"Seokmin! Hurry up!" I waited for him at his front porch. He's slow like always. I have a lot to nag him about. When he stepped out of the house, I immediately hit him, "How dare you set me up with him without telling me? You didn't even tell me that he was coming." He rubbed the spot that I hit him. "How was the date?" I softly said, "Fun." He pretended that he couldn't hear me, cuffed his ears and asked me to repeat. I hit him again. "I SAID FUN." He ruffled my hair and gave me a plain smile. While walking, I noticed that he was really quiet. I asked what's up with him. He stopped walking and said, "Yerin, I just want to say sorry beforehand." and continued walking. He wouldn't answer any of my questions to why he said sorry. We walked to school in silence. 

      During second period, I've been sitting next to Seokmin for the past 2 days. We said that we would always sit next to each other. But today is different. He's sitting next to another girl, while I'm sitting by myself. I looked at him, but he only gave me an apologetic look and mouthed "Sorry." At the end of class he introduced me to the girl. She gave me a tight hug, "Oh my goodness, hello! My name is Hye Mi. Park Hye Mi." It was awkward for me because I don't know the girl but since Seokmin introduced her to me, I have no choice but to introduce myself to her. "My name is Yerin. Nice to meet you." She released the hug but before she let go, she whispered something into my ear. "Back off. He's mine." She let me go and gave me a fake smile. My third day of school and I have drama with some chick already? When the bell rang, she dragged Seokmin out of the class with her. He didn't even look back at me. I don't like this girl at all. I'm getting bad vibes from her. I mean, is this why he said sorry to me?

      What's wrong with everyone today? Even Kyungsoo is acting different. He wouldn't even look or respond to me. Today is strange. During lunch, Seokmin was sitting with Hye Mi and I could tell that Kyungsoo doesn't want me to sit next to him. I was alone today. I was afraid something like this would happen, I look like an outcast. I quietly sat down at an empty table and ate my lunch with my head low. Suddenly a guy sat down across from me. 

     "Why are you sitting all by yourself?" I looked up to find that the guy was Chanyeol. I continued to eat with my head low, "Everyone is acting weird. My best friend is too busy with another girl who is a fake piece of ugh and Kyungsoo is ignoring me. I don't know why he's ignoring me." Chanyeol threw my food away. "Hey! I wasn't done with that! Waste of food!" Without a word, he took my hand and took me to the student's hall. He showed me the bulletin board called "The Gossiper" Students use this to gossip about each other. He point to a picture on the board and asked, "Is this you?" 

     Indeed the girl is me. "Y-yes. But what's the matter?" Chanyeol palmed his face and then ruffled his hair. "Kyungsoo and I are in a group called EXO. We're famous around school. Any rumor that involves us could bring hell to you. Someone must have passed by the park but saw you guys and took an angle of you guys together. Kyungsoo is trying to protect you. Everyone is looking for the girl. If people finds out that you're the mysterious girl, you'll receive a lot of hate. You won't be able to handle it. Don't be too obvious that you two are close." It didn't take long for me to comprehend what was going on. "I understand. I'll leave him alone." I teared up a bit. I had so much fun yesterday and now I can't even be around Kyungsoo. Chanyeol walked with me to fifth period but we were still early since lunch didn't end yet. When the bell rang, the students walked into the classroom. Kyungsoo was the last to enter. We stared at each other for a moment until he walked to a station that was behind me. 

      The teacher tossed everyone onions for the lesson. "Alrighty class. Today I was teach you how to properly cut onions. First, you cut the top, then slice in half. Using a sharp chef's knife, slice about a half an inch off the top of the onion and discard. Then you peel off the papery layers. Remove and discard the skin. Now, chop the onion vertically.Take one onion half and lay it flat on your cutting board. Finally, proceed to chop the onion horizontally. This method will bring out the sweetness of the onions. Now take out your cutting board and cut." 

     I started to chop the onions but as I chopped them, my eyes kept on tearing up. I kept on thinking about what Chanyeol said earlier. Why is bullying such an extreme thing here? I can't be near someone who befriended me, and to think I might have feelings for this person. I rethought about today. Having my best friend walking away from me with another person who dislikes me. I didn't realized that I've shed tears until Chanyeol walked over to me, "Yerin, are you crying?" I lied, "Oh no, it's the onions." Chanyeol washed his hands and wiped my tears away. "It's okay, don't lie to me." I backed away from him because I didn't want to receive anymore attention before Chanyeol gets involved in a rumor. I felt my phone vibrated. Whenever it vibrates, I know that it's a text. I washed my hands and took a look at the text. It was from Kyungsoo. 

From: Kyungsoo

I'm sorry this happened. Don't cry. 

     I turned around to look at him, but he looked down pretending to be focused on cutting his onions. Chanyeol saw the text and immediately put my phone back into my pocket. "Forget about it okay?" he walked back to his station. Although I've been told not to be near Chanyeol, I'm thankful that's he's here for me. I don't want to bring him anymore trouble. Seokmin didn't even bother to meet me afterschool, so I walked home by myself. On the way home, I got a text from him. 

From: Seokmin
Hey, you mad about today? Sorry. It's just I'm getting really close to Hye Mi and I want to continue being close to her. 

To: Seokmin

She's not like who you think she is. Don't go for her. She's fake. 

From: Seokmin

What on earth are you talking about? Are you jealous? Is this why you're making stuff up? Geez, I know that you're mad but  I'm very disappointed in you Yerin. 

     Just great. He doesn't even believe me. I found a bench on the sidewalk, I sat down and took a break from walking. I couldn't help myself but cry. The feeling of losing your best friend who was there for years is painful. Seokmin's blinded by Hye Mi. He can't see how fake she is. I don't know why but I'm crying so hard. I covered my mouth so I wouldn't make any noise, while using the other hand to hold my stomach because it hurts. My phone vibrated again. 

From: Kyungsoo

​I told you not to cry. It hurts to see you like this. 

   I wiped my tears, I was about to text him how did he know that I'm crying but before I could send it to him, he sent me another text. 

From: Kyungsoo

Look on the other side. 

     I looked up and to the other side of the road. There, I saw Kyungsoo standing across from me with his phone in his right hand. He looked miserable and depressed. He mouthed, "Don't cry." 

This chapter was supposed to be intense but I shall save that for another chapter. Maybe the next chapter? Please give me some feed back and subscribe, it'll mean a lot to me!