"Still sleepy." Jeanie yawned on our way to school.

Seriously, how many times has she yawned since we left our apartment? Tsk tsk tsk. She kept on yawning, and her shoulders were down. She does look groggy to me.

"Why did we have to leave early anyway?" She complained. She really looks so sleepy and annoyed....at me?

"We're always late. So I decided I wanted to be early this time." I explained.

"This early? We're 1 hour early this time! " she eyed me suspiciously.

" He-he-he. Are we? I haven't looked at the clock when we left..you know..ahm.."

She glared at me. Gulp.

It's true! I'm tired of always being late! You know...Its...I'm...We're...Ahm... Alright! You got me! Being early in class is really not my intention. I want to arrive before that smirking idiot does. In that way, I can stop him from doing whatever evil things he plans on doing. For the record, I'm not intimidated by him. Just annoyed. That's all.

"Omo!" Jeanie exclaimed while pointing at the 3 boys, talking seriously as we arrived at the school building.

"I never knew he arrived so early. I wonder if Tae..." She gasped. Covering her mouth with both hands as if to refrain herself from saying another word.

I ignored what she was about to say because someone in the group caught my eye. One of the 3 boys positively looks familiar. Where did I see that guy with black and blonde hair? I wouldn't forget that unique hairstyle. Only his bangs are blonde, while the remaining part is black. But where did I see him?

"Unnie! I'm gonna go to our room now! Bye!" I heard Jeanie say. I could trace excitement in her voice.

Yeah. I'll stay here for a minute, remembering where I've seen this guy. I waved her goodbye absentmindedly as she hurriedly ran to her room. Room? ROOM! CLASS! I remember! He was my classmate! Ohhh.. Me and my I-don't-care-who-he-is attitude really makes it hard for me to remember someone familiar. If I'm correct, his name is... Jack? Jonggo? Hyunjo? Jang? Jong? Yeah! That's it! Jonghyun. And he was the smirking freak's company. Is he that freak's friend? Does that stupid guy even have a friend? Bet he doesn't!

And I can't see him anywhere. It's only Jonghyun and 2 other guys. The one has a serious yet charismatic aura. He has big eyes and nice lips. Whoa! Why did I even say that! Scratch that. While the other has puffy cheeks and small eyes that disappear every time he smiles or laughs. And he laughs a lot, the opposite of the serious guy. He was also holding a chicken. Yum. Yum.

I really never meant to eavesdrop. But I was intrigued by what they were talking about, so I hid in the corner where they wouldn't see me but still in hearing range.

"Where's Taemin?" The guy with a chicken asked.

"Already in the room. He has a thing for this girl in the class and wants to be early so he'll have a longer time to see her. He's really interested in her. The serious guy shrugged.

"Enough of that!" Jonghyun cut him off.

"You should have seen Key yesterday when that girl gave him in! He really looks so shocked! He had wide eyes, mouth hanging open, and no sign of arrogance on his face. It was epic!" Jonghyun said while laughing his ass out.

"That girl has guts. Giving in our Key just like that. She's tough." the serious guy commented.

"Yeah. I wish to meet her, just to see how tough she is." the guy with the chicken said.

Whoa. Are they gonna avenge the smirking evil? Are they gonna make me pay for what I did to him? I was just obviously defending myself. I don't want to be in more trouble than I am now.

I better go to the classroom now before they notice me. I hurriedly walked while bending my head. My hair purposely covered my face, hoping Jonghyun wouldn't see me.

"Oh! Jewel!" I heard someone call me.

Dang!

Walk. Walk. Pretend you haven't heard him. Lalalalala...

"Hey!" I felt a hand pat my shoulder.

Oh God. There's no escape now. Dang. I'm a girl. I don't have enough force to fight with them. Oh no. Just please don't let me die in their hands.

"Yes?" I smiled, hoping they wouldn't notice the nervousness on my face. That smirking idiot is already getting the hell out of me. I can't handle 3 more guys. Ohhh.. What trouble did I put myself in?

"She's the one, Jong?" the serious one asked.

"Yep!" he said proudly.

"Pleasure to meet you! We're Key's friends, by the way. I'm Onew! "

Why is he acting friendly?

He stretched out his right hand, but it was already occupied by a chicken. I just stared at it. Wide-eyed. How would he expect me to shake his hand?

"Oh! Hahaha..sorry." he took his hand back. "Let's do it again. I'm Onew." he said brightly and bowed. I bowed back and laughed brightly.

"I'm Jonghyun"

"Yeah, I know you." I turned to him and smiled.

"The name's Minho." the serious guy introduced. I just nod. I was about to look in the other direction when he smiled...warmly. That smile affects me more than I expected. The warmness of his smile seemed to flow in my body and warmed up my heart. I just found myself smiling back warmly at him. He was still staring at me with those angelic eyes. My heart suddenly started throbbing irregularly. Fortunately, it came back to normal after a while. But I still can't seem to detach my eyes from him. He somewhat felt like a magnet.

"Ehem!" I heard someone cough fakely.

"So you're the girl?" the guy named Onew said.

"Excuse me?" still groggy at the eye contact me and Minho just had. Phew! What was wrong with me just now?

"I mean, it's you who embarrassed Almighty Key?" he quoted in the air when he said, "Almighty Key."

"Oh! I really didn't mean it that way." That's true. I really didn't mean it..at first.

"Anyways. We called you here to ask you a favor." Jonghyun said shyly.

I raised my eyebrows, gesturing for him to go on. Would he ask me to stop being mean to that smirking idiot? But I'm not the one who started it in the first place!

"We hope that you would fight Key back just like what you were doing. Insult and even embarrass him more." Onew explained this time.

Eh? Wha..what? What did he just say?

"What??" Are these guys serious? Did they ask me to fight that smirking guy? Are they really that smirking devil's friend?

"Why me?"

"Because you have the guts? And you annoy him so much." Onew said like it was the most obvious thing on Earth.

I raised my eyebrow. Is that supposed to be a compliment? Or an insult?

"Look, I don't mean it the harsh way." he defended himself, raising both arms.

"Well, it's not only you. All things annoy Key. Really, he hates everything." Jonghyun rescued.

"He gets annoyed when he sees someone happy, smiles, and laughs. Worse, he tells that person that he hates looking at them, may it be a girl or a boy. But he hates girls more."

"He despises girls." Minho corrected.

"Hmm..I think curse is the best word. Key curse girls." Onew said, nodding to himself.

Woah. Does he hate girls that much? Does he have issues with girls? What? Is he insecure? Is he gay? Honestly, he could be. He talks too much, too confident, too fashionable for a guy. Speaking of which, I already made my list of his negative attributes.

NEGATIVE: (or in other words, the things I hate about him)

1. Can't live a day without insulting others.

2. Thinks highly of himself.

3. Always smirking

POSITIVE:

N-O-N-E

Yeah. He has no positive attributes. Bet he really has none.

"O..kay. But why me? Why not do it yourselves? You're his friends, right?"

"Exactly! We can't do it because we're his friends." Jonghyun snapped.

"You see. Out of all the people, Key expects us to understand him more than anyone. And if we keep on pursuing him to change, he'll think that we really don't understand him. He'll think we're not really his friends, that he has no friends, and it will dishearten him. He's already been through a lot--"

Minho cleared his throat, cutting Onew before he could say anything more.

"Omo. Have I said too much?" He asked innocently.

Both Jonghyun and Minho glared at him. He then just busied himself with his chicken.

"You see, we just want you to teach him a lesson. He really has to get a taste of his own medicine." Minho explained. He looks so cool. Omo! What was I thinking just now!

"And don't give him the satisfaction he wants." Jonghyun reminded me while raising his index finger in front of my face.

"And that is?"

"To see you cry, whine, throw tantrums, run out of embarrassment. Such things." he shrugged.

"Geez. Only kids do that." I smiled brightly at them. Let me remind you, the smile was fake. "Don't worry, I'm not someone who easily cries over nonsense things. That included. Trust me." I assured them and smiled.

You have no idea. I already forgot how to cry in front of others a long time ago.

"Great!" Jonghyn applauded. All three of them smiling rather mischievously.

"Okay. Time to go. I'll go ahead. See you at lunch." Onew turned to walk away.

"Nice meeting you, Jewel. I hope to see you often." Minho said as he walked off.

Now, there's only Jonghyun and me.

He hasn't stopped talking since we bid goodbye to Onew -- who was still eating chicken. Was it the same chicken he ate a while ago? Does he have an unlimited supply of chicken? -- I shook my head. And to Minho, who keeps making my heart beat faster every time he smiles at me. But finally, I could escape his hypnotizing, angelic, charismatic smile.

Many people smile at me, but they don't affect me like he does. They don't really smile as warm as he does though.

We were almost at the room, and Jonghyun still hadn't stopped talking.

"Do you know Super Junior? Don't tell me you don't know them?!" he exaggeratedly widened his eyes when he saw my blank expression.

I shook my head. Nope. Don't know them.

"WHAAAAT???!!!" he looked at me as if I was the most stupid and idiot person in the universe. Was that look really necessary?? What's wrong with not knowing them?

"How could you not know them?! They're the most famous K-pop group in the whole wide world. Super Junior is way too great!! I want to be just like them! They look so cool when they sing and dance. Their songs are cool, too! Ooohh!! Have you heard their new song...... Key???"

I turned at him. What? Key? Their new song is entitled Key? I didn't know they were that cheap to entitle their new song as Key. Gross.

"What are you doing here?"

Eh? I turned to where he was looking and saw the smirking devil sitting with crossed arms and heads up.

Oh! My mistake. So he was referring to this smirking evil in front of me.

"Class. Duh." The evil said while rolling his eyes. I twitched my lips.

"You're early." Jonghyun stated.

"I always am."

Pft! Too much confidence!

"I never knew your taste for girls became that cheap." that was directed at Jonghyun, but he was eyeing me from head to toe with disgust.

How dare he look at me like that! Imma kill this guy! You're more disgusting, you! Grrrr!! What? Do you want me to cry or throw tantrums, huh? That's what you want to see, right? Too bad, sometimes you really can't have what you want.

"Good morning." I greeted him cheerfully. He smirked.

"What's good in the morning if it's your ugly face I see?"

Ooohh!!! He's making me lose my patience!

I could already see my classmates arriving. Relax. Chill.

"I'm sorry for ruining your supposed to be great morning. Hmm..How about I cover my face?" I suggested. I even took a book from my bag and really covered my face.

"Better?" I asked him.

His lips twitched. Smirk gone. Hah! I won't give up that easily.

He stared at me thoroughly. For some reason, I don't know. I suddenly began to feel uneasy.

"Trying to act cool, eh? Always faking a smile? Why don't you take off that annoying fake smile of yours and show us what you really are and what really runs at that empty head of yours? You're mad now, right? Then why don't you go ahead and shout at me? Cry all you want to release your anger. Stop pretending and take off that mask."

I froze.

How..How did he..? How in the world did he know? This is the first time anyone has noticed. How..

< Key's POV>

The ugly slut stood there frozen, staring at nowhere with a blank expression on her face. But looking deeply into her eyes, you can see how troubled she is. Yeah. I know what she's thinking about... I bet she's asking herself how the hell did I know. Simple. Because I'm Key! I could see the truth behind every lie. I guess that's my exceptional talent. Nobody, and I mean nobody, could ever lie to me because I'm Almighty Key.

"Jewel, your desk." one of our classmates who had just arrived exclaimed.

That seemed to snap her back to reality. She blinked many times and then stared briefly at me before marching to her desk. She stared at it.

"Oh" was all she said. She closed her eyes. And when it opened, along came that ugly smile back on her face. Gosh! That fake smile annoys the hell out of me!

"I wonder who did that thing." a girl, one of my classmates, said. She then looked at me. I glared at her, and she automatically turned away. Hmph! Coward bitch.

"Yeah." the ugly slut seemed out of words. "I wonder who did this." she continued with a lifeless tone.

Ha-hah! Don't be stupid. Obviously, it's me who wrote those words at her desk!

GET LOST UGLY SLUT! COME BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM! NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE!

Her eyes are still on her desk, but she doesn't seem like she's looking at it.

She was biting her lower lip. Hmm.. People only do that to stop themselves from crying. Ooohh.. Was she about to cry? Go ahead, cry! Give me the satisfaction I want.

She was smiling, but I could see the sadness in her eyes, and fear, and shock. I don't know which. But it seemed like what I wrote haunted her. She looks like she just saw a ghost. What's wrong with her? She's trembling. Isn't that too much of a reaction over a prank? But anyway, I'm totally enjoying these scene.

Nobody noticed what I was seeing because they were all talking about who the suspect was.

Jonghyun looked at the ugly slut with concern. Since when did he care for this girl? GIRL?? Did I just say girl?? Gross. What I meant to say is bitch.

When did he learn to care for this bitch?

Pft! Well, she really looks...helpless? I'm sure she will break down and cry any second now. Kekeke..

"Good morning!"

Urgh!! Great!! Very great timing indeed, professor! You just ruined a very wonderful moment of my life!!

I looked back at her only to see that she was back to normal, and that annoying smile was again back on her annoying, ugly face.

They were all unprepared to see the professor. They just froze in their places. Professor's eyes then furrowed, and walked towards the crowd until he reached the ugly's desk.

"Would you mind explaining why that is on your desk?" Prof said while pointing to her desk with his eyes and eyebrows. Pointing using the eyes and eyebrows? He's undoubtedly one of a kind.

I took a notebook and wrote something. Maybe she noticed my sudden movement because she looked at me. I raised it for her to read what I wrote.

"Gonna be a child again? Gonna hide under Daddy prof's back again? I just hope you still remember our little chit-chat yesterday. :) "

Prof had his back on me, and my dumb classmates were already on their respective desks, so it was just her who was seeing what I was doing.

She sighed and closed her eyes. I notice she really has that habit of closing her eyes.

"I...ahm...I'm sorry, professor. I was just...doodling...on my desk." she tried.

Good girl. But then my classmates reacted, making noises to contradict her. I even heard one say, "No, professor! She didn't!"

"SILENCE!" and they fell silent.

"You doodled this? The get lost, ugly slut. Come back to where you came from. Nobody needs you here?"

"Eh? Ahm...yah...I..." she was searching for words. "I..."

"You...?"

"I...There is someone I don't like, so I expressed what I felt toward her through doodling...on my desk...Yes. That's right. That's what I did."

Prof doesn't buy it. Gaaaahh... This ugly creature really sucks at lying. Prof just kept on staring at her.

"O..kay. But you do know that vandalism is forbidden in school, right?" Prof eyed the ugly slut.

"Yes, professor. I'm sorry." her head still down.

"And you know I don't really buy your story." she snapped her head up upon hearing it and had her pleading eyes on Prof.

(Translation: Please, professor, just believe me.)

"Alright! Since you insist that it's your fault. There should be a designated punishment for your action. Remain after class and clean the room." Prof gestured for her to sit down, then turned away and returned to the front. He started the class as if nothing happened.

The ugly slut was looking at Prof's direction, but I'm sure she's not listening. Her eyes still looked troubled and far away. Her body is here, but her mind and soul wander somewhere only she knows. Great. I'm enjoying this.

I just found myself a new pastime. I'll do everything I can to destroy that mask of yours and find out what's lying behind it. You, ugly slut, better prepare.

(JEWEL'S POV)

" Poor baby...Where's your mommy, huh? Where's your daddy? They left you, right? You're all alone now with your stupid sister. They left you coz they don't love you. NOBODY LOVES YOU! NOBODY WANTS YOU! Boohoo.."

It's just like that day. They're all right. Nobody really wants me. That's why my parents left us. That's why he left me. Because they don't love me. I'm just a nobody for them. That inescapable truth haunts me in my sleep and even now when I'm awake.

I just wish this would stop. I wish I could forget everything. It's eating me up.

There's nothing else I can remember now except for that day. I tried to seek another memory in my head but found none. I placed both hands on my head, hoping it would stop. The voice is so loud! I can't hear anything else except for the laughs. A moan of grief wanted to escape from my mouth. I tried my best not to let it out. I bit my lips hard to prevent the unwanted cry from escaping.

The pain, the voices, and the memories of everyone I love leaving are getting clearer and louder. I opened my eyes widely, but only darkness was before me. The memories keep on popping right in my very eyes. It's as if I'm there again.

I could feel myself being pulled back into the darkness of the memory.

Someone help. Someone, please..wake me up from this nightmare...

Then I felt a hard object being thrown on my head that made me return back to reality.

< KEYS POV>

I swear I really wanted to ignore her. But she seems to be getting worse every second. She really seems like she's in pain. She then placed both hands on her head as if she would want to crush her head. If only our heads weren't hard, it would have been squeezed by now. And she's biting her lips hard, I could tell. Coz I could already see a red thing, more like blood, on the spot where she was biting.

I don't know how and when it happened, but I saw a notebook fly straight on her head. I then looked at my empty hand and saw the notebook I was holding earlier hit her head and landed on the floor. She jumped the moment the notebook I was holding earlier touched her.

Seriously, why did I do that? I seriously have no idea. My hand seems to have a life of its own!

She turned in the direction where the notebook came from, which was from my hand, that unexpectedly threw it away at her. Her eyes were wide.

"Got a problem with the throwing ugly?" I smirked, trying to hide the confusion in my eyes on why I did that. She was just blinking many times.

She stared at me. I stared back. We just kept on staring at each other. Then, out of the blue, she smiled. Annoying! I was about to turn my head, but I noticed something different from that smile. It seemed like she was thanking me. Eh? For what?

I furrowed my eyes. She laughed a little. Woah! Now, that's new!! What is happening to her?!!

"Do you know doing that makes you uglier than you are now?" I purposely look like I'm disgusted.

She furrowed her eyes. And there, her annoying fake smile appeared along with her sharp eyes. If only those eyes could kill, I'm sure I'm dead by now. Ha-hah.. Why the heck am I laughing?!!

I could see she's fine now. It would have been a pleasant sight if she remained like what she was earlier. The hands on the head and biting lips scene. It was priceless!

Then why did you throw your notebook if that's what you want?

__________________

A/N: Is Key starting to have a soft spot? I really would like to hear from you.

Oh. And does anybody here know Shinee? If you do, then please tell me so that we can start being squealing fangirls. xD I'd like to think that I'm not the only one who loves K-pop here.😥

Anyway, I hope you continue reading this story all the way.