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Birthday Girls

Читайте также:
  1. Birthday Puja 1997
  2. Birthday Puja 1998
  3. Birthday Puja 2001
  4. BIRTHDAY SURPRISES
  5. Birthday Surprises
  6. Birthday Traditions around the World

On May 13th, Minah found herself standing in front of the mirror, waving her hair for the first time in a while. She applied her favorite make-up and straightened her uniform with an iron, making sure that it was neat as possible. As she dressed and ate her breakfast, she sat at the lonely dinner table, swinging her feet up and down in excitement. Her eyes were glued to the clock, eager to leave the house as soon as she could.

Today was her seventeenth birthday, and she couldn't want to meet her friends. Birthdays meant presents—presents given from the depths of her friends' hearts. These presents would determine how her friends viewed her and how they thought of how worthy she was to be their friend. The amount of "happy birthdays" she would get from her peers would only add up to her popularity, and she could soak in the sweat words that swooned her hearts.

Since the day she saw Jieun and Jiho clean her table, Chanyeol had become nicer to her. He still was oblivious to who had erased the table. He only assumed that the people he assigned to do the tasks had not done it.

"Since everyone else seems more useless than you, I'll lift up your punishment a bit," Chanyeol had told her a few days ago.

After those words were out, Minah's "friends" had returned to her side and did their usual tactics: making fun of her or threatening her to do their evil deeds. She didn't mind, though. She was grateful that she had her companions back. Deep inside, she kind of wished to thank Jieun and Jiho, who also didn't know that Minah had been watching them clean her desk with hard effort.

You look bea-u-ti-ful! Minah praised herself, smiling rightly as she checked herself in the mirror before leaving her house. Once she thought that she was ready, she took a deep breath, slipped on her shoes, then left the house.

"Mom, Dad! I'm off—" She stopped momentarily, then let out a soft chuckle. "What am I saying? They're not in the house…"

Her father had gone off to work, and he had told her beforehand that he would be coming home extremely late. He was very apologetic that he couldn't celebrate his daughter's birthday, but his wife had assured him that she would be staying back. However, at last minute, her mother remembered that she had an important business trip and had to break it to her daughter that her parents weren't going to be there on her birthday.

Naturally, she told them that it would be fine and that she would be celebrating her birthday with her friends. She didn't have any specific plans planned out, but she was sure that her friends had held up a surprise party or some sort. Even if they didn't give her a surprise, they would surely hang out with her. After all, it was her birthday. How could anyone refuse the birthday girl?

I'm off! she mentally shouted in her head. She closed the door, locking it with the spare house keys she had in her bag. She turned around, took a deep breath, then began to skip her way towards the school, excited to meet all her friends.

On the way, she had bumped into Jiyong. The two stared at each other, surprised. They weren't sure of what to say, but Jiyong broke the silence and began to conversation.

"You did your hair?" he asked her, using his hand to point at her hair.

Minah blushed and smiled. "How is it? It's cute, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. What's the occasion?" Jiyong inquired.

"Want to guess?" Minah challenged. Her smile became bigger and she tip-toed forward, waiting for Jiyong to guess.

Jiyong began to feel a heavy feeling on his shoulder when he saw Minah's wide smile. It felt like she was anticipating him to guess correctly. Several possible events ran through his head: wedding? school ceremony? date?

"It's her birthday," a familiar voice said behind them. Minah froze, then turned deep red. She glanced behind her shoulder and saw Jiho walking towards them with a lollipop in his mouth. "It's her birthday, and that's why she's dressing up like this."

I-Idiot! Minah screamed in her mind. Why would you tell him that? You were supposed to let him guess!

"Ah, birthday," Jiyong said, nodding his head. "Now that I think about it, your birthday was written in the employee's form. Happy birthday, Minah!"

"T-Thank you," Minah said, blushing a bit. She glanced at Jiho, waiting for him to say a few words to him. She wanted him to congratulate her for turning seventeen. She wasn't sure why, but she just wanted him to tell her that.

"Jieun's birthday is in three days," Jiho mentioned. "Did you know that?"

Jiyong shook his head. "Nope. She never told me."

"Hm. At least I know something you didn't," Jiho mumbled. He smirked, then began to walk past them.

Minah's shoulders drooped down as her facial expression dropped. She sighed to herself and scratched her head. She stopped when she realized that she could be messing up her new look.

At least he remembered my birthday, she thought, trying to light up the mood. "Anyway, what are you doing around this neighborhood?"

Jiyong paused, then rubbed his chin. "Oh! The manager wanted me to get something for him. It just happened to be that I had to come all the way here."

"Hm. It always seems like the manager is bossing you around to do a lot of things," Minah said.

"Does it?" Jiyong asked. "I can't tell. I don't mind, though." He smiled at her. "Well, have a good birthday, Minah!"

Minah smirked and continued to walk forward. "Of course I'll have a good birthday! I'll have a blast!"

* * *

Going to school was certainly not like anything Minah had excepted. She thought that people would pass by her and wave, saying "happy birthday" while giving her a friendly hug or a high-five. However, when she stepped onto the school grounds, her classmates were oddly…normal towards her.

That's perfectly okay, Minah thought, pressing her lips. I'm pretty sure they're kidding around. Chanyeol did lift my punishment…right?

She took a deep breath and walked into her classroom. She waited for a big welcome from her friends, but all they did was sit at their usual spot in the class and talk. She looked at Chanyeol, who seemed too busy to notice Minah's presence.

Maybe they haven't noticed me. My make-up and hair did change, she pointed out. She took another deep breath and walked over to her friends. "Hey guys…!"

Her friends glanced over at her, gave her a small smile, then went back to their conversation.

"You know, I heard that this guy confessed to this girl!"

"Oh my gosh! Didn't the guy have a girlfriend, though?"

"I heard they broke up two weeks ago."

"Two weeks? Dang!"

Minah continued to smile. When she realized that she wasn't at the center of attention, she cleared her throat— loudly.

Her friends stared at her, giving her a glare for being disruptive. Minah shrugged it off and looked at her friends with a chummy smile.

"Anything different about me?" Minah asked curiously. She flipped her hair and blinked rapidly to emphasize the change of looks.

"Um, oh! You…changed," one of the girls commented, unsure of what to say.

Minah only smiled. "That's right! I made my hair more wavy and applied this really nice make-up. Look, look!"

"That's great…" Another girl rolled her eyes, earning giggles from the group.

"Anyway, since it's my birthday," Minah continued, understanding that her friends didn't have an interest to her new appeal, "why don't we go around and sing some songs at the karoke! Or, how about we go and eat something sweat at the cake shop?"

"Oh…" The group of girls exchanged awkward glances at each other. When they finally nudged another girl's shoulder to speak, she cleared her throat and gave Minah a sheepish smile.

"We're so sorry, Minah, but we have plans today!" she belatedly revealed.

Minah's smile faltered a bit. "Plans? Like what?"

"Well, we were planning to go to the beach," the girl said. "Chanyeol suggested everyone to go to the beach. We, um, thought that you were going with us."

"I guess Chanyeol forgot to invite you or tell you," the second girl added. Minah froze, unsure of what to say.

That wasn't it. That wasn't it at all. Chanyeol didn't deliberately forget to tell her. He purposely didn't tell her. It was at that moment Minah realized that she was being excluded from her own group—on her birthday. Her heart raced, palpitating with fear as her smile quickly disappeared.

"W-Was this supposed to be a surprise party?" she asked nervously.

"Um, we don't know," the first girl muttered. She gave Minah a strange look, and Minah clearly got the message. They were mentally asking her to stop asking questions. She was getting on their nerves, and they didn't like that.

Minah blushed, embarrassed as she tucked a clumsy amount of hair behind her ear. There was no need for her to persist them. She wasn't sure if she was kicked out of the group or anything, but she was sure that her presence was slowly dying. She could only reason that Chanyeol knew something about Minah that caused him to exclude her, and she couldn't pin-point the reason why.

She continued to feel her heart race, beating and slamming against her chest. She began to feel small, like a dumb ant under a foot that tried to stomp on her, but the foot kept failing to kill her. Cold sweat poured down her neck, and Minah could only use her long hair—her long, curly hair that she spent hours to curl in order to impress people—to cover up the shameful drops of water. She her dry lips, trying to say something, but her mind was jumbled up and something caught her breath and made her unable to speak honestly. When she realized that she was at the corner of the conversation, she forced a dumb smile.

"…Oh! Okay, then! Alright. It's no big deal. Really, it's not. I'll be spending my birthday with someone else, I guess. You three have fun at the beach, okay?" With that, Minah turned around, leaving the girls slightly dumbfounded, but more happy that they had gotten rid of the clingy girl.

* * *

Damnit.

As the rain poured down and blackened the ground, Minah furiously tried to search for an umbrella in her bag. She had sworn that she had brought one with her and placed it on the umbrella rack, but she found hers gone. She usually kept a spare in her bag, but she found the smaller umbrella gone as well. People around her gave her funny looks, but she continued to act like she was naturally trying to find her umbrella without any trouble.

No birthday party, and now this? Ugh! Do I go back home and tell Mom that I had absolutely no one to hang out with? No, I can't. She's not home today, and Dad's coming home late. Which basically means that I'm celebrating my birthday alone, Minah remembered. She muttered a few curses to herself as she continued to search for her umbrella in her large bag. When she finally accepted the fact that her umbrella was missing, she clenched her teeth and threw the bag against the floor. She bent her knees, curling herself into a ball as she hid her head in her crossed arms. Fortunately for her, not a lot of people were left at this time to watch her silently rage about her unfortunate birthday.

In the few minutes she had to think, her anger had become sorrow. Her eyes softened and glossed as she continued to refuse to lift her head. Her fingers curled around her elbows, the nails digging into her pale skin.

This is just like before when Jiho found new people to hang out with, Minah thought. She recalled the memory of spending one of her earlier birthdays alone, with absolutely no one else to hang out with. She remembered the cold isolation where she had nothing but a piece of bread as cake and a stick as the candle stick. Looking back, she shivered at the memory of how lonely it was to celebrate a birthday alone and how her ten-year old self learned questioned about the purpose of birthdays when there's no celebration to be done.

The birthday girl heaved a sigh and sniffed. Damn it. This sucks.

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked her. Minah didn't even need to look up to know that it was Jiho speaking. "People are staring, you know?" She kept silent for a few minutes. "Bang Minah, are you sleeping?"

"No," she managed to croak out. She could feel herself about to tear up, and cursed herself for letting him know that she was going to cry.

However, he made no comment about her possible tears. Instead, he kept quiet, standing right behind her. The two stood still for a few more minutes, and Minah could only hear other students leave the building, the rain hitting the umbrellas they had brought with them. Her heart dropped when she realized that she would be that one loser who would be running in the rain without anything but her bag to cover her head and come home, drenched from the rain.

"Did you bring an umbrella?" Jiho asked her.

At this moment, Minah glared at him by turning her head and glaring at him with one visible eye. "I did, but I can't find it. Leave me alone!"

There was another moment of silence. She hid her face, curling herself into a smaller ball. The sound of rain continued to ring out across the room, and the rhythmic footsteps had become softer and quieter as more people left the building. By now, Minah could tell that it was only her, Jiho, and at least five more students hanging out near the entrance, taking in shelter from the rain.

Suddenly, she felt something heavy tap on her head. She slowly looked up, and found Jiho kneeling next to her, showing her a large umbrella.

"I have an umbrella with me. If you're not too ashamed, I can walk you home. We live close by, anyway," Jiho offered.

She stared at him for a long time, wondering if he was serious. It was odd for her to talk to Jiho, especially at school. It was even more strange for him to offer a generous act. She thought that his generosity was only for Jieun, so she was genuinely surprised to know that he could be nice to others.

She was going to reject his offer and let her pride get to her. However, when she listened to the rain and looked up at the dark skies, she could tell that the weather wasn't going to lighten up. Sniffing, the rubbing her teary eyes with her arm and quickly nodded her head.

"Yes, I would like to share the umbrella with you," she mumbled softly. She saw Jiho smirk at her and get up on his feet.

As he stepped outside, he opened the umbrella, watching the fabric bloom up like a red flower. With the umbrella hovering over his head, he placed on hand in his pocket and turned around.

"Well?" he said. "Aren't you coming in?"

Minah only nodded, and got up on her feet. Straightening her skirt, she quickly jogged over to his side, taking shelter under the other part of the umbrella.

The two continued to walk in silence, looking either at the ground or straight ahead. Rain continued to rush down to the ground, splashing and creating ripples various of size. The tip of their shoes were sprinkled with droplets of rain, wetting their sneakers and socks. They kept walking, though, not sharing complaints about the rain or about how they were sharing umbrellas. Words weren't really needed, though: Jiho didn't want to talk, and Minah was in a situation where her gratefulness didn't allow her to talk.

"Oh, right," Jiho finally began. Minah, startled, looked at him with wide eyes. He gave her a nonchalant glance. "I need to go to the convenience store real quick. Do you mind if we stop there?"

She figured that Jiyong would still be working. Maybe she could ask to work a bit and send Jiho back home while she would depend on Jiyong to take her back home or something. She knew that it would probably trouble Jiyong, but she really didn't want to walk with Jiho. It was awkward, and she didn't want to be in any other awkward situation again.

"Sure, I don't mind," she replied, nodding her head. "I actually need to ask Jiyong to do me a favor."

"Okay, cool."

Their conversation ended. The two resumed walking, passing trees and several buildings. Minah bit her tongue, feeling too uncomfortable about the situation. The walk, which should take a few minutes, felt like hours. It was as if time was purposely dragging itself, making her feel more edgy, taunting her.

"Now that I think about it, it's your birthday, right?" Jiho suddenly mentioned.

Minah looked away. "Y-Yeah."

"What are you doing for your birthday? I heard that your mom is on a business trip in Japan. Your dad comes home pretty late, too, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"So that practically means that you're not going to hang out with your family on your birthday…" His voice trailed off for a minutes. Then, he looked back at her. "How about your friends? Are you meeting up with them later?"

"They're going to the beach," she told him, "because Chanyeol invited them to go to the beach."

"In this kind of weather?"

"Anything is possible."

"No, seriously. You think that they're going to the beach in this kind of weather?"

"Jiho, stop it. You're making me feel like an idiot."

Jiho laughed. "That's because you are an idiot! Come on. Don't tell me that you really believed in that."

She shot him a glare. "What else am I supposed to do, huh?"

"Fight back. Demand a real response."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"Oh, right. You're bad at fighting back. I remember, you even let Chanyeol make you call a stalker and traumatize Jieun." His laughing stopped. "I'm still mad at you for that. Jieun might've forgiven you, but I haven't."

She narrowed her eyes. "I said I was sorry… I really was…"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. So what I'm hearing is that you're spending your birthday alone?" Jiho asked her.

"Yes, that's right! I'm spending my birthday alone!" she confirmed, rolling her eyes. "Now, can you stop talking about it? It's really ticking me off."

"Right, right. I'm sorry," he replied. "Oh look. We're here."

Minah looked up, finding the convenience store standing in front of them. For some reason, the see-through walls were draped with green curtains, covering the windows. However, the store, as usual, seemed quiet, so she didn't find any reason to suspect the manager for doing something out of the box with the shop.

As Jiho's hand gripped around the door, he stopped momentarily and looked at her. "Oh, Minah?"

She looked up with a curious look. "Yes?"

"Happy birthday."

Ba-thump.

She didn't have any time to think when Jiho swung open the door. As she entered the room first, she was introduced with a loud blaring noise from one side of the room and confetti falling on her like spring flowers floating down from the high trees.

"Happy birthday!" the group shouted.

Minah quickly scanned across the room. The old manager was giving her a cheesy grin, smirking at the sight of her astonished face. Jieun stood next to Jiyong, holding a small present while Jiyong held the cake with the candles lit. Jiho's three friends—Kyungsoo, Wonshik, and Changshik—stood at the other side, acting wild as they childishly dumped the basket of confetti on her. She whirled around, staring at Jiho who had closed the umbrella and the door behind them. She turned back to Jiyong, who approached her with the cake.

"H-How…?" She was left speechless, only able to listen to Jiyong's quick explanation.

"We knew that Jieun's birthday was coming up, and she said that your birthday was just three days earlier than her birthday. She told us that you weren't going to have anybody to celebrate your birthday with after eavesdropping on your conversation with your friends. I managed to buy you a small cake and the manager found some party stuff in the back. We decided to celebrate your birthday and Jieun's birthday today," Jiyong said, still smiling at her.

Minah stared at Jieun, who gave her a small smile. Minah looked away, ashamed as she realized that she was being kindly treated by the enemy. Her face burned red, and she was unable to think clearly.

"Happy birthday," Jieun said gently. "Go ahead. Blow the candles."

Minah paused, then looked at Jieun. "Aren't you going to blow the candles, too?"

Jieun bit her bottom lip. "Um, I wasn't sure if you wanted to blow the candles alone. You see, I thought you would get mad…"

Minah knew that she had no right to say anything else. Jieun was being perfectly reasonable to think that Minah would get mad. After all the times Jieun tried to help her, Minah had only hurt her physically.

"I-I don't mind if you blow out the candles with me," Minah stuttered, gathering up her courage. Then, she whispered, "Besides, I owe you one…"

Jieun frowned, unable to catch the last few words. She stopped hesitating when Jiyong have her a soft nudge, encouraging her to do as Minah instructed. Jieun gave him a small nod, then looked at Minah.

"Ready?" she asked softly.

Minah smiled as she wiped away a single tear from her eye. "Ready."

The two closed their eyes at the same time, then blew out the candles after making their wish. The room was erupted with claps as the manager began to clip down the curtains from the windows. Jiyong placed the cake on the table and began to slice it, making sure that he was cutting the cake just enough for all of them to finish. The teenagers sat down at one table, finishing off their cake in a few bites.

As they were finishing their cake, Jiyong's eyes noticed Jiho's drenched shoulder. He stared at it for a few minutes, then opened his mouth to bring everyone's attention to the sight.

"Oh? Hey, Jiho. Your shoulder is all wet. What happened?" Jiyong asked, pointing at his clothes. Minah looked up, staring at the see-through cloth sticking to Jiho's shoulder. Jiho, who noticed Minah staring, slightly turned pink and covered it up with one of his hands.

"Oh, it's nothing. I guess I got a bit wet when I was holding the umbrella," he said.

"This is nothing, King Kwon! This is his personality. He keeps the girl dry while he gets himself wet," Changshik said. "We saw him do that with Jieun once."

"Then in a few days, he'll end up getting sick," Wonshik added.

"But he'll be back as healthy as a donkey," Kyungsoo stated.

"Would you guys mind shutting up?" Jiho snapped, glaring at the three.

"Make us!" Changshik challenged. Jiho got up on his feet and began to give Changshik a noogie, wrapping his arm around the victim's neck. Changshik began to cry in pain, asking for his friends to help.

Everyone in the room laughed as some of them tried to pry off Jiho's hands away from Changshik's head. Minah watched in silence, smiling until her cheeks began to hurt. She looked down at her half-eaten cake, then giggled when she looked back up to see Jiho with his friends again.

This is nice, she thought, smiling softly. This is definitely nice.

* * *

From outside, the group was oblivious of girls from the same school walking down the street. They stared at the group, trying to identify the boys and the girls who shared the same uniform.

"That's… Jiho, right?" one of the girls whispered.

"I'm so sure that's Jieun with him," another girl said in disgust.

"So who's that girl—Oh my gosh. That's Minah."

"Minah? You mean Bang Minah?" The third girl scoffed. "Of course it's Minah. Just because we told her that we were invited to the beach, that doesn't mean that she should be hanging out with people Chanyeol hate! Despicable!"

"Should we tell Chanyeol?" the first girl asked.

The second girl held up her cell phone. "Of course. Besides, Minah never belonged with with us. She's… annoying. "

"True that. I'll take a picture, too. For back-up evidence. After all, we can't help out someone who betrayed Chanyeol," the third girl said, taking out her cell phone.

Click! Click!

 

Growing Up

The moment Minah stepped into her school gates, she was snatched away with a jacket covering her face. She was dragged along to an unknown location, but she could tell that she was at school when she heard the first bell ring. She tried to fight back, but she figured that a few boys her grabbing onto her. She couldn't compete against their strength—they were obviously much stronger than her.

The jacket fell down and Minah was finally able to see. Her eyes were wide as she noticed faces—familiar faces—give her a solemn look of disappointment or guilt. She dropped her jaws, trying to think of something to say. She looked in front of her and saw Chanyeol leaning against the janitorial cabinet. He was holding a ring of keys, circling it around his index finger.

He stopped twirling the keys and looked at her. His dark gaze only made Minah cringe. She knew that he was mad, but she wasn't sure exactly why. Chanyeol pulled out his phone with his other free hand.

"Oh, hey Minah," he greeted her. His deep voice sent chills down her spine.

"What's up?" she asked casually, trying to keep up her optimistic tone. "Oh, is this another task I have to do?"

"I wish it was, but recently, I've been having an itch that you've been betraying me," he said. He sighed and scratched his head. "Tell me, did you do anything on your birthday?"

Minah's eyes widened even more. "So you knew! You set up that beach day knowing that it was my birthday, and you invited my friends to that beach party without me!"

Chanyeol give her a curious look. He raised an eyebrow, examining her and watching her only grow more frustrated as time passed. Then, he looked down at his shoes and began to snicker at her. He stopped leaning against the cabinet and walked over towards her. He leaned forward, causing Minah to arch her back backwards.

"What friends?" he taunted. "You never had friends in her first place. I only let you borrow those girls. You know that."

Minah's cheeks began to color. "Y-You… What do you want?"

"Nothing. I want absolutely nothing from you now," he said. He tapped on his smart phone and showed Minah a collection of pictures from her birthday. She gasped and kept quiet, stunned at the fact that she was being spied. "Your so-called 'friends' sent me these. You were spending time with my girlfriend, who was hanging out with two guys I despise. Tell me, why?"

Should I tell him? Minah gulped. Do I tell him?

"Maybe if I lock you up in here it'll teach you a lesson," he muttered. He used the key to open the closet. He swung one side, where there was a mop leaning against the side. He took out the mop and gestured his companions to push Minah inside.

Minah scowled and tried to struggle out of the boys' grasp. "You're making a mistake, Chanyeol! What if the teacher finds me here? Don't think that I won't report you!"

Chanyeol smirked as he watched her being shoved into the narrow closet. She was about to claw on of the boy's arm until Chanyeol slammed the door close, hurting her wrist and causing her to retract. She could only see the small beam of light coming from the narrow strip between the two doors. With a small click, she began to user her hand to slam against the door.

"Park Chanyeol! Open this right now!" she screamed.

"Put her down in the basement. No one goes there anymore. Make sure it's cold down there, too." She heard Chanyeol give instructions to his friends. "Oh, and if this wasn't clear to you, Bang Minah, if you ever find a way out, you're not with the crew anymore. I'm kicking you out." His statement left Minah stunned, and he only let out a chuckle. "Well, you're probably not getting out of there. The only way to open this door is from the outside, anyway. Let's go."

She only let out a few more screams and pounded her fist against the wall, but once she heard another door shut from the outside, she knew that she was completely alone.

* * *

Jiyong snapped his eyes open. Panting, he sat straight up and wiped away his drool from his mouth. He looked around, only to discover that he was in the employee's room, snoring away on the sofa. The manager came inside, then frowned at Jiyong.

"You were sleeping," the manager told him. "Break time was over twenty minutes ago."

"S-Sorry," he stuttered. It was the first time in a while since he had stuttered. He got up and bowed apologetically to his boss. The manager studied him, then sighed as he pointed to the door.

"Well? You better go out there, boy. It's slow business, but that doesn't mean I should be doing everything on my own," the manager said.

"Yes, sir!" replied Jiyong. He slipped on his shoes and walked out of the employee's room. He sighed and wiped his forehead, realizing that the door was open to let the warm air lurk into the room. The brilliant sunlight beamed down throw the windows, generating more unwanted heat.

Summer's coming real soon, he realized, sighing. He walked behind the counter and rested his chin on his forehead, thinking about what he had been dreaming when he was asleep.

The only thing he could recall was taking care of the lonely bird he had seen in his earlier dreams. This bird wasn't a chick, though. Rather, it was a beautiful gray-feathered parrot, surrounded by other tropical-colored parrots. However, the parrot had grown lonely once the other birds left. He tried to befriend the lonely parrot, but it would only start plucking its feathers. Soon, it began to grow hideous; it looked like a roughly bird with a beautiful parrot head attached to the bare body. It looked like it was in a hopeless situation. Jiyong was sure that the bird would grow ugly. He wouldn't even try to touch the bird—the flying creature only freaked him out.

But there was another bird—an unidentifiable bird—that flew in to help out the parrot when Jiyong wouldn't. It held a chick in its beak and gave the chick to the parrot, who had nothing else to do with it at first. A smile had grown on Jiyong's lips when he saw the parrot finally play with the chick and have its feathers grow back. It became the beautiful bird again, except it was more attractive and he was compelled to look at the parrot with undeniable awe.

He let out a sigh until a customer walked in. He straightened his back and greeted the customer, but only relaxed when he saw Jieun walk into the store. For a minute, he studied her movements, noticing that she was awkwardly moving one arm towards the objects on display. His eyes widened when he saw her turn and reveal another ugly mark on her face.

Except this time, Jieun wasn't able to cover it up. The deep purple-green mark covered almost over a quarter of her face. It surrounded her eye like a group of mean children circling around the victim—the victim whose eyes only showed deep fear and shared secret questions that no one could answer. On the other side her head was another bruise, except this time it was a lot closer to her ear. Chanyeol had clearly gone overboard this time. Jiyong could only image how Jieun had felt when her boyfriend boxed her ears to make it turn to such a worrisome shade.

"He knows," Jieun croaked out, looking away.

It took a minutes for Jiyong to figure out what she was saying. He held his breath and his lips, trying to think of something to say. He couldn't comfort her anymore—that would be stupid.

"I…" Jiyong gulped. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," she said softly. She looked over to the counter. "Did Minah come?"

He shook his head. "No. As a matter of fact, she's late."

She let out a shaky sigh. "Chanyeol must've caught her, too."

"Caught her?"

"Some idiot sent him pictures of us celebrating Minah's birthday. Chanyeol got mad and…" She pointed to her face. "Well, this happened."

"You don't look surprised."

"Oh, I'm not!" She let out a sarcastic laugh, then withdrew her breath into a shaky sigh. "Then I was being dumb and I started to argue against him. Then I got this." She pointed to her ear. "After that, I told him that I would leave the house and just took off without grabbing my stuff."

Jiyong raised an eyebrow. "When did this all happen?"

"This morning. Chanyeol was out late partying at the beach." Jieun looked down at her scarred hands then sighed. "I was hoping I'd last more than this. I feel pathetic."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. You did great. In fact, I didn't think you'd last that long. Then again, you were pretty stupid," he said, trying to smile.

"Mhm. I wonder how stupid I was to stay in that place," she muttered softly.

"So what are you going to do? Where are you going to sleep?" he asked her.

"Yeah, um, about that…" She gave him a sheepish look. "I was hoping I could stay at your place for a bit…?"

Jiyong widened his eyes. "What."

"I'm sorry, but I realized that I have nowhere else to go! It's either your place or the public restroom down the park, and who knows what kind of creepy stuff happens at night!"

"I can't bring you over! The landlord would kill me! I've signed up for a one-man contract, not two. If he finds out that I'm letting a girl stay a while, then I'll be kicked out. That place is the cheapest place for me to stay," he quickly explained. He ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't believe it. I can't believe you're telling me all this." He began to pale. "What if the landlord finds out and calls the police? Oh geez, I can probably get in jail for bringing a minor into my house without parental permission."

Jieun's shoulder sagged a bit. "So I'm just a minor, huh?"

"Can't you stay at a frie—" He stopped when he realized that Jieun's only friend was Jiho. Did Jiho have a sister or something? He couldn't quite remember, but I was thinking that it wasn't appropriate for her to stay at Jiho's house for a few days. It would bother his parents.

Damn it, why aren't you more social! he cursed, pressing his lips together. Seeing his disturbed expression, Jieun only took a deep breath and forced a smile.

"You know what? It's fine. I'll be okay. I'll just apologize to Chanyeol and hope that I can make him happy again," she told him. Her fake smile softened into a genuine one. "After all, he did have a good side to him…"

Watching her reminisce the passed pained Jiyong. He wanted to help her—he really did—but he couldn't break the rules. In fact, he had never broken any rules except for one, and even today, he feels guilty about breaking that one rule. He wasn't as "chill" as Jiho, who broke the rules every freaking time he had the chance to. He was more obidient and new how the law worked around him. Law was one of the powerful forces he had to deal with, fair or not.

"Alright, here's the thing," Jiyoung started. "I'll let you stay at my house only for tonight. After that, you got to go and find some kind of shelter. This might be a sign, Jieun. It might be a sign for you to start and make some real friends."

Jieun let out a small chuckle. "Friends? How can I make friends when Chanyeol is the one ruling all of them? They're all his puppets—everyone knows that."

"Then maybe you got to find someone who's not a puppet," Jiyong told her. He looked around, then pulled out a cigarette for him to smoke indoors. "Maybe there's someone who's not in the palm of his hands."

"Do you believe in that?" she asked him curiously.

"Do you believe in a beautiful gray parrot?" he questioned her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Nothing," he sputtered, shaking his head. He let out a puff of gray smoke, watching it float into the air and drag itself towards the opened door. "It's absolutely nothing…" He stopped for a minute, then reached into his pocket. "Oh yeah. Forgot this."

He handed her a small box, to which she cautiously took with two hands. She looked at him with a funny expression, causing him to stifle out a laugh. He smiled gently and gestured her to open it. She did as she was instructed, carefully opening the box. Her eyes widened when she saw a tiny Rubix Cube at the size of her pinky.

"What is this?" she finally asked him.

"Birthday present," he explained. "It's coming up, but I have a feeling that I won't be seeing you on your birthday. So, here it is."

"You think it's a good idea to give me a Rubix Cube?" she asked, judging him a bit. She stared at the cube a little longer. "It's all messed up, too."

"Solve it, then I'll grant you a wish," he declared. "Any wish."

Her facial expression brightened up. "Anything?"

"Anything," he confirmed, nodding his head. He watched her cheeks grow bright red. "What? Do you already have a wish in mind?"

She bit her bottom lip. "N-No!"

But it was clear to him that she did have something in mind, and something in his guts made him think he knew exactly what she was looking forward to once she solved the cube.

* * *

" Find him! "

Jiho dashed down the calls and jumped down the stairs, panting hard as he tried to run away from Chanyeol's pestering minions. He knew that Chanyeol was mad at him for hanging out with Jieun. He figured that Chanyeol discovered the celebration when he saw Jieun's terrible face in the morning.

Still, she's beautiful, he thought warmly, grinning. He stopped when he heard some more clanging noises. He further climbed down the stairs, tapping his toes against the marbled floor as quietly as he could. He stopped every time he heard foot steps stopping on the ground, and waited for it to fade away. When it was completely gone, he climbed even further down.

The basement was one of his safe zones. Nobody knew it, but he found out a way to get himself into the basement without the keys. The basement only locked from the outside, but you could open the door from the outside and the inside. As long as he knew the special tactic, he could get himself in and one of the basement with ease. The only trouble he would face would be when the enemies cornered him down the basement, but that never happened because no one liked climbing down the long rows of stairs.

Jiho reached into his pocket and took out a bobby pin. He fiddled with the key hold for a few minutes, then heard a small click! that told him the door was opened. He looked around, listening for any more foot steps or shouting. When he thought he was clear, he swung the door open and closed it behind him. He ran over to the janitorial closet, where he usually found a mop to act as a lock for the inside.

He stopped when he saw the mop sprawled on the floor. He scrunched his eyebrows, reaching down to pick it up. He walked over to the door, used the mop to jam the door knob, and stepped away for a bit.

Do the janitors come down here anymore? he wondered. If he was correct, the janitors were using mops in the janitorial closet, which was a floor above where he was standing. It was strange to see the cleaning equipment all over the ground, too. From what he remembered, the school had pretty clean janitors.

Sniff…

Jiho scrambled against the wall and looked around him with wide eyes. He quickly reached for a broom and examined the area. He waited for another sound, but heard nothing else after the sniffle.

Can't be my imagination, he thought, narrowing his eyes. No one—absolutely no one—should be in the basement except for him. He looked around the small area, trying to figure out where he had heard the noise. If it was some kind of radio, he wanted to turn it off. The noise could attract Chanyeol's friend into coming here.

Zzzz…

Jiho jumped and pointed his broom at the janitorial cabinet. He narrowed his eyes, approaching the cabinet with a keen gaze. If the object was a cat or a mouse, he was prepared to toss it out the basement window. He tapped his finger against the cabinet, waiting for some kind of rattling response. Instead, he was returned with some sleepy moans. He tried to open the cabinet, but it was locked. With the bobby pin he was holding, he tried to pry open the door through the key hole.

Click!

Sucess! He cheered mentally and slowly opened the door, peeking in.

However, his boosted self-esteem quickly fell into horror when he saw Minah scrunched up in the closet, snoring away. Tears trickled down her eyes as her eyebag was swollen red. She was cold and deadly pale, as if she was locked up to starve in the freezing basement. He gently shook her shoulder, waiting for her to wake up. She refused to stir and only let out soft snores.

How…? Why…? Jiho stumbled over his thoughts as he watched his old friend sleep with tears. He squatted down to her level, watching her continue to snore away in silence. Slowly, he reached for her hand and felt her once smooth skin turn rough at his contact. Then, he extended his other hand towards her cheek, wiping away the tears that fell down from the corner of her eyes. His sudden warmth seemed to have woken her when she lifted her heavy eyelids and looked at him with dreamy detest.

"They're all leaving me…" she mumbled sleepily. Jiho figured that she was still half-asleep. "…But…you left me first…"

She drifted off to sleep again, hugging her own body for warmth. Jiho only stared at her for a few minutes, then looked down at his feet with a small, sad look.

"But you wouldn't follow," he muttered back, "and we were only growing up."

 

The Flock

"Damn it, Changshik! You're taking up all the space!"

"I can't help it! Wonshik's is taking up all of my space!"

"Will you three just shut up and keep quiet?"

"Shut up, Minah. I'm trying to get some sleep."

"Oh my gosh! You dropped a bunch of chips on my leg!"

"S-Sorry! L-Let me clean it up!"

Jiyong heaved a loud sigh as a tight smile remained on his face. Everyone on the bus was looking back at them, wondering what was going on with the small group of teenagers. Jiyong only got up and apologized to the other riders with a small bow, then sat back down at his seat to hear more chattering.

It had been days since Minah was left with no choice but to join Jieun's group of friends. She didn't like it, and most of the time, she spent her days with Jiyong instead. The closer she got to Jiyong, the more envious the group became. It was becoming a big problem, especially when they clashed every time they saw each other. Customers were coming in less frequently, wanting to avoid the childish yells that constantly rang throughout the store. The manager had no problem kicking them, but he was having trouble banning them since most of them just wanted to be next to Jiyong.

"Here, take these tickets to the zoo and get them out of here," the manager had told him during the weekday. "It's vacation for them, so they shouldn't complain. I'm sorry that you have to do this on your day off, but I can't stand those devils lurking around my shop anymore. Bring them back when they're tamed."

So on Jiyong's beloved Sunday, instead of resting and drinking, he was taking the six kids to the zoo. He had mixed feelings about this, especially since he would be responsible for looking out for them. He wondered if things would go smoothly like he had hoped earlier before they got onto the bus. He was hoping that if he had let the six sit on the back of the bus in a single row, they would stop fighting.

Instead, they had gotton worse and it was becoming to the point where the other passengers purposely left the bus to take the taxi cab. Jiyong sighed and rubbed his face, glancing out the window with a solemn look until he saw a sign that directed the bus to the zoo. With a smile, he pointed out the window, garnering attention from the younger students who stared at the zoo gates in awe.

Once they left the bus and got into the zoo, the first thing Minah did was head over to the souvenir's shop. The rest followed, but quickly separated and scattered throughout the store.

"Hey, hey! Jiyong, do you think cat ears match with me or bear ears?" she asked. She raised a black cat-eared headband and a caramel-brown bear-eared headband. She kept making cute faces, trying to see which head wear fit her the best.

"Both look nice," Jiyong said, not having a particular favor for either accessory. He looked at the map, wondering where the group should head over first. Minah pouted and turned to Jieun, who quickly flinched.

"Which one? Cat or bear?" Minah asked, putting the headbands over her head.

"U-U-Um—"

"Cat," Jiho said. He smirked. "You look narcissistic."

Minah's face grew read. "S-Shut up! I don't look like that!" Her voice quickly softened. "I look cute…"

"I bet you don't even know what 'narcissistic' means," he retorted. Minah only gaped at him, unable to argue. He chuckled and walked away while he listened to her ranting about how he had to repeat a year and so on.

Jiyong finally looked up from the map and glanced over to Jieun, who was staring at a mouse-eared headband. He watched her look at it a little bit more, then tapped on her shoulders. She gasped and whirled around, then blushed when she realized that it was Jiyong.

"If you want it, buy it," Jiyong told her.

"I can't," she replied. "Chanyeol doesn't even know that I'm here. I was only able to come here because he's going to a party with his friends and wouldn't be here all day. If he found these, then he would probably go crazy."

"Leave it at my house, or at Minah's house. You're staying over at Minah's house, right?" Jiyong asked.

Once Minah had joined their group, she had invited Jieun to sleep over at her house after hearing her situations. Minah's parents were perfectly fine with it, especially since they usually left their only daughter alone. They liked how she would be accompanied by her friend. It meant that the parents would be able to be more busier and leave their daughter to be more independent.

"Yeah, I am. It's a bit awkward, though. She's…different from me. She's more open to telling me things," Jieun said.

"Maybe she's not being as open as you think she is. People like that have more secrets than they could imagine,' Jiyong told her. "Anyway, buy it. You don't have anything left to do with Chanyeol, do you?"

Jieun made a shaky smile. "Y-Yeah. I guess…"

"But you guys never broke up," Changshik said from behind. Jiyong raised his eyebrow while Kyungsoo and Wonshik approached them. "Chanyeol says that you two have an 'on and off' relationship."

"Wait, I thought he was dating a third year right now?" Wonshik asked. "Does this mean he's cheating?"

"No way. I saw him with a first year yesterday going on a movie date. It's clear that he isn't over Jieun," Kyungsoo added.

"Did you guys officially break up?" Jiyong asked, ignoring the trio.

Jieun bit her bottom lip. "We… I tried, but he just wouldn't listen."

"He's in denial and someone needs to punch him to wake up," Jiho muttered coldly.

"He's asking me to give him another chance," Jieun explained. "He said that he knows he's been wrong and wants me to do date him again."

"You can't go back! Are you really telling me that you're going back to the days where he hit you?" Jiyong cried out. "That's absurd!"

"Once a fool, always a fool," Minah mumbled, looking at a few t-shirts.

Jiho looked up and glared at her. "Once a loner, always a loner."

Minah shot her head straight up in the air and narrowed her eyes. "Once a failure, always a failure!"

"Once a—"

" Stop," Jiyong said. He glowered at Jiho. "Jiho, be a bit more mature. You are older than Minah." He turned to Minah. "Minah, stop acting like a kid. There's no reason for you talk bad behind someone's back when you have your bad traits as well."

The two scowled, unable to say anything else. Jiyong heaved a sigh, then reminded himself the reason why he came here. He shoved the back into his pockets and forced a smile.

"If we're done shopping, let's go out and look at the animals. I saw that we can actually feed birds and have them fly on you," Jiyong said. "If we take the tour bus, then we can also feed the giaraffes in person."

"Alright! We'll be outside, King Kwon!" Kyungsoo exclaimed, dragging the two other friends along.

Jieun looked down at the bunny headband, then quickly swiped it. "I-I'm going to pay for this! I'll be right back!"

Jiyong nodded his head and went outside. Jiho was just about to leave until he saw Minah carefully take the cat-eared headband and attempt to walk towards the cashier.

"I thought you didn't want those after you lectured me about my life," Jiho pointed out.

Minah gasped and turned beet red. "I-It's my money! Like I said, I think I look c-cute with it!"

Jiho blinked his eyes. "No need to get so defensive. I'm just saying that you were the one who didn't want those anymore."

"Shut up and wait outside! I'm going to buy this. It's not because of you, but because I want it!" Minah said quickly. She dashed to the register, purchasing her item after Jieun was done buying hers.

Jiho waited for a bit, staring at the two girls. He slightly tilted his head, confused, but then shook his head and walked away, waiting with the rest of the boys under the summer heat.

* * *

Throughout the day, Jiyong had to constantly remind himself the entire purpose he was at the zoo. He wasn't there because his manager wanted to give him a day off. From the situation he kept getting himself in, that was absolutely not the reason he was here. Rather, it was because he was supposed to "tame" the kids and make sure that they were well-behaved when they came back.

However, it turned out that it would be a much more difficult task. Wherever they went and did—watching animals, eating lunch, wandering around—there would be nonstop arguing all around. People stared, and he only hid his head behind the cotton candy he had bought. Every time he did try to break up the fight, the group would start getting into another argument the minute everything seemed too peaceful.

"If I knew that you guys were going to offend each other with rodents, I wouldn't have brought you over there to pet them," Jiyong said, letting out a sigh.

"Well, it was Changshik's fault that he didn't want to compared to the rat, Mr. Kwon," Wonshik said.

"I blame Kyungsoo 'cause he told me that the mean bunny acted like me," Changshik said, glaring at Kyungsoo. He quickly turned to King Kwon with a smile. "Which I am not, King Kwon. I assure you that I am the most passive person in the world."

"It did, though. Plus, that rat seemed to be more like Minah. She's sneaky like a rat," Kyungsoo retorted.

Minah scowled at him. "A rat? If I'm a rat, then that rabbit who didn't like anyone was Jiho."

Jiho widened his eyes. "Excuse me? I am someone who can like someone!" He blushed a bit when he looked at Jieun. "You believe me, right, Jieun?"

Jieun smiled. "I thought that bunny was cute." She glanced at Jiyong. "I thought it was cute how you were holding that one mouse. Didn't it scare you?"

"Um, no. Not really. The workers said that these animals were good with people so I didn't think it'd jump or bite me," Jiyong confessed. He looked at the group, who were all looking at him with admiration or glaring at him with pure hatred. Did I do something wrong again?

"Hey look! Birds!" Kyungsoo cried out. The group began running in his direction, following the anxious boy who looked at the birds with awe.

While the rest began to examine the birds, Jiyong couldn't help but pity them. Some of them were clawing at the cage, trying to poke its beak to take a desperate peck of food from the visitors. Others were constantly squawking at the other birds or at the little kids, cornering itself into its small habitat. Hardly any of them flew around, and if they did, Jiyong found out that they were birds who were recently put into the exhibit. The older ones had already given up, gliding only to get from one spot to another rather than trying to escape like their newer friends.

"Look, look! King Kwon, look at this eagle!" Wonshik exclaimed.

"You idiot! That's a hawk," Changshik corrected.

Jiyong walked over to the wired cage, watching a hawk gaze at the strangers with deep yellow eyes. He felt a wave of familiarity when he saw the hawk, who rocked back and forth on the branch it was standing. Later, it flew down, lowering itself to another branch and staring into Jiho's eyes.

The two stared at each other for quite some time, hypnotized at each other's fixed looks. To others, it looked like the hawk was examining the bird, but Jiyong saw it as Jiho communicating with the flying creature. His thoughts were interrupted when the hawk let out a loud screech and flew back at the higher branch, coldly studying him as it twitched its head a bit.

"It hates you," Minah said, smirking.

"What? You don't know that," Jiho argued, narrowing his eyes once again.

"It screeched at you. That's all I need to know," she told him. She laughed and patted his shoulder. "It's okay to be hated. You're used to that, aren't you?"

Jiho took this moment to get on her nerves. "I'm sure you're not used to it, am I right?"

Minah was just about to say something until Jiyong quickly pulled her to the side. He gave her a stern look, asking for her not to fight back for whatever reason she had. She was just about to protest until Jieun came over to point at a large building.

"Jiyong! I found out that if we go in there, we can hold onto some parakeets," Jieun informed him. "Can we go in there?"

"Ugh. I don't want bird poop on me," Minah muttered. "Can we not? I mean, I saw a parrot a little further down. Can't we just look at that instead of going in there—"

"I like that idea. Let's go inside," Jiho interrupted, stepping in for Jieun. He looked at Jiyong. "Is that okay with you?"

Jiyong shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not. I don't see the arm."

There's probably going to be some kind of harm if I go in there, Jiyong thought, but if it'll keep them quiet a bit, I think it'll be okay.

The seven went into the building, entering an caged dome. Simple plants like trees and bushes decorated the area, along with a few patches of flower to fill up the empty grass. White drops dotted the ground, grossing Minah out. As the entered, a friendly employee walked over to them, asking them if they wanted to try to feed the birds.

As the teenagers greedily accepted the generous gift, they dispersed in the room, trying to have more than one bird land on their hand. Jiyong glanced around, trying to find Jieun, who was near a tree, handing the parakeets one-by-one their treat. He walked over to her, watching her feed the birds with a delighted expression.

"Having fun?" Jiyong asked.

Jieun blushed a bit and nodded. "Oh, yes, I am. Thank you for inviting us. I'm sorry we're causing so much trouble, though."

"It's fine. You guys are still kids. You guys needed this more than I needed it, anyway," Jiyong said. He looked at Minah, who was tagging behind Jiho, opening her mouth and arguing with her while he ignored her and tried to bring the birds to him. "How is it with you and Minah?"

"It's, um, okay. We don't really speak a lot," Jieun said softly. "She's very nice, though. At home, she lets me eat with her and drags me around to shop with her. She lives close to Jiho, so sometimes I spend my days at his house."

"She's not slapping you or hurting you or anything?" Jiyong asked.

"No. I think she stopped once Chanyeol told her to stop. I heard that she was out of his group, and I'm temporarily banned from hanging out with him." Jieun's smile softened. "It's kind of weird for her to hang around with me. I'm not used to it. I'm used to being scared of her."

"Well, she is pretty scary." He chuckled when he remembered the first time he met Minah. "She's not very good at keeping her promises or doing what she has to do. I'm not surprised that she stopped being mean to you once she was thrown away."

"But I think that's part of her changing," Jieun said. "Once, when the two of us were eating dinner, she told me that she was glad that she wasn't being used anymore. She told me that she wanted to be friends with me, but there was one thing I did to her that she could not forgive. I'm trying to figure out what I did to her. If I know what I did wrong, I'd like to apologize to her."

Jiyong gave her a proud smile. He laughed softly to himself, then reached over to pat her head.

Jieun stiffened and shyly glanced at him, feeling her heart skip a beat when she saw his smile. A warm feeling crawled up to her chest as she quickly looked away, trying to distract herself with the birds. Her head was spinning and she was only getting hotter by the minute.

"Woops," Jiyong said after he accidentally knocked the headband to the side. "Hold up, let me fix this for you."

He adjusted the band so that it wasn't crooked anymore. He looked down at her to tell her that she was good to go until he realized that she was blushing; she was blushing real hard. She was biting down on her bottom lip, nervously sweating while her face grew into a deep shade of red.

Cute, Jiyong thought, slightly amused. He quickly stopped his thoughts and shook his head. No! Bad Jiyong, bad!

"Jiyong! Catch!" Jiho shouted. He threw something across the room, hoping that Jiyong would catch it. He saw Jieun blushing whenever Jiyong looked at her, and he especially didn't like it when she was blushing even more. Hopefully the birds will interrupt the mood.

Jiyong swiftly caught whatever Jiho had thrown to him. He looked down, noticing that it was a stick with some kind of food for the parakeets. Thinking that Jiho just wanted the older one to try feeding the birds, Jiyong looked around and waved the stick near his hands, trying to entice the birds to eating the snack.

Like magic, the flock of birds turned their heads and flew over to Jiyong's side, landing on his hands to nibble on the food. They rested on his arms, while some decided to snuggle next to his neck when on his shoulders. Other parakeets flew over to his hat, resting while finishing off other snacks they had brought. The green birds colored Jiyong, making him look like a beautiful rare attraction.

In an instant, Changshik, Kyungsoo, Wonshik, and Jieun all pulled out their phones, snapping pictures at the miracle sight. Jiho growled while Minah managed a giggle.

"You're trying way to hard," Minah whispered to Jiho.

Jiho turned red. "S-Shut up!"

"Aw, getting shy now, are we?" she teased.

Jiho shook his head and stormed over to Jiyong. "Jiyong! I want to go home!"

"What?" Jiyong asked, blinking his eyes. "But there's a few more hours until the zoo closes—"

"Who cares? I want to go home. Let's just end the day with movies or something," Jiho mumbled. He began walking out of the building, and Jieun nervously followed behind him. Minah exited the building, making sure nothing big happened between the two.

Jiyong heaved a sigh once the birds finished their meals and flew over to their next victim. He glanced around at the rest of the group, who were hoping that Jiyong wouldn't end the day.

"Let's leave now and try to convince Jiho to stay a bit longer," Jiyong said. "I'll meet you guys outside when you're done."

"Yes sir, King Kwon!" the remaining three cried out. They began to immerse themselves with the birds until Jiyong left the building. Once he was gone, they pulled out their phones again, showing off the pictures they had taken of Jiyong.

* * *

"Assistant Cho, didn't that group say Jiyong earlier?" a tall man asked, glancing over at the three delinquents.

"Hey, I thought we came here to relax. Are you still going crazy about Jiyong again?" the assistant with messy hair asked, rolling his eyes.


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