“I’m not! I’m the new exchange student-” Taehyung racked his brains for a good name. “V." He mentally face-palmed. Out of all names...

“So you’re telling me you’re not that annoying creep Taehyung Kim?” Eun-kyung snapped. She obviously doubted him.

Taehyung blinked several times, struggling to hide his agitation. He hastily shook his head. ‘Annoying creep?’ he repeated in his thoughts.

He managed to put on a friendly smile. “I get that a lot when I came to Korea from China. People keep coming over to me and ask me if I’m Taehyung Kim. He’s a really popular singer here, right?” He tried not to look awkward as Eunkyung and Iseul studied his face.

“Well, he’s certainly not smirking,” Eunkyung muttered. Taehyung’s eye twitched. “And if he really were Taehyung Kim, I bet he’d be only too eager to tell the whole world about it.” She crossed her arms in an unwelcoming way, but her facial features had softened. He was thankful he hadn’t admitted that he was really the said superstar.

Iseul seemed to have believed him, too. Taehyung decided it was probably because they weren’t one of those creepy fans who knew everything about their idols. “Hi, I’m Iseul Lim. This is my best friend, Eunkyung Jang. Nice to meet you! So you’re from China? Are you Korean? What’s your major? Do you need someone to show you around campus?” Iseul cried out, excitedly. At the girl's bombard of questions, Taehyung hesitated and glanced at Eunkyung, who was rolling her eyes. Her friend was always overly nice to boys she thought were cute.

“Err, I-I’m Korean but I attend college in China. I c-came here to have an experience of studying in m-my home country. I m-major in Economics,” Taehyung stuttered. He quickly pushed his glasses up on his nose. He felt awkward lying about being a student in front of actual university students, but to the two girls, he looked shy and awkward.

“Okay, nice to meet you. Sorry, but I really have to go in to grab a good seat,” Eunkyung announced.

“Hey! Why don’t we all meet up at noon in Mama’s Noodles down the street? I’ll call Hoseok!” Iseul burst out, happily. Eunkyung and Haneul just stared at her. “Please! You have to come!” Iseul whined, pulling their arms.

“Okay, okay. Then I’ll see you later,” Eunkyung said. She gave Taehyung a final wary glance and entered the building.

**********

Eunkyung exited the building and squinted in the bright sunlight. A familiar figure was waiting for her near the bicycle racks next to the building. He called her name cheerfully. “Eunkyung!”

“Oh, Jin Sunbae!” Eun-kyung exclaimed in surprise. “How are you?”

The young man, who was two years Eunkyung’s senior, gave her a warm smile. He had brown hair and round eyes that gave him a youthful, friendly look. “It’s almost time for lunch. I came to take you to a restaurant nearby. Last time you skipped meals and ended up with barely any energy to listen to your afternoon lecture.”

“Umm, I’m already supposed to eat lunch with Iseul at Mama’s Noodles. Would you like to come? I think Hoseok’s coming, too,” Eunkyung said.

Jin nodded and glanced at his blue bicycle. “I guess I’ll pick this up later.” The two started walking towards the restaurant side-by-side, chattering about Professor Oh and his thoughts about the media.

“Eunkyung!” They were met by a high-pitched yell as usual. “You’re here! And you even brought Jin Sunbae!” Iseul cheerfully waved to them from a table at the corner. Hoseok, a bright and outgoing Sunbae who studied Biomedical Engineering at the university, was sitting next to the window with a menu in his hand. He grinned and nodded at the two.

 “Come! Sit down and order! I’m hungry!” Iseul ushered Eunkyung into the seat across from her, which was next to Taehyung. Jin sat in the empty seat on her right and Hoseok handed him a menu.

Taehyung was nervously leaning against the window, but when he saw Eunkyung, he straightened up. He had never been so conscious sitting next to a girl before. He glanced at her face. Noticing his stare, Eunkyung turned to the boy. “Oh, you’re here,” she said, awkwardly. She didn’t know how whether to apologize to him for earlier.

“Eunkyung, who is he?” Jin asked, putting a hand on her arm to gain her attention. Taehyung’s eyes immediately went to the hand and he stiffened.

“Oh, this is the new exchange student V. Iseul and I met him in front of our building. V, this is Jin Sunbae. He’s majoring in the same field as me, which is Journalism and Broadcasting.”

“Hello.” Jin extended a hand. “Nice to meet you. If you need any help around campus, I’ll be happy to help.” Taehyung stared at the hand, and then at Jin’s face, and then back at the hand again. He grasped it and shook once before quickly letting go.

“What year are you in?” Jin asked.

“Um, I’m a junior,” Taehyung lied. His age was the same as the average male junior.

“Hey, then you’re the same age as me!” Hoseok reached over and clapped him on his shoulder. Taehyung was slightly irritated at the boy’s familiarity, but all he did was silently push up his glasses on his face. Hoseok tilted his head. “Hmm, you look strangely familiar.” Fear laced through Taehyung’s chest as he looked at the student straight in the eye.