Chapter Two
S N E A K I N G  G L A N C E S 

Lee Eun Seo closed her locker and fixed her backpack strap on her shoulders, letting out a sigh. Her mind was still lingering with the thoughts of the boy she encountered earlier in the Nurse's office and found it curious how he wanted to know her name. It was the first time anyone had asked her what her name was though she was known as "Eun Seo the quiet girl" throughout the whole school. 

"Eun Seo-ah!" A voice called to her. 

She turned her head a looked to see her best friend Ha Ri jogging towards her with a big smile on her face. She grabbed Eun Seo by her arm and pulled her close, whispering something into her ear. 

"Have you heard the rumors going around?" Ha Ri told her with big eyes. 

"No...what rumor?" Eun Seo asked. 

"Hanbin and Soo Min might be dating!" She exclaimed. 

Eun Seo blankly stared at her friend, confused. Who was this "Hanbin" guy Ha Ri was talking about? She had never heard of his name ever before, out of all the four years she had been going to school. Was he a new student at the school or perhaps a new transfer student? Eun Seo was wracking her head, trying to remember if there was a "Hanbin" at her school, but she had no luck and gave up.  

"Who is that?" She asked her friend. 

Ha Ri pulled away and let out a shocking gasp. She quickly adjusted her glasses and leaned in again. 

"You don't know he is?!" She whispered and Eun Seo shook her head. 

"Nope," she replied, shaking her head. "Is he a new student here or something?"

"He's the school's prince!" Ha Ri squealed. "I'm so surprised that you don't know who he is!" 

Eun Seo looked away in embarrassment as her friend chuckled at her. The bell rang for the fifth hour and the two friends bid each other a farewell before going off their separate ways to their class. Eun Seo headed towards the East Wing of the school where the art classes were located. As she passed a busy hallway intersection, she suddenly heard a familiar name shouting through the hall.

"Oh, Hanbin-ah!"

High-pitched squeals suddenly erupted from the girls as they crowded into the center of the hallway. Eun Seo quickly rushed out of the way so that she wouldn't get trampled over and was about to enter the East Wing hallway when she decided to look over her shoulder to see who this "Hanbin" person was. Her eyes searched hard through the crowd but there were so many movements and faces that she eventually gave up and continued walking to her fifth hour without glancing back. 

 ☂️

When she made it to her painting and art class, Eun Seo selected a stool next to a fresh blank canvas sitting on top of the tripod at the back of the room. She liked to sit in the back of the class, especially during art class because her mind was always in Wonderland and she would always paint the first thing that came to her mind. Eun Seo gathered her art supplies out of her backpack and placed them onto the little table next to her and set her backpack onto the ground. As she waited for the bell to ring, students came pouring through the doors but this time, it was a much bigger crowd. Eun Seo watched all the ruckus from behind her canvas in the back of the room and heaved out a sigh.

"Okay, class!" The art teacher exclaimed just as the bell rang. "Time to get the class started!"

The teacher went around the room and took attendance. Eun Seo quietly watched as the teacher simply passed by the students who weren't in the class with a smile and gave a small greeting. She was getting curious as to why the classroom was so lively today - usually, art class was the least favorite class besides math and most students didn't try that hard. She glanced around the room and saw that all the attention of everyone was all focused on one guy.

"Hanbin, what are you going to be doing today?" One of the girls asked from her canvas with a big smile. "You want to hang out with us?"

Eun Seo furrowed her brows at the name and focused her eyes on the boy in the white who was sitting at a regular desk. Suddenly she recognized his face — it was the boy from the nurse's office who she encountered earlier! She slowly rolled herself back onto her stool and let the memory sink in — she could clearly remember his straight eyebrows, tall nose bridge, and plump red lips.

"Hanbin, why don't you go around the room and greet everyone," the teacher instructed as she walked back to her desk.

"Yes, teacher!" Hanbin exclaimed with a nod and jumped out of his desk.

He started with the closest person next to him and greeted the girl with a cheerful smile. Next, he moved onto the next person, then the one after that, and so on until he reached the last person to greet; Eun Seo. When he reached her canvas, his eyes grew wide. Who knew that the person who's been on his mind the whole morning showed up in one of his favorite classes of the day? Hanbin felt his heart beat faster and faster the longer he stared at her.

"You..." he started. "It's you again."

Eun Seo stared at him with her big eyes, curious as to what he was going to say next. She waited for him to greet her before she did but apparently, all he did was stand in place and stare at her for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the teacher called on him, breaking their gazes and causing him to look over his shoulder at the teacher.

"Hanbin, are you finished yet?" the teacher said. "I'd like to get the class started for the day."

"A-Ah! I have one person left!" He told the teacher.

"Alright, finish up then."

Hanbin turned back around and met her captivating gaze again. He slightly bowed his head softly spoke his words.

"I'm...Hanbin." He shyly told his name. "What's your name?"

"It's nice to meet you," she slightly lowered her head. "I'm-"

The teacher clapped her hands, cutting off Eun Seo as she was about to tell the boy her name, and everyone head perked up from their canvas to the front of the classroom. Letting out a disappointing sigh, Hanbin quickly made his way over to the desks on the side of the art room and sat down just as the teacher started going through the agenda for the day. Throughout the class period, Hanbin only had his eyes on one girl in the whole room. He was still sad to the fact that he didn't get her name because the teacher had interrupted them just as she was about to tell him her name but he told himself that he could ask her after the class ended.

Earlier that day, Hanbin was able to get a schedule change after he talked to his counselor and was able to fr