Twelve

I knelt down in front of my brother, tipping his chin up so I could see his face. He looked terrible. "

Shouldn't we take him to the hospital Jinwoo?" I looked up at the new kid who had been just standing there after fighting off the crooks.

"No, I'll be fine." Jangmin struggled to his feet and tried to wipe away the blood from his face. I hurried to steady him with my arm.

"I'm going to report those bastards, they'll get what they de-"

"No, don't tell anyone about this." Jangmin interrupted me with a pleading voice.

"Why not?! They hurt you!"

"Please Soohyun, just forget you saw anything. Both of you." He paused from walking to look up at Jinwoo,

"I'm sorry about this, thank you; really. But don't tell anyone."

Jinwoo just listened with a sad expression on his face. It was as if he could understand Jangmin, as if he pitied him.

"Okay, but we need to get you to the nurse." I took my brother's arm gently to lead him. The basketball players had left and the gym was empty. I felt a little disappointed. Why hadn't Minhyuk come looking for me or Jangmin?

At the nurse's I helped dab antibiotics on my brother's wounds. He winced as I rubbed over a big scrape. I felt the anger in the pit of my stomach again. How long had this been happening? All this time he'd come to class with wounds, he hadn't fallen. He had lied to me. Kept this from me when all this time he was being beaten.

"Soohyun, are you okay?" Jinwoo's voice jolted me back to reality and I realized I was crying again. It hadn't happened in a while. Yet now it was. Jangmin reached up and gently wiped the tears from my eyes,

"I'm sorry Soohyun." His voice was broken and upset. I knew how much he blamed himself. I knew how terrible he felt, how much of a jerk he knew he was. I took his hand and set it in my lap.

"It's okay. It'll be okay."

—————

"Are you hurt? What happened? Where's Jangmin?!" I was faced with a frantic Eunwoo when I arrived in class late. I saw Baeksoon, MJ, and Sanha giving me curious looks.

"I'm okay, I'll tell you later."

That wasn't enough for him, "Hey, were you crying? Who made you cry??" He tried to meet my eyes but I looked away.

"Cha Eunwoo, no talking in class." Mrs. Jang gave him her famous glare and he turned away quickly; finally shutting his mouth. I stared at my papers but I couldn't concentrate. The scene was going over and over in my head. What was the deal Jangmin had made with them? Why was he making deals and fighting? And more importantly, why hadn't he told me? Did he not trust me anymore? I bit my lip to keep from crying.

After class the same thoughts were running through my mind. Jangmin had gone home early due to his wounds. Mrs Jang had called Eunwoo after class, probably either to scold him for talking in class or discuss class president plans. I was still frustrated at him for being distracted at lunch. If he'd come with me maybe things would've turned out better. We were lucky Jinwoo showed up. He was a really good fighter. I began to wonder if he'd had that reputation before. Was Jinwoo dangerous? There was so much I didn't know about the guy.

"Hey Soohyun." I looked up from walking to see Minhyuk. He flashed me a smile, one that easily made my stomach do flips.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna, take a stroll with me? Class doesn't start again for half an hour." He held out a drink. I blinked twice at him, surprised and confused. A stroll? Why did Minhyuk want to go on a stroll with me?

"Rocky!" Before I could answer a girl skipped around the corner. She was pretty, with short dark hair and pale smooth skin. She smiled up at Minhyuk,

"Come with me to dance class!" Her voice was high and excited and I couldn't help but feel jealous as she clung to his arm.

"Well... the thing is Minji.." he trailed off awkwardly; turning to give me a worried look. I forced a smile,

"Go ahead. I'll be okay."

"Wait, are you Soohyun?" The girl looked at me with a big smile.

"Yes..." how did she know my name? The girl, the one named Minji; bowed to me with an excited expression on her face,

"Hello! I'm Minji, Minhyuk says a lot about you." She grinned and I saw Rocky's cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. Oh, so he talks about me?

"Nice to meet you." I bowed politely. Who was this girl?

"Rocky and I have known each other since primary school." She flipped her gorgeous hair and I shook my head at her. She was uncomfortably hyperactive. It reminded me of MJ. She bounced up to Rocky and clung to his arm for a moment, making him smile. Hmph.

"I have to hurry to dance class. Bye Rocky!" She waved and hurried down the hall, seemingly forgetting about taking him along. I made a face. She made me uncomfortable.

"She's a handful." Rocky smiled faintly and rubbed the back of his neck again. I managed a laugh as we began to walk together to the exit;

"She looks like she adores you a lot." I hoped my voice didn't show too much bitterness. Rocky nodded, taking a swallow of his drink.

"Minji, Eunwoo and I used to be the best trio." He smiled as we stepped outside and paused before continuing,

"We did everything together. From skipping class to staying up all night studying." He had a faraway look in his eyes. I held my drink to my chest, examining his eyes which now had a faraway look,

"What... happened?"

"Minji confessed. She confessed to Eunwoo. I never thought he'd reject her, but it broke us apart. Minji liked him a lot. But he said he didn't want to be more than friends." Minhyuk paused again to sigh,

"After that, I got angry at Eunwoo for breaking her heart. We fought, and never talked again."

"Is that why you don't like Eunwoo?" I asked cautiously,

"Yeah. It still makes me mad when I think about how much he hurt Minji. I still haven't forgiven him."

The drink in my hand was dripping with condensation, leaving the front of my dress wet. I dropped my hands, the two of us in silence as we walked slowly around the school grounds.

"She must mean a lot to you. Minji." I finally spoke. Rocky smiled and nodded;

"Yeah. She does." Just those three words made me upset inside. It would be heartwarming to any other person. But to me, it just made me jealous. It was clear that Rocky liked her. I sighed and took a swallow of my drink.

"Soohyun! Hey, Soohyun!" At the sound of Eunwoo's voice I turned around; seeing him running towards us. Oh right, Eunwoo had promised me ice cream. I had forgotten.

"Soohyun! What are you doing?" When he caught up his eyes flicked to Rocky and I saw the resentment flash in them again. I smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry Eunwoo, Rocky asked if I would take a walk with him. I was waiting for you."

"Let's go." Eunwoo looked angry as he grabbed my arm and dragged me with him.

"Wait, Eunwoo!" I looked back over my shoulder at Minhyuk who as still standing there. I mouthed a sorry but he only smiled and waved,

"Talk later!"

Eunwoo didn't stop dragging me till we were out of school bounds. I pulled myself out of his grasp and glared at him,

"What was that for?"

Eunwoo crossed his arms at me, his bottom lip protruding slightly in a pout;

"You still haven't told me what happened. And then you run off with Minhyuk without telling me? What were you doing out of class? Were you two-"

"Whoa, what are you saying? Are you angry at me?" I copied his crossed arm gesture. He frowned, still looking pouty,

"I'm upset because you left me out." He sounded sad and I suddenly felt guilty. I sighed and tipped my head to meet his eyes,

"I'm sorry Eunwoo, I had a lot on my mind. Jangmin got hurt during practice, I failed my test, then my cru- I mean Minhyuk asks to go on a walk. I'm sorry."

"You hungry?" He looked up suddenly.

"Huh? Oh... yeah, sort of."

"Let's go get ice cream." He grabbed my hand, his larger one holding onto my small one. My heart jumped and I felt myself blushing.

Eunwoo? What's this?

I felt tingles go through my body as he started to run with our hands together, the happy expression back on his face.

And once again, found myself smiling.