The rest of the day was rather uneventful; for all of lunch, everyone just talked about school, and afterwards the Choi's went home. It was a normal lunch.

"Too normal," ChangMin thought to himself that night, lying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. Something just wasn't right, and he knew that.

But what was it?

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

Monday morning arrived faster than everyone would've preferred, and the classrooms were soon full with students. Most of them were ready to get back to sleep, and this was no exception for Choi EunMi.

"EunMi-sshi... Why do you look so tired? Did you study for a test we don't even have?" SoonLi asked, kneeling next to EunMi's desk. But before EunMi could reply, ChangMin had slammed his schoolbag on his desk, making it clear to everyone that he was there. Staring at ChangMin with wide eyes, SoonLi whispered,

"I-I'll talk to you later, EunMi-sshi..."

As SoonLi quickly made her way back to her own desk, EunMi turned to glare at ChangMin. She was going to yell at him, but stopped once she saw how tired the other looked. His face was slightly pale, and there were circles forming under his eyes, making him look like a panda. In a way, it was somewhat cute, and it almost made EunMi want to laugh.

Almost.

Not much later, the homeroom teacher came in and immediately started calling roll. Halfway through, Mr. Kang called out a name no one recognized.

"Kim JunSu. Is Kim JunSu here?"

The students gave each other quizzical looks, asking questions like, "There's a 'Kim JunSu' in this class?" Some students concluded that it was a prank, until a boy frantically opened the classroom door and ran inside, nearly tripping over his own feet. With a nervous smile, he bowed to Mr. Kang and said,

"I-I'm sorry. This place is so big, and I got lost. I'm the transfer student, Kim JunSu."

"Oh, okay. I'll let you go this time," Mr. Kang dismissed.

From the back of the classroom, EunMi curiously observed the new student. His hair was cut like many other boys' hair in the country, with one side longer than the other, but there was something odd about him, EunMi thought. Maybe it was his glasses--how they were slightly too large for his face and kept falling down his nose. Or maybe it was his nervous personality--something that reminded EunMi of SoonLi when she first met her.

"Hm... There aren't any students without desk partners anymore, so I guess I'll just put you in a group of three. Sit with ChangMin and EunMi. They know the school best and can answer all the questions I don't know the answers to," Mr. Kang passively said, going back to calling roll.

"Okay..." JunSu quietly whispered, trying to find the specified students.

Raising her hand, EunMi waved to the new student, much to his relief. As JunSu made his way to his new desk, he--again--almost tripped over the air. Awkwardly, JunSu just stood next to the desk, seeing as there weren't any spare chairs in the room. Noticing this as well, EunMi scooted over on her own seat and whispered to JunSu,

"Here, JunSu-sshi. We can share for today."

"Oh, n-no, I couldn't," JunSu protested, shaking his vigorously. EunMi waved a hand and replied,

"It's fine. You'll have your own seat by tomorrow."

"...T-Thank you," the other replied, awkwardly bowing, and sat on the other half of EunMi's chair. Smiling at the boy, EunMi introduced herself quietly.

"I'm Choi EunMi. Mr. I-Hate-The-World here is Shim ChangMin. Don't mind him, though. He just didn't sleep well last night or something."

"Hello," JunSu whispered. "I'm Kim JunSu. Again, thank you for sharing your seat with me. You must be uncomfortable..."

"I already said it's fine." EunMi laughed a little at the other's consideration for her well-being. "What's your schedule like?"

JunSu rummaged through his messy schoolbag and, after a minute or two, pulled out his schedule and passed it to EunMi. After scanning the list of classes, EunMi said to him,

"It seems we have homeroom, Physics, lunch, and Calculus together. I can help you get to your other classes if you'd like."

"R-Really?!" JunSu squeaked, his voice cracking a little. His face instantly turned red as he whispered, "I...I mean, that would be nice."

The two laughed a little and turned their attention back to Mr. Kang.

ChangMin however, was not enjoying any of this. He heard Mr. Kang rant about not slacking off before the holidays, but he wasn't listening. His mind was busy wallowing in angst. For six years, he had never had a desk partner--which he liked. And now, in one week, he had two.

This winter was turning out to be a harsh one for him.

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

When homeroom ended, EunMi had drawn directions on a map of the school that JunSu had to help him get around easily. She even mentioned a few shortcuts he could use, in case the main hallways or stairs were too crowded. The next two classes, History and Literature, passed by without any more transfer students appearing, and soon it was time for Physics class. JunSu arrived before the tardy bell this time, and when he got to the classroom, there were actually enough seats to accomodate his new arrival. Even if he didn't have a desk partner, that was okay. He was glad he wouldn't have to bother anyone just because he didn't have a chair to sit in. Walking to the back of the classroom, JunSu saw EunMi and sat at the desk behind her.

"Oh, hello, JunSu-sshi," EunMi greeted kindly. "I see you made it to class on time."

JunSu laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's all thanks to you, EunMi-sshi."

"You're welcome," EunMi smiled, but it disappeared when ChangMin arrived and slammed his bag full of textbooks onto his desk and sat down noisily. Turning to the newcomer, EunMi scolded,

"You shouldn't toss your bag onto the desk all the time. Don't you know it bothers some people?"

"I know it does," ChangMin snapped at her. "I'm just not in a good mood today, okay?"

"Since when have you ever been in a good mood?" EunMi mumbled just loud enough for ChangMin to hear, making him glare at her. But when all he got in return was an innocent look, ChangMin angrily turned to face the front of the room, glaring at the whiteboard as if it were the cause of his misery. And as if the last few moments hadn't just happened, EunMi turned back to JunSu, smiling, and asked,

"Are you feeling all right, JunSu-sshi? You look a little pale."

"Um... N-No, I'm...I'm fine," JunSu stuttered, forcing a smile.

Before the two could talk more, Mrs. Moon, the Physics teacher, entered the room and announced that they would be taking a pop quiz. JunSu grinned to himself, getting his favourite pencil out, and eagerly awaited the pop quiz. He loved Physics, and at his old school, he was always the first one to finish the tests for that subject. When all of the papers were handed out, Mrs. Moon let everyone begin, and JunSu immediately got started. Ten minutes later, JunSu was halfway done.

"Good timing," JunSu thought to himself. Five minutes later, he had finished two more problems. Just as he was about to get started on the next one, the sound of metal chair legs scratching against the floor reverberated throughout the room as two students raced to the teacher's desk. When JunSu looked up from his paper, he saw EunMi and ChangMin walking back to their seats, the former smiling while the other scowled.

JunSu gaped at the two students in front of him and then at this own paper, making sure there were thirty questions. JunSu was smart; he knew that even if he didn't boast about it. But those two...

They were in a league of their own.
 

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ==== ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

Mrs. Moon had finished her lesson right before the bell, and now all the students were eagerly eating lunch. JunSu noticed that ChangMin had mysteriously disappeared, and a girl had taken his seat and was animatedly talking to EunMi. Looking around, he realized that he was the only one eating by himself and suddenly felt a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach.

"JunSu-sshi, do you want to eat with us?" he heard EunMi ask.

Immediately, he looked up and exclaimed, "Can I really?!"

When his voice cracked on the last syllable, his face turned bright red, and the girls giggled but nodded anyway, motioning for him to come over. Grinning like a fool, JunSu pulled a chair up next to EunMi, bringing his lunch as well. Once everyone was settled, EunMi took charge of the introductions.

"JunSu-sshi, this is Jang SoonLi. SoonLi-sshi, this is Kim JunSu-sshi. He transferred here today."

The two bowed to each other politely but did nothing after that. Bothered by the awkward silence, EunMi spoke up first.

"Oh, come on, guys. There's no need to be shy. Find something to talk about."

"Like what..?" JunSu quietly asked.

"Like how EunMi is too fearless for her own good whenever she argues with ChangMin?" SoonLi mumbled, not intending for the mentioned girl to hear it.

"I heard th--!" EunMi started, but JunSu interjected, slamming his hand down on the desk.

"I know what you mean! It scares me, like ChangMin-sshi is going to snap and strangle EunMi-sshi or something!"

"Exactly! But EunMi-sshi doesn't seem to see that!" SoonLi yelled across EunMi, who tried to speak again.

"I'm right he--"

"The tension between those two is so heavy, it makes you feel like your head is going to explode!" JunSu exclaimed, completely forgetting EunMi was next to him.

"Finally, someone who understands," SoonLi said, glaring at EunMi, who returned it with a frown. SoonLi continued, "We're just worried about you, EunMi-sshi. All this fighting and bickering isn't good for your health."

"It's not my fault that ChangMin-sshi makes everything so complicated," EunMi argued, crossing her arms.

Reading a book on English grammar in the library, ChangMin sneezed.

GRAGH. I didn't like this chapter, because it's so dialogue-driven, but that was the only way I could write it. I'm sorry...

Who's happy that JunSu appeared? I had a long debate with myself over whether or not to introduce him in this story, but I figured, "Yeah... He's a pretty important guy. All right, put him in there." Haha. I really like his character here. He's the nerdy and awkward but sweet, adorkable guy~ I love when his voice cracks.

The next chapter will be up soon. It's going to be a little shorter than the others, but I hope you'll like it.

...Heck. You guys are most definitely NOT going to like it... That's all I'm saying. But before I leave, I must hand out cookies!

Super-tasty cookies to:

jijie_lee
fireflybutterfly
ceciee

Thank you to everyone who's been reading and keeping up with my painfully slow updates!