Like always, it was chilly outside. The sky was grey and heavy; thunder clouds could be seen right ahead.

Looks like it's going to rain again, I thought to myself.

Just like the sky and the weather, my mood wasn't so bright and I didn't think it would get better. I woke up late, shampoo went into my eyes, my egg toast was overcooked, and there was no milk anymore. And worse, I was running late for school. 

I walked faster, hands in the pockets of my jacket as I crossed the street. Unfortunately, I stepped on a puddle, making my left feet all wet.

Ah, seriously?

I shook my head at my own misfortune and just continued to briskly walk to school. From time to time, I would jog past people or just zigzag through them. When I wasn't looking at my sides, I bumped into an ahjussi.

 "Oh!" I softly gasped and helped him up. "Ah, mianhae," I bowed in apology to him. 

In return, he walked away in a huff and stuck his nose up, not even saying anything like “It's okay” or “don't worry”. Jeez, people these days. I grumbled before continuing to walk off. Checking my time, I only had seven minutes before classes would start.

School wasn't really that far from my house, so that's why I decided to just walk and besides, I needed to save up. But thinking as how I was running late right now, I regretted not taking a bus.

I felt something vibrate in my skirt's pocket. I pulled out my phone and the screen read: Minnie and her number below. 

"Yeoboseyo?" I answered as I jogged past some kids. 

"Oh! Sunhee!" Kyung Min excitedly greeted through the other end. "Yah, where are you? Homeroom is about to start." 

I clucked on my tongue in irritation. I turned around a corner and there loomed my school in all its shining glory.

“I'm almost at the entrance. I woke up late and I didn't catch a bus.”

"Well, hurry up! You know how Teacher Pyo hates tardy students," she told me. "Just meet me in his classroom, alright? And beware of the queenkas, they're just—“

I hung up before she could say anything more. I ran through the hallway and up the staircase, desperate to go to class and not get a tardy slip. 

Classroom B-4.

From where I was, I could read the sign hanging just above the door. I was so close and it was only minutes before the bell rang. Teacher Pyo would consider you late if you entered the classroom after the ring of the bell and Kyungmin was absolutely right, he just hated tardy students and I couldn't afford to be tardy again. I didn't want to get on that guy's bad side. 

While passing by classroom B-3, I saw her leaning by the doorway and crossing her arms proudly against her chest. As usual, she shot me a hateful look as soon as she saw me. Glancing slightly, I already saw her dark brown eyes glaring ruefully at me.

Every day, I kept on wondering why she abhorred me. She used to love me; we were best friends. Eun Jae and I used to be inseparable until our first year of high school when everything strangely and inexplicably changed.

Sighing, I ignored her and just jogged the last steps to my classroom. I had just stepped in when the bell rang loudly.

"Ah, very good Sunhee-sshi," Mr. Pyo, our homeroom adviser, said and he nodded at me in pleasure. “Right on time, but tomorrow, I wish for you to be earlier," he continued.

I walked to my seat which was by the window at the right in the second row. 

"Ne, seonsaeng," I bowed before sitting down.

I looked to my left. Two seats away, my very best friend since childhood, Kang Kyung Min who’s also known as Minnie, sat, smiling brightly at me and putting up her two thumbs. I could just smile back before facing the front and starting to pay attention to my teacher's words. 

Zoning out, I stared out the window and admired the beautiful cherry blossom tree standing rigidly under the greying sky. I couldn’t help smiling as I wondered how it could be any more beautiful with each day passing by. The nearly white flowers tinged with pales of pink and the bright sorrel trunk really stood out among the drab trees neighbouring it. 

Teacher Pyo droned on and on about how English literature influenced Korean writing and literature. I didn't really listen that much for I already knew all about it since I read that chapter two weeks ago. I sighed as I propped my elbow on the table and rested my head on my hand, staring out still at the cherry blossom tree in the school’s courtyard. 

I had always admired that tree. It was huge, grand and just simply beautiful. Ever since I saw it, I had always dreamed of sitting on the benches under the tree with someone. Not like Kyungmin or a girl; a boy—a boy that I like. The boy that I like. 

I simpered, turning my head to glance at the person I was thinking of. He was just there, two seats behind Kyungmin. He looked so calm, so handsome and most of all, so perfect.

His name is Zhang Yixing, a Chinese exchange student that moved in to the school last year. Everyone knew him as “Lay”, a dancing machine. I never saw him dance, but I did see him popped up some moves once. 

Besides dancing, he also plays the piano and the guitar. I learned this because he showed it to us in music class last year, but now, he doesn't attend it anymore. 

I never knew him as “Lay”; I never called him or think of him with his nickname. I knew him as “Yixing”— the foreign boy who stole my heart. 

Edited by: knovelist 130617