Shin and Yeri. Frankly speaking, they were an odd couple. Though, objectively, you had to admit they were sort of... fitting? It was an unlikely combination -- at least in your eyes -- but when you saw them together, you almost thought, "Why didn't I see this one coming?"

"Hey, isn't that your ex-boyfriend?" Hojoon asked from beside you. "It is, isn't it? And he's with Yerim, Bobby's ex. Oh, wow, how weird is that?"

You looked over at Hojoon, giving him a strange look. "How do you know who Shin-"

"Your fanboys like to keep very close tabs on you," Hojoon answered matter of factly. "I mean, I'm not one of them, but they're always happy to help a brother out when he's curious."

You shook your head. That was... so creepy. However, you weren't surprised at all. Your school was full of strange people. Bobby had a fanclub just as large as yours, Hanbin had one, too, and even Donghyuk had one, though on a smaller scale.

You looked back at Shin, who seemed to be having the time of his life with Yerim. Even though he was in a pretty rough group, it was hard to pin him to what had happened to Bobby. Sure, he and Bobby had their issues, but as far as you knew, that score was settled when he punched Bobby and broke his arm. Or so you thought.

"Hey, I'm going to grab some punch," you told Hojoon, and he seemed glad to let you go since he was just dying to talk to his friends about you. Of course, he'd end up stretching the truth in a lot of places, but it'd be to the extent that no one outside of his friend group would believe him. You could care less about what anybody thought, quite honestly.

You walked up to the punch bowl just in time to catch the person you were hoping to see. And no, there weren't any ulterior motives, you were here to see Shin so you could find out the exact story about what happened. For Bobby, of course.

"It's a shame you didn't like doing these kinds of things when we were dating," Shin said as he leaned against the table beside you with his punch in hand. Yeri was off somewhere else, probably with some friends. Shin glanced over at you, winking as soon as he caught your eyes. "But of course, we had our own fun, didn't we?"

You sighed. This is what happens when you finds someone who can't take life seriously; they never allow you to be properly angry at them. You shook your head. "We have to talk, Shin. It's important."

"Even though you're better than Yeri in many ways, I'm sorry to say she has my heart now," Shin replied, smirking when your eyes fell back on him. "Don't worry, I'll call you as soon as we break up. Though, I'm very hopeful with this one..."

You shoved him for being a horrible boyfriend and also for not taking you seriously. "I mean it. We have to talk."

Shin grasped his bicep with a shocked look. "Touchy, touchy. Seems like your punchy new boyfriend's really rubbing off on you."

You gave him a warning look and he finally lifted himself from the table, gesturing to the nearest door with a tight smile. "After you."

---

"Yerim's going to throw a fit that you left without telling her," you said, shaking your head as you walked around behind the gym where it was private. "You should've let her know you were leaving."

"Yerim knows the kind of person I am and she accepts me for it," Shin replied in a sigh as he shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned a shoulder against the wall. "Anyway, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

You looked back at him. "It's about what happened between you and Bobby."

"Ah, yes, the guy who punched me and stole my girlfriend," Shin replied with a bitter grin. "What does he want now?"

"I just wanted to know your side of the story," you replied, giving him an exasperated look. "It doesn't make sense why you'd send your friends to beat him up when you already broke his arm."

Shin looked away for a bit, eyes hovering around before landing back on you. He had a different look on his face, one you couldn't quite figure out. "Is that truly what you believe, Ahri? That I did something like that?"

You had gone through so many thought processes with handling this situation, you didn't even know what you really believed. You sighed, shrugging. "I don't know but I trust Bobby."

"How can you trust someone who doesn't even know what really happened?" Shin commented, smirking with an airy chuckle. "Whatever happened to thinking for yourself, Ahri?"

Your eyes narrowed. "I know Bobby won't swallow his pride to talk to you, so I'm here. Just tell me what happened if we have it all wrong."

Shin sighed, nodding as he knotted his arms on his chest. Even when he was serious, there was a calm air about him. "Well, I don't know the full story, because it wasn't me behind it."

You rolled your eyes. Here he was, acting so confident about it when in reality he didn't know it either.

You watched the uneasiness and pressure sit in his eyes, and after a few moments that's when you pieced it together in your head. There was really no one Shin was so hesitant about ratting out unless...

"It was Yerim... wasn't it?" you blurted, speaking as soon as it hit you. "She was the one who sent your friends out after him."

"You know very well that Bobby had it coming," Shin replied, pointing a finger at you. "All he put her through, she's so delicate, she was bound to break. Guys aren't the only ones who can get revenge."

You shook your head. "If he had it coming, then why would you-"

"Because she's my girlfriend and I love her," Shin replied, smirking sarcastically. "Yeri's a good girl with a good reputation. The sad truth is people treat girls and guys separately. I get involved in fights and it's cool. She does the same and suddenly it's a witch hunt."

You had no words left. Not only had Shin cleared his name, but he showed you just how much growing up he had done just from dating Yeri, alone. He was a different person from when you dated him, but maybe that was a good thing -- a great thing, even.

"I guess you're right," you replied after digesting what he had said. "You're a good boyfriend, you know that?"

Shin smiled playfully as he tugged on your cheek. "Aw, sweetheart, I'm sure Bobby would do the same for you."

---

You were surprised to see that the person who was picking you up from the dance wasn't Bobby, but your favorite older brother, Hanbin, and your absolute favorite best friend, Minhee.

"You know, the overprotective older brother act got old a good three years ago," you said dryly as you got into the car. "Now it's just suffocating."

Hanbin rolled his eyes as he pulled out of the school parking lot. "Bobby had to finish an online timed test, so he sent me in his place. You should be happy it's me and not mom and dad."

He had a point. You shrugged. "That's fair."

"Anyway," Minhee interrupted as she threw her arms around you from the back seat, "this is the perfect time to catch up on quality brother and best friend time. Bobby's too selfish with you lately. I assume he'll propose by Spring, pregnant by Autumn."

Hanbin scowled.

"What are we going to do?" you asked, looking over at her. "Everything's practically closed by now."

Minhee had an evil smirk on her face. "The question isn't what are we going to do, it's what aren't we going to do?"

"No, really. What are we going to do?"

"I dunno, we'll figure it out on the way."

---

It was only 10 and Bobby was already seeing double. Apparently studying is worse for your motor skills than binge drinking. Who would've thought?

He drummed his pencil against his book, putting as much energy as he could to read the paragraph in front of him. The first time, he just saw words. The second time, he actually brought himself to read them, but they escaped his mind a second later. The third time, his eyes were closed.

His head was about to fall out of his palm, when an abrupt knock came to his door.

"Bobby! Kim-Ji-Won! O-Pen-Up!"

Bobby opened his eyes, blinking as he registered the annoying voice much too loud for this universe. What did Junhoe want now?

His name must've been repeated a million times until he finally pried open his door and found Jinhwan, Junhoe, and Yunhyeong stan