{Nine}

Month 00 Day 17

A week passed, and to Kyungsoo's surprise, things were actually going smoothly. Well, most of the things were. He felt like his relationship with Chanyeol and the others had gotten closer over the past days, although he wasn't comfortable about expressing himself to them or talking to them about his personal issues yet. But still, they were getting close, to the point where he could finally call them his friends instead of acquaintances.

Chanyeol was still that sort of person that liked to pester him, that overly enthusiastic guy who always laughed. He was still letting Kyungsoo stay at his place, so that was fortunate. Sehun had started hanging out with them abit more, although he had problems with his father. He didn't say much and just followed their small group. Kyungsoo didn't get to see much of Luhan and Minseok because according to the students, Yonsei College's soccer team was busy preparing for an upcoming tournament. That bastard, Byun Baekhyun- he was still holding the 'childish' grudge against him as the two men called it. It wasn't Kyungsoo's fault anyway, he started the whole thing, so it would only be reasonable that he apologised! Go Minjae... Ah, Go Minjae... she was still the stubborn one, getting herself in fights unintentionally like a child. She was troublesome and looked like quite an idiot, Kyungsoo thought, but sometimes she wasn't. It was puzzling.

Eventhough everything seemed good for now, he still had that burdensome debt to worry about, and he was nowhere near that amount.

It was another Friday yet again. After hours of stressful studying, everyone could finally take a break. Students had already rushed out of the classrooms minutes ago, but Kyungsoo stayed behind. He didn't know why he was sitting down so absentmindedly on his desk, staring out the window, at the clear blue skies. He wasn't moving an inch and for some reason, he felt nostalgic.

Like that day 10 years ago when he did the same thing as his little eight year old self. He looked out the window again, staring at everyone in their groups of friends like how he did last time. Hakyeon would come barging in minutes later at this time, but it was just that, he wasn't here right now... Kyungsoo closed his eyes and sighed to himself, he wondered why he was still thinking about the past.

"KYUNGSOOOOOOOO!" 

Kyungsoo turned away from the window to face the classroom door where the loud voice was coming from, screaming his name like the end of the world was approaching. Chanyeol appeared at the door, panting before resting his hand on the doorframe and placing another on his waist. From the look on his face, something was wrong. He looked at Kyungsoo, "Didn't you hear? Go Minjae got herself in a fight! And it's not a small one, I overheard people talking about it... There was a crowd forming below, we need to help her."

"What does that have to do with me? Or, what does that have to do with us?" Kyungsoo questioned, one side of him told him to stay out of this business, but another part of him wanted to help. It was confusing indeed, he wasn't sure.

"Why are you even asking me that? There's no time! Isn't it obvious? Because she's our friend, and friends help each other out..." Chanyeol frowned, his tone of voice sounded desperate.

Friends... Kyungsoo thought. He had no one to help, except for his friends. He couldn't make his family his priority since he didn't have one, his friends were the only people who would support him no matter what. Finally, after considering Chanyeol's reason to be a valid one, he hurriedly packed all his belongings, "Why are you still standing there? Run already, things could be getting more serious for all we know." He slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed behind Chanyeol.

The scene was total chaos. Everyone was standing by the sidelines, watching amusedly like they weren't involved when they were clearly witnesses. They could've done something to stop it, but no one bothered. It was a pathethic sight, really, everyone was like that. Only by a rare chance would people be able to see someone barging out from the crowd to do something good.

Today, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol would be one of those people.

The both of them roughly pushed past the crowd without a care in the world and when they got to the front, they were met with two violent girls causing havoc at the school entrance. Both of them pulled on each other's hair while shooting deadly glares at each other, and one of them was none other than Go Minjae. She wasn't as violent as the other girl. Kyungsoo could see that she didn't want to fight, but something the other girl said must've triggered her to unleash her anger. He wondered what that was.

", this doesn't look good at all," Chanyeol scratched his head frustratedly and turned to look at the shorter boy, "What do we do now?"

"Say that again! He's not a freak you judgemental, insolent piece of nothing!" Minjae shouted. Her hair was in a mess, like a tornado had just swept it or something.

"Gosh, what is wrong with all of you weirdos?! You, don't you know that Do Kyungsoo boy is a total freak and everyone knows it!" The other girl growled back, but she wasn't as vicious as Minjae, "You standing up for him, you must be out of your mind!"

They continued shouting things at each other and hitting each other after that. Minjae was defending him, but the other girl was just bashing him. He could hear everythin she said, those words were being spat right on his face. And no one even knew that he was there to listen to those words.

"Kyungsoo..." Chanyeol looked at him, his face full of concern from the girl's words, "That's it." He whispered before interferring with the two girls, pulling the other girl off Minjae harshly by the wrist. That was the angriest look Kyungsoo had ever seen on the friendly giant.

Kyungsoo didn't hesitate to join in and he stood in front of Minjae, sticking both of his hands out so the other girl wouldn't dare to come any closer. He kept his stoic expression on, his intimidating glare was still on his face. He was more than furious.

"What do you think you're doing right now?" Chanyeol shouted before letting go of the other girl's wrist.

"If you want to insult me, just say it right to my face," Kyungsoo raised his voice at her, who seemed to jump at the sudden agression, "Don't go spreading my name so ruthlessly to the public, like you know me. You have no right to call me a freak at all when you don't even know a single thing about me. Shallow people like you are interesting, you know why? Because they believe everything, and they spread false accusations until it becomes a big issue, until it can even ruins the person's life. Have you ever thought about that, about the outcome? You have no right to take your anger out on Go Minjae either. If you mess with her again, I swear you'll never see tomorrow."

"W-What sort of stupid bull are you blurting out right n-n-now!" The girl wasn't good at hiding her emotions as the fear on her face was more than obvious. She was starting to feel flustered, "I-I-I was right! P-People like you r-really are f-f-freaks!" And with that, she disappeared beyond the crowd, too embarrassed to admit defeat.

"Guys, let's go too," Chanyeol glared at the students who all made way for the three of them because they were more than scared. It was the first time anyone had ever seen Park Chanyeol so dangerously angry.

That was an easy fight, Kyungsoo mentally thought to himself, satisfied that he had won. But all of that wasn't important now, he immediately turned to Go Minjae as the three of them walked out of the school. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, making the two people beside him stop next to him too. He wanted to see if she was alright, but he kept his hands in his pockets. They just wouldn't budge when he wanted them to, it was strange. Kyungsoo was puzzled, on why he suddenly had this feeling of concern for Go Minjae.

Kyungsoo widened his eyes when he realised that he stopped all of a sudden. Minjae was staring back at him with those clueless brown orbs of hers, her head slightly tilting to the side in curiousity. He cleared his throat, "Are you alright? You know... the fight just now, did seem a little serious... N-Not that I was worried or anything. Chanyeol was annoying me to the point where I seriously had no choice at all..." He was sprouting lies and he knew it. Was he losing his own composure?

"I wasn't annoying you!" Chanyeol sulked, "You were the one that told me to run just as I told you about it! By the way, Minjae, are you okay?"

"I didn't tell you to run, you were the one who insisted," Kyungsoo shrugged, finally gaining his composure back, "So, Go Minjae, you are alright, right?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Minjae grinned and arranged her untidy hair that was messed up during the fight, "It was nothing, really. There