"What happened?" I gasp, looking at the boys in shock. All of them, with the exception of Jinyoung, had bruises and bandages in just about every visible place.
"Um, not much." Haknyeon lies, and the others all nod
"Not much," I say "you call this not much?" They all look at each other's injuries and not "Did it happen because of me?" They all shake their heads, making sure to keep their mouths shut
"No." Daehwi whispers
"Guys, we have to to class." Euiwoong whispers and they all immediately stand up and gather their things
"Don't we still have ten minutes?" I say pulling out my phone to check the time, but I already find myself being dragged to class by Jinyoung
"Please don't worry about it, Mijoo."
"But you're all hurt, well, except you." I retort, Jinyoung places his arm around my shoulders reassuringly
"And you don't need to worry about why."
"But I want to know why." I complain, my phone vibrates in my hand. It's a message from Hyungseob, Jinyoung catches a glimpse of the message and his eyes widen
"Please don't read that," he frets and I raise my eyebrows "He isn't supposed to tell you what happened." I huff and open the message anyway "Mijoo, please."

hyungseob
firstly, i'm not supposed to be saying this. secondly, jinyoung, i'm sorry. but i can't lie to you mijoo and i'd rather you be told by one of us than by anyone else about what happened. i know you won't like the sound of it and yes, unfortunately, it is partially your fault but don't think of it like that - because we didn't have to do this. that message that jihoon read was actually asking you to go somewhere after school and like we thought it was bomi and she wanted to fight you. she brought a whole bunch of people as backup - you would've been hospitalised with that many people punching you. this message is getting long, i'm sorry. anyways, we basically fought them for you and we told jinyoung to make sure you stayed safe. don't worry about us, none of us got badly injured, although i will say punching bomi in the face was probably the best thing and the worst thing i've ever done in my life. we all care about you a lot, mijoo and we want you to be safe!!! make sure you don't let them hurt you!!! also, again, jinyoung sorry.

you >> hyungseob

hyungseob
you don't need to yell at me later jinyoung, jihoon and woojin already did that for you

hyungseob
my ears hurt...

me
thank you, hyungseob, i appreciate the explanation

Jinyoung audibly gulps and avoids eye contact with me all the way to the classroom, we both sit down in our seats. No one else is in the classroom considering we arrived way earlier than normal, making the atmosphere highly awkward.
"Do you hate me?" Jinyoung inquires, still unable to look at me
"No," I say, "why would I?"
"I didn't want you to know, I didn't want you feel any kind of burden." He mumbles
"I know that, Jinyoung, I just don't like it when I don't know things - particularly if they have something to do with me. I'm not mad at you at all; you did the right thing, making sure I was safe. I'm a little mad at everyone else for actually fighting them. Won't it ruin your reputation? There would've been a bunch of popular girls there, you guys hitting them effects you more than them hitting you." Jinyoung laughs
"Sorry, I shouldn't laugh. You'd be amazed at how quickly you're reputation can go down if you try to fight one of us, people tear you down so quickly. The only thing I can say is, that probably won't be the last we all see of her. She'll be back, with something a lot worse than before."

"Did you really forget, Daehwi?" Haknyeon grins at the boy who had only just arrived to lunch. Daehwi shakes his head and points to Guanlin next to him,
"I wasn't the one who forgot, Guanlin forgot. I had to buy lunch and told Guanlin to come here but he went to our old table instead." Daehwi explains "I was helping him, like I'm supposed to."
"Well that's boring, it would've been great if your forgot." Haknyeon pouts
"Sorry," Guanlin apologises and sits down next to Haknyeon.
"You all look trashed." I mumble, Hyungseob leans over and gives me a side hug
"I'm really sorry, Mijoo," He says "the only good thing is that you didn't get hurt."
"Mijoo, I hope you understand that we all think we did the right thing, you might not agree but believe me when I say that there were too many people for you to be on your own against them. Knowing you; you would've gone on your own, next time if you get anything like that, from anyone, bring someone with you." Jihoon lectures
"It'd be better if I just stopped hanging out with you guys, then no one would get hurt." I mutter
"No!" Everyone says in unison, Hyungseob tightens his grip on me and Daehwi's pout became more, pouty. Jinyoung has grabbed onto my hand and Euiwoong has reached over Hyungseob and hugged me as well.
"Okay, okay, I get it - I'm not leaving." I announce, everyone cheers "Can I eat now? I can't really do that with you three attached to me." Jinyoung, Hyungseob and Euiwoong all let go of me "Thank you."
"By the way, guys, since the really first big exams are coming up do you guys want to start those weekly study sessions we did last year? Daehwi, Mijoo, Guanlin and Euiwoong; you guys are welcome to join us this year." Woojin exclaims and Daehwi let's out an audible sigh
"I mean, it's studying so I want to say no - but if it means you smart people get to help me, then sure." Haknyeon mods in agreement
"I'm not really up for the studying part, but I'll be there if you guys are there." Everyone looks at me to check if I'm coming
"It depends on when it is, my grandmother's visiting soon and she'll be here for a couple weeks. It'll definitely have to be a school day, and directly after school, but it can't be Thursday because Guanlin has soccer. Why do you do soccer anyway? I thought you said you play basketball. Don't answer that, but then there's the student council meetings, those are on Tuesdays, right? Maybe Monday? I don't know." I ramble, Jinyoung places a finger to my lips to tell me to pause for a moment
"But you're coming?" He inquires, I nod
"Well, yeah, if you want me to come." I open my mouth to continue but Jinyoung beats me to it
"We'll do it on Mondays, no one has anything on then." Everyone nods in agreement, then we go back into our usual talking and eating until the break ends.
"You know I'm not going to get anything out of this, Jinyoung." I say as we're walking to class
"I know that, but it will be nice to spend more time with you."

a/n; this book almost has 10k !! thank you so much !!
[edit: it's hit 10k, THANK YOU !!!]