Chapter Four

He was gone.

Sehun was gone.

It has been a year now, and Haru still felt that emptiness inside of her every time she looked at the untouched seat near the window during homeroom. She remembered how the teacher explained to her that he was all the way in America and there was no way for her to contact him when she stayed at the teacher's lounge for a whole day and wouldn't budge. And she cried as her wobbly knees finally gave in and caused her to fall to the floor in the hallway, looking pitiful to the ones that were passing by.

All of that for a ninth grade crush. Maybe it was more than a crush, after all.

Because Haru felt that every day was more difficult without Sehun's smile. He obviously didn't tell her about him moving for a reason and that reason was probably because she wasn't important enough in his life. And by now, at the start of sophomore year, she knew that she had to move on or it would feel like this forever. She needed a distraction.

"Hey guys." Yuri said as she took her usual seat in homeroom in front of Haru. She turned around in her seat to face her and talk more comfortably. "Who's that hottie over yonder?" she asked, jokingly.

"Are you stupid or are you stupid?" Haru joked back at Yuri. Eunmi and Seohyun, who were always early to homeroom, were shaking their heads at Yuri.

"What?" Yuri asked, feeling like she was left out on something important.

"That's Chanyeol. You know, the guy we grew up with since like first grade," Seohyun replied.

"WHAT!?" Yuri screeched. Chanyeol. The Park Chanyeol? I mean, she knew his popularity rose up a lot over the summer but she didn't know he would get... this hot. "Puberty did him well," she commented after the shock was over.

"Agreed," added Eunmi. She nudged Seohyun who was seated behind Haru. "What do you think?"

"He's alright," she replied.

"Of course, the study maniac Seohyun who's unfazed by any boys at all," Yuri said before she sighed.

None of them even had to ask Haru. If Seohyun was unfazed by any boys, Haru was even more. She never really cared about boys much, especially not for their good looks. The girls thought that it was because of Sehun but Haru insisted that she "hadn't found the right guy" yet.

"I think he's cute," Haru commented anyway and caused crazy reactions from the three friends. 

"Really? Do you like him?" Eunmi asked with much excitement.

"No," Haru replied, "I just said he was cute."

Immediately, the three girls' faces fell back to normal and they all slouched back into their seats again as Seohyun picked up a book and started to read.

"I'm going first," Haru said. "bye!" She recieved waves from her friends at th