I tried not to make it obvious that I was sneaking glances at the clock. It had been positioned ever so distinctly, high up on wall, all the way to the left. Seoul Gwahak Godeung Hakgyo, or Seoul Science High School, always positioned the clocks on obscure locations on either the side walls or occasionally the back wall, so it was obvious when a student was checking the time. You were expected to keep your focus either on the notebook in front of you or the professor giving a fast-paced lesson at the head of the classroom. All the classrooms were like college lecture halls; there was a flat platform at the head of the classroom, a large white Smart Board that extended nearly the entire length of the wall, a fancy overhead projector and an orderly teacher’s desk piled with painstakingly long research papers to be graded and grueling 18-page long exams you had no warning beforehand of. The walls were bleak white, the floors were a dull gray tile, and the clock was virtually invisible.

                I pretended to scratch my neck in order to steal a glance at the clock. I tilted my head to the left and strained my vision to see the time. 4:22. School ended at 4:30

                My eyes took a detour from the clock down to Kyusoon, who was seated two rows away from me. She was mouthing something to me, which meant the professor had his back turned. I gave her a quizzical look and she repeated it again: party tonight.

                I shook my head in response. She returned my quizzical look.

                Babysitting, I mouthed.

                Kyusoon stuck her tongue out playfully at me, which made me smile. I would have chuckled if the sea of grade 11 students surrounding me hadn’t been dead silent. Kyusoon wasn’t going to be pleased with me for not going to the party tonight, that I was sure of. She had told me about this party nearly a week ago, and I had said yes, I could probably make it. But she had Minah, didn’t she? The Three Musketeers could survive with three for one night. Two Peas in a Pod were supposed to be together tonight, and I didn’t have the heart to deny a certain blonde-haired, ebony-eyed boy anything.

                He’d been on my mind this entire week. Hah. That made it sound like thinking about him was a rare commodity. He was on my mind from the second I woke up until the second I fell asleep, and even then did I see his round face, smiling eyes and pearly white smile. He virtually never left my mind.

When Mr. Choi turned back to the audience, I was already jotting down the closing sentence to his monologue.

                “Lee Kirin!” Kyusoon boomed.

                I whipped my head around to find raven-haired Kyusoon standing behind me, her hands on her slim hips. Her lips were pursed together and her eyebrows slightly knit.

                “Kim Kyusoon!” I boomed in response.

                “Don’t play games with me!” Kyusoon whined. “You know you’re going to the party tonight and that’s final.”

                Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “Kyu, I can’t. I really do have to babysit.”

                “For who?” Kyusoon whined, just as Minah bounded up beside her.

                “What’s going on?” Minah question innocently, hooking a strand of short black hair behind her ear.

                “Kirin’s not going tonight.”

                “What?” Minah cried.

                “Alright, alright, chill out!” I cried, holding my hands up. “I have to babysit, alright? For my neighbors across the street. You know, Taesoon and Minsoon?”

                “Again?” Minah asked.

                I nodded, rolling my eyes for affect. “Their father’s out of town and their mother’s going out tonight.”

                “So you’re stuck with them?” Kyusoon questioned.

                “Unfortunately.”

                “Ugh!” Kyusoon grunted. “For how long?”

                “Six-thirty to eleven,” I answered. That part wasn’t a lie. That was probably how long I’d end up with him. But knowing him, he was probably on his way to my house right now, if he hadn’t already been there for an hour, further deepening my mother’s infatuation with him.

                “Well, can you hang out before that?” Minah asked shyly.

                No.

                I shrugged. “I really should get going.”

                Minah pouted. “Well, we’ll be at my house. Come over if you want, any time.”

                I smiled. That was the number one thing I loved about Minah. She was completely understanding. She didn’t pressure me further. I had no give no answer, no explanation. She simply accepted that I had declined the offer and didn’t go further. Kyusoon, on the other hand, pressured me for every detail of why I couldn’t come. It was a miracle I was able to keep him a secret from the two of them.

                But I had no choice to, really. No matter how badly I wanted to tell them about Byunghun, I knew for his sake, I couldn’t.

                I walked home quickly, thankful it wasn’t snowing. I passed the time by listening to my iPod. “Supa Luv,” by my boyfriend’s band, on repeat, to be exact. After the fifth listen, I reached the walkway up to my house. Normally I walk right up the path every morning like a robot, but today something caught my attention. A moving van, parked next door. The house next door had been for sale for nearly four months now, and someone had finally bought it? It was, after all, a very attractive house. A beautiful, white, two-story home with tall windows and slate grey stutters, neatly trimmed hedges in the front yard and a wooden fence surrounding the property.

                Suddenly, two girls came out into the front yard. They were about the same height and both had dark brown hair. One girl had long hair with bangs swept to the side and the other, shoulder-length with blunt bags across her forehead. They seemed to be heading down the pathway and to the sidewalk, perhaps out on a walk. I turned off my iPod, smoothed out my hair a little, and strolled over to them with a friendly look on my face.

                “Hi there,” I stated once I had reached them. “I’m Lee Kirin, and, uh, I guess I’m your new neighbor.”

                The girls smiled. The girl with shorter hair spoke first. “I’m Park Hyerin, and this is my younger sister, Park Min Neul,” she gestured to the pretty girl with long hair beside her, who smiled and waved cutely.

                “Nice to meet you!” I smiled brightly. “So, uh, you just moved here?” Stupid question, Kirin. Of course they just moved here…

                “Yeah! We’re from Mokpo,” Min Neul replied. Now that she mentioned it, I could tell. She spoke with the same cute Mokpo accent Donghae of Super Junior did.

                “Wow! That’s cool,” I smiled. I had an American accent. It was nowhere near as cute as the ones from Mokpo.

                “I guess,” Hyerin giggled. “Are you just coming home from school?”

                “Yup. Seoul Science High School,” I replied.

                “No way!” Min Neul exclaimed, a smile spreading on her young face. “We were just enrolled there yesterday!”

                “No way!” I smiled broadly. Not only were they me neighbors, they were my classmates.

                “What year are you?” Hyerin asked.

                “Eleventh.”

                Min Neul pouted. Hyerin smiled. “So am I!” She exclaimed. “She’s in ninth.” Hyerin received an eye-roll from her little sister, who wasn’t so little at all. I felt like the little one; both of them were taller than me. Is this what Byunghun felt like when he talked to Minsoo and Jonghyun? I felt like an ant.

                “I’m glad I’ll at least know one person on my first day,” Hyerin giggled.

                Something about her was vaguely familiar, like I had seen her before somewhere. A friend from America? No, couldn’t be, I didn’t have any Asian friends when I lived there. Where could I have possibly seen her from, then? I fought the urge to ask her if we had ever met before, but I decided to let it slide. Maybe it would hit me later, like during dinner. I’d have one of those embarrassing epiphanies and suddenly go “AH-HAH!” out loud while my parents stared at me, clueless.

                “Well, I should probably get home before my parents wonder where I am,” I chuckled. “It was nice meeting you! I’m sure my parents will be over soon with a plate of cookies or something.”

                They laughed. “Sounds good to me. See you around!” Hyerin said brightly.

                “Bye, Kirin!” Min Neul called as I walked up the pathway to the front door. I turned around and waved good-bye to my new neighbors. I had a feeling I’d be seeing more of them.

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                Sorry this chapter was so short. To make up for it, I'll upload the next one shortly! :D

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