The morning bell hadn’t even rung yet, but already Jinyoung wanted to go home. The hallways were starting to fill up with students now, especially with louder upperclassmen running through the first-year hallways to get to their classrooms. Everywhere he looked, Jinyoung saw groups of students huddled together in their little groups. Judging from the way they were casually hugging each other and making jokes they were probably friends who came from the same middle school. With a sigh, Jinyoung squeezed through the mass of bodies blocking his homeroom and was pleasantly surprised to find out his room was quieter than other first-year rooms. With a quick once-over around the room, Jinyoung’s gaze fell on Miyoung. She was sitting in the second row by the window, back turned towards the door as she chatted away with another female student sitting behind her. Miyoung’s friend must have caught him staring since she tilted her head towards her direction before saying something Jinyoung couldn’t make out.

“Oh look, it’s Jinyoung!” Miyoung tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked over her shoulder at the door. She flashed a sweet smile and waved.

The corners of Jinyoung’s mouth twitched upwards in a slight, shy smile as he briefly looked at the floor before waving back. He began making his way towards the side of the room she was sitting at, and stopped at a seat towards the center of the front row. He hung his backpack neatly by its straps on the chair and sat down. Across the aisle, Miyoung ended her conversation with her friend and turned towards Jinyoung.

“Are you waiting for anyone? Do you want to sit here?” She asked, patting the empty desk beside her. Jinyoung’s heart skipped a beat but as he opened his mouth to respond, a familiar lisped voice called out his name from the doorway.

“Jinyoung!” Sooji repeated as she skittered around a desk so she stood in front of the desk beside him; textbooks that were previously in her backpack now being messily held in her arms, “Thanks for saving me a seat. Honestly, if I had to hold onto these books any longer, my back would’ve given out.”

Her Biology, Mathematics, and Chemistry textbooks that were surprisingly already marked with bookmarks and stickies landed on the desk with a loud clap. She apologized under her breath before sliding into her seat. With a quick glance over his shoulder, Jinyoung saw that Miyoung had returned to conversing with her friend, taking her invitation along with her. Huh. It must’ve just been a friendly offer after all. With a sigh, Jinyoung reached into his backpack to retrieve his notebooks. There was still time before the morning bell so he might as well sort his desk out and prepare for class.

“Good thing you were able to sit at these desks. Even though I wear glasses, it’s still a hassle to have to look ever other peoples’ shoulders if I’m sitting from far away.” Sooji said as she slipped out of her chair and onto the floor to put her supplies away, but briefly paused to flash him a crooked smile. Not to mention her glasses were also crooked on her nose. “Though, I suppose you don’t have problems with that, right? Since you’re quite tall,”

He shook his head. Now that she mentioned it, he never really did have a problem seeing the board from any seat in the classroom. Soon the morning bell rang and everyone was sitting in their seats. The room wasn’t completely silent as the teacher walked in, but the remaining chatter stopped when he began writing his name on the board. ‘Teacher Park Sungwoo’, he wrote. Teacher Park was nowhere near an ordinary teacher. Oh no. Rather, he was quite handsome and resembled the likes of Lee Joonki. When he turned around, he held up a large notepad which he pointed to.

Hello, Class 1A. I am Teacher Park. Flip.

I have recently graduated and am excited to share that you are my first class. Flip.

I will work hard to make this year the best year of high school you will ever have. Flip.

Let’s all look out for each other, okay? Flip.

Once his discount Powerpoint presentation was over, he clapped his hands together and spoke in a loud voice, “Hello, Class 1A. If I didn’t say it enough already, I am Teacher Park. I am your homeroom and history teacher for the year. This is my first year teaching my very first class and I was very excited when I found out you were all first-years. They say your first year of high school is your most important one academic wise, but your first year is also...”

“A time when you make new friends,” Jinyoung stole a peek at Miyoung who was looking admirably at Teacher Park. Clearing his throat, he stuffed his hands between his legs and stared intently at his desk.

“A time to set goals for yourself and chase them,” Teacher Park’s eyes fell upon a student in the second row whose head was down, “Not like when you were in primary school and junior high where you would have dreams but never do anything with them.”

“Ultimately, your first yea