The classroom was always loud, but today it was especially loud.

“Did you hear about the new guy?”

“ I hope he’s cute!”

“Well, one thing's for sure... He can't possibly look as bad as those guys.” She shot a look at the boys who sat on the other side.

"True."

“What about us?” They glared. The girls scoffed and rolled their eyes.

The bell rang and the teacher walked in. Everyone focused their attention to the door. Silence. No new student in sight.

“Oh no.. what if it was a false alarm?” The girls groaned.

Suddenly, the door creaked. Everyone whipped their heads towards the door. The door slowly opened revealing a person who entered, looking flustered.

"Sorry for arriving late." Roobi said sheepishly.

A few groans came from the class. Roobi blinked, confused.

"Go to your seat, Roobi." The teacher said.

"Yes sir." Roobi walked to her seat and whispered to her friends. "What happened?"

"We were expecting a new student!" They whispered back.

"Ah.." Roobi nodded, now understanding.  

The teacher cleared his throat. “Let's begin today's lesson.” He took a marker and started to right down the assignment on the board. "Take out your books and open to--".

Before he could finish, the door flung open. Everyone's head turned to the door.

A boy in a wrinkly uniform shirt walked in; his backpack was slung on one shoulder. “Good morning!” He said with a grin and a wave of his hand.

Roobi's mouth dropped open.

“My name's Han Sanghyuk but you can call me Hyuk. Let's get along well!”

The students started to whisper amongst themselves.

“He’s so cute!”

“Dude seems okay.”

"Whatever.."

“Alright enough.” The teacher said, slightly annoyed that he had been interrupted. “You, go find a seat.” He motioned to Hyuk. Hyuk bowed and walked to the back of the class. Everyone's eyes were on him. As he went to an empty seat, his eyes met Roobi's. He excitedly waved at her. Everyone turned to Roobi and stared at her in disbelief. 

"Did he just wave at you?" Roobi's friends excitedly whispered to her.

"Huh? O-oh.. yeah.." She stuttered. 

"Do you guys know each other?"

People around leaned in, curious to hear the answer.

Roobi gave her friends the "I'll explain later" look. They nodded and went back to their own business.

--

As soon as they sat down in the cafeteria, her friends immediately inquired about their relationship.

"How do you two know each other?"

"We just knew each other when we were younger." She said, oddly nonchalant.

"There you are! I've been looking for you!" Hyuk popped out of nowhere and sat down next to Roobi. He glanced at her friends and introduced himself. "You must be Roobi's friends, nice to meet you guys! I'm Hyuk, Roobi's best friend! Please look after me!"

"Oh!" They exclaimed in surprise. "Of course!" They chirped.

He quickly pinched Roobi's cheeks and got up. "I got to go now! See you later, Roobi!" He waved at her friends. "It was nice meeting you!"

They smiled and waved back.

Roobi could only stare in disbelief.

They turned their attention back to Roobi. "You guys 'just knew each other' huh?" They wiggled their eyebrows.

She quickly shook her head. "You guys are misunderstanding something, he was just--".

"Yeah, whatever." They stood up and walked off.

"He's just a friend! He was only trying to tease me!"

"We can't hear you!" 

"Now you guys are the ones teasing me? Wait!!"

--

Hyuk immediately became the talk of the class. Girls fawned over him. Guys wanted to befriend him.

As Roobi walked through the hallways, she saw Hyuk walking in her direction.

*Oh no.* She immediately turned around to escape but he easily caught up.

"Hey, Roobi!" He put an arm over her shoulders. She tried to shrug his arm off but he kept it tightly over her shoulder. She walked uncomfortably as people gave her weird looks and whispered to their friends.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She whispered to him.

“What? Can’t I hang out with my bestest friend in the whole wide world?” He teased and started to poke her.

Roobi jumped, startled. "Hey!"

Hyuk continued to poke her.

"Stop!" She warned him. She raised her hand up, trying to poke him back but he quickly dodged and ran away.

"Get back here!" She ran after him.