“Nari, take care of this locket for me?” my mother asked me as I sat by her side in the hospital room. She lifted her frail hand and dropped a locket into my outstretched hands. It was the silver gold locket she always wore around her neck. I reached down to give her a hug and looked over at my father, who was smiling gently from his own hospital bed.

“Nari, be strong okay?” he asked, his voice hoarse and weak.

“Of course. I’ll be just like you,” I said in the most confident voice I could muster. My heart broke at the sight of my parents side by side.

“Nari, you know we’ll miss you the most right?” my mother said and I took one of her hands into my own, my father’s hand into the other.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this on my own,” I said, looking down at the locket in my lap. I could feel tears welling up but gulped them down.

“You’re a strong one. We’ll always be here for you,” my mom said and I gave her a watery smile.

“Of course you will be.”

“We’re very proud of you Nari, don’t you ever forget that,” my father said. I could feel the warmth in his hand turning into coldness and my mother’s hand was starting to do the same.

“I love you both,” I whispered and they both gave me a gentle smile before their hands went limp. Their eyes closed, the ghost of their smiles still on their faces as I heard the beep from the machines go off and nurses rushed into the room, covering their bodies with a white sheet. I sunk onto the floor, unable to hold back my tears anymore as arms wrapped around me. I immediately recognized their familiar scent and clung onto him.

“Yubin,” I choked out as he hugged me tighter. I looked up into his face as he wiped my tears away.

“Let’s go,” he said, gently picking me up and leading me away. A flash of white engulfed my vision and I suddenly woke up, feeling panicky. Yubin rushed into my room, turning on the light as he comforted me.

“It was just a dream, it’s just a dream, Nari please,” he kept me in his embrace until I had calmed down again.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do anymore,” I said as I clung onto his shirt.

It felt like yesterday that my parents had both left this world and I began to live with my childhood friend and his family. They treated me like family too but I constantly yearned for my parents, resulting in my dreams of them and utter panic when I woke up. I clutched the locket around my neck and turned it over in my hand.

“We’ve got school tomorrow,” Yubin said softly and I nodded. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

I nodded once more and he made himself comfortable on my bed, something he usually did whenever I had one of these dreams. I laid my head down on the pillow next to him and fell asleep as he sang me a soft lullaby.

I felt a shaking and woke up to see Yubin already dressed for school.

“Ready for school?”

“Am I ever ready for school?” I got up and began getting ready.

“I’ll get your homework into your bag,” he said as I was brushing my hair.

“Thanks,” I said as he left the room and I looked into the mirror and sighed. I was a splitting image of my mother but had my father’s personality. I had long jet black hair which was always wavy no matter how much I tried to straighten it. I had a petite frame like my mother and was disappointed to learn that I wouldn’t be able to grow anymore, something my mom had also learned in her past. I never saw myself as “cute” but Yubin and lots of people complimented me on that part of my appearance. I grabbed my bag from Yubin, who was lazily holding it for me and shoved everything I needed as Yubin looked at the outfit I had chosen.

“Isn’t this the skirt that’s above your knees?” he asked. I gave him a look.

“It’s at my knees, there’s a difference Bin,” I said. He left the room to let me change as I shook my head. He was always the conservative type whereas I was the opposite. Inside this house, I was comfortable but once I stepped outside, I had a different character. I finished changing, putting my long hair up into a ponytail and opened the door, almost making Yubin fall since he was leaning against it.

“Sorry. Shall we go?” I quickly apologized and he shook hair out of his face.

“All good. Want me to carry your bag?”

“I’m not that weak. Just because I’m small doesn’t mean I need help all the time. And also,” I stopped but continued anyway. “thanks for last night. And all the other nights I did that to you.”

“Nothing to worry about. It can be scary at first but that’s why I’m here right?” he looked at me and smiled. I stared at his face, looking at his cheeks, which still had traces of baby fat on them, and then his eyes, which were staring into mine.

“Something on my face?” he asked and I could feel myself turning red and looked down.

“Nothing, it’s fine,” I said to the ground as we continued walking. We reached the school and I ignored all the stares that I got from people. I could hear the whisperings and sighed.

“Her parents died not too long didn’t they?”

“Show some respect won’t you?”

“Kim Yubin! He’s so handsome!”

“Is she his girlfriend? I’m jealous!”

“I heard she’s been left a fortune but no one knows what it is.”

I stopped walking at that and Yubin turned to look at me. He took my hand (which caused more whispering and muttering) and lead me out of the courtyard and into a quieter place with trees. I slammed a hand into the trunk of a tree, resting my forehead against it.

“You’ll dirty your face like that Nari,” he said, taking my hand and wiping away the drops of blood which were forming.

“I just can’t stand it,” I said, sighing. He pulled my face away from the tree and made me look up at him.

“Hey. I’m with you remember?” he said, wiping at my forehead.

“But we’ve got no classes together,” my head drooping down. “It’s so empty in there too. It’s like they shoved as many people as they could into the good classes and put the leftovers in another.”

“You’re not a leftover. They’ve messed up our schedules that’s for sure. I reckon they’ll fix it up in no time.”

“Your optimism is disgusting,” I said as he laughed.

“That’s the Nari I know. Let’s meet up at lunch alright?” he said and I nodded. He gave me a hug before walking off and being surrounded by girls. I sighed and walked in the other direction but was stopped by a group of guys.

“How much for that locket?” one of them asked, pointing to my mother’s locket.

“None of your business that’s for sure,” I said coldly and was hit in reply.

“HEY! You coward, how dare you lay your hand on such a pretty lady?” an unfamiliar voice shouted and we all looked to see two guys running towards us. They easily flipped the guy over his shoulder and high fived the rest scrambled to get away.

“Myungho! Jun!” I looked over to see another group of guys coming over. I did a mental head count. 11 more guys? I should get out of here. I began to move but the guy stopped me, putting a soft piece of cloth onto my face.

“Are you okay?” he asked as I flinched at his touch. I hit his hand away and both of them looked surprised.

“I don’t need your help,” I said and rushed off as far as I could from those guys. I found my class and sat down in my usual seat near the window. The other few students that were in the class came in and sat down. As the teacher finished roll, he looked outside the closed door.

“Class, we’ll have a much fuller class now thanks to these 13 young men, which means it’ll be nearly impossible to transfer out of here. Kids, come in.”

The door opened and 13 guys filed into the room, standing into a line. I immediately recognized the two guys who had helped me and averted my eyes away when we made eye contact, staring out the window, where I could see Yubin's class clearly. I put my attention back to the front as they each did self-introductions, which were short and straight to the point.

“Choi Seungcheol.”

“Yoon Jeonghan.”

“Hong Jisoo.”

“Moon Joonhwi.”

“Kwon Soonyoung.”

“Jeon Wonwoo.”

“Lee Jihoon.”

“Lee Seokmin”

“Kim Mingyu.”

“Seo Myungho.”

“Boo Seungkwan.”

“Chwe Hansol.”

“Lee Chan.”

The one called Mingyu immediately caught my attention but I couldn’t place why. They all scattered to find seats and Jeon Wonwoo came to sit next to me on my right, Lee Jihoon in front of me, and Seo Myungho behind me. Mingyu sat next to Wonwoo as class started. The new boys all compared schedules to everyone in the class. Jihoon turned to me.

“Schedule,” he simply said and shocked at how cold he seemed, I handed it over. He compared his to mine and called to the rest of the boys. “She has the exact same classes as us!”

“Really?” they all crowded around and Seungcheol came up to me.

“Do you think you could show us around?”

All of them looked at me with earnest eyes just as the bell rang. I refused to look at any of them.

“I’m sure you won’t get lost. The campus isn’t that big. I don’t see why you need the help.”

“Ooh, a chic and feisty one. How exciting,” one of them said and I stood up.

“I’m leaving. Have fun,” I grabbed my stuff and left the room. I could feel their eyes on me and hurried away.