The methodical thudding of footsteps echoed through the corridors as Ah Ri* ran through them frantically, her white converse shoes slapping against the pavement, almost crashing unto several people. She quickly apologized to them and continued running, a single thought running through her head.

             She couldn't believe she was late.

             She had followed her usual after-school schedule the day before. She had gone home at the usual time, did her homework, ate dinner, surfed the internet for half an hour, and went straight to bed at 9 o'clock. Yet for some reason, she had slept through the alarm this morning, and with no one else in the house to wake her up, ended up being late for school.

             She wouldn't have minded as much if it was just a few minutes or even a whole hour late. In fact, she wouldn’t have minded much if had been two.

             But she was later than that.

             It was already past twelve.

            "." She cursed under her breath as she raced to her classroom. She flicked her wrist to glance at her watch, it was just a few minutes till class ended and lunch period began. She cursed again and broke into a faster run till she finally was able to see the gray door of her homeroom.

            She paused briefly, only to fix herself before walking up to the door. Giving her watch one last glance and releasing another sigh, she pulled the sliding door open and stepped in. 

            The first thing she saw was her teacher. He stood with his hands pressed flatly against the wooden surface of his table. Her classmates were looking at him intently, as if she had just caught them in the middle of a class.

            Which, obviously, was exactly what she did.

            All eyes turned to her. Her teacher, whose mouth was still open like he was in a middle of a sentence, briefly looked like he was about to simply go on. But he stopped and turned to look at her instead, a pointed question in his eyes.

            Ah Ri stepped forward and bowed her head apologetically.

            "I'm sorry I’m late Mr. Kim." She ducked lower.

            At that very moment, the school bell decided to ring out. 

            Mr. Kim raised a brow at her and sighed. Turning back to his class, he took off his glasses and looked at them seriously.

           "I’ll be continuing this discussion, tomorrow. Go ahead and have your lunch." He said. Chairs and desks screeched against the floor as everyone stood up and gathered their books. All of a sudden the classroom was filled with noise as everyone filed out the door with their bags in their hands, sneaking glances and exchanging snickers towards Ah Ri’s direction as they did.

           Ah Ri stepped out of their way and came towards Mr. Kim who had gathered his stuff and was cleaning his glasses with a piece of cloth.

           Somewhere in the crowd of kids, she heard a distinct voice whisper, “.”

           Having more important matters at hand, she ignored it.

           "Mr. Kim?" Her voice sounded weak to her own ears. She had never ever been late before. But that wasn't what made her voice weak as she looked at her teacher. His gaze seemed plastered on cleaning his glasses.

           "Yes, Miss Park?" He finally glanced up at her with his gentle, dark eyes. Mr. Kim was a young teacher, around his early twenties and had flawless white skin. His real name was Kim Joon Myun and a lot of the girls in the school had a crush on him.

           Ah Ri had denied it a year ago, when he first came into her school as her homeroom teacher, but now, she was pretty sure she had a crush on him too. At least back when she was still a sophomore. She was pretty sure she liked him merely as a friend now.

            She shook her head and told herself to focus on her apology.

            "I'm really sorry for being late. I don't know what happened." She started, her words coming out fast. "I went to bed early and I usually wake up early and you know I'm never late for school but I don't know why today-"

            Mr. Kim held up a finger to , stopping her from talking so fast, a smile spreading on his lips.

            "It's okay Ah Ri," He interrupted her smiling. "It's the first time you were ever late. I was actually starting to think you weren't normal till today." 

           Ah Ri couldn't help herself and broke out into a relieved grin.

           "Thank you so much." Ah Ri reached out and hugged him.

           "It's not a problem." He chuckled and hugged her back before breaking the hug and patting her shoulder, saying to her in a low voice. "Now you better go before the rest of your classmates spread rumors that I have favorites."

            Ah Ri didn't bother to glance around, already knowing that there were eyes on them. She rolled her eyes.

           "It's not favoritism it's just friendship." She shrugged, scowling.

           "It's not such a teacher-student friendship though." He replied. "It is true I'm letting you off too easy."

          Before she could say anything, a hand grabbed her shoulder and she found herself engulfed by a big hug.

          "There you are!" A high pitched voice said. "Where on earth have you been?!"

          Ah Ri smiled as she gently pulled away from Mi Rin and looked at her worried face. She quickly glanced at Mr. Kim.

          "I'll tell you at the cafeteria Mi Rin." She replied, pulling her towards the door. Ah Ri looked back at Mr. Kim and bowed. "We'll be going off now Seongsang nim."

           He smiled and nodded as the two girls left and went out through the door.

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*Not the Ulzzang Song Ah Ri guys. XD

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          "He totally likes you." Mi Rin said, as she bit into her burger. They were sitting down in one of the tables of the cafeteria, surrounded by the voices of a ton of chattering teenagers.

          "No he does not." Ah Ri replied vehemently and sighed. "You keep saying that."

          Mi Rin gave her a look that seemed to say Are you serious?

          "Why did he let you off so easy then?" She exclaimed.

          "Mi Rin, it was my first time ever to be late. Plus, we're friends."

         "Friends my . If you ask me that hot teacher seriously digs you. I mean who wouldn't?" Mi Rin paused as she swallowed her food and drank some of her juice. "Like last year, that hottie Lu Han was totally all over you. And if I were you I would've totally went all over him too."

         "Lu Han was a jerk." Ah Ri retorted.

        "Jerk or not he's still hot." Mi Rin replied. "You should've at least messed around with him."

          It was Ah Ri's turn to give Mi Rin an Are you serious look.

         "What?!" She exclaimed. And shrugging said, "I was kidding." 

          Ah Ri shook her head and smiled as she ate the rest of her food. They talked about other things while they ate and before they knew it lunch break passed by and it was time to go back to class again.

          The rest of the school day passed quickly and before Ah Ri knew it the last bell finally rang and it was time to go home.

          She gathered her things and slung her bag on her shoulder as she walked towards the door of her classroom.

         The afternoon sunlight poured in through the glass windows of the classroom and casted a sort of orange glow on it.

         Ah Ri's eyes found their way to Mr. Kim's face who glanced at her and smiled. She smiled back and waved and was about to go through the door to the hallway till he stopped her.

       "Ah Ri, wait." He called out. A few people turned to her with suspicious glances, a couple of girls grilling her with glares. Ah Ri gave her teacher a questioning glance but kept her smile as she walked up to him.

       "What is it Seongsang-nim?" She asked him, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Mi Rin's probably waiting for me by my locker right now." Mi Rin had a different schedule from hers this year. Though that didn’t stop them from going home together.

       "Sorry to trouble you, Ah Ri." He said, his head lowering apologetically. "But could you please do me a favor? I need these papers sent to the nurse's office ASAP. And I would go there but I'm caught in a family emergency right now." He paused and glanced at his watch, wincing. "So please, if you could just give this." He handed her a bundle of papers and gave her pleading smile.

       "You're married?" Ah Ri couldn't stop the question before it came out of . She must've looked really surprised or something because he laughed.

       "No, It's uh.... my brother. He got caught up in an accident." He replied, sounding deliberate. "So will you do it? I really have to go." He glanced at his watch again and picked up his bag.

       "Yeah sure." Ah Ri quickly replied, hoping the orange light would hide the blush of embarrassment that was creeping up her neck and flushing her face.

       "Thank you." He patted her shoulder with a broad smile. "You're a big help, kid."

        He then walked past her and exited out the door.

        Ah Ri stood still for a minute, still feeling embarrassed till her phone vibrated in the pocket of her skirt, sending her back to reality.

        She sighed and took her phone out and checked her new message. It was from Mi Rin and read:

        Ah ri, where dafq are you? T_T -Mi Rin

        Ah Ri let out another breath before calling her and telling her what had happened.

        "Oh ho, you better be quick dear." Mi Rin's vocie said over the phone. "I've got to be home soon, SBS is playing my favorite drama tonight."

        "I will, I will." Ah Ri replied as she climbed up the stairs that lead to the upper floors. "Just give me ten minutes."

        Ah Ri hung up and ran up the stairs unto the third floor, which was now isolated and empty. She groaned as she walked past more hallways.

        If she remembered correctly, the nurse's office was at the other side of the building, which was at the other end of the floor. The school building was pretty big and wide. Ah Ri started thinking of what she could offer Mi Rin as an apology if they came out too late and missed her drama.

       She decided she'd just treat her a meal during the weekend or something.

       Ah Ri walked and walked until she reached the other end, but after going around, she couldn't find the nurse's office.

       "Great." She told herself, voice heavy with sarcasm.

       She was definitely going to have to treat Mi Rin to a meal.

       She decided to go over the place again, ignoring Mi Rin's texts and calls only answering her once saying,

      "Just a sec." Before hanging up again and searching. She decided she should go up to the fourth floor just in case she had mistaken the nurse's office was on the third floor when it actually wasn't.

       When she reached the top of the fourth floor stairs, however, she stopped short.

       She heard some music playing faintly in the background.

       She quickly ran to a window and checked outside. The sun was merely a slice to being gone already, the skies were already getting darker.

       She couldn't believe someone was still here. What could they be doing?

       She decided to follow where the music was coming from, telling herself that she was just checking things out. After all, it was a wide known fact that students weren’t allowed to hang out in school after school hours.

      A little more time wouldn’t hurt so much. Would it?

      Before Ah Ri could decide, she already found herself walking towards the direction where she thought the music was coming from. Sure enough, as she approached she heard it louder and louder. She finally stopped in front of a room with big closed wooden doors. She put her ear on the door and closed her eyes to listen.

      Yep, definitely where the music was coming from. 

      She looked at the door intently.

      It was definitely not a classroom that was for sure. But wait, where was she?

       She quickly looked around and found herself somewhere in the middle of the fourth floor. But she wasn't sure where. The halls had already grown dark and the shadows were starting to grow. It looked creepy to her. She held the papers against her chest.

       She was lost.

       Freaking lost.

      She took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Mi Rin's number, hoping she was still waiting by her locker.

      She didn't know the fourth floor very well. She had only come up there once last year, when Mi Rin had dragged her up there. She never had any classess that took place there either. And from what she heard, the fourth floor had a lot of confusing, big hallways. It was easy to get lost there.

      She patiently waited for Mi Rin to pick up her phone, but she didn't. Ah Ri groaned.

     Geez. She thought. If she only didn't follow the stupid music-

      But wait. The music.

      She reached for the door handle.

      If someone was really still there, maybe she could ask for help. 

      With that thought in her mind she pushed the door handle down and opened the door quietly.

      She was welcomed by a bunch of cardboard boxes, all stacked up. It looked like some sort of stock room and had a dusty enough scent to prove it. Stacks and stacks of boxes covered the windows, making the room darker, almost pitch black. But Ah Ri saw a faint white light around the left corner and heard the music more clearly now. It was a song, a silk-like voice singing to guitar plucking.

      She's my baby. Saehayan geusseo kkeutae.

     Ah Ri edged closer, turning left as she followed the music, avoiding the stacks of boxes that surrounded her like a maze.

     Neogga beolin chocolate.

     She found herself swinging to the music as she e last corner and that was when she finally saw it.

     A boy, all dressed in black. His hair was tousled, a serious expression on his face as he danced flawlessly to the beat, perfectly swaying on each move.

     Ah Ri bit back a gasp as she watched him move just so perfectly. Each swing, each step. His body was moving with the rythym of the song, and never missed it. Almost like it was all so carefully planned, the boxes, the shadows, the shining moonlight that acted as his spotlight and went with everything so naturally.

     Who was this boy? She thought. She had never seen him before.

      He drew closer as he danced and not wanting him to see her, she ducked behind a stack of boxes, unable to look away, her gaze stuck on watching him and his graceful moves.

     Well at least till her phone suddenly rang loudly.