ONE MORE TIME. JUST IN CASE.

CHINESE= RED

ENGLISH= PURPLE

KOREAN= BLUE

~~~

All settled on the couch, dad asks me and Yifan to choose our own English names.

“Uhm…I always wanted to be called something cool and manly.” Yifan says.

“And I want to be called something pretty and elegant.” You say.

“How does Sarah sound, ge?” You ask.

“Eh, I don’t really like it. It just doesn’t connect with you very well.” He replies, scrunching his face up.

“Oh! I got one for you, ge! How’s Kevin?” Your face brightens.

“KEVIN? Eew, it sounds like I’m a nerd.” He says, scowling.

“Fine. Ken?”

“Uh…no. It just sounds stupid.”

“Fine. Is KRIS good enough for you?” I say, getting frustrated.

“Kris…well it doesn’t sound too bad and it doesn’t make me feel like a complete idiot when you call me it, so ok I guess.” He nods his head.

“Ok, now what am I going to be called?”

“Kara?”

“Like KARA the girl group? No way.” I refuse.

“Fine. But I want something that starts with a K.”

“Why? To match with you?” I tease.

“Yes.”

“Oh. What have you thought of?” I close your eyes and lean back on the couch.

“…Kate.”

My eyes fly open and a wide smile glows upon my face. “It’s perfect!” I exclaim, jumping up from the couch as fast as my body would allow.

“It is, isn’t it?”

I nod.

“Now who’s the best brother in whole wide world?” Kris’s eyes twinkle and his arms open wide.

“You are!” I scream and launch myself at him, both of us going down in a fit of giggles. A tickle war ensues, and just to make things clear, yes, I lost.

(Your POV)

The rest of the afternoon went by happily and after dinner, you and Kris decided to practice your English before school started the next day. Sitting together in your room, you held the book and quizzed him.

“Questionable.” You said with the heavy Asian accent accenting the word unconsciously.

“Questionable. Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N-A-B-L-E questionable.” Kris repeated back to you, less of his accent showing.

Looking at the book, you nodded your head. “That is correct.” You say in Chinese. A soft whack on your head makes you look up.

“Speak in English, idiot.” Kris reprimands in Chinese. You whack him back.

“Says the one scolding me in Chinese. Ben Ben.” You stick your tongue out and smacking him back.

“Oh that’s it, you’re going down.” Kris growls and once again, you two go down in a fit of waving arms and soft thumps on each other’s heads.

The next day arrived and you woke up groggily, sitting up and untangling yourself from Kris’s arms and got up off the floor. ‘Wow, when did we even fall asleep after the wresting?’ You wondered. You shrugged. “AY! WAKE UP, BRO!” You scream in Kris’s ear while shaking his body.

Groaning, Kris surfaces, lifting his face from its facefloor position on the ground. “Bro, that sounds almost as bad as oppa. Just stay with ge.” He says, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes to get rid of the tears from his yawns.

“Alright, alright ge. Just get ready. It’s already 6:45. We have to leave at 7:15. C’mon.” You say.

Stepping into the bathroom for a nice warm shower, you got out 20 minutes fresh and happy. You put on the school’s uniform and looked at yourself in the mirror. Lumps and bumps were seen beneath the white collared shirt and your thick legs were shown fully by the plaid skirt that exposed your skin from low thigh down.

Sighing, you just looked away and put better thoughts into your head. Walking downstairs, you smelled toast. Taking three pieces, you walked to Kris and gave him one, keeping two for yourself. As both of you walk out the door at 7:05, you suddenly yank Kris’s arm back.

“Ge, I think I’m ready to be seen as your sister now.” You said softly, looking down at the ground.

Yifan’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “Really? So you don’t want to keep pretending that you don’t know me?”

You winced. Now that he put it that way, it sounded way worse than it actually was. “Yes, I think I’m ready for a change.” You tilted your head up a little higher and looked him in the eyes. “I want to be recognized now.”

Kris pulled you into a hug. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you to accept that we’re siblings.”

Once again, you flinched. It really sounded like you were a horrible mei. Pushing him off you softly, you smiled and said, “Alright, big guy. We really need to get to school now. It’s already 7:15.”

You both took the bus to school and when you guys got to the rather large gates up front, you tensed up. Sensing your discomfort, Kris gripped your shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. You looked at him and gave a small nod, and together, you walked into the large school.

Walking through the hallway with your arms linked together, the two of you sure made a strange pair. Glances and strange looks were given to the both of you, and you felt highly uncomfortable, gripping tighter to Kris’s arm.

Finding the freshman level without much diffuculty, Kris gently pried you off his arm and held both of your shoulders. “I need to go to class now, so I can only take you this far.” Kris says, apologetic.

“it’s fine, ge. You need to go to class too and it’s not good to be late on the first day.” You say.

“Alright, I know.” Kris says as he pulls you into a hug. “Just be good and try not to get lost. Remember to eat a healthy lunch and make some friends and pay attention and take good notes and be nice and speak English and-“

“Ok, ge. I got it. You can stop now. If you keep going, we’ll both be here for forever!” You joke, pushing him off you.

Kris chuckles. “Oh we can’t have that, can we? If we miss class on the first day, dad will kill us. Now, hurry on to class, baby.” He pats your head and strides off.

Looking around after he leaves, you see that almost everyone in the hallway is looking at you, a mixture of curiosity, minor disgust, and envy from the girls. Not letting yourself be bothered by the slight glares, you went off to hunt for your first class. After 8 minutes of unfruitful searching, you look around the almost empty hallway until your eyes catch sight of a group of girls at the end of the hall. You walk over to them.

“Uhm, excuse me. Can you please tell me where room 462 is? I’m kind of lost.” You said, and you could see the girls scrunch their noses at your strange accent.

The girl at the very front, wearing her uniform in a way that looked kind of strange to you, walked up to you. “You’re lost? Aw, let me help you. Room 462 is Mrs. Jamison’s class right?”

You nod quickly.

“Just walk up those stairs over there,” She points behind to your left with a perfectly manicured finger. “and take a right, last room to the right.”

“Ah, thank you very much! How can I thank you for your help?” You ask truly thankful for her help.

“That won’t be necessary, hun. I just love helping others in need.” She throws a little smile in your direction before walking off with her girls.

“Thank you!” You shout in her direction, and you hear giggles back.

You turn around and walk towards the stairs, taking them up slowly. You see a few stragglers rushing to class, and you climb a bit faster. You walk into the hallway just as the last person in the hall slips into their room and the bell rings, signaling that class has started and you were late. “Poopy, I’m late!” You whisper to yourself, and, breathing hard, you turn to the right like that girl told you to, and made your way to the end of the hall.

You were so caught up in your thoughts of how to explain why you were late, tha t you didn’t even notice a person in front of you before you crashed. Your books fell on the floor and your glasses slipped off your face. Immediately, you scrambled up, bowing out of habit and apologizing in Korean.

“I’m very sorry! I didn’t see you and-“ You said as you bent down to look for your glasses.

“It’s fine.” A voice said.

Your head snapped up. Did that person just reply in Korean? Your fingers find the cold metal of your glasses frame and your fumble with it, checking for any scratches before placing them back on your face and looking up at the person.

What you see surprises you so greatly that you stumble backwards from your crouching position and land on your .

A handsome Asian face with a nice smile and dark brown hair styled like the Korean pop stars back from home greeted you with a hand, offering assistance. (A/n: Can you guess who it is? It's the mystery person I promised in the forward? I think. If you can, Kudos to you.) You take the hand and shakily, with the help of his muscles, haul yourself up.

“Y-you speak Korean?” You say.

“Yeah, naturally I would, considering I’m full Korean.” He says, with a smile. “Now, are you alright?”

“I’m good. All good. I just need to get to class. I’m already really late. It was nice meeting another Korean speaker here. Bye!” You run off in the direction you were headed before.

“Wait! Where are you going? Do you need any help?” He asks.

“No, I’m fine. I’m just late. Wait, why are you still out here if you aren’t lost?” You ask.

“The Great KIM HEECHUL is NEVER on time. I gotta stay classy.” He says.

“Your name is Heechul? My name is Jinghwa but call me Kate.”

“Yes, yes, hello Kate. Now, where are you headed?”

“Over there.” You point at the room the girl from before told you about.

“Uhm…Kate?” Heechul has an uneasy look on his face.

“Yes?” You say, turning back.

“That’s a janitor’s closet.” He says, point blank.

“What? No it’s no-“ You swing the door open and is met with a dark room filled with cobwebs and brooms ect.

“Yeah. I think that whoever gave you the instructions to this room was playing a prank on you. Now will you tell me where your class is?” he says, putting out his hand for your schedule. You give it to him.

“You’re a freshman? Why are you up here then? This is the sophomore section.” He says, still examining your schedule.

“What? I even got the level wrong? Then I have to go back downstairs?” You sigh.

“Yup, c’mon. I had Mrs. Jamison last year. I can show you where the room is.” He tugs your arm.

“Wait, you’re a sophomore right?”

“Uh yeah, why else would I be here in this level?”

“Ok then, sunbaenim. It’s nice to meet you!” You bow 90 degrees.

“That’s very nice, but we kind of don’t have the time to do all this right now because WE NEED TO GET YOU TO CLASS. First block’s already almost half over.” Heechul snaps.

“Oh!” You gasp. “I’m sorry. Let’s get going.”

After a pretty silent walk to your classroom, you say goodbye to Heechul and walk in. All heads look up and you spot the girls from before who gave you wrong directions in the back, giving a sly smile.

“Ahem. Hello. I assume you are the new student who moved from South Korea?” The teacher said.

“Yes Ma’am. I’m very sorry for being late on the first day of school, but I had a bit of trouble finding your classroom.” You say, slightly glancing at the girls. They just giggle and share knowing looks.

“She must have had a whole LOT of trouble finding this room because it’s the first room in the hallway on this level. What a fail.” You hear someone whisper softly, and snickers erupt from a section of the class. But it seems like the teacher didn’t hear it and just told you to introduce yourself.

“Hello everyone. I’m Kate Wu and I just moved from South Korea. My English is not the best but I will do my best to-“

“Ok, Kate. Please take the seat 4 from the window at the back.” Mrs. Jamison cuts you off abruptly.

You slowly close your mouth and sullenly walk to your seat. Reaching the area, you realize that your seat was right in front of that mean girl’s. ‘Crap.’ You thought, quickly sitting down and covering your face. But that never happened, because before your bottom even touched the chair, the chair was gone, and you fell on the ground with a thump. The whole class cracked up, not even bothering to hide their amusement. Even the teacher snickered a little, covering it as a cough.

Turns out, that girl had pulled your chair backwards with her foot and was currently high-fiving her friends. Your face burns and you feel tears already collecting in your eyes. Standing up as quickly as you can, you limp to the teacher’s desk at the front but trip on someone’s leg sticking out in the walkway and down you go again.

This time, you feel the tears leak out of the corners of your eyes, hot and slow, dripping off your face as you cover your face with your unruly hair to try and cover the tears. Standing up again, you walk again to the teacher. “Miss, may I excuse myself from your class?” You try to maintain your composure but your voice comes out shaky.

Thankfully, she seems to feel some remorse for laughing at you earlier. Or maybe it was pity. But at the moment you didn’t really care. As long as you got out before you broke, you weren’t too bad off.

“Alright, I’ll write you a note and you can go to the nurse.” She says and pulls out a slip before scribbling on it and handing it to you. Throughout it all, your classmates were all laughing at you.

Murmuring a small “Thank you,” you fast-walk out of there still covered by your hair. Closing the door behind you, you heard laughter once again come through the door, a mocking laugh, and a certain girl’s laugh echoed the most. Turning away, you walked blindly, tears flowing down your face. 5 minutes of walking later, you figure that you have no idea where you are or how to get to the nurse’s office.

A hand comes out of nowhere and grabs your arm, yanking you to a stop. You gasp and look up, only to see Heechul’s face once more.

“Why are you crying?” He asks, wiping your tears like a mother.

It just makes you cry harder.

“Don’t cry, now tell me, what happened?” He asks once more.

“N-nothing. I’m j-just weak is all. Why are you even out here still?” You say, keeping your head down.

“No, there must be a reason. Tell me. I’m your friend right? You can tell me your problems. Oh. Me? Well class was basically already 3/4 through so I though why not just ditch?”

‘Friend? He’s my friend?’ You think. “W-who said you were my friend? Plus, it's bad to skip class” You say, finally looking up.

“Stop talking about me. Right now this is about you. Who said? I did. I saw you lost in the hall and went to help you, learned some about you, and then became your friend. Friends help each other. Now please, tell me what happened. Did someone hurt you? Why are you holding a nurse’s pass?” He say worriedly, turning you around and lifting your libs to check for any marks or blemishes, looking a lot like a worried mother hen.

You giggle a little at how funny he looked. “I’m fine, sunbaenim. There’s no need to do this.”

“Hey! I made you smile! Mission success!” He points at you and pumps the air. “Oh, call me oppa. Sunbaemin sounds so stiff.”

“Alright, OPPA.” You smiled a bit larger. You had never called anyone that before. Yifan had always been ‘ge’ and saying ‘oppa’ now felt different in a good way.

“Yes. Just like that. Now, let us go to the nur-“ His face suddenly lights up and he claps his hands like a princess.

“I GOT IT! I GOT THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR PROBLEMS!” He squeals.

“W-what? Yah, what are you talking about ‘answer to my problems’?” You make a face.

“Yah, don’t yah me. I’m older than you. It’s oppa.” He snaps.

“Ye, oppa. Sheesh.” You roll your eyes.

“Wow, you have so much sass. I never would have imagined. This makes everything more perfect!” He twirls.

“What? I really don’t understand what you’re saying. What is perfect? What-“ A finger on your lips shuts you up.

“Shush, honey. Just follow me. I got this.” He says, starting to drag you with him.

“Where are we going?! What are you doing?! I still need to go to the nurse!” You whisper-yell.

“Pish posh, screw the nurse. You’re fine. I checked you, remember? Now just follow me like a good dongsaeng and I promise you won’t regret it.” He says, just dragging you faster.

“What? I have no idea where we’re going and I just met you today and everything’s going way too fast and if we leave now I’ll miss school and ge and dad will probably skin me alive and boil me alive in the bathtub! Are you crazy?!” You squirm.

“No no, I promise that while you are with me, you will be positively safe. Plus, you don’t know how to get back to school. You’ll probably get lost. So, your best shot is with me.”

Looking around, you notice that the two of you are no longer on the school’s grounds and instead on an open street. Indeed, you had no idea where you were.

“Don’t worry, hun. Everything will be fine. I’m here to help…” 

~~~

Alright. Here's to make up for the y chapter last time. I'm sorry if it's a bit fast, but if I had gone into detail, it would have been over 10,000 words long. I SO don't want to type all that. And damn, this color coding is killing me slowly.

So, here's the mystery KH. KIM HEECHUL. Yes, he is amazing and that's why I chose him. He's going to be so fun to write oh God.

ANYWHO, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Comment, subscribe, and upvote! 

I love you, my lovelies~