"Kim Jungwoo is currently at the building of his department taking his last class for this afternoon. I managed to get a copy of his schedule and according to it, he has a vacant time of two hours right after his major subject," Chenle explained to Haechan through the phone.

"That's great, Chenle. Make sure to get a hold of him before he's mobbed by his fans."

"Actually, that's the reason we called you," Jisung interrupted. "We're too shy to approach him."

"What the—you called me so you can make me do the work?"

"Yeah, you're the only shameless one in our group," Chenle answered.

"What did you say, Zhong Chenle?"

"I said I'll cook ramen for you if you come over here."

"Fine! I'll be there in a minute."

"If you're not here within a minute then you'll cook ramen for us!" Jisung joked.

"Wait for me and I'll beat your asses, you punks—"

Before Haechan could curse at the two, Chenle ended the call and the two best friends giggled at each other. They waited for Haechan to come and busied themselves on their phones. Shortly after, Haechan arrived together with Renjun and Mark who were forced to tag along.

They waited for the bell to ring and the moment Kim Jungwoo stepped out of the classroom, the five freshmen ambushed him and brought him at the back of the building.

"Who are you guys—oh wait! I know you! You're the popular group of handsome freshmen! If I'm not mistaken, there's seven of you," Jungwoo said and pointed at each one of them.

"The other two are somewhere, I don't know where but that's not important. Just an additional information, I'm the top visual in our group. But that's not why we're here," Haechan said.

Jungwoo dramatically clutched his bag tightly and used it as a shield witha frantic look on his face. "Are you going to bully me? Ask for my lunch money? Because if yes, sorry to disappoint you but my Mom packs my lunch. Sorry."

"Oh! Packed lunches! My Mom used to make one, but not anymore since I moved from China, I had to do it alone," Renjun said and the atmosphere suddenly turned sentimental. Jungwoo was touched by the little backstory. He didn't hesitate to hug Renjun which shocked everyone.

"He's very touchy," Jisung whispered to Chenle.

"I haven't introduced myself. My name is Kim Jungwoo," Jungwoo said and bowed a little. In return, the five introduced themselves even though they didn't have to.

"It's for courtesy." Like what Mark had said.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves, can you tell me why you ambushed me and brought me here? Because if you're planning to beat me up, I am quite stronger than I look and I can literally beat the shit out of all of you, not to mention I'm way taller."

"No, that's not why we're here. We're not looking for trouble," Renjun said. "We learned from our senior, Kim Doyoung, that you run the official page of NeoU."

"Yep! That's right! That's me, Kim Jungwoo at your service!"

"A few days ago, an anonymous account posted an intriguing post about our friends, Na Jaemin and (Name) and we wanted to know who posted the photos because those were posted without their consent," Haechan explained.

Jungwoo nodded in understanding. "Okay, but I need something."

"What is it?" Chenle asked. "Food? Money? Name your price."

"I don't need any of those."

"Then what?"

"Your love."

There was an awkward silence after Jungwoo answered Chenle's question but his face remained impassive. Everyone looked at Chenle who was ready to sprint away from Jungwoo.

"Um, let's not do that. I don't think that's a good idea," Mark said and gave a traumatized Chenle a gentle pat on the back.

"Of course I'm just kidding! I need a computer to access the official page," Jungwoo explained. "Follow me."

Shortly after, they reached the small office where the Student Council gather whenever they have a meeting. It used to be a a regular sized classroom but it was divided in half. There was a long wooden table at the middle of the room lined up with five wooden chairs on each side. At the left corner of the room near the window, was a wooden desk with a PC.

It was empty when they arrived and Jungwoo didn't waste any time. He sat in front of the desktop and typed the name of the page.

"What post are you referring to?" Jungwoo asked the freshmen.

Haechan showed him the screenshot and Jungwoo returned his attention on the screen. "We keep their identity anonymous and only the admin of the page can see the accounts. It will take a while because that was posted more than a month ago, so bear with me."

The five freshmen took their seats and busied themselves while Jungwoo was on full concentration. Only their occasional sighs and the click of the keyboard could be heard. Jisung was almost asleep when he was startled by Jungwoo's screech.

"I found it!" Jungwoo said. All of them stood up and crowded behind Jungwoo. "Usually, the people who send their post to us use a dummy account to hide their identity, but this one used their domain email. I searched the ID number through the records that the Student Council have and here it is."

"Who is it?" Mark asked impatiently.

"He goes by the name Seon-ok," Jungwoo answered and showed the email to them. "Does it ring a bell?"

"Holy shit!" Jisung exclaimed and his older brothers glared at him for cursing. "Oh, sorry. I mean, I know him. He was the one who pushed me off my chair and harassed (Name) at the welcoming party."

Recognition registered on their faces as they remembered who Seon-ok was. Haechan brought out his phone and dialed Jaemin's number.

"Hello? Jaemin?"

"What is it? Be quick."

"We found the person who posted the pictures."

"Holy—where are you right now?"

"At Building B, the Student Council office at the third floor."

"I'll be there. Wait for me."

That moment, Jeno already saw you ran away and Jaemin was talking to somebody on the phone.

"What the hell is that asshole doing?" he asked himself as he walked towards his best friend. As he got nearer, he heard the urgency on Jaemin's voice. After awhile, he ended the call.

"Why did (Name) run away?" Jeno asked.

Jaemin looked at him with pure seriousness on his features. "That's not important at the moment. They found the person who posted our pictures." With that, Jaemin ran to Building B, Jeno following closely behind him. He didn't stop until they reached the front door of the office and he almost broke the handle when he forcefully twisted it around. The door slammed open and everyone inside the office was surprised when he barged into the room.

"Who is it?" Jaemin asked and took menacing strides towards Jungwoo.

"Woah, chill out, freshman—"

"I'm not here to play hide and seek. Who is it?" Jaemin's attention went to Haechan who pointed at the monitor. Jaemin had to squint his eyes to read the letters on the screen.

"Do you know him?" Jungwoo asked.

Recognition flashed across his face as he read the email. "That fucking bastard—how?" Jaemin asked himself. "How could Seon-ok have those pictures?"

"There's only one way to find out," Jeno told them and they all looked at him. "Doyoung sunbae told me that Seon-ok sunbae is still serving his punishment by cleaning the comfort room of this building. Let's go and see if we can find him there."

Jaemin didn't waste any time as he sprinted out the door to the comfort room.

He kicked the door of the comfort room open and found Seon-ok leaning on the tiled sink while smoking. His eyes widened in alarm, thinking that a professor caught him smoking. However, he wasn't ready for Jaemin's rage. Jaemin stormed towards Seon-ok, grabbed him by his collar and forcefully pinned him on the wall. The stench of cigarette was all over the place and Jaemin scrunched his nose in disgust but didn't let go of his senior.

"W-W-What do you want?" Seon-ok stammered in fear, his life reflecting before his eyes. Jaemin's deadly glare penetrated his soul, instilling fear on every nerve of his body.

"You fucking bastard!" Jaemin growled. "Who are you?"

"What do you mean?" Seon-ok asked. He was on the verge of crying when Jaemin showed the screenshot of the post to him. His eyes recognized the pictures then looked back at Jaemin. "Oh..."

"How come you have these pictures?" Jaemin asked and pressed Seon-ok harder on the wall, the latter gasping for air as his breathing was restricted.

"Jaemin! Jaemin let go of him," Jeno said when he reached the restroom and saw Jaemin almost choking Seon-ok to death. "You'll kill him."

"I might as well do it properly," Jaemin replied dangerously.

Jeno successfully separated the two and Seon-ok skidded down the floor, holding his precious neck. He desperately gasped for air only to cough because of the smell of the cigarette.

"Don't you dare try to escape or I will pummel your face," Jaemin threatened him and he nodded obediently. "Now answer my question. Why do you have those pictures?"

"I-I... have a younger sister who went with the same school as you and (Name)," Seon-ok started. "You're batchmates. She's studying in a different school now. One day when I was rummaging through her stuff, I found her yearbook picture. As I was skimming through the pages, I saw (Name)'s picture first. Then after a few pages, I saw yours. I was surprised to know that the three of you were schoolmates before. I had no collective memory of you or her because we only stayed in that little town for a short while."

The others who just arrived after Jaemin and Jeno heard the whole story from Seon-ok's mouth. Jaemin still couldn't process what he heard.

"Why did you post it?" Jaemin asked.

"I have no ill intentions, I swear I don't!" Seon-ok was almost pleading. "I just wanted to let everyone know. I didn't know that it was such a big deal for you. Yes, I wanted to get back to you for humiliating me but I already forgot about it. Kim Doyoung will beat me up himself if I caused trouble again."

Silence fell among the them as they watched Seon-ok collect himself from the tiled floor. He was shaking in fear and was afraid to make the slightest bit of mistake, thinking that Jaemin would pounce on him and tear him into shreds.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Jaemin asked Jeno.

"I don't think he had the luxury to lie when you were looking at him like that," Jeno answered. "Especially when you're not going to hesitate to bite his head off."

Jaemin's head was ringing and all the strength in him was drained. He stared at his own reflection on the mirror: void, lifeless eyes staring back at him. He kept his past a secret only to be pried open by irrelevant people. And most importantly, he sacrificed his friendship with you for his rage.

He wanted to bang his head on the sink, punch the mirror and watch his knuckles bleed, but he did nothing of those.

"Thank you," Mark told Jungwoo. "We're really grateful for your help. We'll give the payment to you tomorrow."

"There's no need to," Jungwoo reassured but Mark insisted.

Meanwhile, you, Giselle, Karina, Ningning, and Winter were running to the rooftop of the same building where Jaemin and the rest were. Someone told them that Nayoung usually stays at the rooftop so they went there with the hopes of finding her at the said place.

You climbed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, the girls following behind you. When you reached the door, you kicked it open, revealing a Nayoung who was hunched in a corner, with her head bent low while hugging her knees. She looked up when she heard a loud bang. Her eyes were red-rimmed as if she was crying for hours. She stood up when she saw you and dusted off her skirt, turning her back on you.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice slightly shaking.

All the thrill that you felt earlier drained out of your body. "What's wrong?" you asked.

"Nothing's wrong. What are you doing here? What do you want from me?"

You took a wary step towards Nayoung. When you finally got nearer, you held her arm and she flinched in pain. You forced her to turn around and you were shocked at what you saw.

Nayoung's lips were chapped and bleeding, there was a dark bruise forming on her cheekbones, a fresh cut on her eyebrow, and reddish hand print that on her cheek. There were also bruising marks around her neck as if someone tried to strangle her. You rolled up the sleeves of her sweater and more bruises and wounds came to view, some were old scars, some were fresh wounds.

"Nayoung..." was all you could say. She was battered and bruised and you could guess that she had a broken bone somewhere in her body because she kept flinching at every movement.

"Don't pity me!" Nayoung managed to croak out despite the pain. "What do you want from me?"

You weren't sure whether it's a good idea to show her what you had but it would be a waste if you wouldn't, so you did. You handed her your phone and a look of recognition registered on her face, followed by a mixture of fear and confusion. When she finished looking at every slide, she handed it back to you with a bitter laugh.

"Are you conspiring against me all this time?" she asked you. "I thought you and Jaemin were no longer friends?"

"Why did you do all of this?" you asked. "I don't know who you are or what you are going through, but why would you do those things to us? We never harmed you, Nayoung. We never intended to do any of this if you didn't start it."

Nayoung looked away in shame. "Can't you see, (Name)? I'm miserable!"

"So you wanted to make the people around you feel miserable as well?" you blurted out.

She let out a hysterical laugh. "Yeah! Because the world is unfair so I had to do it myself! Why do people love you and adore you so much when you're not even doing anything? Why are you so happy with your life while people like me suffer all the time? I don't get it, (Name)! Do I deserve all the bad things that's happening to me right now?"

You walked towards Nayoung and she instinctively took a step back, shutting her eyes close, waiting for a hard slap across her cheek but it didn't come. Instead, you enveloped her in a warm embrace, careful not to squeeze her body.

"I'm sorry," you said. "I'm sorry that all these things happened to you."

"But it's not your fault..." Nayoung sobbed.

"I know you're in pain right now and I will never understand how miserable you're feeling, but don't inflict your pain to somebody who did nothing wrong to you. They could've been your friends. You're not alone in this world," you explained gently.

You felt Nayoung's shoulders slightly shook and she was already sobbing in your arms. She buried her face on your neck and you let her cry her pain out. Giselle wrapped a jacket around her shoulders and the others stroke her hair, comforting her.

For the first time, Nayoung felt that she was accepted and understood.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so sorry for everything." She regretted all the things that she did after she realized that the same people whom she wronged were the ones who were by her side when she needed a shoulder to cry on.

"Let's go to the hospital," you said once she finished crying. "You need to get your wounds treated."

"I can't," Nayoung answered. "I have no money to pay the bills and my foster parents will kill me."

"Don't tell me they did this to you?" Winter asked suspiciously.

Nayoung nodded and you gasped in horror. "How could they?"

Nayoung then proceeded to tell you the whole story. Her foster parents didn't love her like their own child. She was treated like a punching bag, constantly being beaten physically at such a young age. One night, her father was drunk when he got home and he saw her at the living room. He was fired on his job and he took out his anger on her. She fled that night, sneaked inside the school and slept at the rooftop because she had no friends to call.

"They're so horrible..." Ningning said.

"We need to report them to the police! This is abuse!" Karina exclaimed.

"But I will have no home to return to if we report them, and no one would believe me," Nayoung replied.

"Do they know how they treat you? The neighbors I mean," Giselle asked and Nayoung nodded. "Great! We'll take it from here. You will go to the hospital and I'll handle everything. With a little bit of help from someone of course."

You helped Nayoung stand up and you waited patiently for her since her movements were slow. You suspected that she had a broken rib because she's clutching that part. When you successfully got down the stairs, you saw seven tall men waiting at the foot of the stairs.

Giselle called them while you were climbing down the stairs.

"We already called an ambulance for her. I also contacted my lawyer and told him everything. He'll be swinging by to my place tonight so I need you all to be there," Chenle said.

"Thanks for that," Giselle said and gave Chenle a high-five. You were in awe on how they could pull so much strings in a short amount of time. Connections were essential to survive.

Nayoung was laid down on the stretcher and you let the medics handle her. She searched for you and caught your eyes looking at her. She mouthed a sincere "Thank you" as she was lodged in the vehicle. The ambulance sped away and the twelve of you were left standing in front of the gate.

"(Name)!" a familiar voice called you. You turned around and didn't expect your mother and father waving at you. You ran towards them and they wrapped you in a tight hug. You realized how lucky you were to have such loving parents.

"I missed you..." you whispered to them. "Why didn't you tell me you're going to visit?"

"We're had a meeting with a potential buyer, we figured we should visit you while we're at it," your father answered.

When they let you go, your mother's eyes left you and landed on somebody standing behind you.

"Oh! What a handsome boy—oh wait, I think I know you," your mother said.

"Of course you know him! That's (Name)'s childhood friend, Nana!" your father exclaimed once he recognized Jaemin's face.

You turned around and saw Jaemin smiling at your parents before giving each of them a hug. You were more than surprised that he didn't deny that it wasn't him like what he did months ago.

"Long time no see, uncle, auntie," he said with a wide grin.

"It's been so long since we last saw you! You've grown so tall and so handsome!" your mother told him.

"Thank you, auntie."

"Are you and my daughter still friends?" your father asked.

"No—"

"Yes, we are."

"What is wrong with you?" you blurted out in disbelief. It was still fresh in your memory how he acted hostile towards you and now he's suddenly acting like a benevolent childhood friend in front of your parents.

"We've always been friends, (Name). What do you mean?" Jaemin asked you.

You scoffed at his innocent facade. Your blood pressure was rising and you wanted to beat him up for making you miserable the past few weeks only to claim that you had been friends since forever.

"This is so nice! We should have a dinner tonight! It's been so long since Nana ate with us," your father said.

"Dad—"

"I would love to! Just like the old times," Jaemin said and his eyes landed on you. He raised his eyebrow and gave you a smug smile as if mocking you.

Suddenly, you thought of an evil plan and you smirked at him. "Actually, Jaemin is actually busy right now. He has to meet up with his friends after school so he wouldn't be able to join us. He has to attend extra classes because he's failing in our major subject." That wasn't true of course. Jaemin was one of the smartest students in your batch and there's no way he'd get a mark lower than B, but for the sake of your 'plan', you had to make up a believable story.

"I'm not failing—"

"Oh, Nana! Focus on your studies! Your Mom will surely get mad at you if she finds out you're failing your class!" your mother exclaimed. "Where is she by the way?"

Jaemin didn't prepare himself for this question. It felt weird because nobody knew how his family was doing, or if they were even alive. He mustered all the courage to answer the question. "She's dead."

To say that you were shocked was an understatement. You didn't know it because you avoided asking him personal questions to keep your friendship, which he also ended after a few months. There was an awkward silence after his answer. Your father cleared his throat and tried to divert the topic.

"You have to study at least, I won't let my daughter hang out with you if you can't focus on your studies," your father said.

"Absolutely, uncle," Jaemin answered. He bid your parents goodbye before running back to his friends.

That night, you ate dinner with your parents and decided to sleep at the hotel they booked for the night. The seven men together with the four women went to Chenle's house and had a mini-party. Jaemin finally felt free after more than a month of torture. He could finally smile and have fun but he silently wished you were there to celebrate with them. Chenle's lawyer handled Nayoung's case and her foster parents would surely be sent into prison for domestic abuse and neglect.

While they were resting at Chenle's garden, Haechan remembered something. "Jaemin, you know (Name)'s parents?" he asked.

All eyes were on Jaemin now and he wished to be swallowed whole by the ground.

"Yeah." He tried to sound casual as he played with the straw of his iced coffee.

"Wait, what? That's crazy! How?" Chenle asked, intrigued then he remembered that Jaemin wasn't exactly comfortable talking about his personal life. "Never mind, don't answer that question."

"Wait," Jaemin started. "I think I should tell you now since you've been with me during the time when I needed your help."

"Are you sure about this?" Jeno asked.

Jaemin nodded. "They will know eventually, it's better to hear the whole story from me."

He then proceeded to tell them about his childhood, how the two of you met, and why you were close to each other. He told them that he was close to your parents and they treated him like their own son as well. Something happened—he did not specify—that forced them to leave the small town and move to his father's country. Since then, you and him never talked and only met each other after ten years at Starbuxks.

"That's crazy!" Jisung exclaimed. "It's like you were destined to meet again."

"It's called fate," Renjun said. "But you ended your friendship with her more than a month ago. Are you planning to mend it?"

And Jaemin had no answer for that.

You learned from Giselle that Seon-ok was the one who posted your picture. You momentarily forgot about that matter because you were too focused at Nayoung's case. She also told you about Jaemin who told them about your childhood together, something that you did not expect.

"He did what?" you yelled at your phone.

"Calm down, darling, I'm wearing Airpods so don't yell at me. Anyway, you heard me loud and clear, he indeed told us about you two. Such a sweet little story."

You rolled your eyes even though Giselle couldn't see you. "Yeah, right. After doubting me and cutting off ties with me, he finally decided to be honest. What an asshole! He thinks everyone revolves around him."

"Believe me, girl. He looked as if someone was pointing a gun at him while he was telling his story to us. He kept looking around, like he was searching for something."

"Probably searching for his dignity after he found out I was telling the truth but he did not believe me."

"Woah, chill! Are you going to sleep there tonight?"

"Yup! I'm actually going to sleep now. Bye!"

"Bye!"

The next morning, you ate breakfast with your parents and you invited Giselle over so you could introduce her to them. They instantly liked her for her humor and wit. Giselle couldn't stay for long because she still had requirements to do that was due before your finals. She bid your parents goodbye and soon enough, it's your turn to say goodbye to them.

"I will miss you, sweetheart. Take care of yourself, okay? Don't forget to call us when you need us," your mother reminded you.

"You too, take care always," you said and you suddenly wanted to cry. You didn't know how much you missed them because you were so consumed by your misery for the last few weeks.

"We love you, princess," your father said before placing a kiss on the top of your head. "Oh, it's Nana."

You opened your eyes and turned around. Jaemin was standing not too far away from you. When he realized that his presence had been acknowledged, he walked towards you and greeted your parents.

"Are you leaving already?" Jaemin asked.

"Yeah, we're only here for a short business trip. No one's going to look after the shop if we're away for too long," your mother explained.

"During the semestral break, you should come with (Name) and visit the town. A lot has changed there," your father said. "Anyway, we have to go now while there's no traffic jam. Take care of my daughter, will you Nana?"

"To the best of my abilities, uncle," Jaemin affirmed which surprised you.

You watched as your parents' car sped away and disappeared through the maze of buildings. You successfully held back your tears but it made you miss them even more.

"You can cry now, you know?" Jaemin said beside you. You momentarily forgot that he was there because you were trying hard not to get too emotional as you watched your parents leave.

"Giselle told me that you told them about our childhood," you said.

"I did. And what about it?"

"Then what's the point of denying it to me and calling me all sorts of hurtful words only to change your mind afterwards?" It took the best in you to not let anger reign over you.

"I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Your apology is long overdue."

Jaemin heaved a deep sigh before meeting your eyes. It was full of emotions, something that you had never seen before. He looked so vulnerable and devastated. "I made a mistake and I will dutifully atone for it. I will make it up to you. I figured that there's no point of continuing this dishonesty. Look what I did to us? I tried so hard to protect myself, we all have secrets we're trying to keep, but I realized I am keeping it from the wrong person."

You rolled your eyes and laughed bitterly. "I could vividly recall all the things you said to me that night and you never listened to me after I pleaded. Now, after I got used to not having you around, you're suddenly trying to build broken connections?"

"I'm not going to force you to be friends with me again if you don't want to. All I wanted right now is your forgiveness."

You held your chin high as you held your pride. "I suggest you stop because you're only going to waste your time."

"My time isn't wasted if I spend it with you."

You were speechless. All you could do was stare at his face as the sun slowly rose from the east, the golden glow illuminating his perfect face. He had always looked so good, it was unfair. You knew you could never stay angry at him for too long because he was going through something you had no idea about. He was what he was now because of all the events that had happened to him.

But that didn't mean you should disregard your own feelings for him. You were just as hurt as he was, the only difference was you were transparent to him. What you didn't know was that he was slowly doing the same thing to you.

He was slowly opening himself up to you, slowly showing you his vulnerabilities, his wounds and battle scars, the monsters that trapped him in darkness.

There was a spark of determination in his face as you scanned his features. You didn't know what to make of it or if you should even believe it. Meanwhile, he looked back at you with so much intensity he couldn't get enough.

In his chaotic world, only you made sense.