Jin held tight to the trembling girl in his arms as he hurried from the elevator to his dorm room. He managed to get the door open without dropping her and rushed inside. He laid her gently on his bed and knelt on the floor beside her. Her eyes stared into space, and her pupils were dilated. He had absolutely no idea what to do for her. Was she having a seizure? An allergic reaction?

Just when he was about to go find a residential advisor, her eyes focused on his face. She stared at him blankly for a moment before a look of complete horror crossed her face. "Oh my god," she whispered. She sat upright and looked around. "What the fuck?"

"It's okay," he said, rising to his feet. "I brought you to my room. You're okay now."

"Okay?! What the fuck did you do to me?"

"What? I didn't do anything! You're the one who just started freaking out downstairs. I didn't know what to do, so I brought you up here." She stared at him for a long time before the fire in her eyes died down.

"Thank you," she whispered. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"What happened down there?" he asked, sitting on the bed beside her.

"Panic attack," she replied simply. "I have panic disorder. Kicks in at weird times."

"Oh." He watched her face, but she would not look at him. "Are you on any meds for it?"

"Yeah." She neglected to mention that she had not taken her prescription in two weeks. She hated being on medication. She hated having to keep her behaviour socially acceptable. She hated herself for being cursed.

"Um..." Jin said hesitantly, "you wanna hang out here for a little bit?" She glanced up at him, and that same shy look was on his face. "I can go get your laundry and bring it up for you if you want."

"It's still in the washer."

"I'll go check on it." Before she could protest, he was on his feet and out the door. She sat there on his bed wondering what had just happened. She had had a panic attack, and he had actually stayed with her through it. In fact, he was even still being nice to her. Perhaps he was afraid of her, thought she was dangerous. Maybe as soon as he calmed her down and sent her away, she would never see him again. That would certainly not surprise her.

Xiaoyu looked around the room. It was a single room, and she wondered why he did not have a roommate. The walls, rather than being plastered with posters of half-naked, surgically enhanced women, held only a dry erase calendar and several pictures pulled out of magazines, mostly of wild animals and nature scenes. She stood up and walked over to his desk. He had a nice computer, several books, a few CD's, and a framed photograph of a woman. Xiaoyu guessed that the woman was Jin's mother; she looked just like him. She read over the titles on the CD cases. Slipknot, Disturbed, Cold, System of a Down, Godsmack. She was surprised; he did not seem like the angsty metal type.

The door opened, and Jin walked back into the room. "Feeling better?" he asked cheerfully. She gave him a small smile and nod. "They're in the dryer now. I, uh, I figured out which washer was yours because your panda sweatshirt was in it."

"Here, let me pay you back." She reached for the change in her pocket, but he held up his hand.

"Don't worry about it, it's just fifty cents." He crossed the room and took a seat on his bed. He fidgeted with his hands, obviously unsure of what to say.

"You know," Xiaoyu said, "you don't have to be nice to me."

"What?"

"You don't have to be all nice to me just because I'm a freak."

"Who said that's why I'm being nice to you?" He blinked hard, realizing the implication of his words. "I mean, you're not a freak. And if you are, well, maybe I like you that way." His cheeks puffed out; he obviously had no connection between his brain and his mouth at the moment. Xiaoyu couldn't help but grin. His cute uneasiness motivated her to change the subject.

"Is this your mother?" she asked, sitting at the desk and picking up the photo frame.

"Yes," he replied.

"She's very beautiful."

"Yes, she was." Xiaoyu returned the photo to its place and looked up at him.

"Was?" He nodded, his eyes not meeting hers.

"She... passed away several years ago."

"Oh... I'm sorry. May I... may I ask what happened?"

"Our house caught fire," he replied softly. "I got out, but she didn't. After that, I went to live with my dad and my grandpa." He smirked a little. "Worst four years of my life, really." He shook his head and smiled slightly at her. "But that's all in the past. Best not to dwell on it, right?"

"Right," she said quietly. She stared at the floor, trying to think of something, anything to say that could change the subject to something less awkward. They sat there in a long silence. "Maybe I should go," she said finally.

"Oh," he replied, "okay. I mean, you could stay here if you want to. But if you don't want to... well, I mean... okay." He pursed his lips as he watched her stand.

"Thank you for helping me," she said as she turned the doorknob.

"Xiao," he called. She turned, and he asked, "Um, are you gonna be in class tomorrow?"

"We'll see," she told him as she left the room.

* * * * *

Hwoarang gulped down the entire contents of his water bottle, then refilled it from the fountain. "Kazama," he gasped, wiping his mouth, "you doin' okay?" Jin looked up from his post-workout stretches.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You just seem kinda, well, not all there today. Like you've got something big on your mind."

"No, nothing big."

"Something small, then?"

"You could say that."

"Oh, do tell." Hwoarang sat on the steel bench closest to Jin and watched him as he silently continued his stretches. "Come on, bro. I wanna help if I can."

"It's nothing. Just girl stuff."

"Girl stuff?" Hwoarang's mouth curved into a smile. "Got a crush, huh?"

"Yeah. You know that cute Chinese girl, Xiaoyu, who lives down at the end of the hall? Over near the stairs?"

"Sure, she's hot. She was at that party you refused to go to, you know."

"Really?" Jin stopped stretching and stared at his friend. "She doesn't seem like the party type."

"From what I saw, she's a pretty damn freaky dancer. She ended up disappearing with some blonde frat guy fairly early in the night." Jin's heart sank. A frat boy? If she liked those types, she would never go for him. He tried not to think about how much he wanted to go bash that guy's head in. "Hey, man" Hwoarang said, "cool down. I never said don't go for it. It could happen. I just don't want you to get your hopes up too high, just in case."

"Go for it?" Jin scoffed. "Why should I bother?"

"Well, I could tell she was drunk. Maybe that's the only reason she left with him. Hell, maybe he just showed her to the bathroom so she could bow to the porcelain god. Who knows? And come on, you'll never know if you don't give it a shot." Jin shrugged. "Don't be a pussy, man. You'll never know if you don't try. I'm going back to the dorm to shower. Meet you around six for dinner?"

"Yeah." Jin watched Hwoarang leave the athletic center, then sighed. He hated when his friend was right. Unfortunately, this was yet another of those instances. He stood and decided to ask her to dinner some night that week. As he left the gym and walked back toward his dorm, he chewed on the fingernails of his left hand, hoping he had the courage to actually go through with it.

* * * * *

Xiaoyu turned off the water, wrung out her hair, and stepped out of the shower. She dried off and wrapped the towel around herself before opening the bathroom door and walking into her room. Julia still was not back from hanging out with Christie. Xiaoyu had been invited to come along, but she had politely declined, stating truthfully that she would prefer to take a nice, long, hot shower. It was the closest thing to a bath that her dorm room could offer.

She opened a drawer and selected clean underclothes and socks, then pulled a pair of bright red jeans and a black tank top from her side of the closet. She dressed quickly and glanced at the clock. It was nearly six o'clock in the evening, so she grabbed her keychain and left her room. As usual, she headed downstairs to the dining hall alone. The lady swiped her card at the door, and she picked up a tray and approached the long lines. From what she could see, nothing looked terribly appetizing. She blew a damp strand of hair out of her eyes and leaned her tray against her hip.

"Hey," someone said behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see a somewhat familiar face, a boy from her floor whom she vaguely recognized. "Xiaoyu, right?"

"Yeah... I'm sorry, I'm horrible with names."

"It's okay. I'm Hwoarang."

"Hwoarang, right. How's it going?"

"I'm breathin', aren't I?" He smiled. "How about you?"

"Breathin', too," she replied. The line ahead of them was steadily shrinking, and they slowly advanced toward the cafeteria slop.

"You sitting with anyone?" he asked, tossing his head to shake a few loose strands of red hair out of his face.

"No." She tapped her fingers on her tray, anxious to get something to eat and sit down before all the small tables were taken.

"Sit with us," he offered.

"Who is 'us?'"

"Me and Jin. You know him, right?"

"Yeah, I have a class with him." She thought it over for a minute and decided it would not hurt to have some company for her meal. "All right," she told him. Finally reaching the food counter, she pointed to what bore a vague resemblance to jambalaya. A short, elderly lady scooped some onto a plate for her, and Xiaoyu thanked her and stepped aside. Hwoarang helped himself to a plate, along with overcooked tater tots and undercooked mixed vegetables. He turned to Xiaoyu and pointed across the room with his chin.

"C'mon," he said, "Jin's already got a seat." She saw Jin's spiky hair and nodded.

"I'm gonna go get some milk," she told him. "I'll meet you over there." She went to the beverage stand and filled her glass halfway with two-percent milk before the dispenser ran dry. With a sigh, she set the glass on her tray and joined the boys at their table. "Hey," she mumbled, glancing up at them for a split second before dropping her gaze to her food.

"H-hey, Xiao," Jin sputtered. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, mostly." She stuck some rice in her mouth and bobbed her head back and forth, noting that it was not so bad.

"So where's your boyfriend?" Hwoarang inquired. She snorted in response. "What? I was just asking."

"Me, with a boyfriend? That's a joke." She bit into a piece of sausage, and it did not live up to the taste of the rice.

"Why shouldn't a pretty girl like you have a boyfriend?" A small commotion took place under the table, and Xiaoyu froze with her fork halfway to her mouth. She looked from Hwoarang's smirk to Jin's wide eyes, back to the smirk, to the eyes, and finally to the smirk again.

"Is that some kind of joke?" she asked, struggling to keep her lips from quivering. Hwoarang quickly reached across the table and took her free hand in his.

"No, no, no. I'm serious. Hey, what are you doing Saturday night?"

"Um... I don't... I don't know. Probably reading, or something."

"A bunch of us are gonna be chillin' at the Days Inn over on State Street. Just kind of a get together, get drunk kind of thing. You wanna come?" She blinked; no one had ever actually invited her to a party before. Not since grade school, anyway. "Come on," he insisted. "It'll be a blast."

"A blast?" Jin interjected. "What are you, stuck in the eighties?" Xiaoyu grinned, and Hwoarang squeezed her hand before letting go and slouching back in his seat.

"There's a smile," he said. "So, will you come?"

"I'll be there," Jin blurted out. "I mean, so there will be a familiar face there. Besides Hwoarang, I mean. And if you don't like it, we could always go somewhere else, I'm not much of a party guy. But we can stay if you do like it." He opened his mouth to continue speaking but quickly closed it again. Xiaoyu looked at his flushed face and burst out laughing, which caused his cheeks to turn even more pink.

"Sure," she said between giggles, "I'll go."