Dia had only just met up with Hee-Jin at the gates of school when Hoya joined them. He looked pale and tired, like he hadn’t slept for days.

“Are you okay?” He shrugged in response to Dia’s question.

“Did you sleep? You look tired. Have you eaten?” Hee-Jin continued and hugged her friend.

“Yeah. I’m okay, I guess. Getting rejected hurt more than I had expected it to.” Hee-Jin was surprised by how casually he mentioned this, but nowhere near as surprised as Dia was by this revelation.

“Someone rejected you!?”  she exclaimed.

“Thanks for broadcasting that,” Hoya replied dryly and sighed. “But yes.”

“Who? How? Why? Why didn’t I know about this? Did you know Hee-Jin?” the redhead almost sounded wounded they would have kept her out of the loop. As if she had any right, with how much about the stalker she kept to herself.

“I had… suspicions,” the girl muttered, and Dia pouted.

“I wish you had told me! I could have helped. I mean, you’re great, so that girl is clearly an idiot.”

Hoya grimaced, before softly saying: “Yeah, she is kind of dense.”

“She has to be,” Dia agreed. “You’d be a wonderful boyfriend, I can’t believe she can’t see that.”

She had no way of knowing her cheering up did more bad than good. But luckily for both of them Hee-Jin did.

“Well, think positive. At least we can be miserable and lonely together, Hoya,”  she commented with a sigh.

“Misery loves company,” he agreed. “So please don’t expect me to be cheerful today.”

As Dia looked at her dejected friends, she could only wonder why their lives had so suddenly turned out like this. Everything had been so good at the beginning of the year. And now, all three of them were lonely and unhappy. Is this all because of my stalker?

---

“Can we eat lunch in the classroom?” Hee-Jin asked as they were packing their bags.

“Sure,” Hoya agreed quickly. He could easily understand her not wanting to see Xiumin yet. He didn’t really want to see Dia either…

“Fine by me…”  Dia said softly and then added sheepishly: “I forgot my lunch so I’ll have to go buy some in the cafeteria. It will only be a second, so wait for me before you start eating.”

“But I’m hungry~” Hee-Jin complained.

“I’ll be quick,”  the girl promised with a smile.

“It’s gonna be crowded though…”  the hungry girl complained and Hoya nodded in agreement.

“Okay, Okay, I get it. If I’m not back in five minutes you can eat, deal?”

“Deal!” her two friends agreed and Dia walked of with a smile.

Like her friends had predicted, the cafeteria was quite crowded, and she managed to buy her lunch after about five minutes.

“I wonder if they’re still waiting for me,” she mused as she made her way back to the classroom. She stopped in her tracks when she turned the corner. Myungsoo. She shouldn’t be surprised to see him, it was his school too after all, but he had avoided her so well yesterday, his sudden appearance caught her off guard. That, and the fact that her mind had been occupied by food. The hurt was so clearly visible in the boy’s eyes and she wanted to say something, anything to make it alright. But if she did, he would be in danger again, wouldn’t he? She could feel her bottom lip start to quiver, and she could feel a familiar sting in the back of .

I have to stop looking at him, or I’ll be a crying mess again.

But somehow she couldn’t turn away. She missed him.

“Forgotten where the classroom is? You look stupid enough.”

Somehow it didn’t even sound that mean. She wasn’t sure if he had meant it to sound that way, or if she had just been through so much these past weeks that she didn’t care anymore.

“Still getting better grades than you do, Sehun,”  she stated as she turned to him.

“You’re just lucky you have smart friends that will let you cheat off them,” he shrugged.

From the corner of her eyes she could see Myungsoo walk away quickly and she sighed of relief.

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“Call you out on cheating? Of course I did.”

“Seehoon…” she tried softly.

“You looked like you were about to cry… And I can’t deal with that twice.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t be an idiot. I didn’t help you, I only insulted you,” his attitude shifted so quickly it surprised her. But she smiled anyway.

“Thanks.”

And with that she returned to the classroom.

“That took you long enough!” Hee-Jin complained.

“How crowded was it? You made us wait double as long as you promised us,” Hoya joined in.

“I’m sorry. But thank you guys for waiting for me. I wasn’t sure you would.” She hugged them both quickly before letting them finally start on their lunch.

“Of course we would,” Hoya commented with a sigh.

“Better be grateful, because I was really hungry,”  Hee-jin added with a grin.

---

It was the first time that Hoya disliked sitting behind Dia in class. He had been trying to think of the best way to deal with her after his rejection. But even after thinking all night, he had no idea how to actually do that. It was confusing. He had always known she would reject him, that she didn’t even look at him in that way. Then why did it still hurt this much? Why couldn’t it be like a movie, where the girl realizes that not her dream guy, but her best friend who helped her through everything is the one whom she loves? He had always been there for her. He was trying to do whatever he could to protect her from her stalker. Rather badly, even he himself knew that, but he was trying. She didn’t exactly make it easy, with everything she was hiding from them.

She doesn’t trust us.

Hoya wasn’t sure why Dia couldn’t trust them, but it hurt more than a little. How could she claim to be their friend, yet still think so little of them? She had said that she liked them, all the time. She had called herself an idiot for not liking Hoya back, though admittedly, she hadn’t known she was the one who had rejected him.

She doesn’t even know it was her. That it’s always been her… She really is an idiot.

Looking at her was painful now. Nothing should have changed. He still loved her. She still didn’t love him. It had always been that way. So why? Why couldn’t he just deal with it, like he had always done?

---

“Ready for the match?”  Donghyun asked her when she reached the archery range.

“I sure hope so,”  she answered with a smile before adding: “How do you always get here so early?”

He chuckled and pointed over his shoulder to the school building. “That’s my classroom. It’s close.”

For a second he was quiet and Dia frowned.

“Since you’re so prepared…” he started and before he could finish his sentence the girl sighed.

“You’re about to take away my practice time again, aren’t you? We had a deal.”

“Yeah… Well… This isn’t exactly something I decided… We’re required to be present at another meeting tomorrow. It’s the final one before the match so they want us there. Or our club won’t get to participate at all.”

Dia pouted but nodded.

“Alright, alright. I have no choice, right? So I’ll join.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you practice all Saturday to repay you, how’s that?”

Her eyes sparkled instantly and he laughed.

“I guess that’s a yes. Just in case you didn’t guess, I’ll be there too, since you’re not the only one who wants to win, okay?”

“I always knew you were sneaking in extra practice, oppa,”  the girl chuckled.

“Get to work you!” he scolded her. She stuck out her tongue and started preparing her bow.

Once again, Dia was grateful about how calming archery was. It had been the one constant over the year, with everything else going on. Aim and shoot. Aim and shoot. Just like that, she could clear her mind and stop herself from worrying. It wasn’t even herself she was worried about anymore. Maybe she had gotten used to the stalker. Maybe she just didn’t care if he hurt her anymore. She wasn’t sure which it was. But her friends had been hurt. Hee-Jin and Hoya. Myungsoo. Even Xiumin. And everything started because of her stalker. She had tried to shield them from it. But in the end, she had failed. Although if she was completely honest, the chance that the girl who had rejected Hoya was her stalker was near non-existent, so maybe he hadn’t gotten hurt because of her. She hoped that was true. If only there was something she could do to make things better. She sighed, and missed the target in response. Aim and shoot. Relax. Focus. Pull yourself together, Dia.

---

When she reached her locker, she sighed. A familiar yet unwelcome face was waiting for her.

“Why are you here?”

“It’s your fault she broke up with me.”

A part of her wanted to tell him it wasn’t. That she had encouraged Hee-Jin to stay with him. Told her not to break up with him. That she really had tried. That it wasn’t her fault. But he wouldn’t believe her anyway. And a part of her also didn’t believe herself. What if it was somehow her fault?

“You’re not even going to deny it?” Xiumin frowned.

Dia looked at him in silence. He didn’t seem like he wanted her to deny it, but her silence seemed to bother him as well. She wasn’t sure what to do.

“Guess you agree with me then,”  he spoke sharply, his eyes so full of hatred they scared her. He walked over to her slowly, but she didn’t move.

“What are you going to do to me?” She was surprised by how accepting and tired she sounded.

“Finally give you what you deserve,” he smirked and kicked her in the stomach. She collapsed her hands folded over her stomach, and he kicked her again. Only now did he realize that maybe he should have thought about this more. He wasn’t used to fighting. He was strong enough, being a football player, but he had never actually fought another person. But as he beat her, she didn’t seem like a person. And not just in his usual, she’s not human she’s evil, kind of way. Dia didn’t move, or fight back. She seemed little more than a ragdoll right now. She must know it’s what she deserves.

“Let her go!” Before Xiumin could process what was happening someone was pounding on his back. It snapped him out of his rage almost instantly. His eyes widened as he looked down at Dia. She had her eyes closed and was breathing raggedly. She didn’t seem to have any wounds, but of course, bruises didn’t show up that quickly. Even he himself realised he had gone too far. She had made him into a real bully now.

While these thoughts were running through Xiumin’s head, Minwoo helped Dia up.

“Are you okay, Noona, are you hurt?”

She opened her eyes and smiled weakly when she saw her junior in front of her clearly shivering.

He must be terrified.

“I’m okay. Thanks to you,” she said, but Minwoo shook his head.

“I didn’t do much. It must be because you’re strong… But even you aren’t strong enough to keep the bullies away?”

“I guess I’m not that scary after all,”  she commented, and Minwoo laughed.

“As long as you keep my bullies away, that’s enough for me.”

When he noticed Xiumin walk away without sparing them another look, Minwoo got up, as if to go after him, but Dia stopped him.”

“Don’t. It’s okay. Besides, you’re shaking. Thanks for saving me even though you were scared.”

“Bullies are the worst.”

---

Dia hugged her friends happily when she reached the classroom the next day. She had been slightly late, because she had been hiding the few visible bruises expertly. They had already gone to their seats.

“Good morning!” she called out with a smile.

“You’re happy today,” Hee-Jin said and also smiled.

“Something good happened?” Hoya inquired.

“The archery match is this Sunday, so I’m excited for that. I just can’t wait. This year I’ll finally be first! I’m not going to let anything distract me for these next three days.”

“That’s the spirit!” Although Hoya himself was feeling far from happy, it was very relieving to see that she had found something to keep herself happy for a bit, with everything that was going on.

“Maybe we should all focus on your match so we can all be happy again!” Hee-Jin added, just as the teacher walked in. Dia smiled again, not noticing the weird look she got from the other side of the classroom.

---

She hadn’t expected to get cornered outside of the toilets and she definitely hadn’t expected Sehun would be the one to do that.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing, Sehun.”

“Why are you acting overly happy when you’re clearly not?” It was little more than a whisper.

“Why do you…”

“We’ve been in the same class forever and I used to be your best friend. Give me some credit.”

She looked down, quiet for a moment.

“Best friend huh?”

“Don’t you dare shift the topic.”

“Are you trying to make me cry?” she whispered softly, and everything fell into place.

“What happened? Why… How… Did it really get this bad?”

“Please stop. I’m just… tired.”

For a second she thought she noticed something like fear in Sehun’s eyes, but she blinked and then it looked more like disgust. He had grabbed her arm, and was dragging her with him.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” She tried to pull free but ultimately failed.

“Library. Can’t have you break down in tears in the hallway, and you’re clearly not holding it together.”

“My friends will worry.”

“Let them know something came up.”

He didn’t look at her until they had reached the privacy of the library.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Stop that! Stop sounding so resigned, like all is lost anyway. You’ve completely given up now? You’re stronger than that. The stalker isn’t worth it.”

“It’s not that… It’s… I’m messing with everyone's lives. It’s like everyone’s become unhappy because of me,” she muttered.

“You really are an idiot. It’s a miracle you have any friends left.”

“It is,” Dia agreed, tears slowly starting to stream down her cheeks.

“You know, it is okay to cry when you’re sad. You don’t have to fake that you’re happy.”

“But I’m good at that,” she mumbled, wiping away any tears and smiling. “See?”

“You are. But it hurts, right? So just cry.”

“I can’t,” she stated simply, but even as she spoke she could feel new tears build up behind her eyes.

“You’re crying now right? It’s okay. It won’t change my opinion of you, so cry whenever you want. I’ll hate you no matter what.”

It disturbed Dia how comforting that thought was to her. No matter what she’d do, he would hate her and nothing would change. She stopped trying to hold back her tears and cried on his shoulder. It felt weird. Her apparently once best friend turned bully was just standing there, letting her cry, without saying anything. He waited until she was calmed down, then handed her some tissues.

“You look horrible. Feel better?”

“Oh shut up.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Sehun commented dryly.

“Why are you being nice?” she mumbled softly, as much to herself as to him.

“I guess I just prefer to see you cry. I don’t like seeing my victims that happy.”

She punched his arm, with the slightest of smiles, before heading back to class, without looking back at him.

“Everything alright at the archery club?” Hoya informed when she got back.

“Everything is now!” she said with a smile. “So much preparation for the match, you’d think we’re holding it here.”

“Your face looks red…” Hee-Jin commented.

“You can’t be serious, it wasn’t even sunny,” the girl whined, causing her friends to laugh.

Sehun hadn’t shown up to class, not even now, when everyone was packing up their stuff. And of course, Dia felt slightly responsible. Even when she couldn’t quite see what could have caused him to stay away from class. Her thoughts were interrupted when Woohyun stormed into their class.

“Woohyun? What are you doing here?” Hee-Jin asked surprised. She hadn’t spoken with him since she had broken up with Xiumin.

“It’s Xiumin. He got hit by a car. We were just leaving school when he fell, right in front of a car. I… I felt like you needed to know. They are taking him to the hospital, but apparently it’s pretty bad.”