers. He wasn’t sure why but he knew that he’d be able to trust these five, after all, it was the first time anyone made him comfortable enough to laugh.

            For the rest of the class period, the six boys spent talking. They planned a bit for their project but spent more time getting to know each other. They learned that Doojoon was actually a midfielder for their school soccer team, and that Yoseob was surprisingly quite devious. They learned that Dongwoon skipped a grade and was the youngest, which was surprising; and they learned that Kikwang was a bit of a womanizer, which wasn’t that surprising. They didn’t get much work done, so they decided to meet in the library after school to start their research.

            School ended quickly and for the first time in his life, Jaesoon was actually looking forward to staying after. Even though they were just his science group, Jaesoon felt a strange bond with the new group of students. He didn’t know exactly why he felt like he could relate to this group, but to him, these boys were the closest thing he could relate to friends.

             “Hey, twerp!”

            Jaesoon cringed hearing the voice of his worst enemy. He sighed, realizing all good days can’t last forever. “What do you want N-”  

            Jaesoon spun his head around to see that his bully was not heading toward him, but towards a smaller black haired boy standing at the lockers across the hall.

             “What do you want, Nichkhun?” Jaesoon heard Yoseob ask as he was shoved into his locker.

            Jaesoon clenched his fist, watching his enemy attack his new friend.

            “You know exactly what I’m here for, brat. My sources say you left a childish drawing of me on the bathroom stall.”

            “Do you mean the toilet?” Yoseob smirked. “The resemblance is uncanny, don’t you think?”

            Yoseob’s comment was met with a hard fist to his left temple. The small boy tumbled to the ground and the bully reached into his open locker, pulling out one of his stuffed animals.

            “Hey don’t touch that!” Yoseob yelled.

            Nichkhun ignored the smaller boy and ripped the head off of his sheep doll, tossing it to the ground. Yoseob’s eyes widened, watching the bully step on one of his precious toys. “These toys are making you too creative. Next time I see one of those drawings, I’ll burn all of them.”

            The bully stomped off, a satisfied smirk on his face, leaving Yoseob in pain. The small boy ran his finger near the side of his head, and winced as he pulled his finger back. He found blood leaking from his temple and a small flow of tears couldn’t help but escape his eyes.

            “Need a hand?”

            Yoseob looked up to see Jaesoon holding out a hand for him. The black haired boy rubbed the tears from his eyes, trying to hide his shame from Jaesoon.

            “It’s okay,” Jaesoon smiled. “You can cry if you want to. I won’t think any less of you.”

            Yoseob grabbed Jaesoon’s hand and leapt to his feet, unleashing his tears onto the older boy’s shoulder. Yoseob tried not to cry because he was often teased for acting childish, but for some reason, when he was around Jaesoon, he let loose, and finally let all his feelings out.

            “Come on,” Jaesoon called. “Let’s get you to the nurse.”

            Yoseob silently sat in the nurse’s office as Jaesoon placed a bandage on the boy’s head wound.

            “There, it’s not so bad.”

            Yoseob nodded, sniffing silently.

            “So... you have problems with Nichkhun too?” Jaesoon asked.

            Yoseob nodded. “Nichkhun, Taecyeon, Jun. K, you name it. If they’re a kingka here, I’m one of their main targets.”

             “Why? You don’t seem like someone who should be bullied.”

             “It is because they think I’m a baby.” Yoseob sighed. “I’m small, I’m weak, and I like cute things.”

            “That’s a stupid reason to bully someone.” Jaesoon admitted.

            Before Yoseob could respond, the two were interrupted by a familiar voice from across the room.

            “Nurse Kang, do you have those pills for me?”

            The nurse sighed, filling out some paperwork. “For the last time Jang Hyunseung, I cannot give you any pills without a prescription.”

             “But I need them! I can’t take much more of this.”

             “Hyunseung, I will not give you this stuff until a doctor says you need it. Geez, I wish you’d just tell me why you want them so bad.”   

            Hyunseung sighed, “You wouldn’t understand.”

             “I’m sorry Hyunseung. You may stay here, but I have to run these documents to the teacher’s office.” The nurse stood up and walked out, leaving the shaggy haired boy saddened.