Taeyeon alighted at the same bus stop as the girl. There, they parted ways as the girl took a different bus than Taeyeon. She waited for her bus patiently. It wasn’t until about ten minutes later when her bus finally arrived. The bus ride was just a short one and by the time she reached her school, it was still early. In fact, because Taeyeon had chosen to take the same bus as the girl, she was never late for school. She dragged her feet to the cafeteria where there were only a handful of students sitting. The classrooms were still locked since it was still very early. She placed her head on the table and went to sleep.

‘KIM TAEYEON! YAH. KIM TAEYEON! WAKE UP! IT’S ALMOST TIME FOR ASSEMBLY!’

Taeyeon heard someone calling and nudging her.

‘KIM TAEYEON!’

Taeyeon groaned when someone kicked her chair.

‘I’m up! I’m up! Sheesh. Why are you making such a ruckus in the morning.’

She whined and glared at her best friend.

‘Sunny! Taeyeon! You’re going to be late!’

One of their friends called out. Taeyeon grabbed her bag and walked to the main hall with Sunny. Since it was a Monday, everyone has to gather in the main hall for the weekly announcements before going to their respective classes.

‘Did you see her this morning?’

‘Uhhuh’

‘I don’t know how you do it. Waking up an hour earlier just to get on the same bus as a stranger. When are you going to ask for her name?’

‘….Ah, you know I can’t do that. I mean….what if she thinks I’m a weirdo?’

‘You’re already a weirdo’

‘Yahhhhhh.’

‘How long has it been? Since the beginning of the school year? What do you even know about her? Other than the fact that she takes the same bus at the same time every day?’

‘Sigh. What else can I do then?’

‘Try and talk to her?’

Taeyeon felt someone nudging her from the back.

‘Guys, Ms Gyuri’s watching us.’

Taeyeon and Sunny ended their conversation. The last thing they wanted was to have their name called out for talking. After the end of assembly, Taeyeon and Sunny walked together to their class. This was only because their first class on Monday was gym.

‘So, you’re really just going to stare and look at her from a distance?’

Sunny asked while they jogged

‘I guess that’s the plan?’

‘Well, enjoy and stare as much as you can. You only have 3 more months until summer vacation.’

‘Don’t remind me.’

‘Another summer with your mum?’

‘Uhhuh.’

‘At least you get to travel out.’

‘What’s the point of travelling somewhere for summer when I’ll be spending the bulk of it indoors?’

‘Oh right.’

‘Anyway, how are things between you and the dancer?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Are you really going to pretend like nothing’s going on.’

‘Nothing’s really going on!’

‘Then why has she been staring at us all along?’

Taeyeon pointed to a girl who had finished her warm up and standing across the room. The girl saw the pair looking at her and immediately looked away.

‘What was her name again?’

‘Hyomin. Park Hyomin.’

Sunny smiled as they finished up the final round of their warm up.

Taeyeon and Sunny parted ways after gym class. Taeyeon has history class next while Sunny has to attend a biology lab class. Since it’s history class, Taeyeon would be sitting next to one of their friends in their clique. Yuri, the popular social butterfly.

‘Hey, Taeng. How was your weekend?’

‘Great. Same stuff’

‘Cool. Anyway, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s about your bus crush’

‘Huh?’

‘You said she’s from Soshi Girls High right? You know Taecyeon from English class?’

‘Yeah. What about him?’

‘Well, he’s currently dating a girl from that school. So, if you’re lucky. His girl might know yours.’

‘Really, Yul? What are the odds of that?’

Taeyeon rolled her eyes at the girl.

‘What? You’ll never know. Do you even know which grade she is in?’

‘I think she’s in Year 11? I saw her carrying a book that we were using last year.’

‘Oh. Perfect. She’s just a year younger than us then. Who knows if she’s as smart as we are, you might see her in school next year.’

‘Right. Sure.’

‘KIM TAEYEON! KWON YURI! Would you like to share your extremely exciting conversation with the entire class?’

‘Sorry, Sir.’

The pair apologized after getting called out by their history teacher. They spent the rest of the class passing notes to each other quietly just to keep themselves busy. Better that than falling asleep through the boring class.