The school gates stood like gateway arches that led to misery and gloom. The zealous warmth that sparked in her ten minutes ago has now dispersed into thin air, leaving behind a trail of sighs and reluctance.

It was quiet. The air was tranquil and clear. There were no signs of movement except for the slight swaying of the trees that the school and their students had planted decades ago. It was exactly how Joohyun liked - the silence and equilibrium that weaved and echoed throughout the entire area. If only every day was like this, she thought. If only.  

By the time she reached her class, all attention focused on her, sending her nervous chills dancing down her spine. She held her image however, and stepped in, closing the door behind her, keeping her back towards the door. She believed that showing your back means showing your weakness and showing your weakness means you will be stepped on. So she never showed her back… at least, not to a class full of questionable humans.

"Sorry I'm late… sir" Joohyun apologised, head tilting forwards in small acts of respect though not the usual student apology that accompanied with a 90 degree bow. She looked directly at the teacher's eyes immediately after the pause however, to finish off with his teacher status. Her cold eyes seem to pierce into his as he quickly looked away and searched for the classroom roll, writing a note next to her name.

"This is your 11th time this semester and it has only been three weeks. See me during your break," he ordered, earning an eye roll from Joohyun.

"Can I sit down now?" she asked, her eyebrows slightly raised, clearly annoyed at his bluff.

He opened his mouth and frantically tried to give her a smart answer but the only sound that escaped was 'uh'.

Joohyun looked straight ahead and soon focused on the empty seat on the second last row to the very left of the classroom (from the students’ perspectives) next to the windows. This was her second favourite seat. She had given her favourite to Kim Hyorin, her best friend of three years.

"Let's continue where we stopped because of someone," the teacher said, emphasising the 'someone' as he looked at Joohyun's direction but only for a quick glance before diverting his gaze back toward the rest of the class, just as Joohyun glanced up and glared at him. "Who's opinion did we hear last? Kyungsoo? No?"

"If you're talking about the opinion that was intercepted a minute ago, then it was me sir," a male voice spoke, alerting the attention of a few female students. He stood up and waved his notebook in the air smugly, his head shifted slightly to the left, also in Joohyun's direction, clearly irritated to have his moment in the spotlight so ungracefully interrupted.

Morons, Joohyun silently mouthed.

"Oh, sorry Baekhyun, please continue," the teacher hastily spoke, afraid of losing the class's attention.

Baekhyun pushed back his doubtful glasses and cleared his throat, gulping down on his own saliva. "As I said, after looking through the evaluations of cleaning duties and observing the grade's performance for the first two weeks, I have thought about strategies to encourage enthusiasm,"

His statement was received with a mixed response as some showed interest while some others expressed their irritation. Down by the back row however, were a number of ignorant students; their attention too focused on their own activities.

"What is this?" Hyorin whispered, rolling her eyes and kicking the back of Joohyun's seat in frustration.

"Yah!" Joohyun muttered annoyed. She knew what this meant.

"Just leave things the way they are," Joohyun demanded clearly miffed about all this stupidity. She stood up, body and head slanted to the left like the unconcerned person she is. Mr Yoo averted his focus from Baekhyun to Joohyun, ready to speak up on Baekhyun's behalf when Joohyun cut him short. "We've wasted 15 minutes on something irrelevant."

Hyorin sniggered while Joohyun smirked; looking at their homeroom teacher's flabbergasted face. He seemed to realise the truth in her statement and asked a rather speechless Byun Baekhyun to take his seat.

"But sir-"

"We'll hear it later,"

Joohyun extended her hand behind her back and Hyorin hi-fived it. That's another goal for the JH duo. 

Joohyun's mind drifted away again. She didn't quite like the lessons, neither enjoyed school altogether. She only knew that it's the only place she can feel safer. She can sleep more peacefully there too.  By the time the first half of the day has ended, Joohyun's head had nodded off to sleep once almost every five minutes. This detail was not missed by Baekhyun however, who planned to make Joohyun pay for his humiliation.

Most of the class had cleared out of the classroom, eagerly rushing to the cafeteria. Hyorin walked around to Joohyun's desk, observing the neat alignment of her stationery. Her opened notebook scribbled with dots and lines, crafted by her half-conscious self and limp hands. Hyorin sighed, taking a snack bar and a bottle of strawberry milk from her bag and placed them on a corner of Joohyun's desk, then quietly made her exit, sliding the door gently behind her.

"Poor girl," she thought, her legs walking towards where her nose smelt of food.

--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--

"Aish that was so humiliating!" Baekhyun agonised, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"You," Jongdae started, furrowing his eyebrows. "Don't you think it's too early to already discuss about that?"

"Why?! Not you too?!" Baekhyun moaned. "Has this world already turned its back on me?" he complained, kicking about from the childish temper he has. Jongdae 'tsked-tsked', clicking his tongue in disapproval as he observed Baekhyun's exaggerations.

Students began filling in the hallways as their lunch break ended.

"I'm going!" Jongdae shouted, twisting and turning his body, manoeuvring around other students and soon out-of-view, afraid of being noticed together with this weirdo.

"FINE! DON'T TALK TO ME!" Baekhyun shouted in reply, obviously very offended. He turned around, about to head back to class but his heart must have jumped out of his body in shock as he fell back down, crashing onto the floor.

"Aish, look at you," Joohyun clucked in displeasure to have witnessed such a disgrace. She sauntered off past this human mess, stretching her arms and yawning. Still curious, she sneaked a glance backwards, just to check if he was still there. She snickered, watching him torture his hair in total irritation. "This will be fun," she whispered.

Baekhyun brushed himself off the ground as passing students held in their giggles. A few steps away behind a classroom door, Jongdae peered, shaking his head, relieved he had made such an escape in time. Seriously, any minute longer and he would have been thought as a crazy guy though the crazy guy is actually the one next to him.

"Kim Jooheon or Joohyeon or whatever it is, this is war," Baekhyun declared, glaring at Joohyun's back while shooting lasers that could zap holes into anything.

--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--

Walking down the same street she had walked on almost each day for the past year circulated the same feelings that rotate like the four seasons. Like autumn, she enjoyed the peaceful solitary. Like winter however, she was filled with loneliness. As the new month approached, like spring, she enjoyed that quick blossoming happiness. Back again, like summer, she disliked the rage and impatience it brings. In one word, that was her life. The cycle that had no exit. The cycle that circulates without pause.

It was a tangled cycle - something she has always wanted to untangle but every attempt becomes a messier knot.

She did not want to face it but she had nowhere else to turn to. She couldn't stay in the afternoon study classes because she couldn't leave her mother alone, suffering in the wrath of that man. She just couldn't allow that to happen, especially after witnessing that horrible incident that turned her mother into a punching bag. Even in her sleep she could not erase that image…

Right this moment, that summer phase had surfaced. And right this moment, winter has also loomed over her like grey clouds waiting for a storm to strike.

She also noticed that she was soon stepping into spring as she swung her arm around his neck.

"Ah, yah, that hurts!" he exclaimed, trying to pry away from his sister's grasp.

"Well too bad, because I want my book back. Are you seriously going to hide it from me forever?!" Joohyun yelled, her twist on his arm tightening.

"Ok, ok, wait. If you let go, I'll give it to you," he said, raising his arms up to surrender.

"You think I will fall for your tricks again?" she sceptically commented. "I know you too well,"

"Ah, that's a pity. I was going to tell you something I heard mum mumbled about during - "

"Mum? What about her? What did she say?" Joohyun fired questions at her sly-looking brother. Her grasp loosened.

He turned his head outwards for a quick two seconds, just enough to mutter out an 'I know you too well" before raising up his arm and pointing toward the threat on his life. Joohyun dropped her arms but immediately held onto one of his shoulders like a leash.

"Do you really not trust me, noona?" he pouted.

"I don't, so quit beating around the bush and tell me what mum said! And give me my book!"

"Gee, I thought your attention would have been averted from that already," he sighed.

"You think I have a goldfish for a brain?"

"Yes," he nodded, smiling with an innocent mask.

"Why are you so annoying?!" She yelled, raising a fist and prepared to beat that guy up like beating eggs and flour.

"CAREFUL!" he suddenly yelled, pushing his sister out of the way. She fell down with a thump, scraping her elbows and arms. Dazed, she still wasn't able to grasp the situation as her eyes frantically searched for her brother. What happened? Was he hurt?

"KIM JO-" There he was, standing across the street and laughing his head off while hugging his stomach.

"This kid. Why is he laughing?" she questioned, perplexed.

He calmed down and crossed the street, feeling a tinge of sorry towards his sister's utter confusion. Staying two steps away to be safe, he bent his knees and angled his head, stifling a few sniggers. "Noona, are you ok?"

She perked up. "Oh, yeah I -"

Then she was hit with the realisation. "You didn't just -"

And then he ran off, laughing all his might.

"YAH! KIM JONGIN, YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--||--

A/N: Another update! How was this chapter? Please let me know of your thoughts, opinions and of feedback down in the comments section! If you liked it, please subscribe for future updates! Thank you so much for being with me my lovely readers! :)