[CONTENTID1]

eighteen: you and me, we're special [/CONTENTID1][CONTENTID2]

["Oh god no."] [/CONTENTID2][CONTENTID3]

There were only small, barely noticeable changes in Juyeon's life now, but things were slowly and surely getting better.

Maybe it was the fact that Juyeon had finally accepted the Problem Children. She was never a girl to dwell on things for too long, especially if they upset her, and although it still seemed surreal at some moments—like wading through water, or living in a dream—Juyeon knew it was real. And maybe that helped improve her in the eyes of her classmates as well.

It only made sense to her after she tried toning down the badass- facade, since it was clearly not working. After all, why would they be nice to a girl who so obviously denied their very existence?

The students, at least the ones in Class 44, weren't as openly hostile as before. Juyeon knew they still looked down on her, and they definitely weren't too opposed to the idea of killing her, but it wasn't as bad as before. Sumi ignored her at school, but sometimes made small conversation with her in their room or brought her more bandages. Little things, like a roommate should.

Sehun was a bit different too. While he was still cold and an infinitely annoying jerkass to her, he no longer seemed to truly hate her, and Juyeon noticed most of his killing intent had disappeared. That was good enough for her, and now she had the memory of a blushing, lisping Sehun to brighten up her day at any point in time.

Juyeon was also growing used to the loneliness. Well, it still , but she was no longer desperately hoping Exo would pay some attention to her. In between Sehun's little moments of acknowledgement, Sumi's small talk, and the dorky PCs she sat with nervously engaging in occassional conversations with her at lunch, Juyeon paid less attention to Exo and finally felt free.

Even better: she was finally starting to catch up in her classes. The day Juyeon raised her hand in History class and answered Professor Strange's question had been a good day. Everyone had stared at her in shock. "But she's a normal," they had whispered. "How does she even know that?"

Juyeon was also quickly becoming the Librarian's assistant. The Librarian had even suggested she could work as a real assistant volunteer next term, something which made all parties happy. It would definitely be good for Juyeon's resumé—turns out, there weren't any clubs in High Class, unless you counted Extracurriculars.

It was just a few days after Juyeon's first month in High Class (a great celebration that Sumi awarded her with a cookie for) when Kai teleported in front of her during break.

Juyeon had been minding her own business when Kai suddenly materialized right in front of her on the other side of her desk, arms crossed and his head resting on top of his forearms. The sudden closeness (and the shock) made Juyeon squeak and once again smack her knee hard under the table.

"What is your problem?" Juyeon complained, rubbing her leg.

"I should be saying that," Kai said in a voice that was just bordering whiny. "I just don't get you, sweetheart."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I thought you must have been super interesting after Sehun started liking you—" there was an irritated "I DON'T like her" on Juyeo