Minutes Later, 4^th hour was over and the rest of the day flew by. At the end of the school day, Onew was met at his locker with his four other friends and they walked home together.

“How was your first day, hyungs?” Taemin asked his older friends.

Key smirked. “Fabulous.”

Minho sighed. “Average.”

Taemin giggled. “Mine was fun!” he grabbed onto Minho who sluggishly dragged him along all while turning to Jonghyun and Onew.

“How was your first day, hyungs?”

“It was pretty cool.” Jonghyun responded. “I like all my teachers so far, I have classes with all of you guys. Everything is nice.”

“How about you, Onew hyung?”

Onew shrugged. “It was okay. I have most of my classes with some kids I know. The day was okay, I guess.”

“And don’t forget you met a girl.” Jonghyun cooed.

Onew turned to him. “What do you mean!?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb Onew. I saw you wink at that girl you were paired up with in 4^th hour.”

“I only did it out of relief!”

Taemin gasped. “Onew hyung has a girlfriend!? Is she an ulzzang!?” Key and Minho joined in too.

“No way! Alright Onew! Your first girlfriend!” Minho slapped his back.

Key walked next to Onew. “Really? What does she look like? What was she wearing?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend!”

“…….well is she pending?” Key asked.

“I think she’s pending.”

“I wish I had a pending girlfriend!”

Jonghyun snickered. “Okay, okay, guys I might have exaggerated. He’d never date her. They aren’t each other’s type.”

Key scoffed. “Yeah, relationships start out that way. Next thing you know, they’ll be going out, he’ll be buying her things, and she’ll be calling him—”

“Oppa!”

All five boys stopped and turned around to see who was running after them. It was MinYong Lee, a girl they’ve been going to school with for a long time, and her 2 friends RaeIn Kim and YuJin Gong, girls they also remembered from middle school.

MinYong was a petite girl; she had nice creamy white skin and blush that could easily be seen on her cheeks if she was embarrassed or flattered. Long, straight black hair that stopped at her elbows, big bright eyes that changed color almost every day because of her contacts, small pink lips and a cute high pitched voice. She was innocence wrapped in skin. Her friends didn’t exactly match her beauty, but they were still a sight to be seen.

“Hi MinYong!” Taemin waved ecstatically at his noona.

“Hi Taemin! And Jonghyun-oppa…Minho…Key-oppa…Onew-oppa…” she smiled extra bright when mentioning his name.

“Hi MinYong.” Onew responded coolly. “How was your first day?”

“Great, thanks for asking. I’m so happy that I have a class with you. We can catch up from the missed years from 9^th to 11^th grade.”

Onew didn’t remember much from 9^th to 11^th grade. All of his middle school pals were split and it became rare that he’d see anyone from his middle school around him. He didn’t really talk to anyone (other than his 4 peeps whenever he had the occasion). He had a few acquaintances and sat in the back of the class most of the time. 10^th grade and 11^th grade were slightly better than 9^th, but only because he started having classes with his friends. Those weren’t exactly his favorite years.

“Yeah, I guess so…” he nodded towards her and she blushed. “Where are you guys headed?”

“My friends and I were just gonna hit the ice cream parlor and get some sweets. After that, we were heading home.” MinYong told him. “Would guys like to join?”

“Nah. My mom will worry if I don’t come home right away,” Onew responded. “Maybe next time?”

“Sure. So, see you later?” She smiled at him.

“Yeah. Later.” He and the rest of them waved goodbye to MinYong and her friends as they turned the corner.

“Well, hasn’t she gotten cute?” Key stated.

“What’s so cute about her?” Jonghyun growled, slightly pouting towards Key.

Minho scoffed. “Everything. She’s gotten taller….more matured….ier. And she’s developed feelings for Onew hyung.” He nudged the oldest’s shoulder. Onew angrily grimaced towards him. “What are you talking about!?”

“Oh hyung,” Taemin joined in, “it was pretty obvious.” He closed his eyes and sang, “♪Noona thinks you’re prettyyyyy♫…”, then sneered at Jonghyun, referencing the song that he made up in the 8^th grade called “Noona you’re so pretty”.

“Shut up Taemin, it was a good song!” He screamed in his native language, and punched the younger in the shoulder.

“Ow! Whatever, MinYong noona still likes Onew hyung!”

“She does NOT like me.” Onew protested.

Key stepped in. “Let’s be real though, Onew. If she liked you, would you mind going out with her?”

Onew thought for a moment. She was a nice person. She didn’t have any flaws, as far as he knew. And she was kind of cute.

“I guess if I got to know her…..” He responded while flushing a little.

All 4 of the boys “ooed” at his confession.

“Stop it!” Onew yelled while flushing more.

The guys turned a corner and entered their neighborhood. The sun was settling and the sky was covered in golden-pink rays with splashes of bluing-white clouds with silver linings. One by one when passing their homes, each boy broke off, waving good bye to the rest and entering their houses until Onew and Jonghyun were the only ones left.

They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the cool air on their cheeks and the autumn leaves floating past them whenever the wind decided to come by.

Onew took this time to think to himself some more before Jonghyun’s voice shattered his intangible world.

“That girl you were talking to today was pretty interesting. You looked like you were having fun with her.”

Onew curved one eyebrow. “Yeah, if you say so. You should have been focusing on your peer that you were paired with instead of mine.”

Jonghyun snickered softly. “I couldn’t help it. I kept looking over at you because I’ve never seen you look so comfortable with someone who wasn’t Korean…or Asian in general.”

Onew stopped his walking, but Jonghyun continued on and to his driveway, then entered his porch to get to the front door of his house.

“Goodnight,” he called out to Onew, while unlocking his door and disappearing behind it.

Onew didn’t move, nor respond back to Jonghyun. He just kept standing in the same spot. What Jonghyun had said to him was true. Onew himself knew that he had never felt more comfortable with someone of a different ethnicity. Today was the first time he’d ever asked anyone what their name was first…the first time he held a conversation that lasted as long as theirs did….the first time he winked at a girl!!!

That girl he met—Ary—she had some type of chemistry with him...made him feel like he was at home…she had something that shone throughout her…something that was making Onew relaxed.

And for some reason, it interested him immensely.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note:

For anyone who doesn't know:

Ulzzang: "best face" in Korean. Ususally a person with pure white skin, big eyes, and small lips are considered ulzzangs.

Oppa: "Older brother" in Korean. It is what a girl calls a guy that is older than him.

Noona: "Older sister" in Korean. It is what a guy calls a girl that is older than him.

Subscibe, Upvote, Comment!