“Thanks for watching, and I will see all of you this Saturday!”

Joshua smiles, waving at the camera before ending the video. Tomorrow is the day where he would begin a new chapter in life – as a transfer student in xxx high school. And by that, it would mean that he would have to adapt to the new environment, culture, and he had to make new friends.

Joshua shudders at the thought. He was never a sociable person, preferring to be in the comfort of his own room rather than to go, explore and make new friends. Yes, Joshua is homeschooled, until now.

Pushing away the thoughts of being alone in a foreign environment, Joshua decides to put in his whole on editing on his latest video instead. Besides, that’s how he puts himself at ease, doesn’t it?

“Joshua honey, time to wake up for school!”

His mother calls out from downstairs. Joshua groaned, shuffling around in his bed for a good five minutes, before reluctantly getting out of bed. He went straight to his computer, observing the views on his latest video (which was uploaded right before he went to bed), before he went to get ready for his first day of school.

His heart was beating at an abnormal rate as he stares at himself while he puts on his school uniform. Would his new classmates like him? Would they judge him because he is a foreigner?

Stop thinking about this, everything will be fine, Joshua knocked himself on the head a few times before putting a smile on his face and left the bathroom, feeling more or less the same when he entered the bathroom previously.

“Are you excited for your first day of school?”

His mother asked the moment she noticed him walking towards the kitchen. She smiled, handing Joshua a piece of toast with grape jelly smeared on it. Joshua chewed on the toast and absentmindedly nodded. She patted her son’s head, adjusting his fringe as she spoke the few words that made Joshua’s heart at ease.

“Everything will be fine.”

Only his mother’s words can do the trick in calming Joshua. He sent her a genuine smile as he took his school bag, hugged her goodbye before heading out of the door.

His mother stared at Joshua’s disappearing silhouette and sighs,

It was nerve-wrecking to say the least when Joshua finally took a step into his new high school. The chatter of students talking as they walked past him, the surroundings just seemed so foreign to Joshua that he felt slightly faint.

Shaking his head, he clenched his fists (for added courage) and took a deep breath as he walked to the school’s general office, entering it.

The air in the office was stagnant, cold, and it brought him discomfort. This was nothing like how he imagined an office would feel like, well except for the interior design, that is. He walked up to the front and gently pressed the bell, signaling for the attention of the receptionist.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

The receptionist spoke, her gentle voice seemingly put Joshua’s rapidly beating heart to ease. He fidgeted slightly, as he opened his mouth to speak.

“I-I am the new transfer student, Joshua Hong, and I would like to have my timetable?”

Joshua mentally hit his head for cracking his voice at the beginning of his sentence, but the receptionist took no notice of it (thankfully) as she nodded at his request. She flipped through some files, before taking out a transparent clear file from her desk and handing it to Joshua.

“Here is your timetable, Joshua-sshi, your teacher will be bringing you to class, so you can wait there for a while.”

She points at one of the chairs at the corner of the office, gesturing Joshua to sit there. Joshua nodded and thanked the receptionist before making his way to the chair. He stared out of the office door, watching students walked past the office to pass the time when one of the students happened to catch his eye.

That student is the prettiest boy Joshua have ever seen in his life. Long red hair, slim yet masculine body and adorable smile, Joshua felt his heart skipped a beat.

Who is he? Joshua thought.

“Joshua-sshi? Your teacher is here to bring you to class.”

Joshua turned and immediately stood up, bowing to the teacher before him as a sign of respect. The teacher smiled, and with a cheerful tone, she asks,

“So how was school back in America?”

The teacher, also known as Miss Kim, asked. Joshua walked next to her, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

“I…I was homeschooled.”

“Ahhhh…"

The teacher nodded understandingly.

“So this is the first time you will be with other students your age?”

Joshua shyly nodded.

“Don’t worry too much about it, the students here are all really nice.”

Ms. Kim assured him, patting his back gently. The two talked for a bit more before they finally reached their destination. Joshua gulped at the sight of his future classmates, nervousness flowing through his body. Ms. Kim pull out a fist, whispering ‘fighting!’ before entering the class, her face which was once cheerful, turned to stoic the moment she took a step in.

Joshua could only stare at her in awe (and in slight fear).

“Good morning class, today we have a new student from America who will be joining us, so I hope you will treat him like one of your classmates, alright?”

Joshua stared down at his uniform, adjusting his own uniform as Ms. Kim addressed the class about his arrival. When he looked up, he saw Ms. Kim gesturing him inside. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the class, only facing the class when he stood next to the teacher. Giving the class a smile, he introduced himself.

“Hello everyone, my name is Joshua Hong, I – “

He was cut off when the teacher motioned him to stop. Joshua tilt his head in confusion.

What’s going on? Did he do something wrong? What –

“I know the new student may be good-looking, but I hope you would at least have the decency to be subtle about it, Jeonghan-sshi.”

The class turned and face the boy sitting at the right middle corner of the classroom. Joshua did the same, and he felt his heart flutter. It was the boy he saw previously! He saw how the boy’s face and neck turned red (probably due to embarrassment) and he smile to himself.

Adorable.

The next few words that came out of the teacher, however, caused him to choke in embarrassment.