{Baekhyun}

“Oh my gosh sorry!” The girl says as she bends down to pick up the worksheets.

“Nah it’s okay.” I reply, flashing off a smile. “Thanks!” She passes me my worksheets and our hands meet. Still nothing. My eyes fixate on her as she walks away.

“Laying eyes on my sister?” I hear Luhan say as I quickly divert my gaze away from her.

“Wouldn’t dare dude. But she’s cute. She's different from the rest.” I lie. So this girl is Luhan’s sister. What a small world.  I do a brief scan on Luhan’s mind.

Jihae’s her name. She’s seventeen. She was adopted by Luhan’s parents after she was found on their doorsteps. She left Seoul a year ago for an exchange programme. Her favourite food is omelette and her favourite drink almond bubble tea. Her favourite colour is baby blue. She is just any other mundane girl.

But why? Why is it that I can’t read her mind?

This has never happened before. Since I was 8 years old, I have the ability to read minds. It took me a while to realise the voices I was hearing were actually the thoughts of other people. I admit things were pretty scary at first. It was dark. I knew everyone’s deepest, darkest secrets. I knew what someone was thinking about me. I knew when someone was lying. I knew everything. It was then I felt I could never trust anyone every again.

But once I learnt to control and nurture my powers, they became controllable. I am able to read one’s mind only when I choose to and I am able to block out their nasty thoughts when I cannot take it anymore. Not only am I able to read what that person is thinking currently, but all their thoughts they ever had, something like going inside their brains and reading the books in the library.

This power of reading minds, is a blessing and a curse. Sort of like a double edged sword. Many people will love having this ability, but what they aren’t aware of, is what is in for them. Yea sure you can pass with flying colours in a test. Sure you can win the lottery. Sure you can tell if someone has a crush on you. You can do many things with the ability of reading minds. But the price you have to pay is huge.

Basically, that’s your sanity.

Walking over to the other side of the school, I can’t help but think of Jihae. There is no reason for me not being able to read her mind. Or is there? I scratch my head in frustration as I enter chemistry class. My eyes peer around the room, looking out for the perfect seat because picking a wrong seat will mean being doomed for the rest of the school year. I was busy reading the thoughts of my potential seat mates that I almost miss her.

Jihae is seating on the chair with her legs crossed. She is busy scribbling in her blue notebook and seems to be oblivious when I slip into the empty seat beside her. If I want to know more about her, the only way is to get closer to her. Without myself realising, I was staring at her, my eyes refusing to turn away. Something about her captivated me. And never have I felt so attracted by someone I just met. She turns around and I dart away immediately.

“Oh you’re that guy!” She smiles. That guy? Oh right, that guy that purposely bumped into you earlier on. “Hi! My name is--” She continues but I cut her off.

“Jihae…” I say. Sometimes I needed to know when to stop talking.

“How did you know?” She questions.

“Luhan told me about you before.” I reply immediately. And then again its times like this that I am grateful for my sharp tongue.

“Oh I see.”

“I’m Baekhyun by the way.” Even though I cannot read her mind, I can tell that her thoughts are somewhere else.

She is looking at the school’s most notorious girl clique, Sooyeon and gang.

Sooyeon is the school’s most popular girl. Whether it is in a good way or bad way, it doesn’t matter. Sooyeon has a place in the school. She isn’t exceptionally pretty, but her rich upbringing bought her the popularity as well as her so called friends that accompanies her wherever she goes.

I have no idea what people see in her. She has a crude attitude. Her temper is outrageous. But I guess what people see s the other side of her. In front of teachers and boys, she’d act all innocent and nice, which is totally not what she was. She has always been flirtatious around boys, including me. But obviously I have close to zero interest in her. I would never be fooled by her, I saw through all her act. I read her mind.

Sooyeon seems to be tossing snarling looks at Jihae. Inwardly, I pray that I am not the cause. Oh damn it. It is because of me.  “I’m sorry, did you say Bacon? That’s a weird name!” Jihae finally replies with a giggle after breaking the eye contact she had with Sooyeon.

“B-a-e-k H-y-u-n.” I spell it out clearly, hoping she will remember that.

“Oops sorry!” She says and shines me with a radiant smile, revealing her perfect set of pearly whites. I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw her smile. Why is her smile so charming?  Why is she so charming? Everything about her is enticing, from her small giggles, to the way she was sticking her tongue out slightly when she was writing.

She is just different. And perhaps there is a reason for that, I just didn't know that. Yet.

Just then the chemistry teacher, Mr Kim, walks in. “Good Morning class. As you know we have a new student with us today.” Mr Kim says and gestures for Jihae to introduce herself.

“Hello everyone my name is Jihae, nice to meet everyone. I hope we’ll get along well.” Jihae says with a 90 degrees bow.

Oh we’ll get along just fine alright. Sooyeon’s thoughts echo in my mind. I don’t even want to look deeper into that filthy mind of hers.