First impressions are lasting... Or so the saying goes. If this is a universally accepted truth then Tiffany Hwang just might have dug an early grave. Her own grave.

It has been a well known fact among her peers in her previous school that it is practically impossible for her to hide how she feels. Her face is a traitor who likes to give her away especially during the most crucial moments of her life such as now, when she's introducing herself in front of the whole class who has stopped whatever it was they were doing in order to stare at the new girl who now might have inadvertently established a reputation for being a latecomer.

Tiffany Hwang is rarely nervous. But that was back in America where she grew up in. Where her friends were. This is Korea and she knows close to nothing about the country.

She introduces herself-- with a 90 degree bow and everything, just like how she was taught by her dad-- and speaks the annyeonghaseyo all fluently. So far, so good, she thinks. She's done with the Tiffany Hwang imnida but does not anticipate the teacher to ask her a question. She feels her sweat dripping and just eww no, but she doesn't have time to think about that.

Tiffany focuses on the teacher's question, or at least tries to. It's hard when all she can hear is Tippany-ssi and something about... shining mushrooms? She's not really sure, so like any other regular person who does not understand what the other person is saying but still wants to look like she did, she nods her head and smiles.

The teacher-- Seonsaengnim what's-his-face -- probably understood that she didn't get any of what he was talking about and Tiffany is finally ushered to her seat. Which, of course, is situated at the back of the class near the window. Clichéd.

But not cliché enough, she thinks. Pretty girl sits nowhere close to her. She's all the way up front on the opposite side of the classroom.

Guess she can't have it all.

Though she does manage to befriend the tall girl on the desk next to hers and a shorter blonde in front of her. They were quite the noisy pair. It wasn't until the end of the day when she remembers her two new friends are named Sooyoung and Hyoyeon. And that's only because they managed to rile her up enough to agree to do a stupid dare.

"Okay, so you go straight to the third floor music room, retrieve one of the music sheets, and get back here before seven," says Sooyoung.

"Retrieve music what now?"

"Sheets. Music sheets. You know, paper with musical notes and those musical nerd stuff?" Hyoyeon supplies.

Tiffany nods her head. Apparently, this 'Test of Courage' ish is a thing in Korea. Adamant about proving she wasn't a sissy nor a loser in front of her newfound friends (who thankfully stuck with her through lunch so she didn't look like an awkward loner), Tiffany stays a bit late in school and waits until the other students went home. Sooyoung and Hyoyeon would be waiting for her by the field. She can't disappoint them.

Like every school in the world, this one also has a haunted music room. Instruments playing by themselves, a person died in the room before, eerie voices; it's the horror story starter pack. Now, Tiffany is easily scared so she hates moments like this when and her pride get together and ignore her brain. Nevertheless, she arms herself with her phone and makes her way to the third floor.

Then she realizes she has no idea where this music room is located. The school building looks like a giant maze especially for a transfer student who, if you can remember, got lost just earlier that day. She doesn't even know enough Korean to read all the damned classroom signs.

"I'm a ing idiot," she sighs to herself as she resigns to check every room.

Her footsteps echoes through the desolate hallway and the gigantic intimidating doors she passes by does not help alleviate the sudden heavy atmosphere. Following the pattern of her day so far, she finds the music room situated at the end of a very long hallway, tucked away from the rest of the others. She recalls Hyoyeon mentioning that this room hasn't been used for a long time because it's haunted. Tiffany believes her but she also thinks the room's location has something to do with it's abandonment.

Finding her courage -- which was a very hard thing to do especially with the stories Sooyoung bombarded her with earlier clinging to her amygdala -- she pushes the door open and takes a peek inside.

Well, what do you know. No bloody faced ghost ready to pounce on her in sight. Guess it's safe.

She makes a quick scan of the room and sees the haphazardly piled up sheets on one of the corner tables by a big glass window. That's all she needed to take. There's also what she assumes to be a grand piano, judging by it's size, covered up by a white sheet and some string instruments on the chairs next to some unnecessarily huge bookshelves. Tiffany decides to focus on her task and makes a beeline for the music sheets. The cramped room is eerie enough as it is. She needs to leave as soon as she can, even without a bloody faced ghost. She somehow feels like she's tresspassing in this unused room.

But a rushing Tiffany is also a clumsy Tiffany. She accidentally knocks off a music box onto the floor.

Which of course would expectedly open up and play a song.

Panicked, she darts her eyes around the room, feeling as if she disturbed some sort of peace. The melody coming from the box doesn't stop playing and Tiffany picks it up. She's about to close the lid when she notices the little dancer figurine twirling slowly to the song.

And all of a sudden, Tiffany feels... sad.

Why does dad have to remarry?

Why do I have to go to a boarding school?

Do they not want me at home?

Mom won't come back for me.

My friends in America will find someone else to hang out with and forget about me.

I'm all alone.

Tiffany doesn't notice the sun setting. She forgets about the dare. She forgets Sooyoung and Hyoyeon waiting for her outside. She doesn't see the shadow of a man walking away from the opened door.

Sooyoung and Hyoyeon thinks their dare went too far when they pick up a sobbing Tiffany from the music room five past seven that evening.

On another side of the campus, specifically the school dormitories for males, is a bored looking Jessica. According to school rules, she's not even allowed to be here, moreover be inside one of the rooms. But she's Jessica and she never really did care. Besides, not once has she ever been caught.

Due to the small population of the male in school, the guys get to have one room each to themselves whereas the girls get two other roommates. Jessica doesn't hate her roommates, she just prefers hanging out in her guy friend's room over them. His bed's kinda more fluffy, too.

Said guy friend strides inside his own room, fully clothed but hair still wet from his recent shower.

"Kris," Jessica says as a greeting without looking up then procedes to roll to her back and look at the ceiling.

The guy rolls her eye then tosses the towel draped on his neck which landed perfectly on Jessica's face. He then walks over to his closet and rummages for his hair dryer. Jessica takes the towel off her face and gives him a quick glare to show her annoyance, yet still not giving up the comfort of the sheets.

Nothing but the sound of the dryer can be heard from the room. The pair don't really talk much and the silence is just their type of conversation. Words are terrible creatures anyway. They never cooperate when you need them to. Some rare moments, however, they do talk. Carefully. Shortly.

"Noona, I heard Heechul-hyung came back today."

Jessica nods and hums in confirmation. They settle back to silence, Kris putting his hair dryer back where he got it from before settling in his desk to start on his homework. The scratching of pencil on paper lulls Jessica into her thoughts, eyes trained to the ceiling, breathing softly.

"Hey Kris," she says after a while.

Kris pauses from his writing. "Yes?" he says, urging her to continue.

"We'll be okay." 

A sigh.

"Yes."

Kris goes back to writing.