"I miss you... where have you been for the last three days?" The girl embraced Kai tightly, and Moonji observed this rare display of affection. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps Kai had a soft spot for this girl. Moonji had noticed his aversion to physical contact, making this interaction all the more puzzling. She couldn't help but wonder if the girl's beauty had melted Kai's usual stoicism. A hint of jealousy surfaced within Moonji, but she quickly masked it with her practised smile. What makes her think that she and Kai will have a real relationship? Moonji shrugged the silly thought that passed through her mind. 

"I got something to do for the last three days," Kai replied, his tone neutral. Moonji continued to smile, trying to decipher the dynamics between Kai and this girl. Her observations led her to conclude that the girl's name was Dasom.

"Who is she?" Dasom inquired, taking a step closer to Moonji, her curiosity evident.

"Um... I am... I am..." Moonji struggled to construct a coherent English sentence in her head. She ultimately settled on a simple, "His girlfriend?"

Dasom's face lit up with joy at Moonji's response. "Hi, My name is Lee Dasom!" She hugged Moonji enthusiastically, who, in turn, offered a polite smile and adjusted her wig as Dasom released her. "You are so cute! Come on, let's go to the office to find out which class you're in." Dasom led Moonji towards the school office to check her class placement. Moonji had been assigned to the Economics and Accounts class, aligning with the subjects she had studied at her previous school.

Kai and Dasom belonged to the Science stream, and they kindly escorted Moonji to her classroom. However, the students in the class seemed less than welcoming, with no one willing to offer her a seat beside them. Moonji complied with Kai's instructions, taking the seat furthest at the back of the classroom.

As Moonji stood in front of the class, she couldn't help but sense the weight of the collective gaze from her new classmates. Their curiosity was palpable, and although the teacher introduced her with polite words, the students exchanged whispers and covert glances. Evidently, her presence had piqued their interest, and Moonji couldn't help but feel like an object of intrigue.

She overheard their hushed conversations as they questioned her presence. Some girls exchanged judgmental remarks about her appearance, wondering aloud why Kai seemed interested in her. "Did you see her?" one girl whispered to her friend, her voice dripping with scepticism. "She doesn't look like she belongs here."

Another student chimed in with a critical tone, "Kai's new girlfriend, huh? I thought he had better taste. She's not even that pretty." These unkind remarks washed over Moonji, but she remained composed, determined not to let their judgments shatter her facade.

Despite the initial scrutiny and the unspoken questions in the students' eyes, Moonji maintained a composed demeanour. She had perfected the art of projecting confidence and self-assuredness over the years and now was no exception. She reminded herself, over and over, of her mantra: "I am pretty. Smiling will make me even prettier." With this thought in mind, she offered a polite smile to her new classmates, determined to withstand their scrutiny.

When the bell finally rang, signalling the start of the morning break, Moonji gathered her belongings and headed towards her locker. As she navigated through the hallways, the other girls around her couldn't resist the urge to exchange hushed comments and whispers. Their words were tinged with curiosity, doubt, and sometimes even unkindness. They questioned Kai's apparent interest in her and made judgments about her appearance.

Moonji continued to wear her practised smile-like armour, resolute in her commitment to maintaining her facade. Her mantra repeated in her mind like a protective incantation: "I am pretty. Smiling will make me even prettier." With each step she took, she held her head high, determined to carry herself with the confidence of someone who belonged in this new, unfamiliar world.

As she arrived at her decision to wait in front of Kai's classroom, the lessons were still ongoing. Yet, she patiently stood there, hoping to catch even a fleeting glimpse of him when the class eventually came to an end.

"Class dismissed!" the teacher announced, and students poured into the hallway. Moonji peeked into Kai's classroom when it was nearly empty. Kai and his friends were there, all of them strikingly handsome and charismatic. Moonji noted that Dasom was present too, and she couldn't help but observe Kai's reaction to her.

"Who is she?" one of Kai's friends, Chanyeol, asked.

"Kai's girl," another friend, Baekhyun, replied as he embraced Dasom from behind.

Moonji noticed a flicker of jealousy in Kai's eyes at the sight of Baekhyun hugging Dasom. The rest of the group chimed in with their comments, questioning Kai's interest in Moonji.

"She is cute," Dasom remarked, offering her perspective.

"Of course, she is cute," Moonji couldn't help but add, her voice soft and sweet. "Kai, I just hope you didn't pay her to be your fake girlfriend after being rejected by Dasom two weeks ago." Suho, one of Kai's friends, teased.

"Absolutely not, Suho," Kai responded with a hint of irritation.

"Could you guys walk ahead? I need some time with my girl," Kai requested, and his friends obliged, leaving him and Moonji behind.

Moonji seized the opportunity to express her feelings. "I don't know how I will survive in this school. I'm completely silent and mute, you know?" She couldn't contain her anxiety. "It's like I'm a ghost, and everyone's speaking English. What am I going to do? My face will turn ugly if I keep being mute and stressed like this. No, I don't want that!" She rambled on, revealing her inner turmoil to Kai.

"Could you stop talking?" Kai's response was slow and measured.

"No! My face will get ugly if I stop," she replied with a high-pitched voice, her anxiety palpable.

"Yeah, sure, just do whatever you like, Ra Moonji-shii!" Kai retorted, mimicking her high-pitched voice. The unexpected high-pitched tones from Kai drew the attention of everyone in the hallway. Moonji burst into laughter at Kai's embarrassed expression, causing more heads to turn in their direction.

"You are so cute when you are angry, Kim JoongIn-shii!" Sehun, another of Kai's friends, couldn't resist teasing.

Kai remained silent and led Moonji to the cafeteria, where they entered a glass-walled room labelled "EXO." It was a dining hall reserved for EXO, one of the most popular groups at the school and under the SM Industries label. Their dining area was separate from the regular student dining hall. 

"Let me show you where to take the food," Kai muttered lowly as he stood up and led the way to the buffet area. Moonji smiled at him in appreciation and followed the man. "How was your class? Did you talk to anyone?" He asked lowly, as he kept their interaction minimal. "I told you. No one talks to me." She whined as she slightly stomped her feet on the floor. "Good, don't interact much with others," He praised before he qeued to take food from the buffet.