Good God, I really don't want to see that guy's face right now.

Outside the school gates, Suseon was attempting camouflaging herself behind a street sign that really did nothing in terms of hiding. A few early morning students were walking past her, not thinking much of the still student as they continued past the morning guard with their faces buried in their books. Suseon really didn't want to risk walking in at the same time with that Sungyeol kid right now especially since they would end up having to wait for the guard to inspect their uniform. Leaning forward a little to see past the sign that was blocking her view, she saw Sungyeol arriving at the corner right on time. She knew from past experiences that she was always ahead of him by at least two minutes.

Alright, I'll just wait for him to go in first so we don't have to do uniform check together.

Pulling back, she let out a sigh of relief. This was going to be exhausting, having to do this everyday for the next week. The things she does to save herself from any unwanted conversation, really. Her watched showed that she should be heading to the gates in about a three minutes before the guard would let Sungyeol in. Every once in a while, she peeked over to the other side of the sidewalk to see if he was there yet. She didn't even get a good look at the sidewalk before she felt a hot rush of air against the back of her neck, and a voice asking her, “What are you doing sneaking around like this?”

Holding back a scream, Suseon darted out from behind her cover, eyes widening to the size of full moons. Gosh darn it, Nam Woohyun! There he was, looking off in the direction she was earlier, trying to figure out what exactly she was hiding from. He shifted his attention to her when he gave up, smiling at the genuinely surprised expression plastered on her face. Adjusting the straps on his backpack, he greeted her a casual good morning. At this, Suseon wondered what was up with him. Is there something wrong with him? Usually, the first thing someone would say was 'Are you okay?' or maybe even, 'Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!' But Woohyun? He just acted like nothing happened.

Slowly, she nodded her head to return the greeting without words, still a bit cautious as what he wanted with her. Suseon fixed her tie, eyes never leaving Woohyun's. She tried to read his face to see if there was anything he was keeping from her, but no. He was an open book. The way he stood in place, the way his hands were placed – body language was also a dead end. Instead of asking her why she was so silent like a normal person would though, he just jabbed his thumb towards the gates, his lips still curved into that childish grin, “Should we go?”

Not bothering to give him an answer this time, Suseon simply turned heel and headed towards the gates. She was interested in how he would react, but sadly all he did was follow her steps. What an open book he was. She wondered to herself if there was anything in his head, but she shook that thought away thinking it was a bit mean. Shrugging her shoulders to no one in particular, she looked straight ahead to see that Sungyeol was standing a few feet away from the gates, typing away on his phone. He still didn't go in?! Swallowing hard, Suseon calmed herself down, hoping that the device would keep him distracted for a few more minutes. She really didn't want to make any more eye contact with him. His gaze alone was enough to the soul out of her body.

“Oh, Lee Sungyeol!” she heard Woohyun call out from behind her, grabbing Sungyeol's attention. Suseon saw Sungyeol lift his head curiously before their eyes met once more. She was afraid they were going to have another mini-showdown, but thankfully, his focus shifted from hers to Woohyun behind her in less than a second.

Sungyeol didn't say anything, but instead he slipped the phone back into his pocket and entered the school gates; Suseon followed him a few steps behind with Woohyun at her heels. The three of them stood in a straight line as they waited for the guard to dismiss the students who had arrived before them. They were a group of five first year girls, and two of them were pulled over to the side since their skirts were hemmed too short. Sir Hong approached them with his stick in hand, pretending as if he were a police. It was a public secret that Sir Hong didn't pass police academy testing and he ended up being a lowly school grounds guard. Still, that didn't keep him from running the gates like a federal government security guard.

“Oh, Woohyun, what do you have for me today?” Sir Hong chewed noisily on his gum, purposely smacking his lips every time his mouth closed and opened. It was ironic how he was breaking the very rules that he was loyally enforcing every morning. The stout man squinted his eyes at the three of them before stepping in front of Sungyeol who he seemed rather impressed with, “Ah, Student Lee! Perfectly dressed as usual! Not a single wrinkle not a thread out of place. Just what I would expect from a diligent student like you,”

From her left, Suseon could hear Woohyun whisper something along the lines of Sungyeol not even being the first in their grade, and preferential treatment before Sir Hong told her to lift her head up. Suseon looked the guard in the eyes as he did a once-over his uniform. With a grunt, he patted her shoulder approvingly, “Appropriate as usual, Student Song. But I suggest that once we transition into winter uniforms, you stop by the uniform store and grab a new set of skirts. They're a bit on the short side, but only by a little. Nothing major,”

At this, one of the female student standing to the side yelled out in protest, “Hey, that's not fair! My skirt is only a centimeter shorter than the required length like her! Why am I in trouble?”

“Keep quiet, student! It's because you're a first year and you need to learn to follow the rules,” Woohyun said in defense, trying to kiss up to Sir Hong because of the two thumbs up he threw in the older man's direction, “Right, Sir Hong?”

“Don't think you can talk yourself out of this one, you rascal,” Sir Hong waved his stick in front of Woohyun's face threateningly. Suseon's eyebrows raised at this action; she couldn't help but tilt her head just a little to get a better look at what was going to happen to Woohyun. Sir Hong stood in front of Woohyun, legs shoulder-length apart as he looked up at the ever-so-taller student challengingly, “Who do you think you are, huh? Walking around with baggy pants, like a messy teenager,”

Taking his stick, Sir Hong whacked Woohyun on the outer thigh to emphasize the looseness of the fabric in that area. Woohyun jumped backwards, not expecting such an action, raising his hands in defense. However, Sir Hong came right back at him, “Do you think this makes you look swag? Do you feel swag, huh?”

Suseon could feel laughter arising in her chest as Sir Hong threw more verbal attacks at Woohyun; this was only the second time she had ever seen anyone feel the wrath of Sir Hong. A light laugh slipped when Woohyun broke into a run, and Sir Hong dashed after him, waddling as fast as his little legs could carry him; Suseon could have sword that she even heard Sungyeol chuckle a little beside her. Sir Hong and Woohyun engaged in a comical chase similar to that of Tom and Jerry, with Sir Hong landing a hit on Woohyun's bum and Woohyun yelling out his apologies and how he was never going to wear dance pants ever again, “No I don't feel swag! Sir Hong, I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I promise I'll wear man pants next time!”

“You two go up to class, alright?” Sir Hong called out to Sungyeol and Suseon who were still glued to their spots, “I still have to deal with this little twerp!”

Like they always do with adults, the two students bowed in unison and gathered their belongings from the bench they had set them down on earlier for inspection. Recently, there had been a knife scare in one of the lower letter level classrooms and the school insisted that getting their bags checked would prove to be a better safety measure. However, it wasn't really that great considering how a few of Suseon's female classmates still managed to get their safety knife pens past Sir Hong. Maybe it was Sir Hong that was the flaw in the procedure. While Suseon was still arranging her books in her backpack, Sungyeol had already finished. With a quick side glance, the two exchanged blank expressions before he swiftly broke eye contact and began heading up to the main building.

Watching after him, Suseon shook her head.

How rude.

“Ah, Suseon, Suseon! May I talk with you for a minute?”

Glancing over her shoulder, Suseon raised an eyebrow at her Algebra teacher, Mister Park. He was a new staff member this year, and a fresh graduate. Among the other faculty members, he was quite popular for his youthful appearance and radiating a positive aura. Not to mention, he was a graduate from America and who doesn't love themselves a foreign man? Remembering that Mister Park wasn't a colleague, she bowed slightly when he came to a full stop in front of her. He smiled at the student, knowing about her silent demeanor. She wasn't a bad student academics wise, so he decided to let her lack of participation in class off the hook. With a quick one-over at his clipboard, he cleared his throat, “I believe you won't be attending last period today for-”

“Yes,” Suseon interrupted, afraid that the lingering students might overhear.

in a sharp breath of air, Mister Park pulled a face, pretending he had just been hurt by her words, “Ah what a shame. It's never a fun time when the class isn't complete. Nonetheless, your interests are more important, so go along now. You wouldn't want to be late for your session,”

After exchanging a wordless goodbye, Suseon headed off towards the direction of the student services offices. She hadn't gotten very fun, but once she heard Mister Park's classroom door click closed, she spun around and headed out in the other direction. Turning the corner, she entered a hallway with a solemn door at the very end. She was fortunate enough to have her homeroom located in the furthest most side of the school so she had easy access to the back. Sneaking around wasn't her intention, but she really didn't want other students that may have been roaming the hallways to catch her entering the speech therapists' room.

I'll just politely tell her that I really don't feel comfortable doing this, and that if she could lie to mom and dad about my attendance.

Exiting from the back door, she found herself in a fenced in stairway outside which led out to the fields. Respectively, it went soccer field, field hockey field and lacrosse field each with a track surrounding them. Crouching a little, she swiftly made her way past the soccer field unnoticed by the first years who were busy trying to pass their Segment 1 Soccer tests. Thankfully, there were a lot of big structures like trash bins, benches and standing lockers she could hide behind. Within a few minutes, she was slipping inside the back entrance for the student services hall.

What are the use of hall monitors? Suseon thought smugly to herself, feel on top of the world as she buttoned her blouse again after running.

The student services hall was a rather clean hall. So clean that it could definitely rival that of a hospital's. She slowly made her way past the general offices, admissions, and counselor's office until she finally came across the therapist offices. Each door she passed was a different color according to what they had to offer. The therapy office doors were light blue. Suseon found the speech therapist's office in no time since it was the last room in the hallway before another back entrance. She gladly took note of this because now it was easier for her to get out of there unnoticed by others. The door to the office was closed, but it seemed like someone was in there since all the lights were on. Suseon's eyes caught the nameplate on the door – Dr. Ahn Jia.

“Sungyeol, could you please get the door? I think I saw someone outside,”

At the sudden mention of the oh-too-familiar name, Suseon's legs instinctively carried her back a few steps, retreating away from the door – Sungyeol?