Holding her head high while taking precise and confident steps towards the back of the room, she worked images of bad outcomes in her head if she had requested for another seat from Mrs. Kim. One of them was being rejected by whoever the teacher calls to exchange seats with her, and ending up just sitting at the back, having to face the smug look on her ex-boyfriend's face.

She can only think of one reason why things turned out that way in her head. Wonwoo didn't seem to want anything to do with her, pretending like she was air earlier. To confirm things, she does not think at all that he has forgiven her for some unknown offense she made against him just before she left. If she would consider things her way, she'd think him a coward for leaving her hanging like that after he has taken everything from her.

Yeah, discard her once you’ve used her to your fill, she thought just considering it a laughing matter since she has long forgiven and forgotten what he did to her.

There isn't a single reason why she should give him the satisfaction of showing that she still had feelings for him or something. After he made it clear to her that he did not give a damn about her, she knew it was time to move on and just accept the fact that she made a huge mistake trusting him the way she did, and that there is no such thing as forever with Jeon Wonwoo no matter how much she thought herself in love with him a year ago.

Why should I care if he doesn't? She asked herself the same question every single day after she got to New Zealand. Jaera had many things in mind for returning to Busan but Wonwoo was definitely not one of them. If anything, she stayed longer in Auckland just to get away from her past. It didn't apply anymore.

Just deal with it, she told herself at the back of her mind as she strode towards the back of the classroom. The fact that all their classmates who knew about her history with the boy turned to see what she would do next, made her almost laugh out loud. They look like they were more affected with their eyes rounding almost simultaneously as Jaera walked by without a care towards what seemed to be a guillotine block to everyone and that she was walking towards her own demise.

Despite being oblivious to their outward manifestation of intrigue about her course of actions, she smiled at the people she recognized, some grinning cheekily at her while others even voiced out their welcome.

She noticed one girl in particular, recognizing her elfin features. She cut her hair a bit shorter from the usual long hair she kept in braids, appearing chic in her new look. Her eyes were still as huge as saucers as if she’s always surprised, but looking cute and innocent nonetheless.

Her name is Go Se Young and she lived at the Old Site like her new friend Mingyu. They used to be friends in middle school and she would even tag along with Jaera and Wonwoo back then, but since her relationship with the boy got deeper when they entered high school, Se Young also made a habit of distancing herself from them, on amicable terms of course, or so Jaera thought.

She can still remember that photo Hyeri showed her a month after she left. Seeing Wonwoo so close to Se Young after unceremoniously ‘breaking up’ with her sort of gave her the idea that the girl had feelings for the boy she calls her ex all along, but she dismissed it as soon as she thought about it.

Se Young flashed her a meek smile and she returned it with a bright one with a corresponding wave before finally assuming her seat beside Wonwoo, who was watching her every move since she got into the classroom. It turns out he isn't oblivious to her presence at all.

Placing her bag on her lap, she took out a pen and a small notepad, putting the items on top of the table before letting her bag hang loose on the backrest. All the while, she could feel someone watching her and the inevitable happened - her sharp eyes met Wonwoo's dark, blank ones.

"Hi, seatmate," she murmured casually to him with the ghost of a smile on her lips before she leaned forward on the table, making herself comfortable.

From her periphery, she saw Wonwoo blink, also noticing how his face got leaner. He seemed to have grown taller as well while his hair which used to be a lighter shade had been dyed black, making him look better. If she would be honest, hotter even.

"Seat…mate?" he repeated with inflection, rolling his eyes before shaking his head as if she did something disappointing.

Jaera merely glanced fleetingly his way and faced forward again to listen to what Mrs. Kim had to say for the short session.

***

Lunch time came with a buzz with just an hour left for the rest of the students. It’s all they talked about as they filed out of the classroom, but it wasn’t the case for Jaera, Mingyu, the rest of the people who were in special classes and the freshmen classes. They still had an extra half an hour or so after everyone else is dismissed.

It didn’t matter to her. It was still early. A couple of hours ago, she left her homeroom to attend her special schedules, thankful to see Mingyu on two subjects just before the last. However, she still can’t forget what seemed to be a faux pas she made in front of Wonwoo who looked like he was about to stab someone with the pen he was holding after she called him her ‘seatmate’.

On the one hand, she scoffed to herself, thinking that they were nothing but that and he didn’t have the right to be offended whatsoever about it. They were classmates who sat together in several classes which made him her seatmate. Literally.

Ignoring the thought, she carried her bag with her and headed towards the door when almost everyone was gone. She made her way towards her locker and opened it, neatly stuffing her books in a neat shelf-like manner, making sure to be quick. When she was satisfied with how everything looked, she shut the door only to be met by the person she didn’t want to see, also stuffing his things on the locker next to hers.

, she thought, figuring that she had been assigne