Cupping his face, Hong Ki sat in class. The teacher’s words going in one ear and out the other. Remembering last night’s events, he furrowed his eyebrows,

.flashback.
‘where’d they go?’ he thought, looking around the area. Behind him he heard footsteps running after him: the guys. They had finally caught up to him, huffing and puffing.
“How do you run so fast?” Jong Hun tried to yell through his exhaustion but failed.
“I saw them go this way…” Hong Ki mumbled.
“…? Who?” Jae jin asked, changing to a serious tone.
“Will.”
“Won Bin?” Min Hwan said questioningly before his face lit up, “Did he bring his cute girlfriend as well?”
“I don’t know.”

With Hong Ki in the lead, they ran through possible places – clubs, the car park, hotels around the area…
“Damn I’m so tired,” Seung Hyun whined, “We could’ve taken our cars!”
Jong Hun laughed in the background for no reason.

“This is pointless,” Jae Jin concluded, “What are we even doing this for?”
“I just wanna talk to him,” Hong Ki lied,
“You make us flat out run for this long and you expect me to believe you ‘just wanna talk to him’?”
Shrugging, Hong Ki walked towards the car park.
“I’m tired, I’m going home.”

Everyone looked at each other before following him.

Looking around one last time, Hong Ki sighed in defeat.
‘Why do I even wanna see hyung that bad?’ he mentally scolded himself.

Before taking even one more step, Hong Ki instinctively swerved around at the sound of it. He definitely heard it. A familiar ‘tinkle’ sound before hearing pain filled moans. Following the sound, Hong Ki led Jae Jin, Jong Hun , Min Hwan and Seung Hyun to the source of the sound.

“What the…” Min Hwan laughed, looking at the sight in front of him, “Sorry for intruding…”
Jong Hun burst out laughing whilst Jae Jin and Seung Hyun tried to conceal their laughter.
“You look like idiots!” Jong Hun pffted and hiccupped.

Looking at the guys, Hong Ki couldn’t help but chuckle. What looked like the boss was propped up against a wall whilst his arms hugged over the guys leaning into him, each with another guy in their laps, with arms around their necks. They all wore nothing but their boxers.

The only guy conscious –the Boss looking-guy groaned.
“Just get up,” Jong Hun spat, “you’d become a joke if another gang comes.”
“I…I-I can’t-t,” he shivered.
“What do you mean?” Min Hwan asked with a stupid expression on his face.
“He looks temporarily paralyzed.” Hong Ki answered before Jong Hun could make a sarcastic comment of any sort.
“How do you know?” Seung Hyun chided in.
“He looks bruised at his pressure points,” Hong Ki replied, walking up to the leader, “who did it?”

He knew the possibility was low that it was him. But he still wondered.
The gang leader coughed and hacked out blood before looking him in the eyes and stuttering out,
“The-th-the-d-d-devil.”
.endflashback.

Those two were really something. During class, she would listen and write notes while he rested. During break she would do what looked like explaining to him everything they had learned in class whilst pointing to the page.

Why bother? Hong Ki asked himself, just let that lazy listen for himself in class

Staring at them ever so subtly, he’d watch her lean in and say something, expressionless. Before he’d reply and she’d lean back, satisfied.

What is UP with them? He demanded in his head. Although everyone in the class talked about them, whispered about them, they ignored it. They were hard to approach, and Hong Ki knew it.

…

Sitting in the classroom face to face, Won Bin looked at Ji Min.
“Why don’t you bother to talk with them?” Ji Min pleaded in Japanese, using her whispery voice.

“Why do I need to?” Won Bin replied nonchalantly, also in Japanese.
“Because they’re your friends…”

“So?”

“Well…” Ji Min looked away slightly whilst tapping her pen on her page.
“What?”

“I never had any friends when I was little…” she pinched herself slightly to make her eyes water.
“You don’t have to pretend.”

Seeing that he wasn’t fazed even the slightest, Ji Min sighed,

“Please… for me?”

Won Bin, trying to ignore her puppy dog eyes gave in and sighed as well.

“If I do, will you start actually studying? I mean, what is that?” he said, pointing to her page.

“Just my thoughts.”

“Reflection?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you actually study for once?”

“Why don’t you?”

Looking ever so uncomfortable, Won Bin looked at her,

“Good point.”

Not being able to handle the uncomfortable Won Bin, Ji Min looked straight into his eyes,

“I don’t need to study because I learnt all this stuff before I met you.”

“I know… but could you at least pretend like you learnt something today?” he said exasperated.

“Of course,” she showed an ever so small smile, “my acting skills are unmatched.”

“Then why aren’t you an actress?”

“Why do I have to be?”

“Good point.”

In all his years with the girl, Won Bin had never truly been able to figure her out. He knew her father was in the army. That was simple enough to understand… why else would he know her? Why else would his father have made that promise with a comrade that long ago?

Sitting back in her chair, Ji Min made a point to not stare at Won Bin anymore. He was giving her the look. One which she knew could only mean he had wondered again. Of who she was, who her father was. Their connection… Before another thought passed through her mind, whispers erupted around the classroom.

What is he doing here?

They must be here for them…

Clearing territory again?

Although they whispered, Ji Min’s ears could hear everything.
“What’s up?” Won Bin converted to English.

“School bully I guess? Or fighter?” Ji Min murmured quickly.

“Hmm…” was all Won Bin said, slightly amused.

“PARK JOON KI!” The girl in the back stood up, “Get out of our classroom.”

The figure standing at the doorway slowly walked in. His hair covered slightly his high cheekbones, where lay a purple bruise. Three earrings lined each ear whilst a silver glint suggested a piercing in his brow.

Snarling after this remark from such a petty girl, he swiveled around to quickly retort,

“Oh… so after your pretty boy beat me, you think you’re all that, huh?”

The girl’s face twitched in fear.
“He was amazing don’t you think? Beating the self proclaimed jjang…And look at your face… he probably beat you again or something.”
The vein in Joon Ki’s head pulsed.
“Come again?”
The girl cowered away in fear.
“Yeah… didn’t think so.”

He walked up to Hong Ki’s desk and stood in front of it with his arms folded.
“Come with me.”

Hong Ki slowly turned his head, as if having finally realised Joon Ki’s existence.

What is that boy thinking? Ji Min asked herself.

“Why should I?” Hong Ki asked.

“It’s just for a talk.” Joon Ki sighed in a huff.

Everyone’s heads turned slightly, trying but failing to inconspicuously listen in on their conversation.

“What about?” Hong Ki asked, feigning ignorance.

Joon Ki’s fists balled up, almost turning red with anger. He grinded his jaw before staring Hong Ki straight in the eyes,

“As long as it stays as ‘I don’t know’ then I have nothing else to say.”

Hong Ki smiled and turned back to his friends.

Looking around the room, Joon Ki hissed,

“What are you staring at?” everyone’s eyes averted away from him, except one.

Joon Ki, shocked that someone other than the idiot pretty boy everyone loved dared to look at him after his command, stormed up to the culprit.

“Well… what do we have here?” he grinned.

Ji Min, even after having been caught, looked straight at him whilst keeping silent. Joon Ki’s hand propped up her chin.

“You’re pretty hot, you know that?”

Everyone’s eyes tried desperately to see behind their heads.

Looking around to see if anyone else was trying to piss him off, he turned back to her, satisfied.

“So… wanna be my babe?”

“Excuse me?” Ji Min said, continuing nonchalantly in Japanese.

“Oi you!” Joon Ki, without looking, pointed at Won Bin, “What did she say?”

In less then a second, Won Bin looked at Ji Min, silently asking,

What do you want me to do? He’s the guy from last night?

Which Ji Min casually replied,

Just go with it… this’ll be fun…

Sighing, Won Bin translated.

“I SAID… be my babe,” Joon Ki removed his hand from her chin, grabbed her hand and kissed it.

Scrunching up her face, Ji Min snatched her hand away.

“Who are you?” Ji Min muttered in Korean. The whole class sat with wide eyes.

Didn’t he say she couldn’t speak Korean?

Why does she bother speaking formally?

Haha! I told you pretty people are arrogant!

Joon Ki, shocked yet again that day by the same girl, bellowed

“WHAT?”

“You seem kind of familiar” she fluttered her eye lashes, “Have we met?”

Taken aback by the girl’s reaction, Joon Ki stepped back a few.

Joon Ki’s new with girls?

He’s kinda cute…

 “What are you on about?”
“So we haven’t met before?”
“Of course not…” he muttered, “if I had met s-someone as p-pre-“
Joon Ki stopped. What the hell was he saying? Stooping so low as to succumb to a girl.
Last night’s image flashed through his mind, causing him to growl slightly. Revenge. Nothing but revenge was eminent in his mind.

Ji Min giggled. This boy’s indecision was hilarious. What was so hard about talking? Hilarious. She gave him a questioning look.
“Such a petty girl, I would’ve beat you up,” Joon Ki finished, trying to cover up his original stupidity.
“Why don’t you?” she smiled, knowing full well his embarrassment.
“Why would I want to get expelled, huh?” he retorted.
“Hmm… very true.”

As this conversation went on, the class sat still. Mesmerized by the new girl. The way she talked, the way she laughed. Her posture, her hair, her make up. Everything about her seemed to be fascinating in that one moment.

Hong Ki was among these. Sitting up, he looked closely at her.
Why did the girl wear so much make up? From looking at his mother’s subjects, make up really did do miracles. This ‘Ji Min’ girl was probably seriously ugly underneath all that eye liner, foundation and contacts. Didn’t contacts make people’s eyes look bigger?

 

Switching back to mandarin, she sighed to Won Bin,

“I’m bored already,”

Chuckling slightly, Won Bin replied in English,

“It’s not his fault he’s mentally incompetent.”

 This caused an eruption of laughter from the boys at the back. Joon Ki, Won Bin and Ji Min looked in the direction of the laughing. Each giving their –wtf- faces.

…

Hong Ki laughed along with the guys for the first time in who knew how long.

“Now THAT made my day,” Min Hwan laughed heartily.
“Tell me about it,” Seung Hyun added,

Feeling Joon Ki’s glare, Min Hwan put his hands over his head whilst shaking with laughter,
“Oh no! He’s looking this way! SAVE YOUSELVES!”

Seung Hyun did the same,

“What is he gonna do to us?” he giggled –his high pitched giggle receiving many whispered,

‘I told you he was gay’ comments from both guys and girls.

“OI!” Joon Ki finally came to his senses after watching the hyenas coughing and laughing away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s called laughing,” Won Bin’s comment earned him Joon Ki’s glare.

Joon Ki’s eyes widened.

“YOU!”

The laughing abruptly stopped. With a few outbursts of fits from Seung Hyun and Min Hwan.

Won Bin looked up at him.
“What about me?”
 “You… last night…” Joon Ki’s eyes burned with revenge.

“What have you been drinking?” Won Bin glared back now.

“What the f-“

“JOOOON KIIIII OPPAAAAA”

A high pitched voice ricocheted off the hallway walls.

“Oh .” Joon Ki cursed at the class, “I was not here, you got that?”

 The end of break bell rang.
A tiny girl walked into their classroom. Her eyes alight.
“Have any of you seen Juju oppa?”

Jae Jin looked at Hong Ki incredulously and whispered,
“Juju oppa?”

Everyone shook their heads.
“He went that way,” Ji Min pointed,
“Okay, thanks.”

The little girl ran out.

Miss Park walked back in.
“Alright everyone, get back to your seats.”

A song went off.
“Ahh. Miss Park,” Won Bin said in korean (In place of Ji Min), “we have to go now,”
He gestured to both Ji Min and himself.
“Why’s that?” Miss Park asked,
“We have an appointment.”

Before Miss Park could grumble, the two had packed up their stuff and left.
“Annoying bunch of kids these days…” she mumbled.

Hong Ki sat back in his chair, thinking back to the incident before.

.flashback.
Joon Ki’s eyes widened.

“YOU!”
.endflashback.

He knew Will? He’d seen him before? He questioned himself. So maybe Will was…
He slapped some sense into himself.
Will  wouldn’t do that. He himself told me not to…

The words ‘people change’ rang through his head over and over again.

Jae Jin took one look at Hong Ki and asked,
“Are you alright? Your face is going pale…”
“Yeah.”

“You’re starting to look like a wimp,” Jong Hun added annoyed.
“Shut up man,” Jae Jin said angrily, “look at him.”
“I’m looking, but I’m not seeing,” he said.

“Do you wanna fight, Jong Hun?” Hong Ki asked skeptically,
“…” Jong Hun didn’t answer and went back to his work.


“Why aren’t you alright?” Jae Jin asked.
“I already said I’m fine.”
“I’ve been your friend since you were 12, I think I know when you are and are not ‘fine’.”
“What ever.”
“What’s bothering you?”
“Dude, you sound like his mum,” Jong Hun spat.

“I don’t care.”

And the prodding began.

…

.flashback.
She slid down the slide and swung on the swings happily. After 8 years of doing exactly this, playing by herself, she knew how to have fun. She knew that no matter how lonely she pretended to be, nobody was going to play with her.

Whilst swinging back and forth, back and forth on the swings, she looked at the basketball court. A boy that looked about her age, perhaps older, played alone as well. His attire screamed ‘RICH’. Thinking she had struck gold, she jumped off her swing and ran up to him.
“Hi there,” she said, “can I play with you?”
Not answering at first, the boy looked at her. He looked her up and down, seeing her bruised arms and legs, the band aid on her face, and said,
“No.”
Shocked at the upfront nature of the boy, she sulked and trudged back in the direction of the swings.
“My friend is coming, that’s why you can’t play with me,” he said behind her.
Her face lit up,
“So can we all play together?” she asked,
“Sure,” a voice behind him said,
“Hyung! You’re late,” the boy ignored her and addressed the older looking boy,

“Hong Ki… ya!” the older boy scolded, “why are you being so rude? Say hi to the girl,”
Turning around, enthusiastically this time, he said,
“Hi, I’m Lee Hong Ki, and you are?”
“My name is Han Min Ji.” her smile stretched from ear to ear.

.endflashback.

She lifted her head off his back.
“Jeez, you know you get heavier when you fall asleep. Don’t lie.”
“Ugh, you got me,” she sighed, leaning back on his back, “are we there yet?”
“We’ve been ‘there’ for 10 minutes,”

Lifting her head up again, she looked around. Her face hardened at the sight of the hospital. The memories forever locked up in the back of her mind.

“Are we going in?” Won Bin asked,
“Yeah…” Ji Min reluctantly got off the bike.
“How you sleep so still… I still don’t understand…” Won Bin muttered, “Could’ve died…”
“What was training in the mountains of China for?”
“It’s already 3:04, doctors don’t tend to wait.”
“mm...” she agreed whilst getting off.
“Will you recognize him?” he asked,
“…” Ji Min didn’t answer.

“Yeah…” Ji Min sighed.

…

“So can we hanging out at your place today or what?” Jong Hun asked impatiently.

“What? Oh. Sorry man, mum’s helping sis move out. I don’t feel like helping out today,” Seung Hyun played with his hair.
“Pfffft,” Min Hwan laughed, “you know what that means.”

“?”
“Our second resort for your house… always…”

Hong Ki, knowing where this was going, immediately backed away.

“Not today man. Didn’t you get enough of her last time?”

“We didn’t,” Min Hwan feigned innocence, “did you?”

“I’m working today…” Hong Ki sighed.'

“Even better!” Seung Hyun added, “you can style my hair for me,”

“I’ll get her to do it especially for you.”

Seung Hyun cringed at the idea.

“Come on!” Min Hwan nudged playfully,

“… you’ll regret it.” Hong Ki’s face turned cold.

1 hour later

“HONGGGKKIIIIIII YAAAAAAAA!” a woman that looked no older than 30 with massive bosoms leaped up to Hong Ki at full speed. Each gallop attracted one more person in the salon’s attention.

Hong Ki’s unsurprised face turned slightly red.

Muttering under his breath, he looked away, pretending not to know the woman.

“YA! WHO’S HONG KI?” he looked around, but fooled no one. He tried, but failed dismally in trying to dodge the woman’s attack of hugs and kisses. 

“You see, you see!” the pack of guys laughed at Min Hwan’s childish laughter, “this is why I love coming here.”

“Shut up or I’ll KILL you all.” Hong Ki’s muffled voice managed to seep out of the crazy looking woman’s attack. Her brown hair flying everywhere whilst what looked like the manager in a white shirt and black vest stood behind her, pleading with her,

“Mrs. Lee. Please. He’s choking!”

Jae Jin looked around awkwardly. Where was Miss when he needed her?

In the background, all the old ladies with half made up faces and massaged people cheered her on.

You go girl!

Attack him, fool!

Shut up manager. It’s love. LOVE

“Get. Off. Me.” Hong Ki’s anger peeked.

Mrs. Lee didn’t flinch even a bit. Instead, she cupped his face.

“Is my wittle Hong Ki tired from school tudayyy?” she babied him, patting him on his head. Though her height did not nearly compare to his, thus she had to stand on her toes.

“Stop it already. You’re making me sick.” Hong Ki’s red face didn’t let up.

“Awwww. You’re embarrassed!” She puffed up her cheeks, and poked them. “ that’s TOO cute!”

“If you don’t shut up and stop this right now, I’m going to tell dad to do that again.” Hong Ki resorted to his last life line.

Mrs. Lee stopped, abruptly frightened.

“No.” Her voice went hoarse with fear.

“Yeah. THAT.” His eyes widened menacingly.

She slowly backed away, teary eyed.

“WHAT KIND OF SON HAVE I GIVEN BIRTH TO?!” She sniffled before going back to her client.

“We’ll be in the back,” he called after her.

Hong Ki finally walked back to the guys standing in the entrance, all of which had an ‘o’ shape plastered on their faces.

“Come on, let’s go.”

Once in the back room, Jae Jin asked curiously,

“What was that about? Were you gonna get your dad to abuse her or something?”

“Whoa there, hold up,” Jong Hun held up his left hand, “That, is stupid. Have you SEEN her? She’s fricking tank.”

Hong Ki laughed.

“A couple of weeks ago, dad got so pissed at mum for spending so much money, that he took all her new clothes that she bought and donated them.”

The guys once again plastered ‘o’ shapes on their faces, whilst nodding.

“Tch. Girls.” Jong Hun shook his head, “Wanted me to buy them shoes last time… WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE ONES ON YOUR FEET?”

“It’s a fashion thing,” Seung Hyun defended, “for people, UNLIKE YOU, who actually BOTHER buying their own clothes.”

“Oi! I buy my own clothes!” Jong Hun furrowed his eyebrows, “I pay for it.”

Rolling his eyes,  Jae Jin said,

“Like actually going in to the store, not telling your maids to go buy it for you.”

“I can do what ever I want with my money.”  Jong Hun defended.

Hong Ki leaned his palms on his thighs as he stood up off the couch.

“Well. It’s prime time. Don’t mess up the couch. If you do, I’ll smash you.”

“Yeah what ever.”

“Go make up girls.”

“Pick good ones.”

“Avoid the grandmas”

Hong Ki walked out of the back, grabbing a black apron on the side of his cart.

The first thing he saw walking out of the door were two things.

Bleach blonde hair, and a gold bell.