Seunghyun arrived home from school and dragged himself into his room, ignoring his mother’s inquiries about his day for the first time. He flopped face down onto his bed and moaned into his pillow.

He was alright in other subjects other than math but that boy kept invading his thoughts all day, throwing him off so he couldn’t finish his class work. One moment he would be writing about Jack and Jane and their dog for English then Jiyong would invade his thoughts with that smile and he would look down at his hands drawing that same image.

This happened through every class. He couldn’t focus. Now he couldn’t take his short naps or daydream while looking out the window when he was finished with the assignment. The day left him exhausted with an edge of insanity.

Staring at his ceiling now, he closed his eyes, hoping to go into a peaceful meditative state, like his parents taught him to do if he ever needed to clear his mind. He breathed slowly and hoped to become one with the darkness under his eyelids when he felt a huge weight fall on top of him causing him to gasp and groan.

“Hey Seunghyun-ah!” Hye Yoon yelled as she elbowed him in the ribs.

“Noona!” Seunghyun struggled to breathe out, his eyes bulging. “Get off of me, Noona!”

“Fine, fine.” She said leaning up, looking at Seunghyun with curiosity.

“What do you want from me?” Seunghyun asked, rubbing his ribs as he sat up. He wasn’t usually this cross with his Noona but he has had a rough day and she had found just the right moment to ruin his peace for the night. Hye Yoon smacked Seunghyun upside the head.

“Why didn’t you talk to omma about your day? She got really upset that you wouldn’t talk to her. She’s back in her room watching daytime dramas and ignoring my questions.” Hye Yoon lectured, hands on her hips.

Seunghyun sighed. His mother always took his silence so hard. He liked to talk to her over tea after school to make her happy but he needed some time alone before he talked to her this time otherwise that boy might invade his thoughts again. His mother could read him like a book so she knew something was different at least. Should he tell Noona? He didn’t know if she would keep his secret but he didn’t like her beating him upside the head all the time.

“Tell me.” Hye Yoon gently pressed. “I’ll keep it from omma if you really want me to but you can’t keep anything from me. I have to know because I’m your Noona.”

She smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to look into his eyes. Seunghyun tried to get the words out but he didn’t know what to say. He was never good with speaking, just the writing and reading parts of communication.

“Okay. So today during math a new student came into our class. Well he is kind of a new student. He is only in our class for one subject a day since he is younger than us…”Seunghyun began before getting cut off by Hye Yoon.

“Is this kid giving you a hard time?” She asked, a stern look on her face that he rarely saw.

“What? No! He doesn’t even sit by me.” Seunghyun answered, a little shocked by her antics.

“Well then, what is the problem?” She asked, the look easing back into soft concern.

“Well, he’s different than the rest of the boys in my class. He’s really good at math so they had him come to our class for an hour but he seems rebellious and likes to smile.” Seunghyun elaborated.

“He sounds like an interesting guy. You know, doing well in school and rebelling don’t have to go against each other.” Hye Yoon said to her naïve dongsaeng.

“Really? Because I always thought the rebels were bad students so I was a bad kid because I didn’t get good grades.” Seunghyun muttered, his head hanging low and his hands picking at a loose string on his bedding.

“You aren’t a bad kid, Seunghyun. You just have a head full of different ideas than most others your age. Maybe this boy is like you, just a little different,” She reassured him.

Seunghyun looked up through tear filled eyes at his Noona who smiled at him.

“Now why is this making you upset?” Hye Yoon asked him.

Seunghyun sat in silence. He didn’t want to tell her the whole story because even he knew something was wrong about the way he thought of this boy and how his smile made him feel. He wasn’t really good at making up stories but he knew he had to try or his Noona might try beating it out of him.

“I’m just not really used to making friends with people younger than me, especially at school. I feel kind of intimidated by him and don’t think he’ll be my friend because I’m not as smart as he is.” Seunghyun uttered. He was surprised at the words flowing out of his mouth. He had never lied so easily before.

“I think you should tell omma about this new boy. I won’t tell her. She just has been really worried about you making friends your age in school. Also, don’t worry about him being smarter. He may just help you with your math,” Hye Yoon offered.

Seunghyun nodded and Hye Yoon left satisfied with his answer.

Seunghyun closed his eyes again to try to regain some peace of mind but when he did, Jiyong’s face came smiling back at him from behind his eyelids.

‘Great’, Seunghyun thought. ‘Now I’m definitely going crazy.’