“Sure, I need a breather from what happened today. I’ll just go get my wallet,” you say.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your room."

OUTSIDE YOUR DORM ROOM (101)

"I'll just go get dressed," Donghae says. "Bring a hat, okay?"

"Uh, okay," you say and you shut the door. 

You go get your stuff plus an old gray beret that belonged to your grandfather. You put on a jacket. 

At least there are people who are willing to accept me even though I'm such a wuss right now. Thank you, Donghae~

When you open the door again, he is standing outside all ready to go. 

“Let's go?" he asks.

You nod in response.

You walk with Donghae to the gate. You look at him more closely and see that he is wearing a dark grey coat with a matching grey beanie. He looks good in it.

He’s quite cute too… Curse this boy life that I have to live. OTL

“Why are you hitting your face with your fist?”

“Huh? Oh nothing. I was just remembering what happened at the cafeteria earlier.”

“Ah, don’t think too much about it. We’re always going to be here to make sure nothing happens to our new friend,” he grins.

“Thanks a lot, Donghae,” you say, smiling back.

“Aiish, it’s nothing. For us, friendship isn’t a word that you can just throw around. A friend is a friend.”

“My grandpa used to tell me that,” you say. “He graduated from this school.”

"Ah, jinjja? My dad used to study at this school too," he says.

"Really? So did mine!" 

"Haha, so you're Seoul High blooded all throughout! Maybe our dads were classmates back then. How is your dad now?"

"He's doing fine. TImes are hard but he's doing okay. How about yours?"

"My dad... I'm kind of worried about him but he says that it's nothing. He's a bit weaker than before and he had a high fever recently so I'm concerned..." 

"Did you take him to the doctor?" 

"Not yet," he says. "Mom thinks that it's just a normal fever from the weather change. By the way, are you from Mokpo?"

"Yeah, I am. Why? Does it show in my accent?" you reply. 

"OOOHHH!!!! BROTHER!!!" he hugs you. You feel your cheeks getting red despite the chilly breeze. 

"Woah, y-you're from there too?" you stutter shyly.

"YEAH!! At last there's one other person from this school who I can talk to in my own native dialect~" he sings. 

You grin at his childish demeanor. 

So this is how he's really like. At first I thought he was cold like some of the other people here. :) It might not be so bad here after all.

SEOUL HIGH GATES

You reach the gate and see Youngwoon, Heechul, Hyukjae, Jungsu, and a few other guys you don’t know.

“Guys, this is Kim Haneul, the new kid,” Donghae introduces.

"He has it rough. Only his second day and he's on Cho Kyuhyun's hit list," Youngwoon says as he gives you a firm pat on the back. 

Ow.

One of the other guys whistles. 

“You know Youngwoon, Hyukjae, Jungsu and Heechul already," Donghae says. "This is Lee Sungmin, Kim Jongwoon, and Han Geng. Han Geng’s from China so he’s still learning Korean but he speaks pretty well in conversations.”

“Nice to meet you, guys,” you say.

“Same here,” they say.

“AAH, I’M SO HUNGRY LET’S GO EAT,” Youngwoon says.

PAVAROTTI'S PATIO

“Why are we at an Italian restaurant?” you ask.

“Shhh…” Heechul says. “Not too loud.”

“The food here is pretty expensive,” Hyukjae says as he checks the menu.

“I can’t pay for food like this… Can someone buy for me? I’ll just pay you back in installments or with service,” Youngwoon whines.

“Why are we here anyway?” Han Geng asks.

“Shhh…” Heechul says again. “Jungsu oppa, please do the honors.”

“We are actually stalking the student president Choi Siwon because we heard that he had started dating someone from Ehwa High School,” Jungsu explains whispering.

“The all-girls school?” you ask.

“Yes, it’s a sister school of Seoul High school so we sometimes have soirees with them.”

“We want to see if Siwon’s girl is really as perfect as people say she is because I heard that she and Siwon get along really well,” Heechul says mischievously rubbing his hands together.

“But why this restaurant?” Han Geng asks.

“Siwon loves this place and he can pay for the food here because his family is rich. I also overheard a phone conversation where he mentioned this restaurant,” Youngwoon says. “But I don’t want to stay here. I want to eat somewhere else first.”

“There’s a diner right across the street from here. We might be able to see through the windows so we can just stay there too,” Sungmin says.

You go into the diner and crowd into an empty booth beside the glass. 9 rootbeer floats, 5 burgers, and 4 chicken wing platters later…

“Are you sure you overheard correctly, Youngwoon hyung?” Hyukjae asks. “Maybe he was talking to someone else like his mom or something.”

“NO NO, I’M SURE! I… I think…” Youngwoon replies.

Everyone smacks him on the head. Just then, you see Siwon walking to the restaurant with a long-haired girl in a black mini-dress and stilettos.

“GUYS, IT’S THEM!” Donghae shouts.

“That doesn’t look like his mom…” Hyukjae says.

“I told you I heard correctly!” Youngwoon says.

Everyone stares at them until they enter the restaurant.

“Did you see her face?” Jongwoon asks.

“NO! She had her back turned the whole time! GAAAH!” Youngwoon complains.

“Wait wait, I see them,” Jungsu says, “they’re sitting near the window.”

…

“WAH, HE’S DATING IM YOONA!!! I HATE HIIIIM!!!” Youngwoon says.

“I prefer Ahn Sohee better~,” Heechul says.

“Really?? But Yoona is so hot!!”

“For me, Kang Hyejang is more my type though,” Sungmin says. “She’s so cute~”

“I think Jessica is really pretty, but I like Kim Haneul a lot more," Donghae says with his mind somewhere in the clouds.

Everyone is quiet. "EHHH????? KIM HANEUL????" they shout pointing at you. 

"NOOO!!!!! NO NO NOT THE GUY KIM HANEUL!!! The girl actress Kim Haneul!!" Donghae says. "I'm not gay!!!! GAHH."

They all share the rest of their types and then turn to you.

“Who do you like, Haneul?”

 “Uh… I don’t really know the girls from there,” you say.

“SERIOUSLY?? ARE YOU GAY??” Heechul shouts.

The people in the diner stop and stare at you. 

"A-AH, this is nothing, people, go eat your food," Heechul smiles making a "go-away-now-please" hand motion at them. They all go back to eating. 

The guys turn their focus back to you.

You answer, “No, well, I used to study elsewhere so I’m not really familiar with Seoul things…”

“Ahhh, yeah, that’s right…” everyone says.

“But what’s your type of girl?” Heechul asks.

“My type of girl? Uhh, I like girls who are... smart, hard-working, talented, has a great personality, and can be cute and hot at the same time,” you answer.

“Those kinds of girls don’t exist,” Han Geng complains putting his head on the table.

“Yes they do! You just have to, uh, look more carefully,” you say.

"You almost talk like Siwon..." Hyukjae says. 

Ugh. Am I THAT talkative as well?

"Aaaaand that's how he found Im Yoona," you counter. 

Everyone is quiet. 

Heechul speaks up suddenly, "He actually makes a pretty good point."

After some time, Siwon and his date leave and you guys decide to leave as well. "Come on, let's go back to the dorm," Jungsu says. 

It's really late when you get back and when you glance at the garden, you don't see any hints of flashlight. 

Flashlight guy isn't there. Might as well

go straight to sleep.