Jaemi and Chanyeol both nodded.

“Well like you said, it’s the principal! I, of course needs to show some self awareness, unless two of us are alone,” he said seductively and immediately got a whack on the head.

“Enough, lesson’s about to start. See you after school.” She waved and Chanyeol nodded, waving.

A female student walked into the school. Once she walked up the stairs, she immediately tripped on her first step and a pair of hands reached out for her, holding her up.

She looked behind her and saw Chanyeol, smiling at her. “Are you alright?” he asked. His smooth, gentle voice that instantly made her heart flutter. His dark brown hair that was gelled up and his big innocent sparkly eyes made her heart race.

She smiled and nodded. “I-I’m fine, thank you.”

Chanyeol nodded and smiled. “Be careful, you almost fell on me,” he said and walked away, shaking his head. *She’s cute, but crazy.*

Saera looked at his back view and she sighed, dreamily looking at him.

Now that was love at first sight for Saera. Kang Saera.

Chanyeol stopped in his tracks and turned to look back at the female student. "I've never seen her before, is she, Kang Saera?”

But that girl was no longer in sight and he shrugged, walking away.

---

What happened next, was Jaemi frantically looking for Chanyeol, calling him texting him and she could say she was about to blow her top.

“Park Chanyeol! You’re supposed to meet Kang Saera!”

“Alright! Alright! I’m going to-“

“Don’t need to! She’s in the medical room.”

“Medical room?!” Chanyeol shrieked, and he stopped in his tracks at the staircase.

--

Jaemi and Chanyeol exchanged glances as they scooted closer to each other. “So, she’s Saera?” Jaemi asked and he nodded.  “I met her in the morning, and she’s a bit crazy in the head.”

“Crazy? She looks fine, and pretty too.”

“Well, she looks fairly well, but her gaze, it just freaks me out. She looks at me like some kind of food that she’s going to have for dinner,” he whispered and Jaemi stifled a laugh.

Saera sipped on her water, her gaze never leaving Chanyeol’s face and she bit back a smile, her cheeks burning red.

Chanyeol whispered into Jaemi’s ear. “Now do you see that? Look at her gaze!”

“You think she’s molesting you, with her eyes?” she whispered and Chanyeol shuddered. “More like !”

Jaemi stifled a laugh and Saera looked at the both of them, pouting.

“Saera, are you alright?” Teacher Shin asked concernly and Saera nodding her head, smiling. “Thank you, Teacher Shin,” she said softly and chuckled, scratching her head. “I didn’t know I was so weak. Just a fall and I sprained my ankle,” she joked and Chanyeol shook his head, snorting. *Look at her, she looks so frail, so, weak.*

*You really have nothing nice to say, do you?* Jaemi rolled her eyes.

He cleared his throat. “Uhm, Saera?” he asked and her eyes lit up, her cheeks already blushing. “Ye-yes?”

Chanyeol blinked and cleared his throat. “Well, I was just wondering when will your parents be-“

“Oh my! Omma!” She jumped and blinked. “Well, for that..”

“Ah yes, I forgot to tell you why you came here, Chanyeol, Jaemi,” Teach Shin said and faced them. “Chanyeol, Jaemi. I need the both of you to go to Saera’s parents’ office to collect her particulars. Today’s the deadline, and we need the complete set of it.”

Chanyeol and Jaemi walked along the streets, looking for a taxi and they sighed. “Aish, that Saera really is trouble. Irresponsible, lazy, clumsy, weak, fragile!”

“Suits you,” Jaemi joked and Chanyeol gulped, gawking at her. “No! Never! She’s not my cup of tea.”

“She really is trouble. Going up to her parents’ office in this weather, and now it’s peak hour! She’s really causing chaos in just a day!” Chanyeol groaned.

Jaemi fanned herself and looked around. “Shut up and just find a taxi.”

They reached the office after an hour and were sent back down to find a taxi to get back to school after collecting the complete file of Saera’s particulars.

“Seriously? No drink? No water? At least give us a cup of tea! We spent money on taxi fare, went up to their office to grab their daughter’s particulars and they just sent us-“

“Hey, who’s that Saera anyway?” Jaemi asked. Chanyeol tapped his chin and opened the file. “Kang Saera. On a transferred program from Korea International Boarding School to Seoul High for 3 months. Kang Haenim, and Lee Jungin are her parents. The father is a barrister, and the mother is a director in Korea National Hospital. Wow. And yet they have a frail, weak and clumsy girl, how ironic.”

Chanyeol closed the file and sighed, walking towards the bus stop with Jaemi. “It’s getting dark, we better head back to school soon,” he said and Jaemi nodded.

A familiar looking guy caught Jaemi’s eyes.  Her eyes widened and she squinted her eyes, looking at him across the street.

He was in his forties, walking with a woman, his arm slung around the woman’s shoulder and they were chatting happily, walking towards Jaemi’s direction, oblivious to the fact that Jaemi was glaring at them.

As the couple crossed the road, the woman brushed past her shoulder and continued walking, oblivious to the fact of her existence.

She frowned and clenched her fists tightly, while Chanyeol was looking at the directions on the board.

“Yah, Jaemi, which bus do you think we should take?” Chanyeol asked.

“Bastard,” Jaemi muttered under her breath and stomped away.

Chanyeol blinked in surprise and quickly chase after her. “Yah! Where are you going! I was just asking for directions!” He caught up with her and held onto her wrist, stopping her.

She stopped in her tracks and glared at Chanyeol while his eyes widened, gulping. “Yah.. Yah.. I didn’t do anything..” his voice faltered and it was immediately replaced with a yelp and a groan. Jaemi kicked his knee and stomped off.

Chanyeol immediately chased after her, clutching onto one of his leg as he hopped towards her.

She stopped in her tracks and turned around. “I warn you, don’t follow me,” she hissed, pointing a finger at him and turned, continue walking.

Jaemi walked on the streets, with Chanyeol ignoring her orders, always at her trail.

She didn’t know how far she walked, and how long she walked until she was tired and hungry. She looked up at the sky. It was already dark.

After a few hours of walking, she didn't feel as mad as before. And once she calmed down, she turned around, walking towards Chanyeol. “I’m hungry,” she said and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “We ran out of money. While I was behind you, I used up all the money on food,” he said guiltily.

Jaemi bit her lip and screamed, beating Chanyeol up.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! I’m sorry!”

“All men are irresponsible!” she screamed and fell to the ground.

Chanyeol blinked in surprise. Somehow, he felt that Jaemi wasn’t referring to him.

He crouched down, looking down at Jaemi. "What exactly happened?” Chanyeol asked, sitting on a bench beside the pier.

She sighed and looked at the sea. “I saw my father on the streets just now,” she said and he nodded. “What’s so surprising to see your father-“

“I didn’t see him for ten years after he abandoned the family for another woman.”

Chanyeol gulped.

“It’s alright.”

She took in a deep breath and sighed. “When I was seven, that man, he took everything valuable in the house and left my mother, my sister and me. We begged him not to go, but he didn’t even look at us and just kicked us to one side," she said in bitterness.

"I remembered looking out of the window, seeing him board a taxi with a woman in his arm,” she said and scoffed. "He left us for a woman.”

“After that incident, my mum, she fell sick and died, leaving my sister and me alone.” She looked down at her clenched fists and hit the bench. “I was only seven! My sis was only sixteen and she had to go out to work! That bastard could leave us without feeling guilty or even saying a sorry! He's.. He's heartless!” she shouted and Chanyeol jumped..

“Today I saw him on the streets,” she scoffed. “With another woman. I have no idea for these past ten years how many women has he changed.” She closed her eyes, the anger and hatred for him for ten years was building up, about to explode. “I hate him. I hate him to the core!” she screamed and immediately hit on Chanyeol’s shoulder profusely.

Chanyeol winced and turned his back on her. “Okay, okay, just hit me. If that makes you feel better, then just hit me.”

Jaemi screamed and hit his back profusely, her tears slowly forming in her eyes and she stopped when she felt her hands going numb.

“I hate him to the core. I hate him for everything. I hate his guts, I hate him so much. I hate him because he left me, my sister, and my mother..” She softened and the tears trickled down her cheeks. “I just hate him so much that I don’t understand why I have this type of father!” she screamed. “I hope he will just jump down the roof or get caught by police and just rot in jail!”

“Why are you so evil?” Chanyeol asked and she glared at him, then sat down. “It’s just a form of expression, “ she said and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

She took in a deep breath shakily and calmed herself down. “Hey, thanks for listening to me,” she said and Chanyeol smiled. “Welcome."At that point of time, he slowly lifted his arm, he wanted to reach for her shoulder and embrace her with a hug. But he didn't dare to.

Jaemi stood up and took in a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To school.”

“It’s late. You will just end up losing your way. Plus the school gate should be close by now,” Chanyeol said. Jaemi frowned. “Then what are we supposed to do?” she asked and he sighed. “Wait till the next morning.”

“What?!”

“Sit down,” Chanyeol said and pulled her down.

They both looked up at the night sky. It’s been a long time since they could enjoy the night sky together. The wind blew and they could feel so free. Free from the world, free from the trouble.

Jaemi closed her eyes and let her mind at rest.Chanyeol turned to his right. He curled a strand of hair behind her ear and softly sighed. If he could do something more to make her feel assured, wouldn't that be great?

They slowly fell asleep, and Chanyeol took off his blazer, big enough to cover both of them as they tucked themselves in, Jaemi’s head resting on his shoulder and he rested his head on her head, both of them sleeping soundly with the sound of the waves acting as their lullaby.

-----