“Chae Won ah! Why did you wake up so early? It is five in the morning?” Her mother exclaimed. She didn’t even look up,

“Umma, I have an important test on Friday! I only have two days to study. This test determines like one fifth of my final grade! It is very important! I need to study much as possible.” Chae Won busily copied down her calculus notes. Her mother sighed half worried but half happy.

Now the logarithm of.... Chae Won started to write down on her paper but was interrupted by Sora.

“Hey~~~” She smiled sweetly.

Hey? She never said hey to me in my lifetime. It was either ya! or Lee Chae Won! or blindass. Why hey? What does she want? Chae Won turned around and Sora was standing in front of the entrance of her room.

“Can I please come in?”

Can I please come in? What? She alway barges into my room. She asked for permission? It is kind of getting creepy..... Chae Won nodded. Sora sat down on her bed and started,

“Wow.... I never realized your room was nice! Love the blue wallpaper!”

What’s she talking about? She hates blue!

“I was wondering....” Sora started, “If you wanted to walk with me and my friends to school. you are my sister after all and sisters should walk together to school!”

Oh my god, did I just hear that right? Lee Sora, the most popular girl in school also the meanest to me wants to walk with me to school? Is she sick or something? Chae Won just stared at her step sister, shocked.

“Why aren’t you answering?” Sora giggled as laid down on Chae Won’s bed.

She is planning something. Sora unnie can’t just offer me these kind of things, why? Because she hates me! I have a bad feeling about this. Chae Won smiled apologetically and replied,

“Mianhe unnie. I promised... uh  I would walk with Seohyun today. Mianhe.”

Sora shrugged, “No biggie! We can walk together next time!” Sora got up and as she was about to leave the room, she stopped and smiled,

“Chae Won ah, see you at school.”

“Uh... Yeah, see you at school.” Chae Won faintly smiled.

Wow, did this just happen? God, why is Sora unnie being like this? It doesn’t suit at her at all. What does she want from me? Chae Won sighed and went back to her study.

“Whoah.... Sora unnie asked you to walk to school with her? Wow, that’s a surprise! I thought she didn’t like you.” Seohyun said as they were crossing the road.

“She doesn’t but suddenly she is being nice to me. She can’t be nice without a reason! She wants something from me.” Chae Won shook her head.

“Maybe she wants to become a better sister. She is doing it without a reason, maybe.” Seohyun replied and added, “Weren’t we suppose to test each other on our vocabs for the Chinese test?”

“Oh my god, I totally forgot about that. Mianhe! Let’s start. Now-” Chae Won looked at Seohyun but Seohyun was staring at her with her eyes wide opened. Chae Won frowned and asked,

“Wae?” Seohyun pointed behind her back with her eyes. Chae Won turned around and Kai was walking beside her.

“Finally.” He rolled his eyes. His flawless face made Chae Won dazzle a bit. She didn’t say anything for her a second.

“Why? Are you amazed by my face?” He smirked.

“In your dream.” Chae Won looked away but her answer came out too quickly.

“Kai, let’s-” A guy called out his name. Three of them turned around and Chae Won saw a familiar face. He was Chae Won’s classmate. Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo. Chae Won remembered him very well because he was one of those classmates who didn’t laugh at her at the first day of school. Also he has a pair of big eyes compare to others.

“Uh! Hi, Kyungsoo.” Seohyun nodded.

“Good morning.” Chae Won also nodded and looked at Kai, “You already made a new friend?”

“Ani*.” Kai shook his head, “We both came from America but he came here few months before me. So, we were friends before I transferred to this school.”  Chae Won glanced at Kyungsoo again and he quietly nodded.

“Oh....” That was the only thing that Chae Won and Seohyun could say.

“Chae Won ah~~~” From behind, Sora came running behind.

“Uh! Unnie!” Chae Won smiled weakly. Sora surprisingly glanced at Kai and Kyungsoo. Her face fell a bit but smiled again,

“Uh! Annyeong, Chae Won’s friend! Hi, Kai and Kyungsoo!” Seohyun looked at Chae Won and greeted her,

“Uh, annyeonghaseyo sunbaenim!”      Kai greeted her politely,

“ Annyeong noona.”       Kyungsoo just quietly nodded.

“Aw! Come on! No honorifics! Just call me Sora. We are all friends, aren’t we?” Sora smiled sweetly as she played with her hair.

“Uh... sure, unnie! I thought you were with your friends. Where are they?” Chae Won asked.

“Oh! I told them go ahead of me so I could walk with you Chae Won! Let’s go. Annyeong, Kai!” She flirtatiously winked at him as she dragged Chae Won away.

“Unnie! That hurts!” Chae Won winced as they arrived in front of the school. Sora sharply turned around,

“I thought you were only walking with Seohyun! What happened?”

“No no , I really was but Kai and Kyungsoo tagged along.” Chae Won explained.

“Kai? He wouldn’t do that. He never did! He doesn’t really like to socialize. Why you?” Sora asked suspiciously.

“No no. Probably because he is like my childhood friend. He was like my best friend for like six years... Wait even though he left, for like a year, I considered him as my best friend. That’s how close we-”

“Close?” Sora narrowed her eyes.

This is not working out. Chae Won sighed and added, “Close as a friend. OK?”

Sora didn’t look so sure. Chae Won added, “Anyway, I don’t see him more than a friend. Also if I started to like him, you would kill me.”

Sora looked better and giggled, “Honey, I am not going to kill you.”

You probably will. Chae Won thought as Sora walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At chemistry class, Chae Won glanced at Kai who sat next to her.

Because of you, my life will be in danger by Sora. Thanks a lot. It’s not always good to have a handsome face.  

Chae Won sighed tapped her pencil. Kai only had his book open and he was listening to music with his black headphone. He was closing his eyes and he was humming very softly. The sun made his hair a bit lighter and like always, he looked just perfect. Chae Won never expected her childhood friend to turn out like this. Smooth skin, symmetrical nose, his messy but gorgeous hair...

“Stop staring at me like that. I know I have a gorgeous face but still you should be paying attention to the class, not me.” Kai muttered softly so only Chae Won could hear it. He didn’t have his eyes open so how did he know?

“I am not looking at you. And look who is talking! Someone who is listening to music while in class.” Chae Won quickly looked away.

“It doesn’t mean that I am not paying attention. I can still pay attention unlike someone. At least I am not amazed by someone’s beauty in the class.” He opened one of his eyes.

“You! I am not-” Chae Won accidentally raised her volume. The teacher looked at her from the front.

“Chae Won ah! Do you have a question or something?” The teacher asked sharply.

“Uh-” Chae Won hesitated and glanced at Kai who was trying to hold his laughter, “Aniyo. joesonghamnida.”

“Please try to pay attention in the class. This is a very important-” He stopped and asked loudly,

“Kai! What are you doing?” Chae Won almost burst out laughing. He opened his other eye slowly and everyone turned around.

“ I am listening to music sunsaengnim.” Kai replied boredly. There were some whispers in the room.

“Put that away immediately. Like I said, you can’t have anything that distracts you from paying attention! Sit up!”

Kai slowly sat up and replied quietly,

“But sunsaengnim, listening to music doesn’t mean that it is distracting me from paying attention. I can pay attention while I am listening to music. It is called multitasking.”

The class giggled quietly. Chae Won looked at Kai worriedly and whispered,

“What the heck are you going?”  

Kai smirked and her teacher’s face got redder,

“Oh yeah then what was I talking about?”

“You were talking about the cellular level of chemical reaction of H2O.”

We were? Wait, can he really pay attention like this?

The teacher hesitated, “What page are we on in the book?”

“Page 53,” He replied with missing a beat. The whole class was amazed and girls were looking at him with huge interests.

“Fine. Do as you wish to do but the moment you don’t pay attention, I am going to take that away from you.” The teacher turned around to the chalkboard. From rest of the period, Kai was asked at least ten questions randomly and he answered them all correctly. Five minutes before the period ended, another teacher came in,

“Sunsaengnim, I need someone from your class to organize this pile of paper.”

The teacher replied,

“Oh you do?” He looked around the room and smiled evilly.

Uh oh... Why do I have a bad feeling?

“Lee Chae Won. Kim Jong In! You have an after school duty today! Organize this of papers by the alphabetical order and by the classes! Class dismissed!” The random teacher put the files on their desk and whispered,

“Gomawo.”

“Eh? Sunsaengnim! This is not fair! I need to go home and-” But her chemistry teacher had left the classroom as soon the bell rang for dismissal. Chae Won sharply turned around to Kai who was gazing out the window,

“Kai! It is all your fault! If you didn’t make me yell-”

“It’s your fault that you yelled. I didn’t do anything.” Kai cut her off. Chae Won stared at him disbelief. He added, “It was your fault in the first place that you were staring at me.”

Chae Won shot back, “I did not! I-” She realized that there was no point of arguing with him, “Fine whatever. Let’s just finish this. I want to go home soon as possible. Wait, I need to call Sora.” She dialed her sister’s phone number,

“What?” Sora answered.

“Uh, unnie? I probably won’t go home until...” She glanced at the huge pile of paper, “Until... about seven. Tell umma that.”

“Wae?”

“I have an after school duty.” Chae Won replied quietly.

“Ha! er! That’s what you get for walking with Kai today! Good luck~~” Sora ended the call. Chae Won sighed and Kai asked,

“What did she say?”

“She told me ‘good luck’.” She replied lamely.

Kai bursted out laughing, “Good luck?! Pwaa!!! I am sorry but that is hilarious.”

“Shut up. Let’s get to work.” Chae Won sat in front of Kai and faced him. She started to order them by the alphabetical order. She glanced at him and their eyes met.

“What?” Kai was silent for a moment and Chae Won caught herself dazzling.

God, he is really good looking. Is he even a human? I never-

“Ha! I knew it.” Kai smirked, “You are dazzled by me just now. Weren’t you?”

Chae Won rolled her eyes, “Why would I be?"

"Because I am good looking?" Kai answered obviously.

"You have too much pride in yourself. You will sound like a brat." Chae Won looked away and started to count the papers.

Kai chuckled, " I am just being honest." And both of them worked silently until Chae Won glanced at the window,

"Ah! The sun is already setting! We are like half way done! I am also hungry...." She whined to herself.

"Shut up and do your work." Kai said as he flipped through a file of papers. Chae Won just glared at him and tapped her pencil.

"Here." Kai handed a box of chocolate to her without taking his eyes off the paper. Chae Won brightened,

"Jeongmal?? I can eat it? Gomawo~~" She opened the box and there were familiar chocolates,

"Uh! This is from the candy store that we use to go all the time six years ago!" She popped a dark chocolate in ,

"Mhmmm, my favorite. I haven't had this since forever~! When did you go?"

"Yesterday." He replied. She popped another after another.

"Oh... Cool. Next time you go, buy me the cotton candy popping candy. I will give you the money." Chae Won said as she started to work. She popped the last chocolate in .

"Talking about going there..." Kai leaned on one of his elbow.

"Mmmhmm?" Chae Won asked as she finished a pile.

"You need to take me there and buy me something there."

"And why would I do that?"

"Well I gave you a box of chocolate from there and it isn't free. And your childhood friend who you've missed for six years finally came back. Don't you need to do something for him?"

"I didn't miss you for six years." Chae Won replied.

"Awww. That's a shame." Kai smirked but added, "You still need to take me because of the chocolates you ate."

"Why do I need to go with you? Can't I just buy what you want alone?" Chae Won asked coldly as she tried not to look at his face.

"I forgot what the candy is called. You need to take me." He grinned.

"Fine fine. OK I will take you there."

"Ya! Look at me when you are speaking." Kai lightly touched Chae Won's chin. Chae Won immediately looked up and she tried not to dazzle. Kai laughed,

" What the heck? Are you trying not to dazzle or something?"

Chae Won's face was pink and huffed,

"Ani. Why would I? Anyway when should I take you there?"

"Wait are you only taking me there? Only there?"

"Where else?" She asked as she labeled the papers.

"Come on! You should take me to like an amusement park or something."

"I am not wasting my time and money there." Chae Won said crossly.

"Fine let's make a deal." Kai started. Chae Won looked up and he continued,

"If you get first place on this weeks test, you don't have to take me anywhere. I will pass. But when I score first place, you need to take me to that candy shop and an amusement park. Deal?"

Chae Won hesitated for a moment.

I heard Kai aced the SAT in eighth grade. Can I even compete against him? But.... if I back out, he probably will think I chickened out. I can't lose my self pride to him. Chae Won swallowed,

"Deal."

And they both shook hand.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Ah! It is seven thirty! But it's so dark!" Chae Won said as they walked out of the school entrance.

She asked, " Did you lock the classroom door?"

He nodded and added, " I put the file in seonsaengnim desk."

"Chemistry teacher doesn't like me now." Chae Won sighed and mumbled under her breath, "because of someone."

"I heard that." Kai said and added, "He is probably mad that I talked back to him but he knew I was right so he couldn't do anything about it. Haha I loved his reaction." He laughed as he put took out his jacket. Chae Won just looked at him pricelessly and laughed along with him. She asked as she looked up at the sky,

"Ya, was America fun?"

Kai looked at her,

" I wouldn't describe it as fun. I think here is better by lots of reason."

"Like what?"

"Safety, education, people... Well people there are really nice too. They are more mannered. Wae?"

" Just felt like asking." Chae Won looked at him. He asked, " Do you want to go there?"

"Ani. I would rather to France, Italy or Greece. I think those countries are better." She replied dreamily.

Ah... If I went to France I would see the Eiffel Tower. If I went to Italy, I would eat- Chae Won was interrupted.

"Hey, snap out of your dream. Isn't this your house?" Kai said. Chae Won looked at him,

"Ah! Yeah."

"You didn't move?" He asks. Chae Won laughed,

" Yeah, I know. Probably going to move after I graduate. Thanks-" Chae Won was interrupted again. Her mom opened the gate,

"Chae Won ah- Uh! Kai?!" Her mother exclaimed.

"Annyeonghaseyo." He bowed ninety degrees.

"Look at you! You have grown! I heard you are in the same class as Chae Won and you knew my other daughter, Sora in America."

"Yeah-"

Sora came out rushing, "Kai~!"

Uh oh... It is the worst timing ever.

"Annyeong Sora." He smiled.

"Why don't you come in for a cup of tea?" Her mother invited. Behind her, Sora was glaring at her giving her why-did-you-come-home-with-Kai look. Chae Won sighed and gave her I-will-explain-it-after look.

"Thank you for but I should be going." Kai politely declined the offer. Chae Won hurriedly thanked him,

"Thanks for walking me home."

"No problem. See you tomorrow." He nodded.