Black & White [COMPLETED]

Chapter 10: Rumors

As expected, because of these ridiculous rumors the police contacted me again. With mine and Dad's approval, they went through our apartment to see if they could find anything. And of course, they didn't find anything.

Despite this, we were both under severe surveillance 24/7. They even tapped our phones. Dad was furious about our lack of privacy over some rumors that kids were spreading around, but to avoid suspicions we just went along with it. Besides, we had to clear our names once and for all.

Even at school there were police officers all over the place. I felt like my every move was being watched by them, the students, Junsu and even Mr. Kim. Since Junsu's confession, it's been awkward between us. He wasn't bothering me as much as before. I assumed that was because the police were here. But whenever I thought he was finally going to give me a break, he would come back and do one thing or another that would get to me, as if to remind me that he was still here.

Finally the last day before winter break arrived. I couldn't wait. The police officers had finally left. I was finally going to get some peace of mind and I didn't have to hear anymore accusations. But as soon as the final bell rang and people ran out to celebrate their time off, my table got surrounded by some familiar faces. Somi's friends. And they didn't look happy. Junsu, who was still sitting next to me and who was also shoving his things in his backpack, looked up at them as well.

"What did you do to her?" one of them asked. Honestly I never bothered learning their names. Somi was the leader, so hers was the most memorable one to me.

I sighed and stood up. What an eyesore. "I'll say this for the last time," I said, looking at them one by one, "It wasn't me. Unlike you idiots, I don't have time to waste like this."

Another one crossed her arms, trying to appear to be menacing. "Idiots? Don't think just because Somi's not here you can act like you're above us."

"The whole fact that I never cared to get even with you girls proved that I was always above you."

It took a lot of guts for me to say this to them. I was trying to act cool, but the truth was I was trying to hide how nervous I was feeling. My body could still remember their physical taunts. But I remembered Junsu's words more than anything; I had to learn how to stand up for myself.

One of them reached out to grab my hair, but surprisingly Junsu's hand flew to hers as quick as lightning. He grabbed her wrist so tightly that it seemed like he was about to break it. The girl yelped in pain.

"Back. The fuck. Off." Each word he spoke came out like a knife; you couldn't dare go against it. "She's mine."

Why did he add that last part? He knew we weren't dating. From what I believed, he knew I didn't like him back. Why did he act as if I belonged to him? That didn't have anything to do with these bullies, did it? At that moment it didn't even cross my mind that he wasn't referring to me belonging to him in a romantic way.

She tried pulling her hand back, but Junsu wouldn't budge.

"F-fine," the girl said quickly. The rest of her friends were already backing up, sensing the danger awaiting them if they continued.

"If she says she didn't do it, she didn't do it," Junsu hissed, shoving her hand away, "If I see you around her one more time..." He glanced at me and stopped.

Visibly shaken, the girl covered her wrist with her other hand and ran off. It was silent. Painfully silent. Seeing as Junsu and I were the only ones in the classroom, I didn't feel... safe. The words weren't directed to me. On the contrary, he was protecting me. But... something wasn't right. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"I don't get why they're still thinking it was you," he said, shoving his last book in his backpack.

I shrugged. "If I look at it from their perspective, I guess it would make sense... She wasn't exactly my favorite person to be with. I just didn't hate her enough to want to kill her and dispose of her body like that."

He didn't reply to that. We left the classroom together.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" he asked out of the blue.

I gasped. No... No, he wasn't going to do this...

"Uhh... I guess I have some stuff to do at home with my dad," I lied, "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged and avoided to look at me. "No reason."

No, there was a reason. What was the reason?! Why was curiosity killing me like this? I didn't really want to hang out with him, because I didn't want him to tease me like he normally did. But now that he confessed, would things be different? I just wanted to know for sure.

"Did you... want to hang out?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Maybe," he muttered, closing the classroom door behind us.

"What... did you have in mind?"

He smirked. Damn, he was actually going to give me a heart attack one day with that smile. "Aren't you curious?"

I laughed hysterically. "Curious? Me? Why would I be curious?"

Junsu shook his head, chuckling. "You're really something else. If you're not curious, then I won't tell you."

He was teasing me now. He knew I wanted to know. I completely forgot I was feeling afraid less than a minute ago.

"You said you would be busy anyway," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I-I mean, I could just do them some other day... Dad would understand. Depends on what you had in mind. If it's fun enough—"

He shut me up by grabbing a hold of one of my hands. "You ramble a lot when you're nervous," he stated, staring at my hand.

Just touching my hand was sending me into a frenzy. I had it bad. I liked someone who just finished threatening a girl to protect me, and I couldn't figure out for the life of me if this was a good thing or not.

Junsu stopped walking and looked up at me. I stopped walking now too.

"You also shut up when you're nervous," he said, his voice lower now, "Interesting."

He sounded so serious, as if he was really trying to figure me out. It was so adorably hilarious I couldn't stand it. God, I must have been blushing like crazy. Because just then when Mr. Kim suddenly showed up and said hi to us, I pulled my hand away so quickly that I almost fell over. I didn't even hear Mr. Kim come over. It was as if we were the only two people at school. At least only for a moment.

"Hi Mr. Kim," I said, barely being able to tear my eyes away from Junsu.

"Enjoy your winter break," he said, his smile unwavering.

[Junsu]

I didn't like this guy. Sure, so I didn't like a lot of people. But this guy rubbed me the wrong way. He hid behind a smile 24/7. Even while Somi's disappearance was being announced, he was smiling. He was the only teacher that gave me shady vibes. Being in the underground world made it easy to spot creeps like him.

"We will," I said, giving him a cold glare.

I felt So Young's curious eyes on me, but just this once I ignored her. I brushed past him and walked away. So Young followed suit.

"We will?" she repeated.

"Yup," I told her, as if it was obvious enough, "Give me your phone."

She handed me her phone and I added my number to her list of contacts. It was amusing how her contact list consisted of only two numbers now: mine and her father's.

I told her the address where I wanted to meet up with her. The COEX shopping mall. Our meetup time was going to be 1PM.

"I mean, I'll have to rearrange my schedule," she joked, "but okay. I'll see you there. Tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," I told her, my eyes lingering just a bit longer on her before she smiled and decided to leave first.

I wanted to know more about her. This was going to be my chance.