Mira faced Jongin to thank him and then got out of his car. 

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she sighed when she thought back to how she had fallen asleep on the rooftop.

Jongin had then explained to her that he literally piggy-backed her all the way back to his car as she was a deep sleeper. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he waved away her apology. “Go on in now, it’s pretty cold out tonight,” he quickly added, not wanting to keep her out for too long in the cold night. 

“Thanks,” she said for the tenth time today. Jongin smiled, amused at the fact that he had gotten Mira to say thank you to him, but then her apologetic expression was gone, it was now replaced by a stern look. “Next time, we better get some work done for the project.” She stated.

Jongin chuckled while saluting her. “Yes ma’am." He said it in a scornful tone. 

He then closed the window of his car and started the engine. He couldn’t help, but smile when he saw Mira standing there out in the cold from his rear-view mirror. She stood there until his car was out of sight and then she entered into her apartment.

Smiling, he drove off to his penthouse.

---

“Sohee’s back,” Jongin announced, remembering how he had seen her over the weekend.

His friends turned to look at him in interest.

“As in the obsessed Sohee?” Sehun asked to make sure he was thinking of the same girl Jongin was talking about.

Jongin gave him a 'dah look'.

Kyungsoo nudged his shoulder. “I think she came back to ask for your hand in marriage,” he joked to which Jongin didn’t even smile to. 

He didn’t even want to imagine that.

Baekhyun light heartedly chuckled at his friend’s comment. “She must have missed her hubby so much in America,” he sarcastically added, earning a punch from Jongin who furrowed his eyebrows at him.

“She seriously haunts me even in my dreams,” Jongin confessed, making his friends laugh.

“If you guys think about it, Sohee really is a nice girl though,” Junmyeon suddenly stated, taking everyone by surprise but they couldn’t help, but agree with him. Since Sohee had always been with Jongin a lot, she basically ended up making friends with them as well. She had a nice bubbly character and was actually kind toward others, but everyone knew how naive she was when it came to the topic love. They also felt sorry toward Jongin as he had to deal with her endless obsession of him. “But, she really needs to open up her eyes and really see what’s ahead of her,” he added.

Sehun rolled his eyes as the older male was once again giving them the fatherly vibe. “Hyung, this isn’t a therapy session. Plus, she’s stupid and stubborn. She knows that Jongin hates her, but still she sticks to him like a freakin gum,” Sehun hated stupid girls the most.

“But seriously, I bow down to that girl. She hasn’t even had a change in her heart for what, like four years. I admire how loyal she is to Jongin,” Chanyeol stated. He really admired Sohee's determination as she still chased after Jongin even though she got turned down plenty of times. 

Jongin groaned in annoyance. “It’s actually been five years,” he corrected Chanyeol’s estimation.

“Seriously, what did you do for her to act this way toward you?” Baekhyun had never actually once asked Jongin about why Sohee liked him so much. Baekhyun was curious and so were the others.

Jongin closed his eyes for a brief second as he remembered that day when Sohee had started to have a crush on him. There were 13 years old back then and Sohee had apparently ran away from home because she had gotten into a fight with her parents. Back then, Sohee was really a troublesome girl who was very secretive and anti-social, she was the complete opposite of her character now. Sohee arrived at the Kim’s property one night because she had nowhere else to go to. She decided to hide in their garden but Jongin had seen her from his room window. The weather was terrible that day. It was pouring with rain and soon after, the thunder and the lightening followed. It annoyed him, seeing Sohee cry as she looked so vulnerable. He hated seeing that sight so he went down to comfort Sohee. He really wasn’t that much of an back then.

Sohee then explained to him why she was in this current state. She trusted him because she thought of him as one of her closest friends. To be exact, Jongin was the only friend she had. She cried as she told him that the weather brought her back memories of when she had gotten into a car accident with her older sister, Semi.

It had been Sohee’s birthday on that particular day so Semi had decided to take her younger sister out. She wanted Sohee to pick out her own gift, but sadly got into an accident because of the weather. The road was just too slippery for her to drive the car on so her parents had always blamed Sohee for her sister’s death. They were angry as to why Semi had to be the one who had to pass away while Sohee survived. Semi was the daughter that they were proud of. She was intelligent, she was beautiful and she was talented. She was the perfect daughter while Sohee just caused trouble for them.

“Cry it out, it’s no use holding it in,” Jongin patted her back as she sobbed nonstop. “Running away and hiding your feelings from your parents won’t help at all. You have to tell them how you truly feel.” He added. 

It was that statement, that advice that changed Sohee’s life completely. She took that advice from Jongin and did in fact reveal how she truly felt to her parents. This resulted in both sides becoming one. Her parents finally understood why Sohee had been troublesome and now they had a strong family bond which Jongin envied.

Sehun snorted. “You should have left her in the rain. So, what if she was crying and throwing a tantrum?” He asked while rolling his eyes. 

His friends shivered at how cold-hearted the youngest male sounded. Sometimes, they felt as if Sehun was the oldest from the group. He just seemed and thought in a much matured way.

“I really feel sorry for your girlfriend-to-be.” Baekhyun retorted, making the others laugh while Sehun just glared at the immature males.

Junmyeon stopped laughing and seriously looked at Sehun. “I hope your views change when you finally get a girlfriend. I also hope you treat her very well because then in throughout the time you spend with her, you’ll realise how much you truly love her because she understands you for who you truly are.” He stated.

Everyone literally groaned. 

“There you go again with your therapy session,” Sehun rolled his eyes at the older male. He almost believed that sometimes Junmyeon really was his personal psychologist.

“Anyway, where were in the seminar hall when the teachers told us to pick our partners?” Kyungsoo asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Jongin hurriedly drank water, trying to create a boundary between Kyungsoo and him as he didn’t want to answer any questions regarding that. 

"Kyungsoo looked everywhere for you, but in the end he partnered up with Hyunsik.” Chanyeol exclaimed, wondering where his friend had been at that time.

“Who did you partner up with?” Sehun asked in curiosity. He knew that Jongin had no escape because they all knew that this project was required to be worked with a partner.

Jongin simply shrugged and then mentally thanked the school bell for saving him, he quickly rushed to his next class. He had never once been so keen to actually attend one of his classes, but it was better than staying there with his friends. He knew that they won't stop asking him questions until they got an answer out of him.

---

Mira had not once bumped into Jongin in school for almost a week. The whole rumour about their relationship had finally died down and Mira was beyond glad. She was extremely happy because her school days were back to normal. She could finally eat in peace and quiet. They weren’t people watching her every step 24/7.

Hyerim was the only one that didn’t back down and still wondered about what happened between Mira and Jongin, but of course like always Mira simply ignored her. However, Mira was happy. She didn’t have to hear them talk about the two of them, she didn’t want to be involved into a conversation regarding Jongin. She was also anxious, she hoped nobody knew that Jongin had partnered up with her for the Social Studies project. If they found out, it would just result in her being more hated on. She would have to deal with the endless ing and the stares from the other students.

She mentally sighed as she headed toward her locker to get her textbooks for the next lesson. The second bell rang, signaling that the students should be in their classes by now. She quickly closed her locker and ran to her Biology class.

---

Some students still took glances to see Mira, but she ignored them even though she really hated it. She couldn’t stand it when she knew that others were judging her. She quickly decided to make her way to the school gardens to eat her lunch when someone appeared out of nowhere, surprising her a bit.

She mentally cursed at the person for giving her quite a fright. She wasn’t used to things that were loud or unexpected. She just didn’t like the feeling of it. When she looked up to see the person, she literally wanted to run away. She didn’t care if people thought of her as a coward, but right now all she wanted to do was just get away from him.

Taejoon smirked as he looked down at her. Mira cursed at how tall he was, his height was intimating. She suddenly started to become angry and asked herself as to why she had to be shorter than him. “Why don’t you eat lunch with me?” He suggested as he took a step closer toward Mira who instantly backed away.

What? Is this boy an idiot? Why would he even ask such an absurd question? “I like to eat lunch by myself,” she sternly replied, trying not to sound shaky. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was nervous. She knew that Taejoon could get angry at her any second. She didn’t want to let her guard down and get slapped again.

“Oh come on, it’s my treat since we got off to a wrong start,” he pestered while his other friends quietly chuckled.

Simply running out of patience, Mira glared at Taejoon and started walking away. Seriously, how ignorant can he get? Her hands curled into fists when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, she knew it was Taejoon and she was ready to use force if he was going to hurt her in anyway.

“Don’t you think you’re being rude now?” He rhetorically asked, really starting to bug Mira. 

Students were already starting to make a circle around them. They were excited and curious to see what would happen next. None of them were worried, they all just wanted a good show. They were being their typical nosy self so they wouldn't miss out on anything. 

Mira groaned as now she was the center of attention. “Move,” she literally hissed in annoyance. He’s such a child! She really wasn’t in the mood to get into an argument with him when she clearly knew that he was going to be his stubborn self.

Taejoon was the school bully. He targeted one student each week to be his victim and made their school lives living hell. He just did it for enjoyment and entertainment. He was failing in every subject, he talked back to the teachers, he smoked in school, he was a complete rebel and the teachers couldn’t do anything about it because his dad was a regular donor to the Academy. His family was loaded with money.

Now, he planned to make Mira his next victim. He chuckled while shaking his head at Mira who coldly glared at him. She literally pushed him aside so she had some space to walk through, but in a split second he grabbed both her wrists and twisted them behind her back. Within minutes, she could feel her back hit the wall behind her. Mira was panicking in her mind, the physical contact was just too much for her.

She hated seeing his face up close and the way she could feel his hot breath on her lips. She had no choice, but to move her head crazily since she couldn’t use her hands anymore. All she wanted to do was escape from his grasp, but he was just too strong for her. She felt vulnerable. Her stomach started to feel uneasy, she hated this feeling. She hated feeling vulnerable. 

“Not so brave now huh?” Taejoon smirked and started to lean in more toward her. 

She wanted to shout for help, she wanted someone to step in, but she knew it would be no use. She was lonely, she was alone on this. Nobody would do anything. All they wanted was a good show and they were getting it.

All of a sudden, the crowd started to get noisy. The smirk on Taejoon’s face disappeared when he turned around and saw Jongin standing there in the crowd. Mira wanted to squeal in joy, her eyes were filled with hope. Someone had mentally heard her call for help. She was suddenly so happy to see Jongin. 

“Oh man, what now? Are you here to save the damsel in distress again?” Taejoon asked, not backing down. He wasn’t going to lose this time.

Mira yearned for Jongin to just grab her hand like always and take her away from the crowd. However, they were no actions from him, he simply stood there and looked at Taejoon. He hadn’t even once glanced over at her direction. What surprised her even more was when he walked away. She blinked a couple of times, making sure she had seen the right thing and yes she was right. Jongin had just walked away as if he hadn’t even seen this scene take place in front his very own eyes. 

Did that just happen? A wave of disappointment hit her, but she shook her head at her naivety. 

How stupid was she to think that Jongin would actually help her? 

Even if they had spent some time together that didn’t mean that they had suddenly grown closer to each other, but she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. She had this bittersweet feeling and she didn’t like it at all.

Before this act could continue, she quickly ran away from Taejoon and the crowd while they were distracted.