On the public transportation bus, Julie and I swipe our cards and stand in the back holding onto the bars over the seats. The bus is fairly full but at the last second, Nam Joon's tall body pops up near the driver's seat as he swipes his own card. He looks like he ran here and I am almost happy that I get off the bus before Julie does. So I can leave them alone together.

Julie waves at him and Nam Joon looks like he'll come over to stand with us, until he sees me glaring. Then he just nods and stands on the other side, closer to the front.

"What was that? Are you scaring him away?" Julie says sharply.

"Ani. Wae?"

She sighs and shakes her head.

"He passed me a note in last hour asking ot be friends because he doesn't want to have me as an enemy, basically," I volunteer to her.

"And how's that working out when you glare at him and he backs away like a scolded dog?"

"I think it's going just fine, actually," I say jokingly and she smacks my arm.

"What if I want to be his friend too?"

"Go for it. I don't care. We aren't in a relationship, so you can date him if you want to."

She pouts her lips, not sure if she can believe me or not, "This is an alienating invasion, isn't it? You're trying to block everybody out, huh?"

"What? No. I can't get rid of you. I've tried. You keep coming back, so I am grateful for you. I will attack anybody who doesn't treat you right."

Julie looks at me, studying my face for a few seconds before saying quetly, "Yeah, I know. You're like a transformer. You become a human shield for everybody but yourself and then you refuse to let people do the same for you. You go from the quiet, cold-shouldered girl in the back of the class, to a guard dog in a split second."

"Now who's making an alienating invasion?" I ask, pointedly.

Julie tries not to laugh and when the bus stops near my street, she hugs me good bye and I get off the bus alone.

Well, I had originally thought I was alone. Nam Joon walks a block behind me. I see his reflection in the windows of a couple of houses.

I turn a corner and wait for him to catch up, but when he doesn't appear around the corner too, I look back to see him walking up to a green metal privacy gate and unlock it before disappearing up the walkway to the house. His house looks pretty big and comfortable, from what I can see of it.

I shrug my shoulders and walk the rest of the way to my traditional-style house where I, my parents, my grandparents and my in-laws all live.