It wasn’t, like, Krystal was waiting for Monday to come, but, well, it wasn’t, like, she didn’t wait for it… She was still aware of the rumor, but every time she remembered that little peck on her forehead… On the other note, maybe she wasn’t ready for Monday to come at all. But the new dress she chose to wear on that day.

Blushing, Krystal inspected the happy girl in the mirror, a girl who wore makeup (this time quite nicely). Without a reason, she just wanted to swirl around, and swirl, and swirl…

“Krystal, we’re gonna be late!”

Distracted and embarrassed, the girl quickly grabbed her leather black backpack and ran downstairs towards her waiting older brother. He already drove Jungkook to the school since it was on the opposite direction than Krystal’s, so she always got more time to sleep than the youngest Jung sibling. This time, however, she was on the verge of being late. Not that Jaejoong could be surprised, while looking at his ‘baby sister’.

“What’s the occasion?” he raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Krystal’s cheeks didn’t forget to become red. “What are you talking about? Just drive me to school, stupid,” she pinched his arm, just like usual Krystal would. Though this time even the pinch was gentler and Jaejoong took notice of it.

When the car drove through the familiar rode, the brother couldn’t help but ask:

“Do you have a crush on someone?”

“What?!” the passenger shouted into his ear.

“You can tell me,” he smiled bitterly, his overprotection kicking in, “I was surprised when I heard you were crushing on the boy your best friend went on a date with.”

Krystal heaved a sign. “It was a long time ago, just a nice impression of him, nothing really serious.”

Jaejoong caught another meaning, though: “So it is something more serious now?”

Now knowing how to retort, the girl cursed at her brother, telling him how dumb he must be to even think any boy at her school would be good enough for her.

“That’s the thing- I don’t believe any of the kids there are worthy of you,” the brother looked at his sister straight in the eyes once the car stopped by her school. “I want to meet this guy.”

Krystal was quick to exit the car. “There is no guy! Bye!”

Still doubtful, the brother watched as his most beloved girl in the world entered the building, alone. Somewhat relieved that nobody came to meet her at the gates, a smile reappeared on his handsome face and he drove off to the restaurant he just begun working a part-time job.

*

Sulli proposed an idea at the lunch break: “How about we skip the next lesson? I haven’t done any assigned work for today. What do you say?”

“I better not skip it today,” Krystal unexpectedly announced, first time ever in their shared history refusing to skip a lesson.

The taller girl with really curly hair and big, dolly eyes didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Are you serious? You want to leave me on my own on this?”

Krystal looked up from her plate, “You can say it’s a payback for all the times you left me rot alone at school.”

The friend wasn’t buying it. “What’s gotten into you? I thought that after Friday’s rumor… You still want to hang around school after every one is talking behind your back?”

“Thanks for reminding me,” the black haired student glared, “But someone reminded that it’s not the first time someone must be talking about me.” At the memory of such talk, the girl’s cheeks immediately tinted pinkish.

“Um, yeah it is.” Sulli disagreed straightforwardly, “No such rumor has been spread across the school for years. It can destroy your reputation.”

All the confidence Krystal had suddenly disappeared in a blink. Maybe she should skip some lessons today after all.

“I don’t want to sadden you,” Sulli let out a deep breath after noting how dark her best friend’s eyes got. “But for the time being, you should be careful. If last Friday those s wondered who the rumored teacher was, today they all know it is Mr. Tuan. Be careful around him, avoid him at all cost.”

“Heh,” Krystal smiled a bit at her pal, “you said ‘s’.”

When Sulli glared, Krystal also added, “Okay, I’ll be cautious.”

“But then again, do you have anything to be careful about?” the look on the taller girl’s face was unreadable; was the girl concerned, a bit happy or even angry?

“Nope.” Krystal bit into her bagel. “Nothing at all.”

*

“Ready?” Sulli asked before opening the door.

“For Pete’s sake just open the god damned door!”

Smiling, the brown haired girl did as requested and went in after Krystal. Not surprisingly, everyone’s eyes were on the first girl, even the teacher’s. But not for the reason the two expected.

Walking into the class, Krystal caught everyone’s attention with short, dark blue leather dress with no sleeves. Sides were black colored, creating some sort of illusion of even tinier waist, something most girls wish to possess. The girl’s usual sneakers were traded into slightly heeled black shoes. Her eyes enhanced with eyeliner, eyelashes curled and lips plump and slightly orange-pink, the female amazed her classmates with how beautiful she actually is.

Some of the boys who have seen her today before the lesson, were elbowing their friends just to murmur ‘I said so,’ then going back to goggle at the girl.

Even Krystal’s seatmate, Myungsoo, couldn’t really contain his surprise. His usual cold demeanor was totally crushed the moment she sat beside him. He forgot to even breathe for a moment when their eyes locked.

“What?” her voice brought him back to reality; it was just his usual Krystal, the mean and un-girly classmate of his. To be precise, it was her modified version. A version of Krystal Myungsoo wasn’t sure he liked anymore from the moment he looked back at the other classmates and saw them all eyeing the girl non-stop.

Krystal had to admit, she really felt uncomfortable with so much attention. But being the dense and inexperienced girl she was, she misunderstood the situation a hundred percent. The female student started wondering what she could do for the rumor to end and for her to go back to her position in class. She missed being the one to act mean towards the others. Towards Myungsoo, actually. Maybe going back to her seat could help her situation even a little bit? Her past seat was in the very back of the classroom, and unnoticed seat…

As she was lost in thought, neither of the males in the class stopped looking at her. Not even the teacher himself. His simple white shirt wholly buttoned this time, a dark blue tie (coincidentally the same color as Krystal’s leather dress) suddenly preventing him to breathe properly, his hands sweating and Adam’s apple moving up and down as he gulped every now and then. He was usually pretty composed and knew how to act according to every situation. But not this time. And never with Krystal. This girl just knew how to throw him out of his comfort zone. But was he concerned about it? Not yet. Not when his interest just became bigger than ever.

When the teacher regained his composure whatsoever, his voice wasn’t as loud as it was every lesson, though the huskiness was still evident in it. And if anyone really would pay attention to him, they would notice that even how much he tried to stay calm, his voice, his eyes and his composure said otherwise. But nobody cared about it, even after the rumor spread about the couple. Not when Krystal was sitting at the front of the class, right before everyone’s sight. Just her back made the boys swoon over her.

“What a transformation,” Sulli snarled upon hearing Jay Park say to his friend, who was Sulli’s seatmate.

The seatmate disagreed, gaining some approval from the earsdropping female, “She was always so beautiful to begin with, but nobody really noticed it.”

Jay Park just silently leaned back on his seat, wondering what inspired such change and if the good change stays for a while.

Once the long period was over, Krystal and Sulli were the last ones to leave.

“Teacher,” Krystal’s cheeks tinted red, “I was wondering if I could go back to my seat in the back.”

Mark couldn’t contain his smirk. It seemed like a déjà vu. “I’ll think about it.”

“But teacher~” Krystal cutely pleaded, gaining a questioning look from her best friend behind her. Krystal may have not noticed, but she was acting too friendly towards the young teacher for her own good.

Turning around to pick some papers, Mr. Tuan repeated, this time more strictly, “I said I’ll think about it.”

Confused by such change in behavior, Krystal hesitantly turned around and exited the class.

While walking the hallway, she was too preoccupied to notice the stares she was given from various boys. “What’s up with him?” she asked herself, worried if it had something to do with her.

“I told you to stay wary of what you say and do towards him,” Sulli reprimanded her best friend.

“All I did was ask to return to my seat,” Krystal looked confused.

Sulli finally let herself to roll her eyes; an act the shorter girl couldn’t leave unnoticed. Receiving a light punch on her left, the curly haired girl explained, “Your tone and way of speaking has become too familiar, Krystal. If there was anyone else in class besides us, they might have misunderstood it as flirting. For the uncountable time today, I repeat- stay cautious.”

“So I’m the biggest trouble right now…” Krystal’s mind trailer off into wondering how to avoid having any more misunderstandings.

*

By the time Thursday came, Krystal has become school’s celebrity. Still unknown to her (Sulli didn’t bother to enlighten her friend about it), it wasn’t just because of a rumor. Actually, the rumor has been quite forgotten as everyone just talked about how beautiful the girl actually was. Nowadays many boys even addressed the said girl as goddess/miss gorgeous and other praises were thrown her way. None really called her that in front of her though, so she had no idea about it.

Besides thinking how to completely destroy the rumor about her and Mr. Tuan (it was already almost gone), how to return to their teacher-student relationship, Krystal had one more thing to worry about. She had nothing to wear for tomorrow’s ball.

Apparently her friend had the same problem, as she was the one to bring the topic in literature class. “We need to go shopping ASAP. The ball is a mere day away.”

“I was wondering if I should ask Hyuna to help us out,” Krystal revealed her plan for tonight.

“Why haven’t you texted her yet, then?!” Sulli was furious at her friend’s lack of understanding of the situation they are in. When the other girl finally sent the message, Sulli noted something else. “How strange.”

“What is?”

“You have another friend now. I thought I’ll have to stick with you till the day either of us dies.”

Krystal looked incredibly at her bestie. “Even I sometimes am surprised how cold of a person you truly are. And Hyuna is not my friend.”

“You meet up, go shopping together, what do you mean you aren’t friends? Aish, stop joking around.”

Right when Krystal was ready to retort about Sulli having other friends on her own, she received a response from Hyuna.

“Is five o’clock alright with you?” she asked Sulli.

“Yeah, sure. Come pick me up, though, if you can, since my parents will be busy for tomorrow’s trip.”

“Oh yeah, don’t forget to bring your toothbrush and other stuff at my place before the ball.”

“I know. It’s not my first time having a sleepover.”

Just now Krystal noticed how similar character-wise her best friend and her youngest sibling were. Both sassy as hell.

*

Skipping through the halls (they were in a good mood because of the upcoming shopping marathon), both Krystal and Sulli chatted about tomorrow’s ball non-stop. As they were passing on of the Math’s class, Krystal’s eyes caught something new.

A boy one grade lower than the female, passed her really slowly, his eyes glued onto the senior for a whole minute. When she glanced him right in the eyes, he fastened his pace and disappeared in the busy hall. Something so exciting never happened to Krystal before.

“Was it just my imagination or he was totally checking me out?”

Sulli rolled her eyes. This time, she actually had to agree with her friend.

When she didn’t retort anything in a smart- manner, the girl in a tiny white crystal embroidered dress gleefully grinned. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

This is exactly why Sulli wasn’t keen on informing her friend about the latter’s rise in popularity. Krystal might get too full of herself if any of this continues on any longer.

“I really love your change in style,” Sulli glanced at her pal, “but how did you decide on it?”

Krystal’s face flushed pink. “As I told you last time, Hyuna was the one to come up with this girlish style.”

“I was trying to convince you to lose those jeans for two years, so don’t bull me it’s all Hyuna’s doing.”

“Okay,” the girl with jet black hair shushed her friend and stopped by the wall near their next class. “I finally have a guy I want to impress.” Her face now scarlet red, Krystal cupped her face trying to calm her nerves.

Sulli somehow expected such an answer, but hearing it for real excited her too much to remain composed. Almost jumping in her spot, she didn’t know whether to hug or kick her friend, “Finally! Who is it?!”

“I can’t tell you yet,” the shorter one smiled apologetically.

“So your folder of handsome schoolmates will be deleted now?” joking, Sulli let her friend to change the topic. She knew it was hard for Krystal to talk about any of this. They haven’t had such talk in years!

“No!” Krystal chuckled, joking back, “The folder is for my daily dose of eye-candy. No crush can change that!”

*

The next few hours passed on pretty quickly. Listening to Christmas’ songs all afternoon, Krystal’s good mood got even better. When the brother’s came back from Jungkook’s school, both found the sister bundled up in her room, lights turned off, candles lit up on every available spot, the girl herself looking at some make up tutorials for the ball. Amazed by such girly atmosphere, they didn’t intrude her much, only Jungkook bringing her requested hot chocolate from time to time.

The youngest sibling voiced out his worries while walking downstairs, “Has something happened to her? She wasn’t so much into Christmas even when we were kids.”

“Don’t freak out,” Jaejoong looked glum all of a sudden, “but I think she has a crush.”

As both of the Jung brothers were known for overprotectiveness of their sister, Jungkook didn’t take the news lightly.

“Who? WHO?!” He was about to rush to the said girl’s room when his brother stopped him.

He had the whole day to think this through, as he said, “She’s eighteen. I think we all forgot about it. She never brought a boyfriend to our home. I think it’s about time it happens.”

The youngest sibling wasn’t as accepting of the idea of his sister being in a relationship as Jaejoong.

“You don’t have a girlfriend, I don’t either, so she doesn’t need anyone either,” Jungkook made his brother laugh at such childish mindset.

“Even you know how ridiculous that sounds. Besides, I had brought my past girlfriends home, furthermore, if Krystal really has a crush, what can we do about it?”

Jungkook pouted in the most adorable way only the Jungs were able to do.

The older boy continued, “Don’t you have anyone you want to date nowadays?”

“If I did, do you think I would ask my only sister to accompany me to an all-boys school’s celebration?”

“Jae, Kookie~” Krystal appeared on the top of the stairs. “Could you make me another cup of hot chocolate?”

“Sure,” Jaejoong smiled at their beloved sister, “But Princess, isn’t it about time I drive you to the mall?”

“Oh, right!” Krystal quickly dashed to her room, not before shouting, “I’ll be downstairs in five minutes!”

“See?” Jaejoong turned to the youngster in front of him, “She doesn’t like being called like that. Her mind is in a Wonderland.”

*

The next day went by too slowly for Krystal’s liking. Well, since it was the last day in school before winter holiday, not much work could be done in classes, even for seniors. Most of the teachers gave up even calming down the classroom, as literally everyone couldn’t contain their happiness of not having to see the school for the rest of the year (a mere week, but still). Krystal was no exception; chirping to her friend about today’s ball and the upcoming Christmas’ party their family is organizing, she couldn’t be happier. Full with Christmas’ spirit since the start of the week, the girl chatted with almost everyone in her class that day. As she was too preoccupied with her thoughts, a thought of how many times she gave her telephone number away in the past hours never really occurred to her. At least she wasn’t getting ahead of herself as Sulli feared, the friend felt relieved.

“The dress is the bomb,” Hyuna gleefully announced to Sulli who was choosing shoes for herself while Krystal was in the changing booth.

“What do you think about these?” Sulli turned to the older girl for advice. “Black heels fit every dress, right?”

“You should ask Victoria. She’s helping Krystal right now.”

Oh yeah. Who’s Victoria again? Sulli tried to remember how she met this other woman today.

Apparently Victoria was one clothes shop’s worker that helped Krystal and Hyuna the other day. After the mentioned meeting with the worker, Hyuna accidentally bumped to her the other day and somehow exchanged contacts. Strange, but still. Once Krystal messaged Hyuna about today’s meeting, she thought it was a good idea to ask Victoria to help out finding the best dresses for the ball.

It turned out really great, actually, as Victoria came out to be of a big help to the two teenagers.

“However, I think your dress calls for… something lighter colored.” Picking up another pair of heels, Hyuna handed them to Sulli, smiling, “My intuition tells me these ones would be way better.”

“You know, Hyuna is pretty cool.”

Krystal looked at her friend as if at some sort of unheard of creature.

Sulli tried to explain, “Yesterday she helped me out a lot with accessories, and we also chatted quite a lot too. She is a really gorgeous and cute woman.”

“Are you girl-crushing on her right now?” Krystal teased.

“Maybe,” Sulli accepted the idea. “Can you blame me?”

Krystal smirked, “What do you think about her wardrobe?”

“It’s really classy and elegant. What about it?”

“I chose it for her,” Krystal praised herself; if it was a cartoon, her nose would have gotten really long for such self-loving words.

Sulli just rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. She always told Krystal she had a great style to begin with. Finally those good eyes managed to see what kind of clothes benefited her body the most.

When the last class took place, Krystal’s attention was wholly focused on the teacher talking by the blackboard. Just as this whole week, Mr. Tuan avoided having any contact with the female student in the front row. If he was acting like that, totally ignoring her, Krystal wished she was at least permitted to change her seat, but to no avail. Asking the teacher again wouldn’t change anything, but it was the only way to interact with him even a little bit.

As the clock was slowly nearing the end of the period, Krystal’s mind got slowly preoccupied by the upcoming holiday season. Not having a chance to see the hottie would surely sadden her festivities. It’s also one of a rare chance to meet him when nobody could possibly see them together. She should come up with something, but how? Could she use Hyuna for it?

As she was deep in thoughts, once again, Myungsoo on her left couldn’t help but glance at her in between two minutes intervals. Everyone got pretty used to her changed looks and didn’t really goggle at her back all lesson, but not Myungsoo. He just couldn’t pry his eyes off of her. She was becoming annoying as that to him.

“So it’ll be all for today,” Mark sat down on his chair, his loud voice grabbing everyone’s attention. “But you’ll have to wait for the bell to ring to be dismissed,” he also instructed as all started to pack their bags.

Grunting, the boys walked up to the front, Sulli arriving by her friend’s desk. As Krystal was about to stand up, one tall shadow fell upon her table.

“Do you have any plans for the holidays?” Jiyong, Sulli’s seatmate asked the girl, handing her the pencil case she was about to reach. Other guys in the class started whispering and laughing behind the guy’s back, his close friend Jay Park even nudging him from behind.

Unsuspecting, the girl responded, “My brothers and I are throwing a Christmas party at our place, other than that, no plans came up. Why?”

Sulli just wanted to smack her friend for such naivety.

Smirking, the guy finally threw the question: “Do you want to have a date with me?”

Instantly blushing, Krystal avoided everyone’s eyes. Biting her lips, she shortly glanced at the sitting Mark, who was carefully eyeing the exchange. When their eyes met, he dropped his gaze onto some book he was looking at before, not so subtly ignoring the girl.

Myungsoo felt his face tensing up. What is this guy think he is doing? Without any reason, Myungsoo just had the need to throw this Jiyong dude out of the class and never see him again.

A tad hurt by such obvious ignoring from Mark, Krystal falsely smiled at the boy by her desk. “How about you just drop by the party? I’ll think about a date by then.”

“Can I also come?” one after another classmates started requesting for a permission to come to the Christmas’ celebration. Still smiling (an act), Krystal nodded every time a request was made, but didn’t really tell anything more about the party. Not daring to turn to her teacher again, once the bell rung she quickly dashed out with her friend by her side. Of course, Sulli had some things to rant about to the sad girl, who was feeling quite hurt by how Mr. Hottie was behaving.

On the other note, left alone in class, the said teacher couldn’t help but mess his hair in frustration.

*