Over the next few days, my life at my new school settled into a routine. My classes were fine, but I found myself dreading lunchtime more with each day. Mir and Minhyuk had stopped sitting with me after they discovered I didn’t share their enthusiasm for Junhyung, and my pride wouldn’t allow me to join any group that included him-which meant sacrificing Woonie’s company. I was left to eat alone.

 I made a habit of bringing a paperback book to the cafeteria and reading while I ate, to show anybody who was interested that I actually enjoyed eating alone. For a while, I was even able to forget my troubles by losing myself in the pages of my novel. One day, though, Junhyung’s voice interrupted me.

 “Poor Yoseob! All alone in the world?”

 I laid my book aside and squeezed pepper paste onto my bibimbap on my tray. “I prefer being alone to the company of some people I could name,” I said, determined not to look at him.

 “Brr!” Junhyung shivered. “Is it just my imagination or did it get awfully cold in here all of a sudden?”

 I picked up my book again and fixed my eyes firmly on the page. “If you don’t mind, I’m trying to read.”

“Well, you might find it easier if you turned that book right-side up,” Junhyung pointed out and walked away smirking.

 I was so mad, I wanted to scream. Instead, I closed the book with a snap and throw it to him. I know I shouldn’t have done it but I just couldn’t resist.

 Junhyung turned around, wide-eyed with surprise. I turned my attention to my bibimbap, watching him at the corner of my eye. He stooped and picked up the book. His eyebrows lifted slightly as he looked at its cover, and I remembered-too late that the book was a romance. Junhyung smirked at me, then shoved the book into his back pocket and walked back to the table where Dongwoon and his friends were sitting.

 “Hello, Yoseob. Mind if I sit down?” Lee Joon pulled out a chair and sat down next to me before I could think of a way to refuse. “Have you given any more thought to what I asked you about in chemistry the other day?”

 I still had no idea of what Joon had asked, but I could guess. “I’m sorry, Joon. I’m afraid I don’t remember-“

 “Then let me refresh your memory,” Joon said, smiling and moving his chair a little closer to mine. “I know a little place overlooking the lake that you’d just love. Just think. You and me and a full moon shining on the water-“One of his octopus arms slid around my shoulders and I panicked.

 “I think I hear Woonie is calling me!” I cried. I leaped up and jiggled my tray, overturning my open container of water right into his lap.

 “Oh, Joon!” I gasped. “I’m so sorry!”

 “It’s all right,” he assured me, although his smile looked a little forced. He grabbed every napkin within reach and dabbed at his pants. “Anybody can have an accident.”

 I couldn’t get away fast enough. Not knowing where else to go. I crossed the room to Dongwoon’s table and collapsed into the empty chair next to him.

 Dongwoon was delighted. “I see you finally decided to join us,” he said. “Everybody, this is my cousin Yoseob. Hyung, meet the gang.”

 The gang could have just as easily been called Who’s Who. The handsome brunette was Hyunseung, the yearbook editor. Beside him sat his handsome twin, Jaejin, who, along with Doojoon, was a mainstay of the football team. The eye smile prince, Kikwang, senior class president, sat at one end of the table, while Seungho, starting midfielder for the football team, occupied the other end. The blond boy was Key and across the table from me sat the ever-present Junhyung.

 After he had completed the introductions, Dongwoon turned back to me and frowned slightly.

 “Are you okay, Hyung? You look kind of frazzled. Is something wrong?”

 I glanced over at the table I had just left. “No. Not anymore.”
 Dongwoon turned and saw Joon sitting there by himself. “Oh. Was he pestering you again?”

 “If you’re trying to get away from Joon, you came to the right place,” Hyunseung told me. “He followed Junhyung’s brother around for a while last spring, but now he avoids both Hongki and Junhyung like the plague. I’d love to know what Junhyung said to him!”

“What makes you think I said anything to him?” Junhyung asked innocently.

 “Well, we know you didn’t fight him because his head is still attached to his body.” Kikwang answered.

 “Of course I didn’t fight him! But nothing I could have said would have been half as effective as Yoseob’s method. He just dumped a bottle of water into the poor guy’s lap!”

 Naturally, he’d noticed, though nobody else had. Now everyone within hearing turned to stare at Joon.

 “It was an accident!” I protested.

 Key smiled, revealing his eye smile. “You have our deepest sympathy, Yoseob. Joon was after me about this time last year, and he was chasing Hyunseung the year before that.”

 “What about you, Woonie?” I asked. “Were you ever one of Joon’s victims?”

 Dongwoon mumble something meaningless around a mouthful of kimbap.

 “Woonie never had much trouble with Joon,” Doojoon translated. “Let him try and he’ll see what he wanted.”

 “You’re so cheesy!” Kikwang said.

 With everyone’s attention focused on Doojoon and Dongwoon, I turned to Junhyung.

“If you’re finished with the book I-uh-loaned you-“

“Oh, is that what you call it?” Junhyung asked, smirking. “You sure could have fooled me.”

“-I’d like it back,” I went on as though I hadn’t heard him. “I haven’t finished reading it yet.”

“You should have thought of that before you threw it at me,” he said.

Junhyung rose from his chair and picked up his lunch tray. As he passed the far end of the table, Seungho spotted my book and yanked it out of Junhyung’s pocket. “Hey, Junhyung, since when do you read this stuff?”

“You might say the urge just hit me,” Junhyung said with a perfectly straight face.

“I might say that, but since its got Yoseob’s name on the cover, I don’t think I will. Here, Yoseob-catch!”

Seungho tossed the book down the length of the table, where it landed about two inches short of my outstretched hands.

“You’re lucky!” Junhyung said, smirking wickedly at me.

The more I saw Junhyung, the less I liked him.