“Homework is going to be the end of me…” I groaned as I let my head drop onto the stack of books on my table. Homework was piled up to the max tonight, and I knew that I was going to have to pull an all-nighter to finish all this.

“That… was the first time I saw you smile. It’s cute!”

My cheeks immediately flushed at that thought. I repeatedly banged my head harshly against the stack of books, trying to get Myungsoo off my mind.

“Yooae, you’re stupid,” I spoke to myself, staring straight at the wall. “Myungsoo… get off my mind.”

I unhappily tilted my head sideways to take a long glance at the ticking clock- it was now one o’ clock in the morning.

“Argh!” Frustrated, I gripped my pencil harder. “Myungsoo, you’re a huge idiot! Idiot! Hear me?! Idiot!”

“Yooae, shut up!” My brother’s voice echoed through the house. “I can’t sleep!”

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“Yooae, watch out!”

Airi grabbed me by the shoulders and held me back, steering me to my left.

“Ehe… Airi, good morning!” I laughed sheepishly waving my limp hands at her, meekly tapping the tip of my foot against the gravelly ground.

“Good morning?! You were about to run into a wall!” She shook my shoulders, and pointed at the brick wall in front of me. “What were you doing last night? You look terrible!”

She whipped out a small Winnie the Pooh mirror, and shoved it in front of my face. A tired looking face- nearly dead, in fact, stared right back at me. Droopy eye bags hung from beneath my lifeless eyes, and my complexion was pale and dead-looking. My eyes popped out at my appearance. There wis no way I’m going to face Myungsoo like this.

“Airi!” I grabbed her hands. “Do you have foundation, concealer, and eyeliner?”

Airi exasperatedly slapped my shoulder, which I winced at. She looked me up and down, and finally sighed in defeat, bringing out a small pouch from her backpack.

“I wouldn’t know what to do without you!” I happily opened the bottle of foundation, carefully squirting a small amount into my palm before patting it onto my face.

“Yeah, yeah,” Airi zipped up her backpack, and began to walk ahead. “Start walking, before we’re late to school again. Mr. Yim always glares at me when I come to his class late.”

We walked in silence, Airi occasionally pointing things about the weather while I carefully applied my make-up. I didn’t know where Airi lived, but she always avoided conversations about herself. However, no matter what, she always met me by the flower patch near my street. It still irked me that I didn’t know anything about Airi, besides the basic things like her favorite color, her birthday, and things like that.

“Done!” I looked at the mirror, satisfied with my appearance. Airi grabbed the pouch from me, stuffing the mirror into the side pocket of her backpack.

The walk to school was around twenty minutes long. By the time we arrived at the gates, the first bell had already rung. 

“See you!” I waved to Airi, before running up a flight of stairs to my classroom. Out of breath, I spun around the corner to face my classroom door. Cautiously, I opened the door a crack- the teacher wasn’t there yet. I muttered a silent victory cry, before gripping the door, about to fully open it.

“Miss Koo.”

I felt something hard tap my back. Turning around, I gulped when I saw a teacher looming over me, a clipboard in his hand. I cocked my head when I saw the label “Lee Taemin” pinned on his shirt.

“Trying to get in late?”

“Mr. Lee! I thought you taught Physics, not math!” I blurted out.

“Oh, I’m subbing in for the Math teacher for a while,” He grinned, opening the door for me. I walked in to face my seated classmates, who were equally shocked by the appearance of the young Physics teacher. Hastily, I hurried to my seat, ignoring the quiet snores of Myungsoo next to me.

“Hello, I’m Mr. Lee. Some of you know me as a Physics teacher. I shall be subbing in for your Calculus teacher today, as she has taken a maternal leave,” He smiled gently, scanning his eyes over the students. “Um… please treat me nicely from now on!”

He playfully bowed, gaining laughter and hoots from the students. I smiled, glad that it was Mr. Lee who would be subbing in for us. He was one of the youngest teachers in our high school, and he was born with both good looks and good brains. In fact, he wasn’t too much older than us- perhaps around six years older. It struck me odd that he was single, for his looks and personality were absolutely charming.

“And, we will be changing seats today!”

“What?!” I shot up from my seat, slamming my hands onto the table as I quickly glanced at Myungsoo’s surprised face. “Why?”

“Eh… your teacher wrote it here in the class plans,” Mr. Lee replied, before his eyes lit up. “Oh. How about we do this randomly?”

He started to neatly shred pieces of paper, before writing down something on all of them. He collected the scraps of paper, stuffing them into the ballot box usually used to class elections. Quickly, he picked up a dry erase marker and drew out a chart of the class’s seat.

“I’ve written a number on all these pieces of paper,” He grinned. “You’ll pick them one by one.”

This is the worst.

Mr. Lee started to call students up, one at a time. The student’s chatter began to grow louder again, as the sound of scraping chairs and rustling backpacks filled the air.

“Changing seats, huh?” Myungsoo leaned back in his chair. “I hope I get to sit next to the heater this time!”

What an idiot.

“What about you, Yooae?” Myungsoo turned his head, a questioning expression on his face.

“I don’t know…” I slowly muttered, silently fuming at his earlier statement. Obviously, I wanted to sit next to Myungsoo.  

“Aw, she just took the seat I wanted!” Myungsoo gave a small pout as he watched a girl take her spot in a seat next to the heater.

“Koo Yooae.”

Let’s do this.

I slowly walked up to the blue ballot box sitting on the table, eyeing it with determination. I stuffed my hand in, and shifted my fingers around to find the “one”.  When I got hold of a paper that I decided to pick, I quickly withdrew my hand with a small “hah!” sound.

“Let’s see… Number four,” I walked up to the whiteboard, joining the small crowd that was looking for their seat. I sat at the very side of the classroom, right next to the window. Right next to me was seat number ten.

“Kim Myungsoo.”

I spun around and watched as Myungsoo lazily picked a piece of paper. I quickly tuned my back to him as he began to walk to the whiteboard.

“You were really into it, weren’t you,” He chuckled, the piece of paper still in his hand.

“What’d you get?” I immediately questioned, my eyes filled with determination.

“Erm…” Myungsoo seemed to be surprised at my seriousness. “Seat number ten, why? Are you number four?”

I nodded quickly, fireworks of giddiness started to erupt in my heart, as I did a mental victory dance in my head. A stupid grin slid over my face, as I exhaled in relief.

“Well, I’m glad to be neighbors again!” He playfully stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket, and joined with his group of friends.

“Yeah…” I whispered, watching Myungsoo’s retreating back. “I’m glad.”

----------------------------------------------

“It’s fate, isn’t it?” I dreamily smiled, rocking back and forth. It was P.E, and all the female students were seated on the gym floor, waiting for the teacher to arrive. On the other side of the gym, separated by a line drawn on the glossy floor, were the boys. They were engaged ina heated game of basketball.

“Ehe… fate…” I patted my cheeks, watching as Myungsoo dunked a basketball into the hoop. His team whooped, as Myungsoo grinned and high-fived hi team members. Sweat glistened on his forehead, as he slowly lifted part of his shirt to cool off.

Ah… those abs.

“Yooae, are you okay?” Concerned, Airi waved her hand in front of my face.

“Airi… Myungsoo and I are seat neighbors again!” I buried my face in her arms.

“Good for you,” She patted me on the head, slightly taken aback at my strange behavior. “I’m assuming you’re giving him chocolates tomorrow, right?”

“Chocolates?” I looked up at Airi.

“Tomorrow’s Valentines’ Day!” She gleefully smiled, shaking my head back and forth. “You’re making chocolates, right?”

“Eh…” I pondered. Myungsoo always received a plethora of chocolates and gifts during Valentines’ Day. I frowned when I remembered how Myungsoo had to have his friends help him carry his numerous gifts that he received last year. It couldn’t be helped- Myungsoo’s lively personality and looks gained him many friends and admirers.

“Are you making chocolates for anyone?” I blatantly changed the topic. Airi froze, and I waited for her answer. I wondered if she would give anyone chocolates- she never showed any sign of liking anyone.

“I… am,” She slowly answered, her eyes distant.

“For who?” I pushed on. She stared at me for a second, biting her lip.

“It’s…” Airi slowly drew out her words. “A secret!” She quickly tapped my nose, a smile on her face. Odd. The quick change of personality often indicated that Airi had something that she really wasn’t willing to tell me.

“Anyways, let’s get back to the topic of you and Myungsoo,” She chattered, clasping her hands together. “So, yes to chocolates? Or no?”

Yes or no; that is the question, indeed.

A/N

omgahh. And this is where things are going to start getting complicated.

Oh, and expect a bunch of weird turns and twists in this story- things are not going to be what you think they are.

Dum dee dum. Comments and Subs are loved. 8D

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