You were having an awful morning. You had to go to school, which was bad enough, but you also had a class test, and on top of that you were running frighteningly late. You parents couldn’t even give you a lift today, and you were too short of time to walk to school like you usually did, so the bus it was.
 

Rushing to the bus stop, you spotted the bus already there at the stop and you sprinted desperately to catch it, managing to fling yourself into the bus before the doors closed. The bus driver gave you a disapproving look and you apologised earnestly before turning to find a seat. Unfortunately for you, all the front seats were taken, so you had to walk the walk of shame down the aisle to find an empty seat.

Just as you spotted one, the bus lurched forward and you threw yourself into the seat to avoid falling over. To your endless embarrassment you knocked into the boy on the seat next to you, and you apologised sheepishly with a small bow. You winced internally (and maybe a bit externally too) when you realised that your neighbour was none other than the school’s Golden Boy Lee Daehwi. You had never actually spoken to him, but the boy was well known for his charm and talents, and to you it was even more intimidating because you had seen his multitude of talents for yourself, and you knew he deserved all the praise he got.
 

“Hi!”
A bright, yet sweet voice interrupted your brief chain of thought, and you realised the subject of your thoughts himself was talking to you.

“Hi…?” you answered back, it coming out as more of a question than a proper greeting.

“Hey, I’m Daehwi!” He smiled at you, and you wondered how someone could look so cheerful this early in the morning.

“I’m Y/N, nice to meet you,” you replied, fully expecting him to turn back to his phone now that the introductions were over.

He proved you wrong though. “What class are you in? And I don’t usually see you on the bus, how come you came today?” he asked, looking at you eyebrows raised and head cocked to the side like a confused puppy.

You explained the whole situation with you running late and having a test, and your internal panic must have shown through because Daehwi gently patted you on the arm in reassurance. “Hey, you’ll do great, don’t worry. Don’t overthink it, ok?”

“Yeah, I know…it’s easier said than done though,” you responded with a despondent sigh.

“I can help you with that!” With a mischievous smile he proceeded to do exactly that.
You two spent the rest of the bus ride chatting away non-stop, telling each other about your families, your classmates, your teachers, basically anything and everything that came into your heads, almost as if you had known each other forever.

However in what felt like no time at all, you spotted your rather imposing school, complete with its imposing red brick front through the window behind Daehwi, and your gloomy expression returned.

Daehwi, noticing the look on your face, paused mid-sentence to follow your gaze out of the window. He turned back to you, using his most aegyo-filled voice to say; “Relax, remember I’ll be cheering for you! Fightingggg!”, looking pleased with himself when you burst into giggles at his antics.

Getting down from the bus together as countless impatient teenagers pushed past you, you bid him goodbye with a somewhat sad smile when-

“Y/N wait a second!”

You turned around, surprised to see Daehwi returning to your side, eyebrows slightly furrowed as he searched for something in his bag.

“Here, take this, it might help.” He handed you some sort of energy bar with colourful red wrapping. “Good luck!”

And he shocked you for the second time that day by stepping forward quickly and wrapping his arms around you.  You barely had a second to feel his warmth and breathe in his scent before he stepped back, smiling uncharacteristically shyly at you and your rapidly reddening face for a moment before hurrying off.
 

You were too gobsmacked to do anything for a few seconds, until your motor system kicked in and you walked to your classroom still in a daze, replaying that moment again… and again… and again.

Maybe this wasn’t such an awful morning after all.