Yumin:

It was the first day of school and it seemed as if everything was lifeless. Those perfectly clear skies, that had been non-changing for weeks, were suddenly covered by thick gray clouds.  Ah, this weather is making me depressed, I thought to myself as I got ready to leave for school.

Even though this was going to be the first day of my high school career, I didn't feel excited. Most girls my age would be be getting hyped up and looking for possible boyfriend candidates or obsessing over their looks. In my opinion, that was all pointless. Sure, I still wore make-up, but it was only a bit of mascara and eyeliner. I didn't want to go overboard because school was still school and at the end of the day, learning is the only thing I would be doing.

"This !" I yelled while walking down the empty street.

"What ?" Asked a voice from behind me, casually.

"School is what !" I replied without thinking. I suddenly stopped walking, who was it that I just talked to? I really hope it's not a some weird guy. I took a breath to steel myself and turned around just as I heard a loud shutter sound go off. 

"I got ya!"  Howon cried out triumphantly. "I personally think that this is the best picture of you."

I stared up at him for a while to let my heart calm down. "You surprised me." I managed to say calmly.

"Good morning to you too." He replied saracatically, while putting his camera away.

I sighed, thinking he had way too much energy this morning. "Good morning Howon." I murmured back unenthusiastically. "Surprised to see you up on time, for once."

"Gah! Your unhappiness is starting to rub off on me!" He started to wipe at his shoulders as if something were really there. I kept on walking, not really paying attention to him. I wasn't on guard when he suddenly stepped in front of me, and I ended up running into him. He steadied me by holding onto my shoulders. I looked up at him questioningly and froze when I felt his hand on my face.

"Come on Yumin, you have to smile!" Howon playfully pushed the corner of my lips up in an attempt to get me to smile. Irratated, I slapped his hand away and continued walking without looking back at him. He laughed it off and caught up to me quickly as we continuted on our way to school.

Everyone seemed completely enthusiastic for their first day of school. How can they be so energetic this early in the morning? I frowned and pushed through to get to my locker. I looked around the school and it looked just like the middle school I went to. I didn't see why everyone was so excited about it.

I turned to face Howon. "So, are you excited about your first day of school?" I asked as I opened my locker. Howon moved to open his as well, his being two lockers down from mine. Same as last year, I thought.

"Umm...I guess I'm indifferent." He replied while looking around. I took the chance to also notice that almost everyone was from the same middle school. He then glanced down at me, "I don't even have to ask you, I already know your answer. It's written all over your face: 'I hate school'. Plus, you said it earlier."

"Well, you more than anybody know that I'd rather practice on my dancing." I said as I took out the things I would need for homeroom.

Howon sighed. "Yeah, same here."

"Well, I should go to my class now. Hopefully I won't have to sit by some boy crazy girl. Wish me luck!" I turned to walk away.

Howon stopped me by grabbing my arm. "Wait! We're having lunch together, right?" He looked a bit worried.

"Duh! Now, I really need to get going. See ya! Don't fall asleep in class." I waved and headed towards homeroom.

 

Hoya:

"I'm going to leave early today, so I don't need breakfast!" I yelled from my room.

"Wait! Why are you leaving so early?" My mother asked as I ran through the living room.

I really want to see Yumin, I thought, but of course I couldn't tell her that. She would take it the wrong way. As I was hurrying past the couch, I almost tripped over my backpack in my haste to find it. A loud thud resounded around the house as I landed on the floor.

"Howon? What are you doing over there, young man?" My mother asked from the kitchen. I yelled I was fine and quickly made my way to the kitchen. I snatched a glass of milk by the microwave and chugged it down. Can't go to school on an empty stomach, I heard Yumin's voice taunt me whenever I debated not eating breakfast.

My mother crossed her arms and shook her head at me as I finished off the glass of milk and a banana that was already half way peeled. "So?" She prodded on when I hadn't answered her question from before.

"I just want to get familiar with school, you know, like see where there's good places to eat lunch or stuff like that." I explained as I tugged on my jacket hastily.

"Is that so?" She asked skeptically, with a knowing grin on her face. I mentally shrunk back from her gaze. Mother's intuition was frightening sometimes.

My excuse didn't sound convincing, so I quickly kissed her cheek and left before she could say anything else. "Bye mom!" 

As soon as I was out the door, I sighed in relief, but not before my mother shouted to greet Yumin for her. I felt my face warm up as I closed the front gate with unnecessary force. Why do I have to make a big deal out of nothing? I berated myself. I started to walk off in silence for a while, the street was completely empty of people. The gray clouds made everything gloomy, as if it was some kind of prison.

"The weather must know it's the first day of school." I said to myself.

As I continued to walk, I noticed that I was near Yumin's house. Hopefully she'll be outside already! The closer I got, the faster my feet started to move. As soon as I got to her door step, I rang the doorbell and waited. Stepping back, I looked to her bedroom window, and noticed that the lights were off, and so were the kitchen lights. I realized she wasn't there and her house seemed to be empty. Disappointment settled in my stomach as I left the front porch. I looked down at my feet, wondering if she had gone to school earlier than usual. I continued to walk on with a cloud of gloom hanging over my head, when I suddenly saw a girl walking a short distance ahead.

"This !" I heard her complain. Instantly, my spirit jumped back up and a smile spread across my face automatically. There was only one girl I knew with that grumpy voice.

It was Yumin! Being thankful that she was short for our age, my long legs allowed me to catch up with her rather quickly. I quietly pulled out my camera and asked her casually, "What ?"

"School is what !" She replied, and then froze in her tracks. She paused for a second, and I saw her take a deep breath before she turned around slowly. I grinned and got ready to take the picture.

She was completely still as I captured a photo of her confused face. She won't happy about this photo, I thought gleefully as I put my camera away.

This day just got better, I thought as I approached a grumpy Yumin.

                                                     

                                                * * *

Yumin and I decided to go have our lunch outside since the sun was out again. We had our usual conversation about dancing and made plans to hangout after school. Everything seemed peaceful and I enjoyed this time. A lot of other students were also enjoying the weather. Many of the girls were taking this opportunity to "meet new friends". In other words, they were trying to flirt with guys. Yumin rolled her eyes at them as they batted their fake lashes and pouted overly plump lips at the boys.

I had always wondered why Yumin never acted like the other girls. She still dressed like a girl but she didn't really act like one. Her personality wasn't manly or girly it was just...normal? Yumin was different but not in a strange way. I guess that's why our friendship has lasted so long. 

"So what should we do after school today?" I asked her as she unwrapped her lunch.

She put a small amount of rice in , and made a 'mmmmmm?' sound. "I don't know. You want to play video games?"

"Don't we do that everyday already?" I complained.

"You, a boy, are seriously complaining about playing video games everyday?" She asked with a shocked expression.

"Shouldn't I be shocked that you, a girl, likes playing video games everyday?" I lifted one eyebrow. She pushed against me with her shoulder and laughed. I pushed back at her, chuckling when she almost lost her balance. She was at a disadvantage with my height.

"Well, recently my dad told me about a dance studio that we could go to practice dancing. You want--", she started saying.

I cut her off, "YES! Let's go." I yelled excitedly with the chopsticks still in my mouth. 

A shutter sound caught my attention as I focused on the small object held in front of me. Yumin was holding up her cell phone and smiling. "Got ya." She said with a satisfied grin.

 

[thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic so, please leave some feedback.]