“Won’t that be weird, though?”

                They were on their way home after finishing their shopping for Hana’s school necessities. Sehun had mentioned briefly how things would be like at school and how they were going to school together the next day. He may not have realised it, but Hana was quite hesitant with riding in the same car with Sehun to go to school.

                “What is?”

                “Me riding your car with you.”

                “So? You ride with me all the time,” Sehun replied with a confused expression, still not getting Hana’s point.

                “The students will see, won’t they? It’s weird for you to be seen interacting with a new student, more so giving her a ride,” Hana said while paying her attention to her hands on her lap.

                Only then did Sehun get what Hana was trying to say. He pondered for a minute, what would the students think when seeing him with Hana? Specifically, what would the girls do? It was no secret among the students that the girls of Dugeun High could be very cold and mean when it came to new students. Just one month before, their school had a new girl transferred there and just because that particular girl had asked Jongin about the school plan, the girls had made the new student’s life a living hell. After one week of complete torture and pure bullying, the new girl dropped out and went to another school. Sehun definitely did not want that to happen to Hana.

                “So how are you going to get to school?”

                “I could... walk?” Hana tried with an unsure tone.

                “You’re saying that you will walk all the way to the school which would may take one hour to reach by walking?”

                “I can just push off earlier.”

                “Listen, I’m not going to let you waste your whole energy by doing something so useless. I’ll figure something out if you still insist that you don’t want to ride with me.”

                “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just can’t.”

                Sehun stopped his car in front of the lobby that lead straight to the elevator. When Hana looked at him, he just replied, “I need to go somewhere first, you go ahead. Here’s the card.”

                Giving a slight nod, she took the card, went out of the car and waited until Sehun’s car completely disappeared from her view.

-

                “Thanks, hyung. I really appreciate this,” Sehun smiled to Jonghyun, Jongin’s eldest brother. Contrary to Jongin who was loud and obnoxious, his brother was more sophisticated and prim, just like how a millionaire’s son should be.

                “No problem, Sehun. You’re just like a younger brother to me. Just tell me if you need anything else.”

                Sehun temporarily wondered why he had asked Jongin for his brother’s help first when he could just come to Jonghyun without having to face Jongin’s tantrum. Smiling cheekily Sehun asked if Jonghyun could ask any of his workers to send his old car (truthfully, it wasn’t even that old, it was only a month old) to his condominium and Jonghyun gladly said yes.

                Sehun then went to his new but temporary car and he could not help but gawk at the car’s sleek exterior. It was a Chevrolet Corvette, and if only his parents had not came up with that whole idea of wise-spender and economical mind, Sehun would definitely had picked this car, so he was more than excited to be owning this car, even if it was not really his.

                While enjoying his drive, Sehun’s eyes got caught onto a bicycle store and that was when he got this seemingly brilliant idea. If he did not want Hana to walk to school, what better way was there other than to cycle? Of course, there was always the option of riding a bus but given that the neighbourhood he was living in was a luxurious one, there were no bus stops near it.

                Parking his car near the entrance, he quickly went through the bicycles displayed on the racks. He could see that most of them were boyish and none of them really suited Hana, so he went to the counter and asked the manager for the latest edition and the most feminine one that the store got. The manager gestured him to follow his steps and they went into another section and he pointed to a pink bicycle displayed on the stage.

                “Perfect.”

-

                Hana could only gape with her eyes unblinking when she arrived at the parking lot. She had received a call from Sehun (using the phone that Sehun had bought for her) to come to the parking lot and when she went there, she was really surprised. Not only was Sehun leaning on a brand new white sports car, but he was also inspecting a bright pink bicycle to the point that he did not even realise Hana’s presence.

                “What are these?”

                “Oh, you’re here.” Sehun stood up from his kneeling position. “This is for you.”

                Hana was still too perplexed to understand all of these happenings. “What… what is it for?”

                “You’ll be riding it to school! Don’t you like it?”

                Hana chuckled a little. Sehun was really childish from Hana’s point of view. He decided on everything according to his whims, and he just did anything without really thinking about the pros and cons. But that was what makes him cool. He only did things that he thought to be right, without caring about other people’s perspectives and Hana really admired that.

                “I’m really grateful, Sehun. Thank you. And yes, I really like it.”

-

                The next morning, Sehun once again entered the kitchen with the sight of Hana cooking, only this time, she was wearing her school uniform but without the cream blazer. When Hana realised Sehun’s presence, she asked him if sausages and eggs are okay for breakfast and Sehun eagerly nodded. After completely setting up the table, Hana sat opposite of Sehun and they started to eat.

                “Aren’t you nervous?” Sehun asked between bites to break the silence.

                “Truthfully, I am. Very nervous, to be more specific. But I’m also very excited so I guess that makes everything okay!” She replied with a smile as bright as the morning sun.

                “I have a question, though.”

                “What?”

                “Do you want us to act completely normal at school, or do you want us to be more like… strangers?”

                Hana dropped her fork, but her expression did not show any signs of anger or annoyance. She only looked like she was deeply thinking and weighing things. After seconds of stretched silence, she said, “I think it’s better if we pretend that we don’t know each other. I don’t want people to misunderstand anything. Not just that, I’m sure that your fan club will not leave me alone if they know about us,” she replied with a glint of cheekiness in her eyes.

                Sehun was relieved that Hana seemed cheerful in her answers although he was also a bit disappointed to have to keep his distance from her at school. But he also knew that the girls of his school (and no, he won’t acknowledge them as his fan club) would harass Hana if they knew that Hana was not only friends with him, but also living with him. So he just said, “Okay, let’s just do that.”

                Sneaking a glance at his watch, Sehun voiced out, “Aren’t you going to be late, though? It’s 7.30 already?”

                “Aren’t we going down together?”

                “I’m not the one cycling.”

                “Oh, you’re right! I totally forgot!” Hana quickly munched her leftover sausages and took her plate and mug to the sink. “Just leave everything there; I’ll wash them when we get home.”

                She then rushed to her room (previously Sehun’s) to get her backpack and when she was at the front door putting on her shoes, a pair of hands encircled her waist.

                “Just relax. You can do this. Ji Hana, fighting!” Sehun quietly whispered.

                When Sehun let her go, Hana briefly met his eyes but quickly decided to stare at her shoes when she felt her cheeks going red. “See you later. Bye.”

                As soon as the front door closed, Sehun quickly took out his phone and searched for Chanyeol’s name in his list of contacts.

Hey Chanyeol. Do me a favour. There’ll be a new student today at our school and she will also be in our class. Her name’s Ji Hana. She will be arriving in about thirty minutes on a pink bicycle so mind if you wait for her at the lobby and show her around? Thanks buddy. P/S: If you have questions about who or why or what, just keep it to yourself.

                Apart from Jongin, Chanyeol and Baekhyun are the two individuals that he could depend on. Park Chanyeol was also one of the most popular guys in his school, apart from Sehun and Jongin. However, the girls of their school was not as nearly protective of Chanyeol as they were of Sehun but he figured that maybe it was just because of Chanyeol’s excessive attachment to his best friend, Byun Baekhyun. Those two were practically joint at the hips. Both of them were also the troublemakers of their school. Chanyeol had never cared about the girls and only liked to spend his time with his best friend so maybe that was why the girls had been less alert when Chanyeol had talked to other girls. So Sehun thought it was safe to leave Hana in trusted hands when he could not be there for her.

-

                Halfway on his way, Sehun spotted Hana at the side of the road, cycling her pink bicycle. He could not stop but slow down his car and quietly followed her. Many cars honked and took over him, but Sehun just continued his actions. Hana also miraculously did not realise the commotion happening behind her. When Sehun inspected closer, he could see that she had her earphones on. He made a mental note to himself to warn her about it later.

                Minutes passed, they then finally arrived at school, with Hana continuously cycling while Sehun continuously stalking her. After parking and locking her bicycle near the gate, Hana carried her backpack and walked towards the school lobby. She was taken by surprise when two individuals abruptly stopped her.

                “Hi, you’re Ji Hana, right?”

                “I’m Byun Baekhyun.”

                “I’m Park Chanyeol.”

                “You’re the new student, right?”

                “I could see your pink bicycle from here.”

                Hana did not even have the chance to speak, given how the two boys in front of her continuously spluttered things out, back and forth. One of them was tall and lanky, while the other one was small and short, only a few centimetres taller by her. But both of them were equally talkative and both were also sporting a big smile on each of their faces. Hana could only stare at both of them bombarding her with questions as well as compliments. When they finally stopped, she could squeaked out a small, “I’m Ji Hana. Nice to meet you.”

                Just when the both of them looked like they were going to start talking again (which scared Hana by a teeny bit if she was being honest), screams of girls could be heard from where they were standing. The three of them directed their gazes towards the origin of the scream and Hana’s eyes bulged when she saw Sehun walking among the sea of crowd. The girls were all latching at him, but he looked like he had not even an ounce of interest and just kept walking. Hana thought that the expression looked funny on him as how he was always talking and smiling at home.

                “Fallen in love, already?”

                “What?” Hana quickly looked at the two boys, but she was not so sure which one of them had asked her the question before.

                “That’s Oh Sehun, but I’m sure you’ve known that already. He’s the reason why we both are here right now.”

                Hana could not understand a thing about what the tall guy was talking about, although his voice was clear (and very deep).

                “It’s alright though. We would love to help. Would you like a school tour for free?”

                Hana hesitated for a while but decided that maybe it was fine to make friends on the first day. Plus, they still had some time before class started, so she might want to fill it with knowing the school better.

                “I’d love to.”

-

                They went to the basic places, such as the cafeteria, the hall and the labs but they also ended up going to irrelevant places such as the rooftop (Baekhyun likes to sing here, Chanyeol said), the boys’ locker room (Chanyeol spends hours changing here, Baekhyun said) and even the unused classes (we stay here if we decide that class is too boring). When the school bell rang, they finally head to their classroom. Hana was completely delighted when she found out that she would be in the same class as Baekhyun and Chanyeol because at least she already had someone that she knew.

                When she walked into the class, it was really like what she had been imagining, except that the girls and boys were all especially good-looking. She also was pleasantly surprised when she saw Sehun at the back of the class, beside a sleeping Jongin. He was staring at her but quickly averted his eyes when their eyes met. Baekhyun and Chanyeol had both taken their seats, so Hana was left alone at the front corner of the class. She just patiently waited while fidgeting her hands.

                One of the extremely pretty girls suddenly came to Hana, followed by several of her clichés. She momentarily spun Hana around and said, “Why do you have the same backpack as Sehun?”

                Five pairs of eyes coldly stared at her but Hana could not bring herself to say anything. She only opened and closed repeatedly, until the class door opened, and the teacher came in.

                “Okay, everyone. Take your seat. Oh good, the new student’s here.”

                The girls quickly took their seats and Hana could finally breathe again after she unconsciously had been holding her breath.

                When all the students had settled except for Hana, the teacher started again. “Well class. Today we have a new student. Please welcome Ji Hana. Hana, please come forward to say something.”

                Hana timidly moved towards the centre of the front of the class. She wringed her hands nervously before managing to verbalize, “Hi, I’m Ji Hana. Nice to meet you.”

                The class went silent. She could see some of the students smiling at her, but most of them were giving her annoyed gazes, especially the girls. When she saw Sehun, he winked at her and that managed to bring a smile on her face.

                “Is that it?” The teacher asked.

                Hana nodded slightly, not knowing what more should she add.

                “Class, any questions to her?”

                A girl with braided hair raised her hand while shouting, “What do you like to do? As in your hobby or interest?”

                “Umm, I’m not sure, but I enjoy reading.”

                Some of the girls snickered at her response. Hana thought that maybe they considered her as lying but it was true though; she really loved reading.

                “What about something more… interesting?”

                “Well, I also like… singing.”

                The boys cheered her on, while the girls only rolled their eyes. Some of the boys even shouted for her to sing and in the middle of the commotion, she could only look at Sehun. She could see that he was also shocked but seeing her panicked expression, he quickly uttered, “Everyone, stop. Let’s just begin our lesson, shall we, teacher?”

                The teacher agreed and asked her to sit at the empty seat located at the front corner of the class. Before sitting, she turned around at Sehun and caught him mouthing her a ‘Good luck’. That gave her more composure than she had expected.

                “Hi, I’m Bae Suzy,” the girl beside her said while extending her hand.

                “Ji Hana.”

                Suzy was a really beautiful girl with long, black hair and she seemed so nice. “Your seat has consistently been empty and occupied alternately throughout the year. All the new students sat there but they ended up dropping school. But don’t worry, you’ll be just fine.”

                Hana gulped a little at the revelation. This was going to be a long first day.