"You can't run from your family."

YeongMi hated answering phone calls.

"You can't pretend that you're not a part of us."

People can't see others' reactions in the phone, so they never knew when to shut up, even if someone told them.

"You're living a lie."

She especially hated it when the phone calls were from her parents.

"You can't hide the family forever. People are bound to find out eventually."

They always ruined her mood; before she hadn't had a good mood to ruin, but now....

"How do you think your friends will feel when they find out you're lying?"

They definitely soured her soul.

"You don't really think you can be friends with those common types? They'll only use you for fame."

Her mother was wrong, of course. She had to be.

Besides, YeongMi probably wouldn't even be around long enough for the boys to find out the truth. As long as the teachers kept their money and their mouths shut, and her parents stayed as distant and uninvolved as ever, the secret was safe.

Still, her parents unwelcome prying had made her feel disgusting.

It was 2 am; she gave up on sleeping, and nothing interesting was playing on TV, and she had gone through everything in her phone already.

She was beyond bored. She needed to distract herself so she wouldn't fall victim to the doubts and fears in her mind.

What if the boys did learn who her parents were? Would they care?

Everyone else had. What made them different?

She wasn't sure, but she really hoped there was something in them that was different than everyone else. She didn't want them to be like the others. She didn't trust herself to judge though - but they really did seem special.

Her feelings were getting in the way, she knew.

She sighed in frustration, pulling at her hair before standing up.

She walked to the balcony, leaning on the rails to feel the fresh air.

This wasn't enough, she needed to walk in the air.

Students weren't permitted to be in the halls after 11; that's when everyone was supposed to be done with hagwon, though everyone knew most students didn't get to their rooms until 1.

She was suffocating in this place.

She didn't care if she would get caught or not; though if she could avoid it, then she wouldn't have to deal with the punishments. That would be preferred, though it wasn't necessary.

She grabbed her blazer and slipped on her school slippers, tip-toeing to the door. She opened the door quietly, peeking through.

The hall seemed empty.

She slipped past the door, closing it as softly as she could, clutching the key in her palm.

Every step was calculated; she held her breath as she passed the floor's designated teacher's room.

She made it through with nothing but cramped ankles.

Once she made it to the stairway, she stopped stepping carefully - there was a creaky floorboard on the first step, and she stepped directly on it.

In an instant, the sound of a door slamming open echoed through the hallway.

It could've been anyone, but she guessed it was the teacher, as if they had been just waiting to catch a student breaking the rules.

She gave up on running down the stairs, instead precariously sliding down on the railway. She fell onto her ass at the bottom, but she pushed through the pain, running towards the door.

"I know that's you YeongMi, don't you dare go through those doors - "

It was too late, YeongMi was safe outside the doors.

Still, she waited until she was outside of the school gates before she slowed to an easy walk.

Sighing in relief, she took a deep breath; it had been too long since she had been outside with no supervisors. Too fucking long.

"You have to accept your role in this world."

YeongMi wanted to play the role that she wanted, not one that she inherited from her family. Destiny wasn't in the genes, not for YeongMi.

She walked carelessly, hardly paying attention to where she was going; she didn't care at the moment. She didn't mind disappearing for a night; if that turned into a day, or two, or three, or four, well, then more time for her to figure herself out.

She passed the hagwon, and she had every intention of passing it, until two boys caught her eye.

What were they doing still out?

It wasn't her business, but their silhouettes felt familiar.

She took a few curious steps, catching their attention as well.

"Jin? Jungkook?"

"YeongMi! Shit, I thought you were some murderer-"

"Language! I didn't teach you to swear like an uncivilized boy. I taught you to be a man, why must you listen to Namjoon?"

"He's cool?"

"Okay, if you guys don't stop talking, I may turn out to be a murderer."

She avoided saying shut up - Jin was one of the few people she was willing to act respectful towards.

Jin gave her a light nudge on the shoulder, but he accepted that this was her best attempt at respectful.

"Jungkookie, have you just gotten out of hagwon?"

The boy nodded meekly, and YeongMi couldn't see, but she was sure he was blushing. Just to push it, she stood on the other side of him, looping her arm with his, walking right next to him.

"Yeong, YeongMi, are you cold? You can just take my jacket - "

YeongMi pulled the boy back when he started to slip away, and she could too tell he was waiting for Jin to stop her.

"Consider this punishment for being a devilish baby." Jin simply looped his arm in Jungkook's other arm, and together the two older students walked the embarrassed boy back to the school grounds.

"Slight problem, one of the franken-teachers caught me leaving."

"What? I'd expect you to be an expert at sneaking out!"

"Well I was distracted! Usually I just leave whether they catch me or not. But they probably barricaded the front door to catch me."

"We could really use Hyjoon's help." Jungkook fumbled with his phone, but Hyjoon didn't seem to answer.

Jin led them to the back of the school, knocking on a steel door 3 distinct times, before Jungkook started hammering his fingers on it like a drum.

Soon, the door was opening, and a ruffled looking Namjoon opened the door.

He opened the door to let them in, but when he saw YeongMi, his eyes opened in panic.

"Oh shit, wait -"

Too late.

"Classy." YeongMi laughed as Namjoon hastily tried to shove the porn magazines under the couch.

She looked around the room; there was a computer set up, and it looked like a makeshift studio.

"Namjoon and Yoongi make music sometimes. I mean, we all do it, but they produce the tracks and stuff. They have a deal with the staff that if they get good grades, they can use the basement as studios. Yoongi is down the hall but he's not friendly to uninvited visitors."

"Jimin's usually with him anyways though," Jungkook added, quite bitterly YeongMi noticed. He seemed to be jealous that Jimin got the special treatment; being the youngest he was probably used to being treated with the most affection.

YeongMi raised her eyebrows as she saw the porn videos next to the computer.

"Fuck!" Namjoon grabbed them before she could read their titles to tease him, most definitely.

Namjoon coughed awkwardly, not looking YeongMi in the face.

"You know, the videos are great, but the real thing is better, why not just do that?"

"I know that-!"

"YI YEONGMI! You're supposed to be a lady!"

"Yeah, but if I was a guy, you'd be all over this conversation. I could teach you a lot, I bet."

Jin looked like he was both disappointed and slightly amused. "And, poor Jungkook-"

YeongMi grinned evilly, making suggestive movements towards the youngest, watching his face get redder than roses as she motioned to him.

She really was too mean.

"Ha- eh, Jin, I think I'll just go to bed now-"

His voice cracked, and he quickly rushed out of the room.

Jin gave YeongMi an annoyed look, and she licked her lips, holding in a laugh.

She could've done so much worse.