“I’m so tired, I stayed up until 3AM last night just studying stupid English. It’s so annoying why do we even have to take it? And I still have other courses to study for! Work keeps piling up and I feel like i’m going insane” Sandeul ranted to Baro, but Baro seemed out of it. He wasn’t even looking at Sandeul at this point and instead looked to be in deep thought about something.

“Sandeul, I have to tell you something… it’s something we’ve been suspicious about all along. Jinyoung will also have a good laugh, but I don’t know if I should tell him”

“Tell me what?” Jinyoung suddenly said from behind them. Baro quickly turned around and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Don’t tell me you’re keeping secrets from me too!” Jinyoung said, irritated.

“I’m not, it’s just because…you have a lot going on and I don’t think you need something to get you even more annoyed than you already are with this whole Ellin situation” Baro was lying, but he had to make something up, he didn’t want Jinyoung to get angry at him for the real reason why he was contemplating telling him.

“It’s Shinwoo” Baro finally said “He and Choa are dating” Baro confessed.

“What!?” Sandeul yelled “Shinwoo is da-" Baro quickly put his hand over Sandeul’s mouth “Shhh!” Baro urged.

“Are you serious? He's seriously dating Choa? Being friends with them was enough but now he’s even dating one of them… I can’t believe this” Jinyoung said, completely annoyed.

Baro began to get a little worried. You see, the real reason why Baro didn’t want to tell Jinyoung was because he was afraid, afraid of what Jinyoung would do. Baro still cared about Shinwoo and Gongchan. He couldn’t get himself to hate them because something told him that there was more to their story.

“Shinwoo and Gongchan both have changed into completely different people. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gongchan and Minsun were dating too” Sandeul said, crossing his arms.

“Gongchan and Minsun do seem close. They even kept in touch when Shinwoo and Choa were fighting” Jinyoung added. “Everything has just been a mess since they came… everything was perfectly fine before! I wouldn’t be feeling this way if they had never showed up… I… I was happy, right?” Jinyoung suddenly asked. Baro and Sandeul both looked at Jinyoung in confusion. They couldn’t understand what Jinyoung was saying, but they could both see that Jinyoung was really troubled.

“What’s wrong Jinyoung? Did something happen?” Baro asked worriedly.

“it’s… it’s nothing. I gotta go” Jinyoung quickly said, he turned around and began to walk to class.

Jinyoung slowly walked to the tech room, even though he was already running 10 minutes late. He noisily opened the door and walked in, all eyes turning around to face him, well everyone but Ellin, who was too occupied by something else. Jinyoung squinted his eyes at an unfamiliar face leaning over Ellin’s shoulder, he looked to be helping her with something. He wasn’t dressed up in a uniform and was instead dressed up in formal attire. “Who the hell is this guy, he looks to young to be a-”

“Substitute teacher, he’s a substitute teacher” Gummi said to him, Jinyoung was standing next to Gummi’s table and she was getting annoyed of him staring at Ellin and giving the teacher death glares. “Don’t worry, her boyfriend doesn’t go to this school” Gummi joked, but Jinyoung didn’t catch it.

“What? She has a boyfriend?” Jinyoung asked, jealousy and anger quickly appearing on his face. Gummi laughed at his reaction “this ” she said under her breath.”

“You must be Jung Jinyoung? Please take a seat, you’re already late, please don’t disrupt your fellow classmates” the teacher ordered. Jinyoung scoffed at the teacher “who the hell does this guy think he is?” Jinyoung said under his breath. “He looks way too young to be a teacher” he thought, and indeed he was right. The girls in the classroom squealed at the teacher for his young and charming looks, making Jinyoung all the more annoyed.

“What the heck is wrong with the girls in this class, this sub looks like a creep” Jinyoung said to himself. “I know right? But who’s surprised when the girls in this class think you’re hot?” Minsun said, she was sitting beside Jinyoung and heard what he said.

“your big mouth clearly hasn’t changed” Jinyoung replied, “never will either when guys like you exist” Minsun said, sticking her tongue out at him.

“I heard you and Gongchan are dating” Jinyoung said, making Minsun’s face go completely blank in shock. “Wow, I just made that up but I guess it’s true by the look on your face” Jinyoung said with a chuckle.

“You mind your own business you rat!” Minsun spat.

“Ok but…. Don’t you think the teacher is getting a little too close to Ellin?” Jinyoung said, his eyes glued to the teacher still helping her. The teachers face was close to Ellins, and Jinyoung could sense that Ellin was really uncomfortable, he wanted to approach her but then recalled what happened the last time they saw each other and was too embarrassed to say anything to her.

“Yeah…he does…I really want to beat this sub up but if I get kicked out of another school my mom said she’d send me to some deserted island to study” Minsun said, making Jinyoung laugh.

“Has he only been like this to Ellin?” Jinyoung asked. “No, he was like that to other girls too… Gummi asked him a question and she was treated the same way… I’m really worried… I wonder when our damn teacher will be back from his damn business trip” Minsun groaned.

Jinyoung began to feel more heated than he was before. His blood was boiling and he wanted to throw his chair at the teacher and tell the principle, but he knew that wasn’t something he could do. He had a reputation after all. He felt like a coward, once again, which made him even more annoyed. “Let’s just wait until tomorrow… maybe the teacher is an okay person…” he convinced himself.

“Ellin-ah, are you okay” Gummi asked worriedly as they headed outside of class. “Guys…I’m really creeped out… what the is wrong with him! I feel…violated somehow… am I overreacting?” Ellin asked.

“No way! He did the same to me! don’t ever feel like you’re overreacting when it comes to stuff like this!” Gummi replied. “He seriously has no concept of personal space!” Minsun agreed.

“So, what do we do then? We can’t even say anything right now cause it’s only his first day and it seems like we’re the only people complaining…. The other girl’s are going crazy over how cute he is, I want to vomit! How is this pedo of a sub attractive?” Ellin said in frustration.

“Funny, Jinyoung said something similar… he seems bothered by him… I don’t know if it’s because he’s over-protective and possessive of you or if it’s because he actually cares about our safety” Minsun confessed.

“J-Jinyoung… he noticed?” Ellin asked curiously.

“uh-huh, he was super angry at how the sub was treating you” Minsun alerted. Ellin’s mind began to drift off to an episode that occurred during the days that Jinyoung and her were friends in Middle school. 

~

“Jinyoung-ah…I’m scared. Some guy won’t leave me alone. He keeps following me around school and asking me these obvious questions about course work and…”

“and what? What is it Ellin? Did he touch you?” Jinyoung asked worriedly. “Yteserday after school he tried to hug me but i pushed him away and asked him what was wrong with him. He didn't answer and grabbed onto my wrist and I couldn’t get his grasp off of mine. I was so scared Jinyoung, if it wasn’t for one of the teachers randomly walking out of the school he would have never let go… what if he does it again? I can’t even tell the school because I have no proof! And with my reputation they’ll say I’m the problem! They’ll say I threw him the bait or some like that” Ellin said frustrated. Tears began to roll down her face out of fear. She was only in 6^th grade and was too scared to tell anyone about this problem of hers.

“Ellin-ah, don’t worry, I’m always here okay? I’ll make sure nothing happens to you again. I’ll make sure he never touches you again!” Jinyoung said, pulling Ellin in for a hug. “I’ll protect you, Ellin-ah” Jinyoung whispered, her hair until she stopped crying.

~

“Ellin, earth to Ellin” Gummi repeated. “Huh?” Ellin finally said snapping out of her sudden daydream. “Why am I thinking about the past so much lately” Ellin said, rubbing the back of her head. Truthfully, Ellin hadn’t told anyone about what Jinyoung had done in the past week. She didn’t want them to know, she didn’t really know why or she just couldn’t admit why. For some odd reason, Ellin no longer liked the thought of her friends meddling with Jinyoung life, that and she knew that if she talked about what he had said, they would see that Ellin’s heart was shaken up by it, something Ellin never wanted to admit. 

“Choa, wait up!” Shinwoo called as Choa walked out of the class. It was lunchtime and all Choa wanted to do was eat. “What? You’re wasting my eating time!” Choa said, pretending to be annoyed.

“I have something to give you” Shinwoo said with a smirk. “What the heck is it? Don’t tell me you bought me a necklace or something” Choa said, creeped out by the smile on Shinwoos face.

“No, nothing like that. Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Choa” Choa scoffed at his reply. “You’re disappointed, right?” Shinwoo said with a smirk.

“As if!” Choa replied back.

Shinwoo then put his hands into his pocket and took at $30. “I think this accidently slipped into my pocket the other day” Shinwoo joked. Choa’s eyes quickly avoided Shinwoos “I don’t know what you’re talking about” Choa said.

“You didn’t hug me the other day cause you wanted to, it was to sneak in half of the bill!” Shinwoo accused. “Eh… don’t be too hard on yourself Shinwoo. I did want to hug you, but I also had to pay for half of the bill. We aren’t even dating, why the hell would I make you pay the whole bill? I mean, if it was less then $60 then I would be fine but… it wasn’t so” Choa explained.

“But still, it was my invitation, you can just pay the next time we go out” Shinwoo said putting the money in Choas pocket.

“Next time?” Choa said raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, hows Friday?” Shinwoo offered. Choa began to laugh. “You’re sneaky huh?”

“Well… you owe me now, right? I’m not going to accept your money so you’re going to have to take me out on a…dare I say, date?” Shinwoo chuckled.

“Ugh, boys are so damn annoying, fine whatever Shinwoo. We’ll go to McDonalds” Choa joked, anticipating Shinwoo’s reaction.

“What!? McDonalds? Are you kidding me!? I took you to a legit restaurant!” Shinwoo whined. “ugh you’re so annoying, we’ll go wherever you want as long as you shut up, now let’s go eat!” Choa said, dragging Shinwoo to the cafeteria so he would shut up.

“I told you, they’re totally dating” Baro said to Sandeul as they watched Choa drag Shinwoo by his hand. “I believe you but isn’t Choa like that to everyone?” Sandeul laughed. “True” Baro said, laughing along.

“Why do you think Jinyoung cares so much though? He seemed really angry, I don’t get it. I mean I do but… he didn’t really seem to care about Minsun and Gongchan’s dating rumors a while back so why would he care about Shinwoo and Choa?” Sandeul asked.

“I don’t know man, I guess he has more beef with Choa? Remember that fight they had during soccer” Baro laughed in remembrance. “That was such a mess,” Sandeul added.

As Jinyoung was making his way down the hall he suddenly spotted Choa walking with Shinwoo, hand in hand. Although it clearly didn’t look romantic and Choa looked annoyed, it still made Jinyoung very irritated. He continued walking towards them until he stood in front of them, forbidding them to move.

“What the heck… what do you want Jinyoung?” Choa said, quickly letting go of Shinwoo’s hand.

“You must be scared of me, letting go of Shinwoos hand in front of me. At least you have some shame” Jinyoung said.

“Shame? What the ?” Choa said, beginning to laugh. “What, do you own him or something? I forgot you treat everyone like they’re your territory” Choa spat.

“Choa, let’s just go. He’s a waste of our time” Shinwoo urged. “No, you said Jinyoung was being mean to you and Gongchan, why do you guys have to bear being treated like you’ve done some deadly sin?” Choa questioned.

“Choa, mind your own business!” Jinyoung yelled. “And mean? You complained to her about me? Wow Shinwoo, the disappointments just don’t end with you, huh?” Jinyoung said.

“Can you stop for at least a day Jinyoung? I just want one day of peace!” Shinwoo yelled back.

“Whoa whoa, what the heck is going on here? Everyone is staring!” Ellin said, suddenly coming in between the three. Jinyoung’s angry gaze melted away and turned delicate as he looked at Ellin.

“Le-Let’s go Choa” Ellin quickly said once she caught Jinyoung’s gaze set on hers. She felt her heart was about to burst and couldn’t let Jinyoung catch on to what she was feeling. She knew Jinyoung was the type to read her every emotion just by looking at her so Ellin quickly dragged Choa by the wrist, leaving Jinyoung and Shinwoo alone together.

Shinwoo looked at Jinyoung curiously. He quickly sensed that something had happened between him and Ellin. He had never seen Jinyoung look the way he did in that moment; he looked like he could break into pieces had Ellin stayed any longer.

“Y-you better watch it Shinwoo” Jinyoung stuttered. He immediately turned around and walked away.

After school, the girl’s all planned on going to the library and studying together. Work was piling up and the girls were all feeling really anxious about all of the tests and assignments they had coming up. It was their last year and they knew they had to do well in everything in order to get into the university they wanted to get into.

Before Choa headed to the library she decided to go get beverages and snacks for the girls since she predicted that they would be there for a while. After she got everything she and the girls wanted, she made her way to the library. As she approached the library doors she abruptly stopped at the mention of Soyuls name. Two girls around the corner seemed to be talking about her. Choa stood still and couldn’t help but eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Why is Soyul suddenly hanging out with Joohee? Isn’t it strange?” one girl asked. “it’s not strange at all… I heard Soyul handed in her signed midterm report late. She was obviously angry at her mark being lower than Gummi’s and decided to ditch the other girls in order to do better than them. Since it’s hard to survive school without a crew she probably joined Joohee’s just to piss those girl’s off” Choa’s fists clenched in anger at what the girl said, “It all makes sense now” she thought “I can’t believe her.” With that thought, Choa hurriedly walked into the library in search for the girls. Right when she spotted them and was about to go take her seat, she bumped into none other than Soyul.

Soyul froze there speechless, she was going to hurriedly run away until Choa grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in front of her. “So is that why you stabbed us in the back and left us for Joohee?” Choa spat. Soyul stood there confused without a word leaving . “Because you were angry that Gummi stole your #1 ranking? And now you left us in order to get back your precious spot?!” Choa said, now in a louder voice. Gummi’s eyes widened in shock.

“Look Choa, that’s not w-“

“I can’t believe I thought you were our friend! We welcomed you so warmly and yet you would trade in all of that for a damn number! You’re the worst!” Choa yelled. Gummi immediately stood up and walked over to Choas side.

“Just leave Soyul, Oh, and you can take your precious #1 spot back… You’re pathetic” Gummi said.

Soyul’s fists clenched in frustration, she wanted to explain what was going on to them, but she knew she couldn’t. “I- I have my reasons. I have my reasons” was all she could say before she ran away from the two of them.

“Heol, today was too dramatic” Minsun sighed. “When will this end…I knew coming to this school would be hell, but I never knew it would be this bad.”

I'm back after a while sorry! I'm going to try my best to update weekly now! because i really think it ruins the reading experience to update monthly, you must forget what happened in the last chapter by now! ANYWAYS, have you all watched FM? The MV is epic and don't get me started on the song, it's the best thing i've heard in a LONG time. I'm so addicted to it and the whole mini album! this is their best comeback for me <3