I folded the papers the counselor had given me and walked back to the classroom where my friends and I were hanging out during lunch. 

                As I walked in, though, the air was tense.  Everyone was sitting quietly with their heads hung

                “What’s going on?” I whispered to my friend.

                “The teacher came in.  Apparently something went wrong with Seokmin and Soonyoung’s project.”

                My eyes widened.  We had been working on the projects for weeks now and they were a huge part of our grade for the semester.  I glanced nervously from Soonyoung to Seokmin.  Both boys were usually so cheerful and hyperactive but they were now sitting on either side of the room, dark looks in their eyes.

                “It’s because this idiot somehow messed up when saving it,” Seokmin spat, his voice full of poison. 

                “My fault?  You’re the one who gave me a memory stick with a bunch of files and expected me to find all the right ones,” Soonyoung shot back. 

                This wasn’t going well.  “Hey guys—”

                Seokmin suddenly kicked a desk next to him, making me flinch.  “You know, I’ve had it with you.  Every time you do something, you mess it up.  You’re a failure.”

                Soonyoung lunged forward, grabbing the other boy by the collar.  “I bet I wouldn’t fail at putting my fist in your face,” he threatened. 

                Our teacher entered the scene just then.  “Hey!  Cut it out, you too.”

                There was a pause.  Then, Soonyoung and Seokmin broke out into smiles.

                “Soonseok talk!  Everybody talk!  Kakao talk!  Baby talk, talk, talk,” they said in unison.

                “We got you,” laughed my friend, putting her arm around my shoulders.

                “You should have seen your face!”

                “What the heck was with that line, Soonyoung?  ‘I bet I wouldn’t fail at putting my fist in your face’.  I was about to die from holding it in!”

                Everybody high-fived, celebrating the success of their prank.  Even the teacher grinned, satisfied with his dramatic timing.

                Only I wasn’t amused.  I clenched my shaking hands.

                “You guys are awful!”  I rushed out of the classroom and into the hall. 

                What were they thinking?  I was worried to death and it turned out just to be a joke at my expense?

                Seokmin followed me.  “Are you okay?”

                “No.  That was a stupid thing to do,” I muttered.  He crouched to look me in the eye and I tried to avoid his gaze, blinking back tears that were starting to form.

                “Are you crying?” he asked, bewildered. 

                I bit my lip and drew in a deep breath.  “I was just really scared, okay?”  My voice cracked and I couldn’t hold back the waterworks any longer. 

                Seokmin looked around, panicked.  He shuffled back and forward, unsure of what to do.  Finally, he wrapped me in a hug.

                “I’m sorry.  We won’t do it again, so don’t cry,” he said, patting my back soothingly.

                “Your project is okay, right?”

                “We probably aced it,” he assured me.

                We broke apart and I wiped the lingering moisture from my cheeks.  “Now that I think about it your acting was really bad.  I can’t believe I fell for it.”

                Seokmin only laughed, helping me dry the last of my tears and giving me another comforting pat on the head before we both went back into the classroom.