6 November 2009

"Good job today, class," Mr. Do, Victoria's Korean literature teacher, said in a tired voice as he slumped behind his desk. She gazed upon the miserable man, sure that she knew what he was feeling. Her eyes were stained red for crying so much over her dispute with Jimin the past few days. The short male would refuse to look at her if they saw each other in the halls, and as a result, she distanced herself from Hoseok and Jin as well.

If there was a word for what she was feeling, it was depressed. Victoria was depressed that the one person besides her brothers that she loved unconditionally wouldn't even look at her. Jimin could hold a grudge better than anyone she knew. The part that made her sad the most, however, was that she didn't exactly know what she did to upset him. If their close relationship was that easily erased, was it the same for her brothers? Her mother?

The thoughts only dragged her down further and she was grateful that none of the three boys were in her grade. She could sulk and not be asked about it. As if on cue, the bell rang, making the students around her basically jump out of their seats. They had been preparing their things the entire time she had been sitting there staring off into nothing and feeling sorry for herself.

She packed her things into her bag slowly, eventually being the only one left to leave. It was the last class of the day and on a Friday, nonetheless. Everyone else was dying to go hang out with their friends, but she was just dying inside. The last thing she wanted was to see any of her "friends". In high school, Victoria really was a self-pitying loser like most other high schoolers. Fortunately, she didn't stay that way.

Victoria stood up when everything was in her bag and slung it over one shoulder before walking out. Mr. Do paid her no mind as she left because he was laying his own head on his desk and mumbling to himself. Part of her wanted to pat him on the back and say she understood, but she was too engrossed in her own problems to actually do it. It only resulted in her hesitation by the door before walking into the hall.

"Noona."

She stopped dead in her tracks. It was Hoseok's voice, she knew, because she had hung out with him pretty much every day since she got to KIS. She turned around to face him, still refusing to meet his gaze. "Oh. Hey, Hoseok."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked with a concerned tone, walking toward her so he didn't have to speak loudly. Most of the kids had fled the hallways as if there was something going on. "You and Jimin have been avoiding me like the plague. What's up?"

Victoria shrugged. "Nothing." It took her by surprise when he grabbed her chin and gently turned it to face him. His eyes were serious, searching hers.

"Don't lie to me. If I did something just say it." She was only silent as he looked into her eyes, fingers still gripping her chin. He let go quickly and stepped back a bit before sighing. "Is this about Jin-hyung's Halloween prank? Because I—"

"You didn't do anything," she said quietly. "It's not you."

Hoseok sighed, his gaze softening. "Come on," he said gently, beginning to walk toward the entrance. "Let's find Jin-hyung. I think something's happening."

Victoria appreciated that Hoseok didn't press her. She smiled after him, wondering if he could be the friend that would never leave her. She followed silently, grateful for the warmth he emitted in her presence. Though Hoseok came off as an asshole, she knew there was a softness to him. Perhaps she could break through to it.

Hoseok led her wordlessly to the boy's dorm and the two realized that there were only a few students dotted here and there. The prefects seemed confused as well. Having so little students to prey on was no fun for them. They saw a few of them gang up on one of the greasy kids as they crossed campus. While passing a prefect, they heard him mutter, "I really need to beat someone."

Neither knew whether to laugh or be concerned, so they only shared a look before proceeding to the dorm. Once they entered, the halls were completely empty and they could already see Jin sitting on the game room couch before they went in.

Upon seeing the fourth-year, Victoria was convinced that he had finally lost it. He was just sitting there, pounding his fists into his knees repeatedly and humming. She felt like she was looking at a mental patient. As if he sensed them, Jin turned around, eyes wild.

"There you are!" He almost jumped off of the couch and rushed past them, buzzing with energy. "Come on, I found something incredible."

Hoseok didn't follow him, only turning around. "Hold on, hyung. I can't keep getting in trouble. I can't get expelled again."

Furiously, Jin turned and got in his face. Victoria only watched nervously. "It's always about me with you. Me, me, me!" He stepped back a bit to wave his arms around as he spoke. "I'm thinking: bigger picture! And you're worried about getting in trouble?" He scoffed, full lips parted as he stared at him wide-eyed. "You know what? You really are something!"

Victoria was growing increasingly anxious at Jin's crazed state, so she tried to soothe the situation. She reached for Jin to put a hand on his arm. "Guys, let's just—"

"Shut up, Victoria!" Jin shouted, smacking her hand away aggressively.

Hoseok took Victoria's hand and tugged her behind him before letting go. "Hyung, don't talk to her that way. She's just trying to help. You're lucky a girl in this school even looks at you." Hoseok was right. Though Jin was undeniably handsome and often called The Face Genius of KIS, it was no secret that he was mentally unstable and strange. Students would admire him from afar, but kids normally walked around him in the schoolyard. "And what do you mean, 'bigger picture'?"

"I—" He paused, realizing his mistake before gesturing to the three of them. "I mean, we are gonna take over the school!"

The younger shook his head. "We aren't taking over anything right now."

"Time and tide wait for no man, my friend!" he said while pacing. Then he stopped and advanced toward Hoseok, their noses almost touching. "But it seems they do wait for a wannabe tough guy who's nothing but a little girl!"

Hoseok snarled, pushing Jin back violently. "You're full of shit!"

"So you keep telling me," the oldest replied with an amused smirk. "Look, now come on—I promise you. After this, things are never gonna be the same again!" His smile grew inhumanly wide. "Oh, I'm so excited!" With an energetic turn, he walked toward the doors. "I should've stopped taking those pills years ago!"

"Yeah, right," Hoseok muttered, exchanging a wary glance with Victoria before following him. "Whatever you say, hyung."

Jin was walking quickly, maintaining a few feet ahead of them the entire time. Hoseok and Victoria only walked along in silence, neither of them in a particularly social mood. Though neither would admit it, they both felt better just being in each other's presence.

After being led through a rusting door behind the main building, Victoria figured out pretty quick that he was leading them underneath the school ground. They passed through many mechanical rooms before reaching the place where the sewers emptied. Or, at least, where they used to. The concrete was completely dry. There was a fenced-off dip in the floor with a drain in the middle. Many students were gathered behind the fence, seemingly waiting for Jin and Hoseok to show. Jin led him into the dip while Victoria scanned the faces of her peers.

She felt eyes on her and realized that it was Jimin. He was staring at her sadly from the other side. She couldn't move fast enough as she pushed past people to get to him, embracing him immediately once she did. The others were too focused on Jin and Hoseok to notice or care.

"I'm sorry, noona," he said into her shoulder as they hugged. "I was being a dick."

Victoria shook her head, squeezing him tightly. "It's okay. I'm sorry, too..." She sighed, grateful for his warmth. "I love you, Minnie."

"I love you, too."

Before she had an opportunity to ask what was going on, Jin's voice boomed from the dip where he silenced everyone with his presence. "So, Hobi-boy, here we are!" All the chatter ceased. Victoria and Jimin let go of each other, only watching the scene unfold in confusion. "The hole. The place where this school separates the boys from the men! The weak from the shaft and all that nonsense."

"Okay," Hoseok started, returning his gaze steadily. "So what's that got to do with standing up to people? Keeping them in line?"

Jin smirked, walking in circles around the large circle. "This is where I stand up to you, my friend."

"What are you talking about?"

The oldest narrowed his eyes accusingly and pointed a shaking finger at him. "I know you hate me, Hobi. I know you said all that stuff about me behind my back."

"What are you talking about?" Hoseok asked, louder this time, just as confused as Victoria and Jimin were.

Jin smiled that psycho grin as he stopped walking and instead backed away toward one of the ladders leading to where the crowd was. "Don't play innocent with me. You wanna run this school—I wanna run this school! Only one of us is gonna make it," he warned. "And it's gonna be me!" The tall boy climbed the ladder like a spider and stood between one of the nerds and a large muscular boy.

"Ladies and gentleman!" Jin bellowed, leaving a confused Hoseok at the bottom of the hole. "Boys and morons! I give you," he began, moving out of the way. "Seungcheol!" The muscular boy climbed down the ladder and advanced toward Hoseok.

Victoria gasped, reaching over to take Jimin's hand. "That's Seungcheol? Oh my God!"

"Shit," Hoseok cursed, backing away.

Jimin only stared at the scene, mouth agape. Seungcheol was about the same height as Hoseok, but his muscles were bulging whereas Hoseok was pretty thin. "Me Seungcheol!" the big ape shouted.

"Jin, now I hate you!" Hoseok yelled, pointing at him from the bottom of the hole.

Ignoring Hoseok's comment, Jin nodded at Seungcheol. "Cheolie, go beat that little jerk who said those nasty things to me about your mom and barnyard animals."

"What?" Seungcheol's face twisted into rage. "Come here! Seungcheol wants vengeance!"

Victoria tore her gaze away, facing Jimin and squeezing his hand. "I can't watch."

"Hobi-hyung is doing okay," Jimin said, looking at her momentarily. "He's fast."

"God, I can't believe this." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Someone needs to kick his ass!"

Jin snickered, causing her to turn around. 'Talking about me, ladies?" Jimin let go of Victoria's hand and glared up at the senior.

"How could you, oppa?" Victoria asked, eyes narrowed. "Hobi's been nothing but a good friend to you."

He only stared her down with amusement, seemingly calculating something in his head. "I always knew you were a traitor."

"Me?" she asked, outraged. Students around her were cheering and hollering. "How can you say that? You've treated all of us like shit!"

The oldest's playful expression dissipated. "Watch what you say, Victoria. I wasn't planning on making your life a living hell, too."

Victoria wanted to say more, but a loud thud caused her to rip her gaze from his. Seungcheol was lying on the ground and clutching his head. The crowd gave shocked gasps and began whispering urgently as Hoseok stood victoriously, but he didn't look too thrilled.

"You happy now, you jerk?" he yelled from the bottom of the storm drain, staring up intensely at the older.

Jin laughed and it was high-pitched, eerie—the very epitome of the boy it came from. "Ecstatic! I love watching two morons beat the crap out of each other."

"Why'd you do it, Jin?! I thought we were friends!"

Seokjin let his cold eyes linger on Victoria's, then Jimin's, until he finally made his way to Hoseok. "Friends? You and me?" He scoffed. "I've taken dumps with more brains than you, friend." The crowd began to disperse when they realized that the show was over. "No, I'm taking over this school—and you're just a liability!" He followed the others out until it was just Jimin, Victoria, Hoseok, and Seungcheol. "See ya round', moron!"

Victoria looked around the empty room, realizing that she and Jimin were standing in front of a large storm pipe that would carry water when it began to rain. Hoseok looked miserable standing down there with Seungcheol sitting like a lump.

"Well done, Hobi-hyung!" Jimin yelled happily.

Hoseok looked up at him, less than pleased. "Yeah, great! What a waste of time..." He sighed, offering a hand to the large boy on the floor. "You alright, Seungcheol?"

The big ape took his hand, letting the skinny boy help him stand before he gave his head a shake. "Yeah...."

"Look, I never said anything about your mom or barnyard animals."

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows as he met Hoseok's sincere gaze. "You didn't?" His voice was much like that of an oblivious and ignorant child. If he was passing his classes, it was surely because his teachers didn't want to feel his wrath.

"No," he said firmly, holding the giant's eyes. "And I want you to stop bullying weak kids."

"Why?"

Hoseok groaned. "Because there's a lot of kids around here who need a beating and you're picking on the few who don't! So I want you to leave me and him," he said, pointing to Jimin before his finger moved to Victoria. "And her alone."

"Oh," Seungcheol said, nodding slowly. "Okay. Sorry...:" He pounded his fists against his own head. "Bad Seungcheol!"