"Uh, Mr. Kwong?"

The old teacher let out an inaudible sigh as he recognized the voice.

"Yes, Mirae?" he asked, turning around from the whiteboard.

"Could you repeat the last step please?"

The class let out a collective groan, and a few "Not again"s and "How is she so dumb"s were heard. Mirae ignored them and put her full attention to the board as she desperately tried to figure out how the math lesson worked.

"Sure. You start by taking the inverse of the tangent and..."

Mirae followed the teacher's explanation with rapt attention, but found herself getting lost once again. By the end of the explanation she was just as lost as before. She finished copying the notes and decided to just go over them later with Hwayoung like usual. 

Hwayoung was Mirae's best and only friend, and Mirae was so grateful for that. One might ask why Mirae does't have any friends. Well, there are quite a few reasons, and they all stem from Mirae's ability. And her lack thereof.

Mirae's ability was quite phenomenal, but it caused her to lack in other areas. Like...school. Getting her to understand various concepts in math, science, or language was almost impossible. At a young age she was teased for being 'stupid', and bounced around with multiple tutors, all eventually quitting on her because she just couldn't get it. 

So how did she get into such a prestigious school as SM High? AND with a scholarship? That was all thanks to her ability. And thus she was able to go to one of the best high schools in South Korea. However, her 'stupidity' was still a problem. After almost failing all her classes, the school set her up with a tutor, Hwayoung. Much to Mirae's fortune, Hwayoung was different. She was kind, patient, and was willing to work with Mirae at all of her conveniences. The two also became very close friends, and so the two had a very strong friendship.

Unfortunately, Mirae wasn't able to meet with Hwayoung very often. Hwayoung was involved in many things, and her schedule was often packed. Mirae, living very poor as it was, had to work an outside job. Pair that with incessant studying every night AND practicing, how could she ever have time for friends?

"Did you see how much homework Ms. Lee gave out? It's ridiculous! I don't have time for it!"

"Baekhyun you have more time in the world, you are just lazy," Chanyeol said as he stuffed his face with a huge piece of kimchi. It was lunch time and, as usual, the EXO boys sat at their table in the cafeteria.

"YOU are not one to be talking about lazy!" Baekhyun retorted.

"I never said I wasn't," Chanyeol replied, causing some spit to fly across the table directly onto Kyungsoo.

"CHANYEOL!"

"Yeees?" Chanyeol asked with his signature smile.

"I'm going to kill you one of these days," Kyungsoo said, wiping his face from Chanyeol's sloppiness.

"You've only said that a thousand times and I'm still here!"

"You shouldn't joke about that," Suho smirked. "Who knows what our little Satansoo is capable of-"

"I am not little-"

"Just eat your rice," Chanyeol said.

"Yah guys look whose finally back from math class," Baekhyun exclaimed as their two friends, Kai and Sehun, joined them at the table.

Sehun plopped down at the table with an annoyed look on his face with Kai following behind rather quietly. "This is the third time this week we had to stay late, all because of that stupid Mirae," Sehun whined.

"At least she's better than Baekhyun," Chanyeol mused.

"MWOH? I'm not stupid!"

"True, but you are so lazy. At least she actually tries."

"You woudn't be saying that so nicely if you were stuck behind in math class with her almost every day," Sehun chided.

"Maybe, which is why I'm thankful I'm not. Even if it means being stuck in class with this loser," Chanyeol pointed to Baekhyun.

Before Baekhyun could fire back a retort, Kyungsoo spoke up. "Yah, Kai. Why are you so quiet?"

Kai quickly stopped staring at his food and looked up at his friend. "Uh-"

"Were you sleeping in math class again?" Baekhyun asked in exasperation.

Chanyeol snickered. "He sleeps in practically every class. I don't know how you can even pass all your classes. But then again, Baekhyun passes and he is so-"

"Yah Chanyeol you better shut your mouth before I shut it for you!"

Kyungsoo smirked. "With what, your lips?"

"KYUNGSOO YOU LITTLE DEVIL SPAWN DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!"

The rest of the boys laughed at the angry Baekhyun- all except Kai, who simply sat there, playing with his food.

Mirae left the school grounds and headed for the bus stop after school when she suddenly heard Big Bang's Fantastic Baby playing from her pocket, meaning someone was calling her.

"Hey Hwayoung!" she said after looking at the caller ID.

"Hey Mirae..."

"What's with the sad tone?"

"Look I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to come over tonight. My parents are making me go to some special dinner thing and we're leaving at 7. I'm really sorry..."

Mirae sighed as she knew she would have to spend another sleepless night studying. "It's okay, I can't expect you to always be available. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"You're so understanding Mirae. Wish I were like that. Anyways yeah I'll see you tomorrow...and again I'm so sorry!"

"I already told you it's fine. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay bye!"

"Bye," and with that Mirae sadly hung up her phone and boarded her bus and headed to work.

"Mirae, Jonghyun called in sick, can you work late today?"

Mirae sighed. She had homework, but at the same time, she needed the money.

"Sure Leeteuk." Considering she wasn't meeting Hwayoung later, she decided on staying. Jeongsu, otherwise known as Leeteuk, was Mirae's manager at the busy cafe that she worked at. Manning the counter, waitressing, cleaning and restocking, Mirae did it all, which is why she often came home exhausted. The things this girl did for money...

"Mirae you should get going, I'll close up tonight."

"Are you sure Minho? I can do-"

"Nah it's fine. Besides, you got school tomorrow."

It was 11, which meant the cafe was closing, and with that cleaning began.

"Alright, thanks Oppa."

Mirae smiled as she took off her apron and hung it on the hook in the back. Minho was like the older brother she never had, and was always looking out for her. 

"Do you have a ride home?" Minho asked as Mirae grabbed her coat.

"No, I'll just walk home."

Minho frowned. It was always like this. No matter how late Mirae stayed, she insisted on walking home. 

"Mirae-ah, you really shouldn't be walking home alone."

Mirae rolled her eyes. It was always like this. No matter how many times she walked home alone, Minho would always nag her about it.

"I'll be fine. See you tomorrow Oppa."

"Fine, but text me as soon as you get home okay?"

"I will!" Mirae called as she walked out the swinging door.

"Aish, this girl..." Minho grumbled, his eyes still lingering on the door.

As usual, Mirae got home just fine and made her way to her room. She passed her Father's room to find him sleeping, also normal. After sending a quick Back at home :D text to Minho, she grabbed her backpack and began going over her math notes. Half an hour...one hour...finally two hours had passed and while she did make progress, it was minimal.

"Why does this have to be so hard?!" she sighed frustradedly. She glanced at her clock- 1:30. 

I'm going to be exhausted tomorrow...I better just go to bed...

And with that, she crawled into her small bed and immediately drifted off to sleep.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First chapter!! Hi guys :D

Yeah not much happened, this is just a setup. But more will happen next chapter I promise!

Also I will never go into detail about what Mirae looks like, because she can look like anyone you want her to. (Doesn't have to be Korean/Asian) But anyways next chapter will be up soon! :D Leave a comment ~~~~~~ ♥