Hye Seon sat in the back corner of the classroom. The school bell rung and in walked the teacher along with a guy following closely behind. He had brown hair that was messy yet at the same time, styled. He had a strong jaw line and thick lips that parted into a smile.

“Jongin here is a new student. Get along with him alright?” Mrs. Jin said warmly.

“Take a seat anywhere you like.” She said to him. Hye Seon, who had been staring out the window, heard all of it and turned slightly, meeting eyes with the new student. Before she could read his expression, she turned away immediately.

“Can I sit here?” He asked, placing a hand on the empty seat next to her. Without looking at him, she nodded and took out her note books, prepared for any note taking that the teacher gave.

As the lesson went on, Jongin looked completely lost given that he had no textbook to follow from. Refraining from bothering anyone, he kept himself from disturbing other people to borrow their books and spent his time staring at the blank sheet of paper.

Although Hye Seon showed no signs of interest in Jongin, she did however, notice that he had nothing to read from. She hesitantly reached out and gave a small nudge towards his arm. As he turned around in surprise, Hye Seon pushed her book to the edge of the desk.

“Thanks”  he whispered and pushed his desk right beside hers, shifting his seat over as well so that the spine of the book sat in between the two desks. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Hye Seon subtly shifted away from him and towards the wall. It had been a long time since someone had gotten this close to her.

As the end of the day bell sounded, Hye Seon retrieved her belongings but headed back over to where Jongin was.

“Oh Are you waiting for me?” He noticed a figure standing next to him.

“My book.” She replied. Jongin still had her book opened on top of his desk with a few sheets of paper sprawled around.

“Oh. Sorry. Thanks for lending it to me today.” He replied with a smile. Taking it out of his hands and slipping it into her bag, she nodded a you’re welcome.

“…You don’t have to sit beside me anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“…nothing. I’m just telling you there are other empty seats around that you could sit at. Anyways, bye.” Hye Seon said before turning away and heading out the class room.

“Hye Seon, how do you do this?”

“First you have to factor the…” It had been a week since Jongin had taken the seat beside Hye Seon which has been vacant for years. It had also taken Jongin a whole week to realize that he and Hye Seon actually walked the same way home until the road split in two and he lived on the street directly behind hers. It wasn’t much of a surprise though for she usually left immediately right when the bell rang and walked at a slow sprint pace.

“Okay I get it. Thanks.” Jongin replied with a smile.

“Oh. After class do you- Jongin was cut off when the teacher walked into class, saving Hye Seon from answering him once again. As the class ended he quickly brushed everything from his table top to his backpack, hauling it over his shoulder.

“Jongin, do you want to play soccer after school today?” Xiumin asked.

“No thanks, I need to leave quickly today.” Jongin replied before sprinting out the door. Turning his head left and right, he spotted Hye Seon’s back side entering the door to the stairway.

“Hye Seon! Wait up!” Jongin ran next to her as she stopped for a brief moment.  She signed quietly and began walking again, showing no sign of starting a conversation. As they turned to the right to take the second flight of stairs, Hye Seon’s foot slipped off the edge of the step. Surprised, Jongin quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her up before she could fall. He was about to take his hand by her waist when he realized that she had already been steadied and that they were awkwardly facing each other.  

“S-sorry” Jongin stuttered and quickly stepped back. Hye Seon nodded thanks before walking down the stairs again, this time, with Jongin walking a couple steps behind. As they reached the entrance of the school, Jongin caught up to her once again, forgetting why there was an awkward tension between them.

Hye Seon finished her essay and got up from her seat, gently placing it on top of the teacher’s desk. The teacher, too busy looking at handbags on her phone, looked up for a brief second and smiled at Hye Seon before going back to what  she was doing before. Returning to her seat, she took a glance at Jongin’s paper, slightly furrowing her eyebrows.

Catching her annoyed look, Jongin turned around to face Hye Seon.

“What?”

“You have… a lot of mistakes.” Hye Seon said bluntly.

“Hey! I’m not good at English okay? What’s wrong? Tell me.” Jongin complained, putting down his pencil and leaning back in his chair.

“You’re writing in past tense now so you have to change the spelling of the verb.” Hye Seon scooted over a little closer, taking her pencil and underlining all the mistakes he had.

“I don’t get it! How do I change it into past tense?”

“If it’s a verb, add ‘ed’. Sometimes it’s different. For example, fall would be fell. Not falled. Just… change it and I’ll look over it for you later.” Hye Seon gave up as she saw Jongin’s confused expression.

“Okay. Thanks.” Jongin showed a gummy smile before going on serious mode.

It’s been like 2 months since he came here. Isn’t 2 months enough to at least learn past tense and present tense?

Hye Seon propped her elbow on the table and rested her head on her palm as she observed Jongin’s essay, stopping him and giving him the right spelling from time to time.

After asking Hye Seon to double check his work one last time, Jongin quickly dropped it on the pile of sheets before walking back to his seat. There was only 10 minutes of school left.

“How many days of school are left? 10?”Jongin stretched.

“It’s 10 weeks. Not 10 days.” Hye Seon replied.

“What? That’s so long from now!”

Tired from interacting with someone other than her family for an unusually long time, Hye Seon didn’t bother replying as she quietly packed her bag.

“It’s already the last day of school!” Jongin shouted loudly as he ran around outside.

“I’ll miss you! Rest in peace Kai!” Taemin faked a sob, earning a playful punch from Jongin.

“You too Taeman!” Jongin called his close friend by his nickname as well. After biding goodbye, Jongin once again had to run to catch up to Hye Seon who was already walking away.

“Are you going anywhere during the summer?” Jongin asked.

“No.”

“That’s lame! What’s so fun about staying inside all the time?”

“I don’t really do much”

“Why don’t you spend the summer by hanging out with me? Invite me over!”

“…”

“Come on! We’re friends right? I promise I won’t cause any trouble.”

“…maybe. I have to ask first.”

“Seriously? Hey, come here with me.” Jongin abruptly grabbed Hye Seon’s arm and dragged her to a route different from which they usually took. Pushing open the door of a small café, he led Hye Seon to an empty table and walked to the counter. Shortly after, he returned with two patbingsu’s and slid one in front of her.

“My treat. My aunt owns this place so it’s fine. Besides, she still owes me for fixing her computer so I got this for free.”

“Ah. Thanks. But why are you treating me?”

“Last time you helped me with my essay and I passed with a 90% . God If you didn’t help me then I would’ve gotten like a 60% and I would’ve literally failed English since I flunk all the other assignments.” Jongin gave another gummy smile.

“Anyways, I’ll invite you over sometime too okay?” He said, pulling a pen out of his bag. He grabbed Hye Seon’s arm and quickly scribbled down his number before she could squirm away and protest about getting ink on her skin.

Staring at the phone number and back at him, she took the pen from his hand and wrote down her number as well before taking a spoonful of ice cream and, for the first time, cracked a small smile.

 *Present time*

Her hands curled into fists in the tiny puddles of water. Her brain couldn’t function properly. She desperately wanted to look at him and ask for help but at the same time, felt hatred boiling inside of her. Looking all over the floor, she tried to find a hint on strength in her legs to get away from here.

In front of her face, a hand was held out, waiting for her to grab it. Who was it that offered her help?