Haerin and Cheol were now living together, Haerin thinking it was so they got closer as a couple on one hand, Cheol thinking it was an order from Y/n and their parents so he could protect her at all times on the other hand.
Ever since Cheol saved Hyein for the first time. She had been slowly developing stronger and stronger feelings for him, to the point where she was willing to do anything to win him over.
But of course, not everything went accordingly.
Haerin's POV
I woke up with a smile on my face, thinking back to last night when me and Cheolie were cuddling in bed.
I got up and was unable to find him anywhere. I panicked and rushed downstairs to my mother.
"If you're wondering, Cheol already left for school," she said, without me having to ask.
I thought nothing of it since Cheolie was always silent and made decisions on his own.
I rushed out of the house after getting ready and went to school to find Cheolie.
When I got there panting, I saw Hyein giggling flirting with Cheolie. My heart ached a little bit and my body filled itself with anger.
I quickly walked over and pulled Cheolie away to the side.
"What's wrong?" Cheolie asked.
"What are you doing?" I said. "Why are you letting her flirt with you?"
"She was?" He said, all confused.
Hyein walked over to us and shoved me.
"What do you think you're doing?" She said.
"What?! Have you gone crazy?!" I said, raising my hand to hit her.
Y/n and Danielle ran over to us.
"Whoa hey!! Stop!" Dani said. "What's going on?!"
"Hyein's trying to swoon Cheolie in front of me!" I said.
"What?" Y/n said. "Hyein-ah, is this true?"
Hyein didn't say anything and just death stared me.
"You better explain yourself before I smack you!" I yelled.
"Whoa okay! No one's hitting anybody here alright?" Y/n reassured. "Let's just all calm down and I'm sure we can figure this out together!"
I hit Hyein, but right before my hand reached her face, Cheol stopped it.
"Cheolie? W-what're you doing.?" I said, as my heart stung.
"야 (Yah - Hey), that's enough now, you heard Y/n," he said in a low voice.
Tears started spilling out of my eyes as I ran off into the bathroom, not wanting to speak to anybody.
"Haerin-ah! Where are you going?" Danielle said as she started running after me.
My head filled with different thoughts.
Did Cheolie lose interest in me quickly because I was too boring?
Was it because he felt uncomfortable with our age gap and liked Hyein more?
I didn't want to think about it further, I just wanted to hide in a bathroom stall and cry in my own arms.
Y/n's POV
What the hell had just happened? Haerin had never acted like that before. And neither has Hyein.
"What was that?" I asked Dani.
"I don't know, but you stay here, I'll go after Haerin," She said before running after Haerin.
I figured I should go talk to Hyein and figure out what really happened.
"Hyein-ah, what happened?" I asked.
She then broke down and fell to the ground.
"It's my fault, I'm sorry!" She muttered. "I just really liked Cheol and couldn't hold back my feelings anymore! Please forgive me!"
"I think it's better if you told Haerin that than me," I said.
She kept sobbing and I couldn't help but feel bad.
I went over to Cheol to ask some questions.
"Hey, what happened?" I said.
"Hyein-ssi was trying to ask me on a date and Haerin-ssi got angry and protective, I'm still a bit confused too." He responded. "And I'm sorry for leaving Haerin-ssi earlier, I won't do it again."
He got up and bowed.
"What do you mean?" I said, scratching my forehead.
"You ordered for me to move into Haerin-ssi's house so I could be there whenever she was in danger right?" He said.
"Err... no?" I replied. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead." He said.
"How do you see Haerin?" I asked.
"Hmm..." he thought about it for a second. "As a client. It's my job to protect her like you ordered."
"You don't see her in any romantic way?" I said.
"I try not to get too close, it's hard guarding you all at the same time, so I try to keep it balanced." he said. "I only said yes to dating her because I didn't want her to be sad. I've never dated anyone before so I don't really know what I'm doing. However I do think she's really pretty though."
I smiled at his answer. "I hope you know that you're Haerin's first love. She's head over heels for you."
He turned slightly pink and looked down smiling.
Danielle's POV
"Haerin-ah, you in there?" I said, knocking on the bathroom stall. "Please come out and we can both talk it out."
Shortly, the lock clicked and Haerin came out. Her nose was puffy and her eyes and face were all red. She'd really been crying.
I hugged her and wiped some of her tears before asking "You mind telling me what happened? I've never seen you like that before,"
"I saw Cheolie and Hyein talking. Hyein was all giggly and flirty with him and I got j-jealous." She said quietly, still sobbing. "I think Cheolie isn't interested in me at all anymore,"
"Cheolie?" I thought to myself. What a cute nickname!
"I'm sure Cheol would never do that to you," I reassured. "There's only one person he acts different and openly with and that's you!"
She smiled a little and we walked back to the group together.
"What the.. what happened? How much did we miss?" Hanni said.
"Hyein opened up to Cheol and Haerin didn't like that," Y/n briefly answered.
Minji helped Hyein up and calmed her down. Although Minji was the coldest and strictest, she cared about us all equally.
Cheol got up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Minji called out.
"Back to lesson," he responded. "I need another nap,"
"How can that kid sleep all day? Doesn't he care about his grades?" Hanni said.
Haerin then started running after Cheol.
"She really does like him," I thought.
Cheol's POV
I was so ready to get to lesson to sleep again when someone stopped me.
"Are you Kim Cheol?" He asked.
"Yeah, so what?" I said.
"Very well, follow me." He said.
I hesitantly followed him to an isolated place near the back of the school. What is this guy planning?
"This is a good spot right?" He asked.
"What's this about?" I said.
"You beat up my friends, and I'm taking the matter into my own hands before my sunbaes have to get involved," he said.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Choi Soobin, I am rank number 3," he answered.
"Before we fight, mind if I ask you something?" I said.
"Fine." He said.
"What are you and your "friends" doing within the school?" I said.
"Well, 3 years ago, when Hyunjin and Han sunbae got into the school, they were able to quickly conquer the school and recruited others." He said. "In the second year, they started taking money from students and needed somebody to manage all that money. Kim Chaewon. She's rank one in girls at this school."
"Anything else?" I pried.
"Hyunjin then needed 5 people to make his job easier, he ranked them all by fighting ability, and paid them every month using the money he took from students to do stuff like get messages and orders out to lower members."
I took a minute to realise what I had just stumbled upon.
"That's enough talk," Soobin said, putting his hands up.
Suddenly, Haerin appeared out of no where. She looked prettier than she's ever been for some reason. And for the the first time in my life, I started feeling love towards somebody.
"What are you doing here?" I said.
"I followed you," she said.
"Get back," I said before Soobin pounced at me.
He was quick and hard to catch, and kept throwing sucker punches. I held out for a bit before I found an opening and stopped his fist, kicking him in the chest.
"You're good." He said. "I expected nothing less."
"I hope you know that once I defeat you, I'm going to make Haerin mine, and your friends are going to be in a living hell without you," He continued.
I kicked him in the knee and he fell. I then jumped and kicked off of a wall but he dodged it. He got up and threw an uppercut. I got more and more pissed with each hit he landed.
Opening after opening and counter after counter, he started getting tired and I saw my chances. I punched him in the stomach and then the jaw. He soon collapsed after running out of breath. I then grabbed his arm and snapped his elbow.
He screamed in pain.
I walked over to Haerin, catching some air and gently grabbing her by the arm.
"가자 (kaja-let's go)," I said to her.
After walking for a while, I heard a "Cheolie.. can we hold hands instead?" She shyly asked me.
I listened and we interlocked our hands, making our way back.
When we found the group, Y/n had a look of worry on their face and Hyein still looked a little sore.
"What happened?" Y/n asked.
"I defeated the third in command and I've gained some more information." I said.
I told everyone all about it.
"Kim Chaewon.. I feel like I've heard that name before," Y/n said.
"So what's the plan?" Minji said.
"Well, now that 4th and 3rd are out, it won't be long before Hyunjin and Han take action." I said. "And they probably have a huge number of goons working for them, just Me and Y/n won't do, we're going to need backup."
Y/n's POV
While me and Cheol were discussing a plan, we heard a voice from behind.
"Hey! You need another fighter?" They said.
We all turned around to see Choi Yeonjun and Bang Chan.
"Have you been listening this whole time?" I yelled.
"Yeah," he said.
"Cheol, get them." I said.
"Wait wait wait! we want to help you guys!" He said.
"What could you possibly have to offer?" Minji said.
"Me and Bangchan have been planning to take down the circle too, when we heard rumours that there was somebody beating them up, we decided to find them." Yeonjun explained.
"Here's the plan," I announced, accepting the two. "Lay low for 2 weeks and train in the meantime, we'll attack together in 3."
"We need to get you back to 100% as well" Cheol said.
Was I really that good? I barely remember anything.
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