“Come on, it’s time to get up,” Lina’s dad urged her once more, nudging her shoulder. Lina was buried deep within the layers of blankets and she truly disliked the idea of getting out.

She grunted in annoyance and rolled away from her dad, “It’s too cold.”

“I know, but I put the heating on full blast so you’ll be warmed up in no time,” He assured. Lina whined again before rolling lazily to the edge of the bed and planting her feet soundly against the floor. She lifted herself up and so her first morning in her new home began.

The trip to school was, no surprise, freezing. Even with the larger coat that her dad had bought for her and the thick woolly scarf around her neck, she could still feel the sharp bite of winter. Her gloveless hands were suffering the most.

“Now, the head teacher will be at the entrance to meet you; she’s a lovely woman and she should get you all sorted out.” Her father informed as the Jeep slowed down in front of the school entrance. “I’ll pick you up at the end of the day, okay?”

Lina looked out of her window, nodding as she observed her surroundings. The school was medium sized with large black iron gates at the entrance. Students were filing in form all directions and they all seemed to know each other.

“Okay, see you later.” She bade farewell and jumped out the Jeep as her father wished her to have a good first day.  The snow was quite deep, allowing her boots to sink it a bit and provide difficulty to move through it; after all, she wasn’t used to this kind of weather.

Lina trudged onwards noticing a woman who looked important and superior. She made the assumption that the woman had to be the head teacher. The woman’s face lit up in recognition when she noticed Lina walking over to her.

“Ah, you must be Park Lina. I am Mrs Seok, the headmistress,” she introduced herself. Lina nodded shyly, still trying to find her voice. She cleared and meekly greeted, “Nice to meet you.”

Mrs Seok beamed, her cheeks filling up and coloured pink, “Come on then. Let’s get you organised with everything you need. You’ll receive your school timetable, locker information and a map. But this school isn’t too big or complicated so I doubt you’ll get lost.”

After Lina was set with everything, she was guided to her homeroom to be registered. As the two females walked, Mrs Seok informed Lina of the general rules and school times. Lina would mostly nod or say small words to indicate her understanding.

Finally, she arrived at her homeroom. Lina felt like crawling under a rock for the rest of her school year as all eyes were on her making her look at anything but them. Her registering teacher, who introduced himself as Mr Lee, welcomed her with a smile.

“Class, I mentioned yesterday that we would have a new student, Park Lina. Please make her feel welcome, alright?”

There was a mumbled of agreement and Lina finally looked up at the class, seeing a variety of faces.

And then her heart stopped.

His eyes were cool grey, ringed with thick black and curtained with long lashes. He had a strong nose that pointed towards pink lips that were set in a permanent frown. He was staring right back at her. The blood rushed to her face and she had to loosen the scarf wrapped around her neck to cool her off.

Her heart re-started again, bringing her back to reality and what her new teacher was saying.

“Why don’t you go sit by Maru?” He pointed towards a girl with dark raven hair on one side of the classroom.  Lina walked over, shot a smile at the girl and slid into her chair. She took off her coat and scarf, noting in her head to stuff them in her locker before her first lesson.

“Hi, I’m Maru, as you’ve been told,” The girl said. Lina threw another smile, “Lina.”

“So where was your previous school?” Maru asked, interested.

“California,” Lina provided an answer. Maru’s eyes widened momentarily.  “Really? That’s so far from here. I have relatives in America near there, but I’ve forgotten where exactly.” Maru rambled, mostly to herself. She perked up through in seconds and sat facing more towards Lina, “Let’s see your timetable. What’s your first lesson?”

Lina slid over the piece of paper, “Okay.”

“Hmm,” Maru evaluated it, “Well, you have maths first which . I can drop you off there if you like.”

Lina nodded appreciatively, “That would be nice”

Maru handed back the timetable, “Well we have History together so I’ll see you there.”

Lina was grateful that she had met someone to help her on her first day of school. Her head turned, as if being drawn by something. Her eyes met his again. The mysterious boy made no effort in expressing what he was thinking. Lina noticed his strange hair. It was blond but chunks were multicoloured. It looked strangely handsome.

Lina looked away first, not being able to handle the hard thumping in her chest.

“Who’s that?” Lina whispered, subtly indicating the boy with grey eyes.

Maru’s face changed to a weirder one, “Oh Sehun. He barely talked to anyone except his friend in another class, Lu Han. He’s an odd one.”

Lina nodded in understanding, turning to look at him again. He was reaching for his bag now and standing up onto his feet like everybody else was. The bell for first lesson had already gone while she was dumbly staring at Sehun, and now she too was steadily making her way out of class.

The boy was coming towards her, with his hands shoved deep inside his pockets. Lina felt  a panic verging on when she realised he was going to say something.

“Hey, I’m Sehun.” He introduced.

Lina looked sideways at Maru who looked dumbfounded.

“Oh hi,” Lina greeted stupidly. She chastised herself in her head for doing so.

“Well, I’ll see you later.” Lina added out of nervousness. She rushed out of the classroom with Maru hot on her heels.

“Wow, I’ve heard more from him today than I have through my entire high school years with him,” Maru exaggerated. Lina shifted uncomfortable in her own skin. It felt like something really significant had just changed.