A fresh breeze was making its way into his room, the unwanted and unloved sounds of cars, their honking and the loud chattering of people following. He sighed.

His eyebrows were furrowed in annoyance when he looked out of his window whilst closing it, the busy street surrounded by high buildings and not a single spot of green visible. He hated it. He missed the meadows he had played in as a child, missed the rivers and forest in the little town his father was working at. Ever since he had moved to live with his sister in Seoul he disliked the busy streets, the roaring of the cars' engines, the bickering of neighbours and even hearing them having .

“I'll never get used to this ,” he muttered under his breath whilst continuing to dress himself. A school uniform. He hated school uniforms. He liked the dark-blue of his trousers, it was his favourite colour after all, but he didn't like the similarity the school uniform was resembling. He liked being himself, liked to be different than others. He didn't mind the stares he received when he walked through the streets with his pierced ears, pierced bottom lip, blond hair and dark clothes. He fastened the last button of his white shirt, leaving the very first two open to reveal the shirt he was wearing underneath and sleeves halfway rolled up. He didn't like to be suffocated by buttons. The shirt was loosely falling over his trousers, the blond haired not bothering to stick it into his trousers how he was supposed to - referring to the high school's dressing code.

A knock on his door plastered with sheets of papers containing his self-written poems and lyrics resounded through his room, a soft hum allowing the other to enter while he was busy with his earrings.

“Jae, breakfast is done,” his sister chimed, her head appearing in the crevice of the door she had created. JaeJoong turned around once his dark piercing was resting in the left corner of his bottom lip before he made his way over to AhYoung. The young woman of 20 years let her eyes wander over her 16-year-old brother, a smile on her lips at the way he had dressed. She liked him this way a lot; rebel-like and full of himself.

“You're not going to wear it?” AhYoung asked when she noticed JaeJoong's necktie resting halfway inside of his wastebasket. She had to suppress an amused chuckle at the way the younger looked at her, his left eyebrow with a scar decorating it lifted and disbelief readable in his eyes.

“You kidding me? That ing thing would be the last piece of I'd wear,” JaeJoong retorted with a frown, not bothering to keep his cussing under control. His sister didn't mind anyway.

Just half an hour later the blond haired made himself ready for school, his black shoulder bag decorated with several bought and self-made buttons resting over his shoulders and reaching just beneath his and dark-blue coloured blazer hanging over the front. He was just slipping into his black boots, the sleeves of his trousers resting inside of them, when his sister came up behind him.

“You sure I shan't drop you off?” she asked once the younger one was done. He looked back at her, his styled blond hair falling a bit into his face.

“Nah, I can walk the ten minutes. No big deal,” JaeJoong replied before he switched on his iPod and let loud rock music blast out of his headphones. A smile lay on AhYoung's lips when she watched her brother's retrieving back.

Hands buried in the pockets of his trousers he walked along the pavement towards his new school. His head was whipping up and down, following the beat of the music he was drowning in. He didn't notice the stares of people he walked by; he had learned to ignore them years ago. His fingers were drumming against his thighs through the pockets, his lips sometimes moving to the music blasting into his ears. It was one of his favourites. His feet were slowly shuffling over the pavement the closer he came towards his new school, other students walking past him wearing the same attire as he was.

Just before he reached the gate of the school he stopped, looking quite bored into the direction of the school building whilst gnawing on his bottom lip or rather his dark piercing on the left side. This building promised boredom, annoying teachers, even more annoying girls and es in every corner. He was sure of it.

With a sigh he went through the gate, the heels of his boots shuffling over the ground as he walked. He earned curious stares, whispered words spread around but he didn't hear them. How should he when the loud music was even audible for his fellow students around the schoolyard? JaeJoong let his eyes wander around, taking in the view of other students curiously staring at him. It seemed as if the word new student were engraved on his forehead. He rolled his eyes.

He walked past a group of skaters and people that seemed different than the others. He was sure he would get along with them well. On the right he saw students busy with playing football. Sport addicts; he didn't like them.

JaeJoong's face contorted, his nose scrunched in disgust when he walked past a perfume-filled cloud. He was walking straight towards the entrance of the school, the annoying bunch of girls surrounding the spot right next to it. He took one single glance and knew he wouldn't get along with them at all. It was the type of girls he despised. A layer of make-up so thick that you would need a hammer and chisel to get to the base of the face, every single one looking exactly like the other, pinkish stuff everywhere, their words filled with the newest fashion and other he found very uninteresting. Just a single glance from them could drive him nuts and he could explode.

“Who is that?”

“Who cares. Look at him!”

“Horrible!”

“He looks like a tramp!”

He didn't hear their words but still knew what they were talking about. It was the reason why he hated such girls. With a bored expression he looked at them, removing his headphones. The girls seemed kind of startled.

“Stop gawking. No one is interested in the that comes out of your badly painted lips,” he retorted, earning glares from the fuming bunch of girls. Ignoring the words of childish anger he went ahead, music again filling his ears.

“es,” he mumbled loud enough for them to hear with an amused smile on his lips when he made his way inside. He headed towards the principal's office since he still didn't know which class he was going to be in.

He slowly stepped inside the office after the principal had approved of his knocking. The principal Mr. Kang sat relaxed on his chair. He was a nice person, a bit chubby and his hair got already a bit less. He looked like a big teddy bear. JaeJoong liked him. Next to him stood a young woman with long brown hair tied back into a pigtail. She looked strict and the hairstyle let her look older than she probably was. JaeJoong assumed that she would be his class teacher. He frowned slightly.

“Ah, our new student. Please make yourself comfortable,” Kang HoDong greeted the 16-year-old, a smile on his lips when he heard the music that was coming out of JaeJoong's headphones. The youth bowed slightly with a soft smile when he greeted the principal back.

“I bet you're curious which class you will be in, right?” the older male asked JaeJoong cheerfully, the young woman standing next to them frowning a bit.

“Yes, kinda,” JaeJoong replied, turning the volume of his iPod a bit down.

“Well, your new class will be the one of Mrs. Gyeong here,” Kang HoDong explained, pointing at the young teacher that was eyeing JaeJoong carefully. The 16-year-old didn't like the look in her eyes; disapproval.

“It is class 2-D and I think you know where to find it, right?” the principal continued without noticing the young woman's furrowed eyebrows.

“Yeah, I remember it quite well,” JaeJoong responded, thinking back to the day he first had come here together with his sister. The older male had showed him everything in detail so that he wouldn't have to fear to get lost inside of the big building.

JaeJoong was just about to leave the room since it was about time for his first lesson. He was halted though by his class teacher's voice.

“Excuse me, JaeJoong-ssi, but do you think your attire is really appropriate for this school?” Mrs. Gyeong asked with a raised eyebrow. She didn't approve of the loose way the young student in front of her was dressed let alone that his hair was dyed and his lip and ears pierced. She couldn't understand how Kang HoDong could approve of such an attire.

JaeJoong turned around to face his teacher, an eyebrow lifted. He challenged her.

“I can't remember reading something in the school's dressing code about dyed hair, piercings or tattoos. It doesn't even say how I have to wear my school uniform just that I have to wear my shirt, trousers and the blazer when I want to,” he responded annoyed yet politely, startling Mrs. Gyeong slightly with his words. “If you excuse me now, I have a lesson to attend,” he further said, bowing to bid his class teacher and principal goodbye.

A grin lay on Kang HoDong's lips when the youth closed the door behind him. Mrs. Gyeong wanted to protest but was stopped by him before she even had the chance.

“As much as you want to protest, HanMi-ssi, he is right. Our dressing code does not have details on what the students can do with their hair or something else. All they have to do is wearing the school uniform,” he said, the young woman next to him enraged.

“But principal-” she wanted to protest but was once again stopped; this time with a stern look.

“Accept it. You should go to your class as well,” he dismissed her, the young woman bowing in defeat before she left. A smug smile was spreading over his lips when he thought back to the encounter with JaeJoong.

“He's smart,” he mumbled under his breath. He chuckled.

*

JaeJoong reached the loud classroom of 2-D in time, chattering audible even through his headphones that were tuned down halfway. He pulled them from his head, letting them rest around his neck before he turned his iPod off. It just got louder.

“You must be the new student. Kim JaeJoong, I assume?” a soothing male voice resounded from behind him, causing JaeJoong to turn around. He faced a tall young man with glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He assumed that the young man was a teacher and nodded.

“Shim ChangMin is my name. I'm your maths teacher,” said man continued with a smile and led JaeJoong inside the classroom. The bunch of students fell slowly silent when the bell rang, all eyes trained on their maths teacher and the new student by his side. Murmurs were vibrating in the chamber, some students not interested others baffled at JaeJoong's looks and the way he was dressed.

“Class, this is Kim JaeJoong. He's new here so I expect you to be nice to him,” ChangMin introduced JaeJoong and earned a response of his students, “Yes, Seonsaengnim.”

“JaeJoong, you can sit down on the free seat next to YunHo,” the taller said when he pointed to the only free seat inside of the classroom. JaeJoong nodded and slowly made his way over to his seat. ChangMin had already started with the lesson when JaeJoong got his pencil case and notebook out of his shoulder bag. It was then when he realized that he had forgotten his maths book at home.

“,” he silently cursed, placing his bag onto the ground when the book didn't magically appear by combing through it.

“Hey,” was whispered next to him, causing JaeJoong to turn towards his seat neighbour. The taller offered him his maths book, placing it right in the middle of their tables.

“You can use mine,” he whispered, JaeJoong thanking him with a soft smile. He couldn't get rid of the feeling that he knew this guy. He looked kind of familiar but he couldn't recall why.

Over the entire lesson he shifted between resolving the problems and studying his neighbour. He was sure he knew him in some way. 'YunHo,' he recalled the name of the taller boy next to him. The image of a small blushing boy walking after him, playing together with him and sharing lots of time with him were flashing in front of his eyes. He shook his head slightly. It couldn't be his childhood friend. The YunHo he knew was older than him and would be in a higher class.

The thoughts didn't leave him though, bringing back also memories of his Granny Mae and the day YunHo had left as well. It had been ten years since he last had seen him. He didn't believe that he would even recognize the other when they would walk past one another.

Just before the bell was about to ring, JaeJoong looked again at his neighbour. But this time he noticed something he had missed over the last 45 minutes. It was a little mole, right above the upper lip on the left side. It was this particular spot he remembered the most when thinking back to his childhood friend. 'This can't be.'

“Y-yunHo. Jung YunHo,” he mumbled softly yet loud enough for his neighbour to catch his words. The taller turned towards him with a slightly confused look.

“Hm? Yeah, that's me. How do you know?” the boy with short brown hair asked a bit startled. He earned a small smile form the boy next to him. It looked familiar to him.

“Hm, I bet you don't remember me. I changed quite a little,” JaeJoong snickered at the forlorn expression on YunHo's face. “Let's see if there rings a bell with this. I used to live next door to a very nice old lady. I loved her like my own grandma. And for over two years I used to play with a little boy named YunHo,” he told the other boy who seemed a bit dumbfounded yet thoughtful. “The last time I've seen him was after Granny Mae had died,” he further said, thinking back to the day and not noticing how the other's face lit up in recognition.

“JaeJoong?” YunHo asked quite in disbelief, his assumption proved to be right at the way JaeJoong smiled. He still was that little bubbly boy from back then under the layer of his rebel-like behaviour.