May 28 (Friday)

Okay, it seems unreal that a soon-to-be sophomore already passed Physics and Trig/Pre-calculus already, but there’s a story behind it. I’m far from being a genius. If I was then English and Chinese would be a breeze.

Here’s a little background. When my parents divorced, I was six. My mother originally took me into her custody because I was the only obedient child. So my first years of schooling were with my mother.

In my first year of school, the teacher told my mother that she was concerned because I was at the bottom of my class. Everything that was taught in class was extremely hard for me because it took longer for me to absorb the information. My mother freaked out, assuming that I had high potential to turn out mentally retarded so she took action. She put me through multiple programs and treatments to improve my thought process. The programs focused on Math and Science since my Korean seemed to be at a passing level. It was successful and I become one of the top students in my school.

Since I started living with my father at the age of nine, the program was discontinued and studying became harder. With my mother, I wasn’t allowed outside until all of my work was completed. With my father, he trusted me to do my own work so he let me do whatever I wanted. That’s how my rank slipped from #1 to top ten. He fought for custody over me because he didn’t want another man to raise his child and he saw how unhappy I was with my stepfather. My stepfather was extremely dominant over my mother, making her favor his kids more, causing me to feel like I was their adopted child.

Jong Kyu and Yongsun welcomed me back with open arms when my father won the custody battle. Even though the three of us were fighting in the courthouse, the judge saw that I was happier so he let me stay with them. Thinking back, Yongsun was so adorable at that time, too bad he can’t go back.

That’s how the custody dilemma went with my family.

Remembering the happiness of being with my brothers is the only thing that’s holding me back from killing Yongsun right now. He’s taking up all of the hot water in the house. I don’t usually take a shower before school, but last night I went (sorta) straight to bed when I came home from the car shop. It’s like 7:00 now and it’s freezing in my bathroom. It took my about 10 minutes longer because I had to force myself to stop trembling.

When I was fully ready, (with three layers to warm myself up) there was only ten minutes before the first period of the day started. Yongsun was calmly putting on his shoes because his school was barely 5 minutes away by bike. When I left the apartment, I smacked Yongsun upside the head and took keys off of the wall. He tried to chase after me, but the elevator doors shut close just as he reached me.

At the bottom of my building complex, I rushed over to the bike rack and unlocked Yongsun’s bike. He didn’t need it as badly right now so he can walk his to school. Riding his bike was uncomfortable since he was taller than me, causing the seat to be higher for his legs, not to mention me being in the uniform’s skirt.

Grateful that I had three layers of clothing on, my bike was in full gear. The only problem with using a bike is that I had to lock it to the bike rack. Fumbling with the lock, someone from behind helped me secure the lock around the bike’s tire. I didn’t care to look at who it was when thanking them, getting to class was my priority. However, they didn’t approve so they grabbed my wrist and dragged me in the opposite direction.

This is when I noticed that it was Joomin. I told him that class was starting and I didn’t want to be late. He ignored me, just continuing to drag me to who knows where. His grip increasingly got tighter as we got closer to the gym. Once we got in there, he released my arm after flinging me into the equipment room.

Usually the whole molestation situation thing would happen here, but it didn’t. Joomin didn’t try anything lewd, instead he was angry at me. Somehow this bet made Joomin develop a grudge for me. None of this made sense, especially when he shoved me harshly against the wall before punching me in the face. I tried to slump down the wall, but he wouldn’t let me, holding me up by the collar of my blazer. He didn’t say a word, he would just hit me. Besides the punch in the face, he would aim for my torso so the bruises wouldn’t easily be seen. After he seemed to be satisfied for a bit, he released my clothes and paced in the middle room to burn off any additional steam he had inside him. My body screamed at me to slide down the wall, but I knew that if I wanted to escape then it had to be while I’m standing.

It’s Fight or Flight right now and I chose…both. When Joomin got close enough, I kicked him in the shin, hard enough to make him stumble, then bolted out of the room faster than someone could say, “Chimichanga on a plate.”

It was still in the middle of class so there wasn’t a way to sneak into class without being late so I ran straight for the nurse’s office. At the beginning of the year, I broke my arm so daily trips to the nurse’s office for some type of medicine over the course of three months. Sometimes, she lets me stay in her office during class, just have to make sure to help her out when she needs it.

I made it to her office before a limping Joomin could catch me. I begged her to let me stay in her office and she agreed, I just had to help her with filing papers. Joomin came stumbling in, glaring at me who was just pretending to be only focusing on the task at hand. Nurse Hwang asked him what happened, he just replied that hit his leg against something hard. She guided him to bed, forcing him to sit down while she went to grab her implements. That’s when she realized she forgot her key to the medical cabinets in the faculty room.

My eyes widen when she said she’ll be right back because that means it’s Joomin and me alone AGAIN. He acted like he was in pain, but when she faced me and away from him, he smirked. A whimper escaped my throat, but I had to cough so it wouldn‘t seem to obvious of how desperately I needed her to catch on. Fortunately, she got the message and told me to put the filing on hold for a moment to go fetch her key from the faculty room.

I nodded my head, leaving the room to get her key. Thankfully, the faculty room wasn’t far so I didn’t have to be that cautious about another one of Jong Kyu’s friend jumping out of nowhere to get me. I made my way to the faculty room and back safely.

Giving the key back, I quietly went back to filing the papers. Joomin’s eyes were always on me, sending shivers down my back. Looking at the clock, there was only 20 more minutes before the bell rang for everyone to go to second period. That’s when I realized that I have music in fourth period, .

To distract myself from the depressing thought, I checked my phone. Taehyun messaged me a little while ago, but I’ll wait till second period for him. Right now, Dae-yeol was extremely worried on my whereabouts. He sent around 15 messages, impatiently waiting for my answer. With the little time there was to explain everything, my text was simply, “I’ll tell you later.”

Oppa just replied with a simple, “okay” because he could probably guess my discomfort. I thought at this moment, telling Jong Kyu what just happened was a bigger priority. I texted him and after he replied, I told him what happened, he went full big brother mode.

“WHAT?!?! JOOMIN IS DEAD!!”

“Just hold on. I want to know what pissed him off first.”

“Damn it, what happened to your ‘bite first, ask questions later’ personality? Why can’t I be pissed off when he done that to you?!”

“Please…I don’t want our emotions to rule our minds right now. Plus, I sparred with Yongsun before so I can take a punch. Please, Jong Kyu”

“Fine, but once I find out the reason, I’m going to punch him. It’s second period now, go to class and….can’t believe I’m saying it, don’t leave Dae-yeol’s side, okay?”

“Neh~~~~ Jong Kyu ^_^ At least you trust Oppa a bit. See you during class.”

“Don’t misunderstand! This is his first test.”

Jong Kyu always was a softie, he just claims that he doesn’t want to argue with such a stubborn person like me so he gives in.

In second period, it was the class with both Dae-yeol and Jung Hye. Eonni sensed that something happened so she dragged me on the side with Oppa and demanded that I tell them. My eyes were downcast as I relayed the incident this morning to them. Like my brother, Jung Hye was extremely pissed off and wanted to give Joomin a taste of what 4 years of Tae Kwon Do can do. Oppa gingerly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closely to him. Dae-yeol was the one to calm down Eonni from her rage to make sure she didn’t do anything rash. Eonni asked me if I took care of the torso, but I shook my head, explaining that I didn’t even know if bruises were visible on my skin or not.

Jung Hye clicked her tongue, shooting her hand up to gain the teacher’s attention. Our seonsaengnim noticed her outstretched arm and allowed us to go to the restroom. Dae-yeol released me, but he had a really sad expression as we left the class. On the way there, I decided to tell Eonni that Jong Kyu was my big brother because he won’t forgive Joomin any time soon, so I needed Eonni to have a clear head just in case Jong Kyu blows up.

In the restroom, I was facing the wall’s direction when Eonni lifted up my shirt to see if there was any physical signs of abuse. All over my torso area were faint bruises, the type that darkened over time before it heals. Her rage skyrocketed again, but she kept it to herself to act like an adult. She lightly tapped the darker marks, cringing with me when I winced from the pain. Jung Hye apologized to me, saying that today, instead of idol hunting, we’re going to a hospital to check for internal damage. There was no way to protest so after dabbing the cut on my face with a wet paper towel, we went back to class. Oppa was very displeased to hear the results.

Nothing happened in third period since I had no one in that class. Not Oppa or Eonni nor Jong Kyu and his crew. This was my history class which weirdly was the class that was to give out the science final exam. History was the only class that it was mandatory for everyone and since we don’t get tested on the subject, this class holds the final exam for the students. I’m grateful that Joomin didn’t aim for my head, otherwise I would be royally screwed.

Great…It was lunchtime. After this, I’ll have to deal with Joomin’s glaring, Jong Kyu’s rage, and Kyu-Yong just being annoying. Oppa went to get food for the both of us, he was too afraid to let me get my own food. Eonni wanted to distract me so she started to go (quietly) nuts about me not telling her about Jong Kyu. The mood lightened up a little bit as a smile was apparent on my face when Dae-yeol showed up with the plate of food. We quietly ate while secretly sneaking glances to Jong Kyu’s table to see how they are reacting.

Joomin was still glaring at me, but I could see Jonggie glaring at him. When Joomin turned back to his friends, his scowl automatically went into a flashy smile. Joomin looked at my brother and scooted closer, putting his arm around his shoulders like nothing happened. Jong Kyu had his disgusted face on, pushing Joomin’s arm off and left the table. All of his friends followed him with their eyes as he made his way to our table.

When he reached us, we pretended not to notice him until he sat himself down like it was a normal routine. He put his head down, ordering me to wake him up when lunch ended. I shrugged and resumed eating with Oppa.

After a few awkward moments of everyone in shock of what was happening, they finally went back to their own thing, giving Jung Hye the opportunity to initiate a conversation. Her voice was barely a whisper because we really didn’t want anyone else to hear.

“Umm, Jong Kyu-sunbae? Sunbae?”

Jong Kyu stirred in his sleep and answered her, “What?”

“Don’t you think you should be with your friends if you’re trying to find out the reason for Joomin’s behavior?”

Jong Kyu didn’t think about that, like expected. “Eh, my plan was to just kick his first and then make him spill out the reason, but the babo over here said don’t.” He jerked his thumb in my direction as he said it.

A smile went onto Jung Hye’s face as she turned to me, “See, I told you. Let me kick his and then we’ll find out the reason quicker. Babo. Dae-yeol you should convince her to let us get revenge.” A smirk went onto Jong Kyu’s face to know that he had someone on his side against me.

Dae-yeol quickly shot down both of them, “If you guys got revenge, couldn’t he tell the faculty and then the both of you will get expelled from here. Hyeri is just trying to prevent that so let’s try her way.” He understands what I was trying to do. “If it takes too long to find out why, then I can bring a couple of bats from home if you want. Aluminum and wooden.” Maybe not.

Jonggie’s expression softened and nodded, “Hmm maybe you ain’t so bad. So now it’s 2 ½ against 1. We’re not going to wait long, Hyeri.” I rolled my eyes and shoved a piece of kimbap into my brother’s mouth before he could make another snide remark.

His face scrunched up because it was tuna salad rolls and he absolutely hates tuna. He raised his arm and lightly whacked my arm while I was trying hard not to spit out my food from laughter.

Jung Hye tried to distract everyone from this morning again by asking about Jong Kyu and me. Jonggie answered the questions he felt comfortable with and narrowed his eyes at the ones he didn’t like.

Oppa and me exchanged looks and we both understood each other. The two oldest thought alike, apparently like the same things, and are very protective of anyone close to them. We both thought that those two should be with each other, maybe Jung Hye would calm down from her fan girl high.

Their time was cut short by the bell so we went off to fourth period. Usually, Jong Kyu would walk ahead of me to keep up the “we-don’t-know-each-other” act, but since he broke it, he walked alongside me with his arm on my head. His arm was heavy, but he was unrelenting about taking it off so we just made our way to the music class.

Even in class, Jonggie refused to leave my side, just in case Joomin came over to cause trouble. Everyone gave us funny looks, but he glared them away. Anyone could just feel the anger coming from my brother when he faced his friends just to see Joomin the center of attention. I placed my hand over Jonggie’s wrist and gave it a reassuring squeeze that there was no permanent damage. Of course, I wasn’t sure if there was or wasn’t any permanent damage caused by the beating.

Jong Kyu turned to face me and asked for my phone. I just silently handed it over to him. He started going through my phone so I started drawing in my notebook. All of the instruments were occupied so the two of us were sitting at the small table against the wall. I started to get suspicious of my brother when keyboard noises came from my phone. I tried to peer over his shoulder, but he hid the screen from me. I pouted, resulting in a flick on my forehead.

Focusing on the red spot visible on my forehead, Jong Kyu finished what he was doing. He handed me back my phone, left it unlocked so I could see what he did. He sent a message to Eonni,

“Hoobae, this is Jong Kyu. After school, can you take care of Hyeri for me? I’m going to be with my friends and see if I can get Joomin to talk. I don’t care if that guy, Dae-yeol, tags along, just make sure he’s not in the room when the doctor checks Dongsaeng’s bruises. Text me using Hyeri’s phone what the doctor says, okay?”

I had an evil grin on my face when I turned to face Jonggie. He noticed it, feeling slightly uncomfortable until he found out that my smirk was just for me to hug him in thanks. Once again, everyone gave us funny looks, but this time we both glared them away.

Now, it was after school. Jung Hye and Dae-yeol didn’t even let me put my books back into my locker before dragging off campus. For a moment, they hesitated. Then they had some sort of telepathic conversation, telling each other to take a cab.

Oppa paid despite my protests while Eonni quickly whisked me into the hospital. She did all the talking for us. Junggie also filled out all the paperwork and I was just fiddling with Oppa’s fingers to pass the time.

“Lim Hyeri?” A nurse’s voice rang out. The three of us rose up and followed her into a room. The nurse told us that the doctor will be in here shortly, walking out shortly after.

Thankfully, when the doctor walked in, it was a she. She asked questions, taking brief notes on the situation. Once she got what she needed, Dr. Hwang, asked me to take off my shirt. Oppa’s eyes widen momentarily, excusing himself to go outside. I let out a small laugh, thanking him just as he shut the door.

The doctor did all the required procedures to check all my injuries. She excused herself, saying that she has to go get the printout from the next room. Eonni helped me put my shirt back on.

When Dr. Hwang came back, she said there was no permanent damage, but I would have to be more careful. The bruises would darken over the next few days, causing more pain than what I was experiencing now. And since she read my record on how I heal a bit slower than the average human, my bruises might take 2-3 weeks before completely healing.

With a prescription for mild painkillers in Oppa’s possession, we left. Sitting in a cab once again, I gave my phone to Eonni who quickly tapped the buttons, texting Jong Kyu everything the doctor said. Oppa slowly pushed my head onto his shoulder instantly making me relax. Within moments, the low buzzing of the cab’s engine lulled me to sleep.

When I woke up, nausea slightly hit me because someone was rocking me back and forth. My eyes slowly opened to see Dae-yeol carrying me bridal style to my lobby door. He noticed me waking up after shifting my position in his arms. Dae-yeol asked if I was okay to walk and I nodded. Using my key and pin, the…both of us got in.

“Where’s Jung Hye?”

“She said she’ll pick up your medicine while I take you home. Why? Do you feel uncomfortable?”

“No, just wondering. Eonni usually sticks to me like glue when I’m injured. One time, with a tiny cut, she always carried around two boxes of band-aids. Making sure that my cut was safe from infection.”

The two of us entered the elevator just for my childhood bully, Chang-Joon, to roughly bumped me out of the way. Oppa became protective, but I tugged on his sleeve, telling him that I just wanted to lie down right now. He nodded and we went to my apartment. I let the two of us inside to see my dad sitting on the couch watching sports. He turned around and a confused look spread across his face.

Dae-yeol introduced himself as my boyfriend to my father and told him the situation that happened in school so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings of any sort. My dad had that furious look in his eyes, but it softened when he saw my pouting face. There was no need for extra problems so just leave everything alone. He told Dae-yeol that he has to go pick up the groceries so Oppa was in charge of me. Dae-yeol became his dorky self as he stood upright and saluted my father as he left.

With just Oppa and me in the apartment, we decided to relax on the couch to wait for Jung Hye. Oppa flipped through the channels, stopping on the music station. Right now, Inkigayo was playing. The two of us followed the song, doing the hand choreography. That’s when the buzzer rang. After pressing a few buttons, Eonni was allowed in my building. Minutes later, she arrived at my doorstep.

Reading my facial expression, she explained that Jong Kyu told her what number our apartment was. I nodded. The painkillers in the bottle on the kitchen counter caught my eye. Why does it look like horse pills? The damn pills were HUGE. Dae-yeol voiced my thoughts.

“Why are the pills this big? I swear the doctor said MILD painkillers”

“I don’t know, I just know Hyeri has to take one a day. Any more and she’ll be sedated like she’s in a coma. Or at least, that’s what the pharmacist said.”

“Umm, are you okay with that Hyeri? Because those pills are way bigger than aspirin.”

“I’m fine Oppa, if the doctor says to take the pills then I have to listen, don’t I? Now can we just relax and sleep?” This time, I’ll admit that I tried to add aegyo into my expression. The two elders fell for it.

“Arasseo.” they both said before joining me on the couches.

Eonni gave me one of the painkillers and water, swallowing it was really hard. “Yuck, the pill has a nasty aftertaste.” I shuddered from the nastiness. “I can’t believe I’m going to have to take that for the next 2 weeks.”

“Doctor’s orders, remember? Then at least it’ll take away the pain, saenggie.” Jung Hye cooed.

After making distorted facial expressions to each other, we all sat down on the couches. The two couches were pressed right up against each other so one of the couches armrest blocks the other couch forming a barrier. I set it up like that because whenever Jong Kyu brought back women, naturally I had to sleep on the couch.

Dae-yeol chuckled when he saw curl up into a ball in my little barricade. He rubbed my back which allowed me to feel really relaxed. I wasn’t facing the other two so I didn’t know what they were doing, but it became quite clear when Oppa gently shifted me so my body was straight and he was holding me from the back. With one of his arm under my body, the other over my waist, and Jung Hye snapping pictures of us, my face went the reddest it ever went. I twisted my body so I would face Oppa and hid my face against his chest. Eonni was giggling in the background and I could just tell Oppa was smiling too. The painkillers then chose to come out and make me feel woozy. My eyelids had gotten heavy with sleep and Dae-yeol whispered that it’s best that I didn’t fight it. Who am I to question sleep? I fell asleep shortly after.

I woke up around 7:30 pm. My Appa noticed me and asked if I was okay.

“Neh Appa, I’m fine. How long have I been out?”

“Well, according to your friends you were asleep since 4:00 so about 3½ hours. They left a message saying that they’re sorry they couldn’t stay longer and that I need to watch over you a whole lot more.”

I groaned, they did not just give my dad parenting advice. “Did they really say that, that you have to watch over me more?”

“Mmhmm, but I highly doubt you want that from your old man, right? Then do you know where Jong Kyu is?”

Uhhh Appa isn’t supposed to find out Jong Kyu is clubbing, but my dad is a pro at spotting liars. Urgh, here goes nothing. “Umm, Jong Kyu went with his friends to a club.”

Dad was fuming already, he was against drinking before graduating high school. Before he could say anything, I added in quickly, “But Appa don’t get mad at him. He’s trying to be an older brother. It was one of his friends who had hit me and he’s playing nice to find out why he hit me.”

“Oh okay, I’ll let Jong Kyu off the hook this time, wait a HE hit you?!!?”

Aww . I just nodded, hanging my head low after. Appa sat next to me and ruffled my hair. Appa comes off as goofy and weak, but he has been in the military for five years, he is still respected even after his discharge. If you piss him off or try to attack him, he could easily shove your nose into your skull. That’s why I don’t want him to get involved because he’s where Jong Kyu had gotten his personality from, the short temperedness.

Appa sensed that the conversation ended already so he kissed the top of my head and told me that dinner will be ready in a hour. I flashed him a smile before heading to my room to get my pajamas for a shower.

In the shower, the water had stung my skin at first, but then it felt soothing and helped relieve the tension from the bruises. Appa had told Yongsun not to bother me so there was no pounding on my bathroom door.

When dinner was ready, the three of us ate. Yongsun, being the brat he is, started asking about what happened. I told them the entire story and then Yongsun realized something extremely important to him.

“Wait Noona…”

“Yeah?”

“Where’s my bike?”

My eyes widened and I kept repeating ‘ ’ in my mind. “Uhh, I’ll pick it up tomorrow, okay?”

He glared at me, but Appa smacked him upside the head so he just mumbled, “It’s fine Noona, I can go pick it up myself. Didn’t you say you have that tutoring thing anyway?”

“Oh, right. Komawo Dongsaeng, I forgot my entire week was filled up. Mianhae for forgetting your bike again.”

“It’s fine, you just owe me an ice cream.”

I chuckled, “Neh Dongsaeng.”

With that, dinner ended. Appa and Yongsun went into different rooms while I stayed in the kitchen, doing the dishes. Washing dishes was a perfect distraction at the moment. When I finished, I went into the room, sending quick messages to my elders that everything was fine. I added into Oppa’s text that we still have to go to the library tomorrow.

I lied down onto Jong Kyu’s bed to relax since it was too cumbersome to climb onto my bed. It was about 9:15 now and Jonggie still didn’t come back. Waiting up for him was a pain so a little nap couldn’t hurt.

*TEEN TOP WE GONNA ROCK IT, DROP IT, TOP IT. HEY DON’T STOP IT POP IT* My ringtone for Jonggie went off. I peeked at the clock, 12:20 AM. Oh Hell Nah. I answered the phone call.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Hey, is this Jong Kyu’s Dongsaeng?” Sounds like Kyu-Yong…

“Yeah, why what’s wrong with him?”

“Oh well, he’s kinda drunk as and he said to call you. We’re in front of his apartment building, but we don’t know which one is his. Can you pick him up?”

“Arasseo, I’ll be down in a few minutes.” Thankfully, my ‘pajamas’ are actually Jong Kyu’s old clothes that he thought were out of season. (Sometimes I think my brother is gay.) I took off my glasses, unraveled my hair form their braids, and went to the lobby.

I think that Jong Kyu wouldn’t be able to stand on his own without his friends. Sure enough, right outside is Jong Kyu is leaning on his friend for support, his mouth open like he just threw up. I opened the door and bowed to them. Trying my best to hold Jong Kyu upright, I bowed again before dragging the deadweight to the elevator.

Halfway to the elevator, it felt like Jonggie’s weight tripled and I was nearly crushed. I was two seconds away from just collapsing when someone lifted my brother off of me. It was Chang-Joon.

“Errr, thanks for taking my brother before he smashed me. I’ll umm take him back now.”

Chang-Joon rolled his eyes giving me a sarcastic remark, “Just so he could fall on top of you again? Babo, hurry operate the elevator and I’ll carry him.”

Shock washed over my face, but that was soon literally kicked away since Chang-Joon was getting impatient. Quickly, I made my way to the elevators, pressing all the necessary buttons and swiping the cards.

In the elevator, discomfort was obvious in my behavior. My brother was long passed out so he wasn’t aware of what was going on. Only like ten seconds passed when Chang-Joon asked, “Was that your boyfriend earlier?”

“Yes, it was.” Over the years, I learned that I had to be very direct with my answers. Otherwise, he would ask the perfect questions to make me say something that he could use against me.

“Hmm, good job. You really landed a handsome. Is there anything else in it for you, is he rich?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care about that type of thing.”

“So even if he was dirt poor, you would still go out with him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why do you care?”

“Hmm, just curious~~” He dragged out the ’s’ using a cutesy tone.

*DING* The elevator pulled up to my floor. Before I could even open my mouth to say thank you, Chang-Joon already walked out of the elevator, still carrying my passed out brother.

Reluctantly, I walk with him to my apartment. Once inside, Chang-Joon went to our room (with my guidance) and put Jong Kyu onto the bed. He came back out into the kitchen where I was making honey water to help with Jonggie’s hangover he was going to have tomorrow.

He cleared his throat to get my attention, “Well your brother is in his bed.”

I faced him, being extremely formal, bowing and all. “Kamsahabnida for your generosity, Chang-Joon-sshi.”

That seemed to tick him off, “Yah, I’m still Chang-Joon-sshi? Having known you for all these years and I’m still considerably a stranger?”

“Well, sorry. They don’t make special honorifics for childhood bullies.”

“Whatever, night.”

“Night, Chang-Joon-sshi.” I just added fuel to the fire and it broke his tiny limit. He walked up to me and placed me into a death grip hug. His hands were around my waist level so he pressed heavily onto my bruises. He dropped his hands when he heard my whimper. As an alternate, he opted for blocking me with his arms from moving anywhere except into his embrace.

His voice came out more angered than before, “Why are you injured?”

“…”

“I said, why are you injured? Hyeri, don’t forget that my parents are your dad’s boss. Don’t make me play that card.”

“Ugh, I just got into an accident so I got a couple bruises here and there. It’s not a big deal, no permanent damage.”

“What type of accident that you would get bruises just here and there.”

“It’s none of your business, now will you please leave, it’s nearly 1:30 in the morning and I have an appointment tomo- or actually today so can we please get some sleep.”

“Fine, but this conversation isn’t over.” Chang-Joon leaned in to emphasize that he was in control right now. “Arasseo, my little babo?” I glared at him for calling me a babo. He laughed quietly to himself, turning away to leave, but not before planting a light kiss on the top of my head.

When he left, I cursed him out. He pissed me off to no end all the time, but this is the first time he kissed me. Knowing him, he was just teasing me. In his school, Chang-Joon’s reputation is a manwhore, despite him being the class’ slave, so he’s probably just keeping up his image. ~~~BABO~~~ that word rang through my mind as I made Jong Kyu more comfortable on his bed and climbed onto mine, slipping into dreamland almost instantly.