Three Years Later

Mina- Twenty-One years old

It's been three years since my best friends went 'away'. We kept minimal contact. They don't believe that they did anything wrong by beating Tyler.

I'm not saying that Tyler doesn't deserve to be in trouble for what he did, but he was very badly injured. He couldn't walk for months! He was transferred to another school somewhere on the east coast, according to what I heard.

I can't believe that my sweet best friends could do something so violent. The guys got out of jail a couple of months ago, but I surprisingly haven't seen them seen them. My mother has since she is still friends with Jae's mom. She told them I was still upset at them for getting arrested, that I felt abandoned, and to give me some time to get used to the idea that they were back, before contacting me. I didn't know about that conversation, of course.

It's the first semester of my sophomore year of college. I didn't move away, I stayed local for college.

My dad is still addicted to gambling and it's only worse now, I couldn't stand to leave my mom.

I've made some friends at school, but I never go to parties and mostly focus on school and my job at the diner.

On Monday I walk into school, my English class doesn't start for thirty minutes, so I go to the cafeteria to get a coffee, and then sit down at one of the tables in the corner. I scroll on my phone, ignoring the surrounding students.

Suddenly a chair across from me scrapes against the ground, making me look up. There, standing in front of me, are Han, Kai, and Jae. "Oh, my god," I whisper. "What are you guys doing here?" I whisper shout, standing up. I don't want to draw any more attention to us, people are already staring. They look different than they did four years ago.

Han has huge muscles, not that he was small before, but now his biceps are bigger than my thighs, I can see them through the tight black T-shirt he's wearing.

Kai's hair is a little longer, and floppier. He is muscular without being a bodybuilder status like Han. He also has a lot of tattoos, his arms and hands are completely covered in them. There's even some snaking up the side of his neck. His lip and eyebrow are pierced as well.

Jae looks mostly the same, except he has a small scar above his eyebrow. He also has a few tattoos scattered on his arms.

They look great, wearing casual jeans and a T-shirt. They could be models. I notice that my crush hasn't lessened with time, and feel my cheeks heat.

I glance at Han again as he takes the seat next to mine.

"Hey, baby" The deep voice pulls my gaze back towards Jae.

The words almost melt my insides, my heart flutters.

Everyone is staring.

I turn towards the guys, "What are you guys doing here?" I ask, turning back to Han.

"We need an education too you know. And where else would we go except here, with you?" He asks.

I feel my cheeks heat up at his words. "But It's almost mid-semester," I say lamely.

"We applied for hardship admission and got accepted. It's very hard to find a school that accepts people on parole like that, but the dean here was very understanding."

"And how much did that cost?" I ask, rolling my eyes.

Kai laughs, throwing his head back. He is so handsome.

"A lot." He says with a smirk. "We started here today, but really, we came for you," Jae says, leaning forward.

Kai puts his hand on top of my head. "It's been a long time Pip. You're not any taller." He says with a smirk.

"And you're not any saner," I reply, not even entirely sure that's a word. Kai smirks.

People are staring. "I can't do this," I say, shaking my head.

Turning, I flee the cafeteria. I make it to my English class a few minutes early and the room is empty.

I take a few minutes to steady my erratic breathing and calm down. I attended the trial. I saw what they did to Tyler, not that he didn't deserve it, but the violence...

I've missed them so much, and now they're back, here for me. I'm still angry, though.

Just as I calmed down students started filing in. I picked up my bag and started taking out my textbook and supplies when I heard the chairs on either side of me move. I look up to find Jae on my right and Kai on my left. A glance behind me reveals Han taking a seat at the desk right behind me.

The desk seats three, and there are at least two desks still available where they can sit together, why sit here? I turn to Jae. "What are you doing?" I ask quietly, careful not to let the other students who are openly staring hear.

He smiles. "I'm sitting with my girl." I look at him like he is crazy because he is.

"Our girl." Kai corrects with a huge smile.

"I don't understand," I tell them both.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Han laughs behind me, making me turn and glare at him.

"We missed you, baby. We know you're mad at us for going away, but did you think we would just let someone hurt you and get away with it? We protect what is ours, and you've always been ours, Mina." He says, casually, like it's common knowledge.

I shake my head. They've always been protective and possessive.

"Ours? I don't understand." I say, quietly, knowing other students are trying to eavesdrop. "Yes, Mina. You've always been ours." Kai says, slinging his arm over my shoulders.

"You're all crazy," I said shaking my head in disbelief. I have had a crush on them since I was fourteen, and now here they were saying I was theirs, calling me baby.

"Maybe, it doesn't change the fact that you are ours though," Kai says right before the professor calls the class to start the lecture.

I stare ahead at the lecture while Kai leans over and starts drawing on the cover of my notebook. About thirty minutes into class I feel something against the leg of my chair and look down to see Han's shoes under my chair. I'm starting to feel claustrophobic and trapped. I spent the next two and a half hours trying to focus on the lecture but my mind is racing.

Of course, I missed them. I never stopped caring about them, but they're not the same guys they were back then. They're harder. I can tell just by looking at them.

***

When class ends, I stand up, putting my things away as quickly as possible. I glance at Kai, waiting for him to give me the notebook he has been drawing on for the last two hours.

He did a really impressive job of drawing a dragon on the cover. Unfortunately, it was the same dragon that was tattooed on his upper arm.

When he hands it back to me I stuff it into my bag and walk around him to leave the classroom, but of course, they follow me to the cafeteria.

It is lunchtime so I assume that they are just hungry too, however after I get my food and find a table to sit at, it's not long before they all join me.

"Are you all going to just follow me around all day?" I asked, stabbing my fork into my salad.

"Well, we couldn't all get in every single one of your classes so we will be splitting off eventually," Jae said with a shrug. "But at least one of us is with you most of the day." He added.

"Are you kidding me?" I ask, shocked.

"Not at all," He says, before taking a bite of his burger.

"You know we are not dating right?" I ask, looking at all three men. They ignore me, focusing on their food.

"I'm already dating someone." I lie. Well, that got all of their attention. "Jae if she isn't lying I swear," Han spoke tensely. "She is... at least, she better be," He answers, tilting his head to the side, his eyes narrowing. "Princess, this isn't a game you want to play. If you're lying it's not a big deal, but you should fess up before these two go on the hunt." Kai says, putting his hand on the back of my neck. "You act like you aren't the craziest one here," Jae says to Kai.

"Princess," Kai says, his hand gently squeezing the back of my neck, making me tense up. I glance at the men, they are all looking at me seriously, the easy-going smile Kai had earlier is gone, and Jae and Han both have their arms crossed over their broad chests, their fists clenched.

Kai squeezes my neck again, a little harder this time, but it's not painful.

"I-I lied," I whisper.

They let out a relieved sigh and Kai laughs. "Good, I thought I was going back to prison already." He said, turning his head from side to side to stretch his tense neck muscles.

"We wouldn't get caught again, we aren't seventeen and dumb anymore," Han says with a chuckle, making my heart pound.

The hand Kai had on the back of my neck relaxes and he uses it to gently massage the area in circular motions instead. I lied about lying. I'm not dating anyone per se, but there is a guy... He's a busser at the diner I waitress at part-time. He's kind, sweet, and polite.

He's from New Jersey and moved here for school. But I had to lie and tell the guys I wasn't dating anyone, I couldn't let them hurt Kyle like they hurt Tyler, not that Kyle is anything like Tyler at all. The day progresses pretty quickly. Kai was in my US history class, Han was in my Health and Nutrition class and Jae and Kai were both in my math class but I didn't have to talk to any of them since we were listening to lectures the whole time. Now I'm headed to my P.E. class. I hate going to the gym and exercising, so I thought if my grade depended on it I would do it, so I signed up for a P.E class.

When I got there, much to my dismay, all three guys were waiting for me in the gym. "Why are you being so quiet, princess?" Kai asks.

"Just thinking. You don't think that we are dating, right?" I ask, looking at all three guys. "Of course, we think that. We are dating. " Kai says.

"What?" I exclaim.

Kai glares over my shoulder at the people who looked over at us due to my outburst before turning his attention back to me.

"We have been in love with you for a long time." He answers.

"I can't date three people!" I say, shaking my head. "That's crazy." That isn't the only thing that's crazy about this situation. "Who says you can't date three people?" Jae asks.

"That's just common knowledge!" I say, flabbergasted he is even asking this. "And who is going to stop us?" He asks with a smirk. "If all three of us are willing to date the same person, who would dare to stop us?"Jae leans forward.

"We are three very powerful guys princess. And you have us in the palm of your hand. No one would dare try to take us from you, it wouldn't end well for them." He says. I glance from Jae to Han, who nods, then to Kai, who winks at me.

I pull away, making Kai's hand drop from where he had it wrapped around the back of my neck, a habit he has gotten into since lunchtime. They can't just tell me that we are dating and expect me to agree with it!

The next thing I knew I slammed up against the soft padded wall of the gym, letting out a startled yelp, I glanced up at Kai, who was towering over my five-foot-two frame with a frightening glare.

"Don't ever pull away from me." He growled, inches from my face, one of his hands just above my collarbones holding me against the wall, and the other on the wall just above my head. I look past him to Jae and Han for help, eyes wide.

"Don't look at them, look at me," KAi says angrily. Quickly, I look up at him. "You are ours, the sooner you realize it, the easier all of this will be. We have waited years for this and no one, not even you, is going to ruin it." The hand on my collarbone moves to cup my chin. He leans down and presses a surprisingly tender and passionate kiss to my lips. It doesn't last long before he pulls away, leaving me breathless.

I touch my lips with the tips of my fingers, shocked that he just kissed me, and even more shocked that I enjoyed it. "I tried to warn you he is the craziest one out of all of us," Jae said with a smirk.

"He kissed me," I whispered, still touching my lips.

"Lucky bastard." I hear Han mumble under his breath. Soon the PE teacher calls on everyone to run laps around the track and I gladly run off, putting some distance between the guys and me.

Growing up, Kai always had a temper, but it was never directed toward me. I remember the few times he and I would argue, it would drive him crazy if Han or Jae butted in, or if I went to them about the situation, so I'm not surprised that he was angry that I looked to them for help.

Luckily I was able to keep some distance between the guys and myself for the rest of the day.

After classes ended, I went home to shower before going to my dinner shift at the diner.

Halfway through my shift, I'm in the back waiting for an order when Kyle comes back with a smile. "Hey, how has your day been?" He asks in a friendly tone.

"Kinda weird... It's a long story. How about yours?" I ask. There's no way I'm telling my crush about my three supposed 'boyfriends'. "Pretty good actually. Hey, I know we have worked together for a month now so I might be a little late asking this, but can I get your number?" Kyle asks, rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

"Oh, yes! Of course." I say, surprised. I've had a crush on Kyle since he started working here a month ago, but I never thought that he would be interested in me.