[Hellion Brothers: Book #1] Hellion Brothers

38: Breathing Space

I was sitting on the rooftop alone. Yeah, so dramatic, I know.

Try having a boy kiss you out of nowhere, but not explain or even hint what it is for. You'd need some breathing space too, right? Yeah, it's just on the forehead, but if I'm not mistaken, forehead kisses are meant to be the most meaningful ones.

I really do hope I'm mistaken.

It was actually in the middle of classes in the morning, so I didn't have to worry about Kai appearing out of nowhere. Unless he skips class again, but I'm sure he already knows he'll receive a good ol' nagging if he does that. What I'm doing now is totally legal because our subject prof is absent. Fortunately, Lay was cool enough not to bother ask why I suddenly wanted to go out of class when I used to be this grade conscious student that almost wanted to glue her butt to her seat.

I looked up at the clear blue sky, sighing contentedly. For the first time in many weeks, I actually enjoyed the silence. It was like I could get rid of my troubling thoughts out into the empty air, and finally have a clear mind. I checked the time in my phone, and saw that I had 20 more minutes to chill. A little nap couldn't hurt.

I only had my eyes closed for a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes I'm not really sure, but I was jolted out of my half-asleep state when I heard someone yell out in pain. Brows furrowing, I froze to determine where it came from. Loud thuds and fluttering of papers occurred right after, and I scrambled to my feet to look over the edge of the rooftop. There was a girl at the school grounds, buried under a huge pile of papers. Out of instinct, I sprinted back into the building and down the flight of stairs as if I suddenly got superspeed. As soon as I reached the front doors, I knelt down the sand with her and helped pick up the scattered papers.

"Oh my God thank you! Thank you so much!" Her fingers shook as she tried to pick up the papers and tie her shoelace at the same time.

"No problem. I head you yell out in pain so..." I drifted off when I looked up at her. "Gwen? Yeol Gwen?"

"Maeji?" Her brows furrowed, as if she couldn't believe that it was really me. I felt this bubble of happiness form in my chest, and I showed a grin so huge that I seriously thought my face was going to split into two.

"I haven't seen you in ages! Why don't you come to the coffee shop anymore?" I questioned, though I still couldn't keep myself from smiling as if I witnessed the heavens open up and rain unicorns. I was just so happy that I saw her again. I've been wanting to ask her to be my friend for soooooo long!

"I've been really busy recently. I'm sorry." She mumbled and forced a small smile.

"Oh that's okay. Exams are nearing so I guess being busy is normal." As we finally collected all the papers, I tried to lift the pile I've made, and ended up letting out an *mmph* as the weight surprised me. "Wow, this is a heavy load! Don't tell me you have to bring all this all the way to the 4th floor?"

"They're handouts... For the whole curriculum..." She mumbled again as she tried to carry the whole pile by her own, but I moved the one I had in my arms away from her. I gave her a wink and softly laughed.

"Shouldn't they have assigned a male student for this? This stuff is quite heavy." I huffed as we started ascending the staircase.

"I'm the representative soo..."

"Representative? Like 4th year representative, and member of the SYNC?" she hesitantly nodded. My eyes widened in amazement. She really is a hardworking student! Though I was a total grade freak in my previous school, I never got the time to participate in extracurricular activities or clubs stuff. "Wow, so you must see Suho and Xiumin a lot."

I felt her stiffen at that. Oh yeah, I forgot. She's also scared of the HB's. Of course, that explains the awkwardness! I was just too blinded by my overexcitedness to notice that.

"You know, the Hellion Brothers are really not that scary." She didn't say anything, probably afraid to comment the wrong thing. "They don't really hurt anybody without a very reasonable reason."

"Yeah, I'm sure they don't." She nodded.

"See? Even you could see that!" My bright smile returned. "Look, Gwen, I really want to be your friend. The guys are really fun to be with, but I do wonder sometimes how having some girl company would feel."

"I don't think I'm the right girl you're looking for..."

"Yes you are," I stepped in front of her to force her to look at me. "That day at the coffee shop, I saw a lot of myself in you. I know how it feels to always be alone like that, so I wanted to step up and approach you."

"Believe me, Maeji, what I'm going through is a lot different from what you've gone through."

"Ok, how about this." I sidestepped when she tried to walk past me. "I'll tell the boys to leave you alone. They're easy to talk to. That way you don't have to constantly fear that you'll get beat up just because you're my friend and-"

"It doesn't work that way." Her tone suddenly became firm, making me stop. Then she lowered her eyes and sighed as if she regretted what she just did. She immediately lowered her voice. "You don't have to worry about me. You have to worry more about yourself."

She grabbed the papers from me with her other arm and forced out a small smile, though her eyes were implying that I should take up her words. She stepped into the hallway. I didn't even realize that we were already at the 4th floor. Before she disappeared on the corner, she paused, and turned around.

"I really appreciate your concern, Maeji... But I deserved this. I don't think there's much you can do now."

And then she's gone. I stood there, wondering. I didn't really understand her, but I did understand that she said all that because she didn't want to be involved with me or the boys in any way.

But no, I don't want her to stay like that forever. She's afraid to believe that there's nothing to be afraid of, because she haven't seen it. Nobody deserves to be alone, so I wouldn't stop right here. I won't give up yet.

I will show her exactly what I want her to see.

* * * * * * * * * *

Something is definitely weird with Gwen, ne?

Stay tuned! Spazz, comment, and vote! <3