Minae grabbed her school bag and with the speed of lightning and dashed out of the front door, sandwich in the other hand.

"Bye, Mom!" She yelled and raised a hand. She did not even had time to turn her back and give her mother a proper wave. Minae could already imagine her mother standing at the doorway, hands on the hips with an annoyed expression. Well, it was not as if Minae had any other choice. She was late for school — for the first time ever.

It was that darn party's fault, Minae grumbled in her mind as she bit off a portion of her sandwich. She ran while at the same time balancing a whole armful of books. It was no easy task. Within five minutes, she was already panting. She knew that she should have participated more actively in physical classes.

Blinking sweat away, Minae glanced up. She just had turn right around that corner and that's it. Minae took a peek at her watch. Good, she could still make it on time. Minae gritted her teeth and mustered the last of her energy. Her slow jog gradually became a sprint as she made a dash right.

Then — bang. She crashed into something hard, the impact throwing her off balance. Her books fell from her grasp and went cluttering onto the floor along with Minae. She fell backwards, using her hands to cushion the fall. Minae raised his head, glaring. The person who knocked her down knelt beside her with a worried expression.

"Are you alright?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

Kai, Minae realized.

Minae nodded her head, before hurriedly began picking her books up. I don't have much time left, Biting her lower lip, she ignored Kai's outstretched arm and stood up, staggering a bit.

Kai made a gesture to steady her and asked, "Are you really okay? Do you need to go to the hospital or something?" Minae eyed his arm, as if daring him to touch her. Minae shook her head subtly, thanked him softly and continued rushing ahead.

Kai stared after her, unsure. She had been so happy the day before, why was she like this today? Heaving an exasperated sigh, he continued walking forward, following after Minae. Out of the corner of his eye, he say a book laying stranded on the floor. Curious, he knelt down on one knee and picked up the book.

"Lee Minae..." He muttered, he whipped his head upwards, staring Minae. She must have forgotten to pick it up. Should he return it to her now? Kai smirked. Of course not, he would save it for later. Holding the book tightly to his chest, Kai quickly got up and jogged towards the school.

Nooooooooo, Minae screamed in her head — the school gates were already closing slowly. Damn that Kai. Minae could not have any demerit points ruining her attendance. Hers had always been perfect. Putting in her last ounce of energy, she shot forward, tilting her body sideways to avoid the metal gate closing up on her. She dashed past the gates, smiling triumphantly. She had made it. She glanced backwards, Kai was trapped behind the gates with a frustrated frown, grimacing at his misfortune. Minae turned back and continued walking to her class. Served him right anyways.

Minae had entered the class just before her teacher entered. She ducked her head and rushed to her desk inconspicuously before her teacher could realize that she was not at her seat yet. With a relieved sigh, she placed her bag on the chair beside hers and sat down. The desk beside hers was empty — no one wanted to sit with her. Not that her classmates disliked her, it was just that they all had a partner. A friend whom they wanted to sit together. Minae did not care anyway, without someone witting next to her, she had more space to put her stuff.

Minae glanced up, ready to start lessons. Only then did she realize that a pupil had followed the teacher into the classroom and was standing awkwardly in front of the board, fidgeting with her hands. The girl was short. Extremely short. She had big, innocent eyes with long hair shielding her face. Was she a new student?

"Now class, since the term exams have ended, two pupils have been transferred to the advanced class," the teacher said, gesturing towards the short girl. He then furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, there was supposed to be two but nevermind, let's start introduction without him first." He then nodded towards the short girl, signaling for her to start.

The girl raised her head. With a clear voice, she addressed the class, "Hello everyone, my name is Park Sora and I had just transferred here. It's my first time meeting you, so please take care of me. I will work hard. Thank you." She ended her speech with a bow.

"Now you may choose your seat, Sora." My teacher said gently leading her towards the desks. There were two seats left. One at the front and one beside Minae. Sora contemplated for a while before walking towards me.

With a soft smile, she asked, "May I sit here?" Minae stared at her surprised. No one had offered to sit beside her before. They had said something about her being too distant and having a scary aura. Minae nodded and moved her bag away. Sora sat down and flashed me a grin.

"What's your name?" She asked me, eyes wide in curiosity. Minae gulped and cleared .

"Minae. Lee Minae." Minae replied with a small smile. Sora nodded in acknowledgement.

"I hope we will work well together, chingu." Sora said in a serious voice. She nodded afterwards, as if agreeing to her previous statement. Minae took in a breath, surprised. A friend? She had not heard that term for a long time. Her body felt fuzzy. A good kind of fuzzy. Minae smiled warmly in response. Maybe having a deskmate would not be too bad after all.

Just then, someone came bursting through the door. Kai leaned against the wall, panting heavily. "Sorry I'm late." He said in between breaths.

The teacher frowned at him. "This is the new student. He had also been transferred here along with Sora. Please introduce yourself."

Kai walked to the front of the class. "My name is Kai. I was originally from the normal class, before being transferred here. I hope we can have a enjoyable time here." Despite being tired, he delivered a clear speech with an air of confidence. His introduction was greeted by claps and hoots, mostly from the females in this class.

"Choose a seat please." The teacher said. There was only one seat left — the one at the front. Kai looked directly at Minae, a smile playing on his lips. What was he trying to do? Minae's face became heated, her heart speeding up as she locked eyes with Kai. Abruptly, she averted her gaze. Kai walked cooly towards the remaining seat left.

Sora looked at the scene unfolding before her. She observed that Minae's face had turned red. Minae did not seem like the type to be so flustered due to a boy's gaze. Nevertheless, she did not make any comment. This girl seems interesting.

"Although this is the first week of school after the term exams, there is still another project coming on. Everyone, please find a partner." The teacher announced. The class immediately sprang to life. Everyone was shouting across the room, forming groups and discussing. Minae sat patiently at her seat. She was usually the last to be paired up — she did not have any friends. The only friend she had was Chanyeol, who was in the next class. To her surprise, Sora patted her shoulder.

"Um.. Is it alright if I pair up with you? I'm new here so I don't really have any friends..." Sora asked, making an apologetic face. Minae eyes widened and hesitated before nodding. She could not stop a smile creeping up her face. Was this for real?

Kai looked back at Minae the moment the teacher mentioned something about pairing up. Minae was staring blankly into space, twirling her pen. However, a crowd of students had already formed around his table.

"Kai, do you want to pair up with me? I need some help in this subject." A girl asked, batting her eyelashes and pouting. Looking at her expression, Kai felt like puking but he managed a feeble smile.

"Ew, Kai. Don't pair up with girls, they don't do any work. Pair up with me, we will be great partners." A guy yelled from the back of the crowd, waving his hands. Shouts of protests filled the room — everyone wanted to pair up with the King of the school, Kai.

Kai stole another glance at Minae. She was smiling at Sora. Were they a pair already? Unable to suppress the disappointment in him, his face fell. Turning back to the anticipating crowd in front of him, he randomly picked the guy nearest to him. The chosen person cheered while the rest of the crowd dispersed, cursing under their breaths.

Finally, the class ended. After packing her bag, Sora waved goodbye to Minae. "Just one last reminder. I will meet you at your house to discuss the project with you, okay?" She asked, turning back. Minae nodded. Sora smiled and exited the classroom. Minae felt excitement rising in her. Is this the start of a new friendship? She let out a quiet laugh and bowed her head, smiling contendedly to herself before exiting the classroom, following behind Sora.

Minae dodged past the bodies of the students, pushing her way through the crowd to get to her locker. Just then, she heard a bang. Startled, she looked towards the source of the noise. An older student was pushing a younger student against the lockers, yelling a strand of profanities. Minae gasped, shocked. Soon, the surprise turned into silent fury. The thing she hated the most was injustice and bullying. Her nose flared as the older student punched the younger student in his stomach. Minae did not care about the mass of students. Attention was one thing, bullying was another. She could not just stand back when THIS was happening in front of her.

Just when the older student raised his fist again, Minae ran towards him and yelled, "Stop it! What are you doing?" She then wrenched the younger student's collar away from the bully. The whole school hushed. No one dared to stand up against the school bully. Anyone but Minae. The bully snarled, focusing his fury on Minae. Towering over her, he grabbed her collar and leant down.

"Who do you think you are, girl?" He asked menacingly, his hot breath on her face. Minae stared defiantly, not flinching from the strong gaze the bully gave her, egging him on. If he hit her, he was going to be in huge trouble. Minae did not feel fear, all she felt was anger.

Kai spotted a crowd forming on the end of the corridor. What's happening, he thought as he slammed his locker shut and ran towards the crowd. The crowd parted as he apporached. He gasped. The bully was gripping Minae's collar and saying something to her in a low voice, in a threatening manner. Ah, that stupid girl. He shook his head in shock. Never had he seen someone so foolish. This was not called bravery, this was called having a death wish. Making up his mind, he strode forward and grasped one of Minae's hands — just as when Chanyeol tugged on her other hand.

Minae felt a force pulling on her on both sides. Surprised, she looked towards her left. Chanyeol? What was he doing here? Minae looked at him questioningly. She then looked to right. Kai? For a moment, she forgot about the bully standing in front of her. The bully, shocked as well, let go of Minae.

Kai, looked at Chanyeol. Chanyeol was staring at him, gazing strongly at him. Kai glanced down on his hand and suddenly felt conscious of his actions. Embarrassed, he quickly let go of Minae's wrist and shoved his own into his pockets nonchalantly.

Chanyeol pulled Minae away, dragging her away like what he did during the party. Minae stared at his face. His usually bright features were scrunched together in an annoyed expression. She shifted her gaze to his eyes. They reflected anger and worry. "Why are you so dumb, Minae?" He hissed in her ear, glaring at her. Minae remained quiet and just bowed her head, following behind Chanyeol. His tight grip on her was painful. When they turned a corner to exit the corridor, she sneaked a glance back at Kai standing there, dumbfounded, before he and the rest of the school disappeared from her sight.