Chapter One:

Yixing yawned for the fourth time in the last hour while sleepily watching students go inside an Art Academy in the city. Some went in groups while others were alone. Yixing had always been fascinated with human beings. He was curious on how they lived about with their daily lives.

Usually, he would be attentive to them. But this day was different. Maybe it was the hot weather or the fact that he hardly got any rest in the past few days. He felt tired and sleepy all the sudden.

Very unusual.

Yixing was standing right in front of the school gate. He wore his black trench coat and underneath it was a black short sleeved turtle neck. His pants were also black. He preferred to wear a different color of his clothing but it was required of him to wear black during work hours.

He checked his watch and shook his head.

Two more minutes.

Yixing looked up and saw a girl a few inches shorter than he was waiting to cross the street. Yixing took out a tablet from his coat and scrolled down.

Kim Haneul.

Haneul had short brown hair and her bangs almost covered her eyes. She wore thick glasses which meant that her eyesight wasn’t good. Her uniform seemed too big for her small petite body. She had her earphones on and was humming to the music she was listening to.

With a wave of Yixing’s hand the tablet in his hands disappeared. Right beside him appeared a black door with the name After Life embedded in bold letters on the front.

Haneul crossed the street when she accidentally dropped her glasses. Since she was practically blind without it Haneul bent down to pick it up. Suddenly a car tried to stop in front of her but the breaks weren’t working.

Time to go Kim Haneul.

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It was ten in the morning and students of all years and levels busied themselves running to their next classes in hopes of not being late. One of them was Kim Haneul. With art materials piling in two boxes in front of her she hurriedly picked them up. She tried to balance the boxes in her hands being careful in going up the stairs to the 5^th floor of the Arts building. Her teacher had asked for volunteers to carry the materials to the storage room. When no one did, her teacher randomly chose form the list. It was Haneul’s luck that her name was called out.

“Why did the storage room have to be on the 5^th floor?” Haneul asked herself while she took one small step at a time.

Haneul’s bangs half-covered her eyes which made it harder to go up the stairs. She regretted not listening to her mother when she had told her that she needed a haircut. Ignoring how her bangs irritated her she continued to walk up the stairs. She was half-way up when she missed one of the steps making her lose her balance. Half-expecting to be tumbling down the stairs Haneul closed her eyes. A hand gripped her arm and pulled her close wrapping his arms around her.

She opened her eyes and saw a pair of brown eyes staring at her. For a brief moment Haneul didn’t move. The guy was a few inches taller than her. He had short brown hair and was dressed in their school uniform. Haneul’s eyes went to the name tag.

Luhan…

The guy smiled at her. Haneul smiled back and noticed how cute he looked with his dimpled smile.

“You should be careful. You don’t want to fall down and get in to an accident.” The guy named Luhan said.

Haneul couldn’t find the words to say to him. She didn’t know why but her heart started to beat fast and she couldn’t keep her eyes from the guy.  There was something about him that seemed distant yet familiar to her.

“Have I seen him before?”

Luhan slowly let her go and in response she nodded her head. The final bell rang and Haneul snapped back to her senses. She moved away from the guy, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again the guy was gone. She turned to face the stairs expecting the boxes and its contents to be scattered around but surprisingly the boxes were right beside her all tidied up.

“What on earth? Where did that guy go? How did these boxes get here?” Haneul asked scratching her head.

Haneul bent down to carry the boxes. There was a soft tap on her shoulder. She thought it was Luhan and turned around with a smile. But it wasn’t Luhan. Instead standing before her was Ms. Jin, the vice-principal.

“Ms. Kim, do you realize that classes had already started?” Ms. Jin said crossing his arms across his chest.

Ms. Jin was short and a bit on the chubby side. Haneul was reminded of a penguin by way her nose arched like a beak and sharp features.

“But Ms. Jin…” Haneul said trying to explain to Ms. Jin her situation.

“Come with me and I’ll listen to your excuses in the office.” Ms. Jin said pulling Haneul’s ear and half-dragged her to the Vice-Principal’s office.

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Luhan stood a few meters from Haneul and watched as she was being dragged towards the Vice-Principal’s office. He crossed his arms across his chest and shook his head.

“Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Kim Haneul… what am I going to do with you?” Luhan asked himself watching Haneul intently.

Luhan followed Haneul careful not to let the girl see him. He had arrived in the academy not long ago. He planned to live a quiet school life in the academy but his life was anything but quiet ever since he met Kim Haneul.

He had known Kim Haneul during his first day at the academy. He was waiting patiently to cross the street when he saw a girl cross the street. She dropped her glasses and bent over to pick it up. All of a sudden a car drove towards her direction. Without thinking Luhan ran towards Haneul and pulled her aside. Haneul fainted in his arms and he brought her to the school infirmary.

Ever since that day, he couldn’t take his eyes off the girl. Why he involved himself with the girl is still a mystery to him. He barely knew the girl. What confused him even more was that every time he saved her, it seemed that she doesn’t remember any of it.

Was she pretending not to know?

Aish! Why do I even bother with her?

Luhan took a peek inside the vice-principal’s office and saw Haneul sitting on a chair in front of the vice-principal’s desk. Shrugging his shoulders, Luhan turned around and went back to his class.

Surely she’ll be safe in there.

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Hi Guys!

Done with the first chapter. I hope it's good enough?

I'll try to update again. 

Hoping to hear from you guys soon!

Up next, Yixing and Haneul meets!

Peace!

Seul Young

12.23.13