Jae-Sun had pulled Zhen around to meet his friends all morning, introducing her as Ahn Jin Ae, and then telling her the names of each individual. Just as she was beginning to get annoyed, he showed her to the classroom.

“Your seat is over here,” He said, walking to the end of the row beside the window. “Beside mine,” He said, pointing to the chair directly across the aisle. “So if you need any help, I’ll be right here.” He dropped his bag onto his chair and began digging out his notebooks and pencils.

Zhen looked to her seat and sighed. It overlooked a sort of courtyard. She was thankful it was in the back, so no one would look at her without it being obvious. She sat down in her chair and began pulling things from her bag. Once she’d finished, she moved to stand.

But Jae-Sun stopped her. “Let me put your bag away for you.” He said, smiling brightly. Zhen shrugged and handed him the bag, which he trekked across the room with.

Zhen stared out the window, wondering how long her day was going to be, when she would get out of the hell hole. Just as she was thinking about how much she didn’t like the school so far, a girl appeared in front of her. “Hi!” She said brightly. “You’re Ahn Jin Ae, right?” Zhen nodded slowly. “I’m Kim Ha Na.”

“Nice to meet you,” Zhen said quietly. Ha Na had curled hair that was light, almost dirty blonde, brown. Her eyes were wide, the color an unnatural blue, and she had thick, gummy eyelashes. What high schooler actually has time to do this? Zhen asked herself, looking over the mass amount of makeup on Ha Na’s face.

Ha Na stared at her, as if she was expecting her to continue a conversation with her, when the girl had only introduced herself. “You transferred here, right?” Zhen nodded. “Where from?”

Zhen frowned. “I was going to an online school, but my parents wanted to put me in an actual school.”

“Why?” Ha Na asked, making a face. “Online school sounds like a better alternative.” Zhen shrugged. “You don’t talk much, do you?” Zhen shook her head. “You should. I mean, you seem pretty interesting-”

“Ha Na,” Jae-Sun purred. “Don’t pry. She’s brand new, and you’re already scaring her.” He dropped a hand on Zhen’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Zhen shrugged his hand away from her shoulder. “I’m fine.” She said flatly, just as the teacher walked into the class and everyone took their seats. Zhen stared out the window and distaste as the class started.

“Alright everyone,” The teacher began. “You all remember how I told you about the project for your independent study, I’m sure. Today is the day I will be giving you your group members and you will be picking your subject. Your groups have been created already. This is not an in school project, so you will need to get together on days off.”

Zhen frowned. Already they had a project to do? She didn’t even know these people! She didn’t want to get to know these people. She knew she came off as standoffish, but this wasn’t her ideal position.

The teacher began calling out names, adding three students to a group. “Kwon Jae-Sun, I have paired you with Ahn Jin Ae, since she is new. I figure you can show her how group projects run.” Jae-Sun nodded, smiling excitedly to Zhen, who gave a small forced smile. “And the third person in your group is Jeon Jungkook. I looked into the records of the group, and it seems that the three of you live close, another reason you have been paired the way you are.”

The head in front of Zhen nodded, and she was acutely aware that she was sitting behind Jungkook. She in a silent breath and held it. The teacher continued to list off names, and Zhen noticed Ha Na, who sat beside Jungkook, glaring back at her. Already someone didn’t like her. Wonderful. Another reason she needed to be put back into her online classes.

“With the independent projects out of the way, we can get started on our day.” The teacher said, turning and beginning to write a formula on the board. Finally, something about this school that Zhen would like. Math. It was necessarily math, it was more the process. And it wasn’t just math, it was any subject. She liked being given something that would make her think, and make her think hard, because then she didn’t have to think about the things she kept trying to forget.

She opened her notebook and began to copy the formula down, already mentally completing it. The rest of the day seemed to breeze by. She’d been asked to answer the formula, which she did with ease, much to the teacher’s surprise, and had been call on to complete another problem on the board, so the others could model their answers after hers. She used methods the teacher hadn’t heard of, which confused him. He’d asked who taught her, and didn’t entirely believe her when she said she taught herself.

Just as the bell rang, dismissing classes to take a lunch break, Jungkook turned in his chair. His eyes landed on Zhen, and he offered a small, but sincere, smile. “Hey,” He said politely. “Should we talk about getting together?”

“What?” Zhen blurted.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. “To do the project?”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Jae-Sun?” She asked, jabbing her thumb in the direction of Jae-Sun’s empty seat.

Jungkook shrugged. “Sure, but I doubt he’ll be around for most of this project.” He stood from his chair. “Do you need someone to eat lunch with?”

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