Miss Chung’s class was surprisingly empty during the lunch hour. Seul would’ve guessed that this young, beautiful teacher would’ve had students flocking to her room. But she didn’t complain, as it made concentrating on grading the papers a lot easier.

“I had them write short stories this week,” Miss Chung said, quickly reading over one of them, “I thought it would be something fun for them.”

“But some of these are pretty awful,” Seul replied as she corrected yet another grammar mistake on someone’s poorly written story.

Miss Chung let out a bubbly laugh. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”

She thought she was going to drop down several IQ points if she had to keep looking through these when she finally got to Jiyong’s.  She hesitated before picking it up. She had a feeling that something in it would make her feel flustered or confused about how she felt towards him (which was already confusing enough). But she grabbed it anyways.

In a tower, seated upon the highest hill in all the land, lived a princess. She wasn’t just any ordinary princess. Though most are revered for their beauty, she was the most beautiful of them all. She was the smartest, the funniest, the most clever and she was also the kindest. Because she was too beautiful to live amongst the common folk, they built her a castle suited for someone of her grace and majesty. 
One day, a beggar who was traveling across the land in search of food and shelter passed by the castle. He knocked three times on the door and was greeted by a kind prince who gave him food. The one condition was that he never try to woo the princess who is sought after by most every man in the kingdom. Having never seen the princess, and having not eaten for many days, the beggar agreed. He took the food and left the castle. However, he was curious as to who this princess was. A princess so lovely that everyone who saw her wished to have her as their own.

“Fair princess!” the beggar called, “Grace my sore eyes with your beauty!”

Curious as to who called her, the princess approached the window to see the beggar. He was at once captivated by her. Beautiful was not the proper word describe her but it was the only one at his disposal. Her long black hair fell in cascades around her soft face and her deep, brown eyes smiled along with her as she gazed upon him. He was at once in love with her.

Then, as if a requirement, there was yet another one of his sketches of Seul at the bottom of the page. Miss Chung peeked over at the paper Seul was reading so intently and a smile slipped onto her face.

“That’s so beautiful,” she says, clearly taken away, “Are you sure you two aren’t dating?”

“I’m 100% sure,” Seul says though she is still engulfed in the world Jiyong has created on the paper.

“Are you sure? Because I have much more evidence to prove otherwise.”

Before Seul could answer her, there were shouts heard from the courtyard. They both exchanged worried looks before racing out there. Some of the kids from the rival school had made it on campus. Seul squinted at the two who were actually doing the fighting and her eyes widened when she saw who it was: Jiyong and Lee Seunghyun. 
She remembered him from middle school. He was the really sweet kid who sat behind her in class and could never look her in the eye. That he’d turned out like this was kind of heartbreaking.

The two fought viciously as the crowd around them continued to grow. Jiyong seemed to be winning however, making most of the hits. Seunghyun punches him and his nose starts bleeding. Seul can’t stand the sight of the blood.

“Jiyong, stop!” she calls out.

Both boys pause. Jiyong looks as though he is struggling with something inside of himself. She can see the conflict in his eyes. Seunghyun can barely even look at her.

“All of you boys get off school grounds before I call the cops!” Miss Chung yells as she shoos them off.

“Are you alright?” Seul asks, rushing over to his side, “Of course you’re not. You’re bleeding all over.”

She goes to wipe it with a handkerchief that was tucked in her pocket but he gently pushes her hand away. She stares at his knuckles on her hand. They’re black and blue. He notices and sighs. “I’m alright, Seul.”

Seeing him all beat up causes her to feel a strange clenching in her chest. “I’m taking you to the nurse.”

And before he can protest, she pulls him away.