"can't you do it for me?" the girl begged the person beside her who only sighed in return.

"jee, at this rate, you'll die without me."

"exactly!" minjee exclaimed. "you're all i have, so can't you tell sooyoung i'm sorry?"

jongho almost got flustered by her first sentence but wasn't giving in to her bargain. "tell her yourself. i'm running late." he tapped her nosed before walking away.

"we still have thirty minutes!" the petite girl huffed. "damnit, jjong." she muttered as she scratched her head and went in the classroom.

there, she saw her friend looking half asleep as it was still early in the morning. mustering up some courage, she inhaled sharply. "hi."

her greeting seemed to get sooyoung's attention, who managed to be fully awake. "jee!"

minjee sat down, taking off her backpack. "soo, i just wanna say i'm-"

"sh." sooyoung instantly hushed her. "i hate apologizing, but i hate it more when someone does it to me."

the shorter stared at her awkwardly since she didn't know what else to do.

"but this means we're good now, right?" the transferee asked, hoping to get a positive response.

with a smile, minjee nodded. she instantly gave sooyoung a hug and even a peck on the cheek. "i miss you!"

"me, too."

the volleyball player pulled away from the hug. "did i miss anything? yunho said hongjoong joined you for lunch?"

"yup. he's annoying." sooyoung clicked her tongue. "anything up with you?"

"oh, i also, uhm, somehow met him, too." minjee fiddles her fingers.

the other squinted her eyes. "did he do anything? i swear to god-"

"no! it's nothing like that!" the shorter chuckled. "he passed by the gym yesterday and helped me with something."

"i see." sooyoung remained suspicious of the story.

minjee grinned. "is there anything else i need to know?"

sooyoung thought for a while and something came up her mind. she contemplated whether or not to tell her best friend since it's history and doesn't really matter.

oh, what the hell.

"jee, promise not to tell anyone."

the petite one agreed and focused on the next thing her buddy had to say.

sooyoung looked a around for a bit before getting closer. she whispered the piece of information, causing minjee's jaw to drop.

"he's your ex?!" she asked, gasping.

the taller hushed her aggressively, noticing the purple haired boy in front of her, glancing at them when the past was mentioned.

sooyoung swears she saw him roll his eyes. if embarrassment could kill, she would have already been swallowed to hell.

minjee mumbles an apology, still processing the news.

-

the day went by quicker than usual for sooyoung as minjee returned to her bubbly self. they ate lunch as a whole again- yunho slightly scolding minjee, and then jongho reminding him how cold he was when finding out about the choi family. in the end, it all worked out.

it was now their dismissal. both girls had their arms interlocked going to their lockers.

unbeknownst to them, a group of people were scheming something nearby.

"take care of the midget. kim said i should leave her alone, but never said i couldn't touch im." joonsoo instigated, holding a bowl of jajangmyeon.

"got it, babe." jinnyeon agreed.

their clique moved towards the pair, jinnyeon and her girl friends preparing to snatch minjee away.

creeping up behind the pair, the bully held the bowl up. "im."

as sooyoung turned around, she was greeted with noodles covered in oyster sauce to her face.

minjee yelped, but before she could do anything, she was held by two other girls.

"not so fast, you leech." jinnyeon glared.

"let go." the smaller girl talked back.

"what the fuck do you want this time?" sooyoung practically hissed.

"i told your life would be hell." the guy clapped back, only making the girl angrier.

the transferee wiped some sauce off her face. "i can sue you for this."

"try me."

"sooyoung!" minjee called, still trapped. "my p.e uniform might be under my desk! get changed!"

sooyoung could already feel her skin starting to itch.

her face twitched in fury, knowing she couldn't fight back now since she needs to get out of her soaked blouse. that was a lot of noodles.

"jee."

"i'll be okay, soo! jjong's coming anyway. go!" minjee ushered, aware of her friend's allergy.

sooyoung gave them one more scowl before, marching to their classroom.

"you'll never stop being a servant, will you?" provoked jinnyeon. "you just enjoy kissing asses."

minjee exhaled sharply and pushed away the two girls holding her in one motion. "don't you have anything else better to do?"

the mean girl scoffed. "you're forgetting your place. a rat can't talk back to a lion."

"look, jinnyeon. it's not my fault jongho didn't like you back."

"shut up!" jinnyeon pushed the volleyball player. "there's nothing even good about that stone cold bastard. he's boring and rude. anyone would get tired of him."

"take that back." minjee glared at her schoolmate. "you know nothing about jongho."

jinnyeon lets out a cackle. "does he pay you to defend him, too?"

the shorter only kept her glare which made the bully uneasy.

"stop staring at me like that, you bitch." the cake-faced girl gave her a slap on her cheek. "don't act like you're something."

minjee still had the same glare. however, instead of letting it slide like other times, she grabbed jinnyeon's hair and shook her head aggressively.

"talk about me all you want, but do not insult my friend!"

the bully's screeching could be heard along the halls, but that didn't bother her.

"minjee!" the volleyball player heard from the crowd circling them. she spotted her best friend squeezing his way through the people.

jongho immediately took a hold of his friend's waist, taking her hands away from jinnyeon's locks. "stop." he muttered.

still with a frown directed at jinnyeon, minjee tried to calm herself down.

"are you okay?" she heard jongho ask, causing her to nod.

"hah!" the bully fixed her hair, panting a bit. "see? you're nothing but choi's lapdog, chae! using him to climb up the social ladder, how clever!" she yelled sarcastically.

jongho, who had just grasp the situation, turned his head to his past admirer. he felt minjee's grip on his arm become tighter, and he could tell it wasn't out of fear, but out of resentment.

so what he did is, simply let her go.

:D

as soon as minjee felt his hold loosen, she stormed up to jinnyeon who backed up, looking at her.

-

the two were now at a bus stop, eating minjee's favorite flavored ice cream. jongho never really liked sweets, but seeing minjee smile over sharing dessert made his heart happy.

"hey, jongho. you don't think i'm using you, do you?" the girl suddenly queries, her ice cream already melting.

that earned her a flick on the forehead. "don't let it get to your head. plus, you're stupid and reckless but i trust you." jongho reassured.

minjee nodded. "that's good. that's all i need."

the boy noticed how she was still upset by the events earlier, judging by how slow she was eating.

he sighed. "jee. i know i'm not the best best friend someone can have. as what you all said, i'm a prick, practically emotionless, but despite all that, you have my back and my front. don't forget i have yours as well, whether you need me or not."

he didn't look at her yet, expecting her to tease him about being too cheesy, but all he heard was a sniffle.

"oh, c'mon. you're not crying again, are you?"

"it's your fault!" minjee sobs once more. "why would you say something like that out of the blue?"

"it wasn't out of the blue. it was completely necessary." jongho wipe her tears, even joking about her snot getting all over the place.

minjee still cried, but he figured it was out of relief.

he found himself unconsciously smiling as he saw minjee take a big spoonful of the dessert. "there we go."

after drying her happy tears, the girl noticed his gummy grin. "you should smile more, jjong! it's really pretty. you might even get some ladies." she wiggled her brows.

jongho rolled his eyes at her. "you're just saying that 'cause you know i like you."

that's when minjee felt time stop. "you- what?"

"why do you look so shocked?" jongho chuckled. he chuckled. is this some kind of prank? "i thought i was being obvious."

"when?!" you're the one who acts uninterested in me!

"jee, you can stop pretending now. i know you didn't want it to be awkward. that's why you ignored it."

minjee blinked a couple times in confusion. "i'm pretending?"

"yeah, you're the one who knows emotions and feelings. there's no way you didn't know." jongho says so surely.

the girl shuts her eyes. "ugh, my head hurts."

"look, don't think much of it. just-"

he got cut off by a pair of lips against his, making him instinctively close his eyes.

minjee pulled away, letting an uncomfortable silence take over them.

fortunately, the girl's bus arrived before anymore awkwardness could occur. "see you tomorrow."

"yeah."