I didn't show Hankyung the picture. I don't know what was stopping me. It was like, I knew there was no problem. So he used to be friends with the psychos. So what? Who cares? Hakuna Matata, right? Leave the past in the past.

                And yet.

                And yet, I didn't know how to do it. How to tell him that I knew he was one of them. How to ask him if it really was all in the past, or if he still had ties with them.

                I didn't talk to him first period, and I think he thought I was mad at him.

                But I wasn't mad at him, not exactly. I the picture, looking at Hankyung's smile. Why couldn't he smile at me like that? Was I really so awful that all his smiles around me were fake or unsure?

                Instead, I said, "Yah, Hankyung. Why are ghosts bad liars?"

                "I don't know…" He looked at me, confused.

                "Because you can see right through them!!" I exploded into loud, mostly fake laughter. He just looked lost. "Whatever. Don't laugh at my joke, then." I turned around, sulking.

                That was a joke? Hankyung thought, and I barely stopped myself from smacking him upside the head. Then he tapped me on the shoulder. I ignored him, but then he started digging his thumb into my shoulder, and I turned around.

"One day, a student named Dài Suí Tóng. Teacher say to class, 'Dài Suí Tóng to the office of discipline. ' Many students outside the office of discipline with water buckets. Student ask, “Do we have to put water in the buckets?" Hankyung looked at me expectantly.

                "What are you even saying?" I asked, giving him my best wtf eyebrows.

                "Joke." He answered eagerly. "Like you. Joke."

                "Pfft." I began to laugh. "That's like the least funny joke I ever heard. Water buckets? What?" I laughed even harder.

                As if yours was that good either. What does the opacity of a ghost have to do with their ability to tell lies? He thought, and I laughed even harder, realizing my mistake.

                "Nonono if someone can't lie, you say, I can see right through you. Like, if you say you're a vampire, but you're really obviously lying, like shifting your eyes back and forth, or something, then I say, I can see right through you. It's a play on words." I explained, and Hankyung blinked.

                "Oh. Dái Suí Tóng mean water bucket." He explained.

                "Oh. Oh, yeah, I guess that works." I smiled at him. "I guess it's kinda hard to tell jokes in different languages. You did pretty good."

                Then he smiled back, and I thought everything was maybe okay between us.

                And then I caught Hankyung looking at the picture at lunch, a fond smile on his face. And this isn't picture number one. If it was picture number one, which just had Hankyung in it, I'd be fine with it. Because maybe, he'd be thinking something like, I miss those days. Why did I throw away my bowtie collection? Or something like that.

                But no. He was smiling fondly at picture number two. With Alvin in it. And when he thought I miss those days, my mind did not interpret that to mean the bow tie collection, or whatever. Because nobody likes bow ties, anyways. Of course, my mind interpreted it to mean, 'I miss those days, when I was with Alvin, and I was happy.'

                I stormed over to the table, slamming my tray over the picture.

                "Where did you get that?" I demanded, angry.

                "Kyuhyun." He answered, looking guilty. He knows, he thought, and I felt my face get hot.

                "Well, fine, then. Let's get it all out into the open. You were part of the weird psycho monster hunting group. With bowl cut kid. And they're still looking for you, because you're friends. But not normal friends, because normal friends would just give you a call every now and then. Maybe a letter, if they were feeling especially old fashioned. But these guys follow you to another country. So, what, is he in love with you or something?"

                "Heechul, I…" What can I say, though? He's not wrong. Hankyung thought, and I flipped him off before storming out to have lunch some other place.

                I ended up with Kibum in the drama classroom. "Oh, it's you." He said, looking disappointed. "You're not actually going to want to talk, or something, right?"

                "You know the stupid geeky freaks that broke into our school the other day?" I said, ignoring his sigh of dismay, and longing look at the book he was setting down.

                "I think I might've heard about them. Why?"

                "I think he used to go out with one of them, or something." I scowled, drinking a spoonful of brothy soup I'd ordered. "He totally likes the weirdo more than he likes me."

                "Well. That's not very sensible of him."

                "Oh, shut up. As if you don't get all weird when it comes to Donghae. You know, he's not going to like you back if you don't talk to him first."

                "Ah, so you like Hankyung, then?" Kibum asked, ignoring the jab.

                "What? No! I just don't see how he could like the bowl cut kid more than me. He's so…ugly."

                "And so you're jealous."

                "You know, I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me mad so you can go back to reading your little book. It isn't going to work. I don't like Hankyung, and that's final."

                "Okay. Well, what do you think of Hankyung, then? That's his name, right? Hankyung?"

                "Yeah, you're right. Hankyung is…really irritating. Like, really irritating. He's always lying to me. Like, telling me hes a vampire, when he's really not."

                "You believed something like that?"

                "Shut up. There were other circumstances. Anyways, and everyone likes him so much, and that's really annoying, too. And he's always so dang cool. Like, yesterday he was doing one armed pull ups. And not even trying. And he dresses cool, and is really handsome, and has a really chill personality, even if he can't speak really good Korean. So, I hate him, right?"

                "Um. No?" Kibum answered, but I just plowed on, ignoring him.

                "But then, just as I'm about to get mad at him, he'll do the sweetest things, like rub my back, or give me a hug, or smile and I can't really be mad at him anymore. That's kinda irritating, too. Oh, and sometimes he's so helpless because he doesn't know the language, that even if I'm mad at him, before I know it, I'm helping him out. So, in conclusion…I hate him, but he irritatingly stops me before I can hate him completely?" I finished, feeling unsure of how to describe my relationship with Hankyung.

                "How do you feel about me, then?"

                "Oh, we're friends. Well, we would be better friends if you were less antisocial, but it's okay. I don't really like you enough to be with you a whole lot anyways."

                "How do you feel about Siwon, then?"

                "He's cool except when he gets religious, then he's irritating." I answered. "Is this going anywhere?"

                "Okay, two more questions. How do you feel when Hankyung touches you? You said he hugs you. What do you feel when Hankyung hugs you?"

                "Oh, really good. His hugs are the best. Like, his arms are really strong. And his hands are warm, too. So when he hugs me, I feel like…protected? Is that the word? Kind of like an, 'oh, I'm home' kind of a feeling. And when he rubs my back his hands feel really nice. Because they're so warm. Kinda…tingly, you know? Like it makes my stomach clench a little."

                "What about when Sohee hugs you?"

                "That only ever happened once, Kibum, but it felt…nice. Like any hug, kinda. It wasn't like Hankyung's hugs. Those are like…superb. He's really at expert level, or something. Sohee needs more experience." I concluded, feeling good about being able to answer the questions so well. "So? What's the point?"

                "What do you want to do when Hankyung is with Alvin?" Kibum asked, stealing an apple from my tray and taking a bite out of it. I let him, because I wasn't going to eat it anyways.

                "I thought we were done with the questions?"

                "Just answer it. I'm trying to figure out what the whole situation is, here."

                "Well, Hankyung hasn't been with Alvin, yet. He's just looked at his picture and stuff." I answered haughtily.

                "And?"

                "And what?"

                "How does it make you feel?"

                "Awful! Like I want to stab the stupid nerd's eyes out, or something. Like I only want Hankyung to smile like that at me." I frowned, unpleasant emotions resurfacing. "What's so great about bowl cut, anyways? I'm way prettier. And I can play lots of instruments. And I might not be popular, but at least I have friends. Alvin's got his Chipmunks. That's, like, it. And I'm not part of any weird cults. And I'm like, ten thousand times more pretty. Alvin can't even compare. You don't even understand this, Kibum. He has a bowl cut. And squinty little eyes. With big teeth. Fleshy grey skin. He kind of resembles a goblin, or something."

                "He can't be that bad."

                "No, he is. The only positive quality I can think of is that he's probably smart. But he's not even that smart, because he and his little minions didn't even realize they'd blown up a school until they were inside, and I told them. And I'm not dumb, either. I have a 4.0 GPA. People just think I'm dumb because I'm prettier than them."

                "Okay, okay. I think I know what's going on here." Kibum finally said, and I perked up.

                "All right. What's your diagnosis, doctor?" I quipped, smiling at him.

                "Okay, don't interrupt me, though." I nodded, and he continued. "You have the most epic crush ever on Hankyung. No, don't argue. You do. It's obvious. And you are so jealous of the nerd ex-friend guy that you don't even know what to do with yourself."

                "I am not."

                "Heechul, how long have I known you?"

                "Five years, but it's not important. I'm not in love with Hankyung."

                "You are."

                "I'm not."

                "Fine, be that way. Just don't come running back to me later, looking for advice. I won't give it." Kibum snapped, turning back to his book.

                "Well, I won't. Because I don't need your lame, useless advice. Because I don't like Hankyung."

                "Fine."

                "Good."

                "Fine."

                "If you want to make this a fight, then fine. You're going to lose." I huffed, stalking out of the room, not bothering to bring my tray.

                In the hallway, I ran into Siwon. He was pacing nervously back and forth, and almost pounced on me when I came out of the room.

                "Whoa. Were you—you weren't listening in, were you? Because Kibum is full of crap, and there is absolutely no way I in any way like Hankyung. He's wrong. So you can just—"

                "Kibum? Is that his name?" Siwon smiled eagerly, voice dripping with honey and earnestness.

                "What? Yeah. Why?" I asked, confused.

                "Are you friends with him? Can you introduce me to him?"

                "Uh, yeah. Were kind of fighting right now, though…"

                "Oh, not now! Not now. I mean, I didn't even comb my hair this morning. I don't want to see him now. I was just thinking sometime. If you're up to it, that is."

                "Uh, sure. Why?"

               "Oh, no reason." Siwon smiled shyly. "I went to Youth Group last night, and I saw him there. He was reading a book. He didn't really talk to other people."

                "Ohhhh…" Suddenly I understood. "Is this that whole, Christian fellowshipping thing? Kibum told me about that. How everybody always tries to talk to him to make him feel included and stuff."

                "He seemed lonely." Siwon nodded.

                "No, you don't understand. Kibum doesn't get lonely. Really. In fact, I think I've heard him rant about all the people at church that try to talk to him more than I've heard him rant about anything in my life."

                "Really?"

                "Really, don't try to reach out to him. He likes being alone. Plus, he doesn't really like church people. They're too goody goody for him, or something."

                "But he goes to church."

                "Yeah, and he believes it, too." He'd gotten serious during our religious debates enough that I knew he really did believe in God. "But he's more chill than all of them. Like, oh, good example. He's always telling me Bible stories, you know?" I smiled at this.

                "Omo, that's wonderful!" Siwon smiled.

                "Yeah, but they're always the funniest things. Like The guy that was so fat, he didn't even bleed when he was stabbed. Or the guy that accidentally had with his daughter in law, and then everyone was like, uhhh, awkward." I grinned. Kibum had a knack for picking out stories like that. Then he'd always get upset that they were never covered in class.

                How could they just skip Deuteronomy 28? He'd complain, It's like the best thing ever. There's cannibalism, Heechul. Cannibalism. And they just acted like it didn't even exist.

                "I don't remember that one." Siwon answered, looking lost.

                "Ask Kibum about it. He's the one that read it." I shrugged. "Anyways, he doesn't like people, so don't feel like you have to be his friend in order to keep him in church or something. He really hates that."

                "But—" and then I heard his thoughts. He was so beautiful. Just like Snow White…

                "Oh." I grinned. "Oh. You know, if you do legitimately want to be his friend, it's different. He doesn't like insincerity, but if you really want to be his friend…" I left it hanging, waiting for Siwon to respond.

                "I do! I do. Of course I'm being sincere, Heechul. I wouldn't be insincere about something like this." He cupped my hands in his, and I smiled back. I loved playing matchmaker.

                "Then, of course I will, Siwon." He let out a whoop of glee, pulling me into his arms. I hugged back, because what else was I going to do? He was slightly bouncing up and down, thoughts filled with images of he and Kibum meeting, getting along perfectly, kissing, going on dates, getting married in a church, with Kibum in the most beautiful white dress. I laughed a little.

                "It's really too early to be thinking of marriage now, you know?" I joked, but before Siwon could respond, he was jerked back , and suddenly I was being manhandled, and pulled tightly against someone's chest.

                "Yah! What's the big deal?" I cried, pushing and kicking. I really didn't like being treated like some sort of object. No one just manhandled Kim Heechul and got away with it.

                But then I turned and saw Hankyung's face and the words died in my throat. I stopped pushing, and my stomach clenched. He was growling again, crushing me against his body, even as his face was turned to Siwon, pure anger radiating from his body.

                "Wó de." He said, and I felt my heart ram up into my throat at the words. Why was him speaking in Chinese so hot? Especially with so much feeling behind the words. My hands involuntarily clenched in his shirt. As I did it, his grip on me got even tighter, and he pulled my face into his chest.

                "W-What?" Siwon spluttered, coughing as he got up painfully. Meanwhile, Kibum was walking out of the room, looking confused and worried.

                "What's going on?" He asked, and I saw Siwon's back stiffen. He got up, trying to look as if he hadn't just been thrown across the hall by someone who was smaller than him.

                "Nothing. Nothing at all." He answered, waving his hands frantically at Kibum, who was looking at me and Hankyung with a smirk.

                "Okay." He snorted, and I was pulled back to my senses. I began to pull away from Hankyung, or trying to anyways. His grip was a lot stronger than I expected it to be.

                "Wó de." He repeated, stronger this time, more of a growl seeping into his words. I paused again, feeling my grip go slack for a moment. He needed to stop doing that.

                "Oookay."Kibum cocked his head in Hankyung's direction. "Maybe it's better not to ask. Cool contacts, by the way, but it's not Halloween yet." He looked at me, smirking, and I tried frantically to get out of Hankyung's arms, but it really wasn't working at all, so it looked more like my hands were roaming up and down his chest. "Have fun with that." He smirked, before going back into the classroom.

                When Kibum was gone, Hankyung's grip loosened slightly, shifting so I was more comfortable. But then he turned back to Siwon, who was looking at where Kibum had been with a love struck expression on his face.

                "Wó de." Hankyung snarled, and I wondered what the word meant, if he kept saying it so much. Siwon just looked at Hankyung like he was crazy.

                "What's that even supposed to mean? Heechul isn't yours. He's his own person." Siwon argued, walking closer. "And I just hugged him. Really, you're just overreacting. Now let him go, you're crushing him." As soon as his fingers brushed my shoulder, though, Hankyung grabbed his wrist and threw him away, finally pulling himself away from me to deal with Siwon.

                Siwon didn't even have time to get up before Hankyung was on him again, kicking him back to the floor. I winced, running over to pull Hankyung off of Siwon before he seriously hurt the poor kid.

                When I grabbed his arm, Hankyung looked back, and I saw that his eyes were bright red.

                Oh.

                Well, that was Not Normal.

                "Nǐ wèi tā biànhù?!" He hissed, and I didn't know how to respond, so I read his mind. And now he's defending him?! He roared in his mind, and I wasn't sure what on earth he had against Siwon, but I realized I had to calm him down somehow, and that struggling against him wasn't necessarily the answer. So instead, I wrapped my arms around his torso, and said the only words I knew in Chinese besides Ni hao ma.

                "Wó ai ni."