I can easily start by saying that I never had a normal life. But, I never knew that it was going to degenerate so fast into something above my understanding. I never imagined I will have to move from one city to another or that my parents will spontaneously divorce. It seems that my mother realized, after twenty years of marriage, that two teenagers and a busy man were too much for her to handle.

I still can’t understand how she could do that to me and my brother. Unlike me, Joonyoung coped really well. He knew it would have to come to a divorce but I didn’t. I never cared about their late night fights or sarcastic attitudes. I never listened to what they were saying. But Joonyoung did. For mom, Saturday the 15th 2011 was enough and she left.

It has been two weeks since she left and we’re not doing better at all. Dad is trying to offer us a good and stabile life but who is he kidding?

It’s hard to raise two teenagers. I know he would never leave us but I did wonder a few times about that. He’s trying, he really does but sometimes we can see how tired and stressed he is. He thinks we are ignorant but we can see him clearly. However, he does seem to be doing much better now. The house became silent and there is no family feeling to it anymore. That was the main reason -probably- why he decided to move states for good. That’s how we ended up in Bucheon, South Korea.

“Knock, knock,” Jina moved her eyes off the pages of her journal and looked at her father. He seemed happy, in a way. She hadn’t seen him smile in quite a while. It wasn’t just her mother’s fault. A new town meant a new job. A new job meant new obligations and responsibilities. He was overwhelmed. “Hope I didn’t interrupt you.” She shook her head and closed the notebook.

“No. I was just finishing. Where’s Joonyoung?” The man shrugged.

It was a normal reaction regarding her brother. He was one year older than Jina and he always had the idea that he was mature enough to do whatever that pretty head of his thought of. He was another reason to worry. He was a troublemaker and she always had to pull him out of his own mess.

“How do you feel, Jina?” Her rfather asked, worried already. She shrugged since she didn’t feel better or worse.

Her mother’s absence didn’t seem to affect her as much as before. She smiled reassuringly at her father and tried to keep an optimistic attitude. If she didn’t need it, her father definitely did.

“I’m good, dad. This town seems nice. I just hope I will have time to live my own life too.” The man chuckled and leaned against the door frame.

Back in the old town, Joonyoung was quite popular. Amongst his fans, there was the police and hospital. He wasn't the type to cause damage but he loved to mess with girls. He loved to party and usually, he would end up spending the night in prison.

Jina sighed as she remembered. She really hoped things would be different in Bucheon.

“Hopefully, your brother learned his lesson.”

“Joonyoung will never change, dad. Don’t be too optimistic, especially when it comes to him and his behavior.”

Jina got off the bed and past her father. She winked at him and went downstairs. Jitae rubbed his forehead. That son of his was already giving him a headache.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

He followed his daughter into the kitchen and started to unpack some utensils. He looked pretty troubled.

“I’m sorry about what happened, Jina. I’m sorry about everything.”

She sat opposite him, on the counter, and smiled. Jina  was genuinely worried about her father; he must have had a harder time than she imagined.

“It’s not your fault. It’s mom’s,” Jitae opened his mouth to respond but got interrupted. The back door opened and Joonyoung entered without as much as a glance towards his family. He grabbed an apple and climbed on the counter, beside his sister. He started to munch on the apple without a care.

“Where have you been, Jung Joonyoung?”

Jina titled her head to the side and waited for her brother’s usual answer: rolling his eyes. He took a pause from eating and responded. He looked like he was contemplating the apple rather than looking at his father.

“Out. It’s a crime to be curious?” It wasn't what he said that pissed Jitae off but the tone his son used.Jina leaned back and watched the two men talk.

“No. But I know you, Joonyoung. I don’t want you to get in trouble again. I want you to help this work.” The son raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

“This? What’s this, dad? We just moved here. I don’t want you to take mom’s place. Be a good daddy and stay out of my life!” He narrowed his eyes at his father before leaving out the front door. 

Jitae rubbed his forehead again and sighed heavily. The headache was growing stronger.

“It’s going to be harder than I thought,” The older man mumbled.

Jina stared at him pitifully. A man like her father who had never been there for his children and always placed work before family was left alone with two teenagers. She jumped off and patted her father on the shoulder. After that, she went into the living room and grabbed two bags.

“It will be alright,” She smiled at her father over her shoulder and walked the same way as her brother did a few minutes earlier. She stopped after she closed the door behind her and stared at the annoyed Joonyoung, sitting at the wheel of his M3. “Hopefully,” She muttered, hoping that everything was going to be alright.

She went over, next to his very much loved BMW, and handed him the things he needed for school.

"Careful with the body kit!" He said when she only scratched the surface of the side skirt with his back-pack. Typical of him. She rolled her eyes and got in the passenger seat.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

At school, people weren’t surprised to see new faces at all. Maybe it was something they got accustomed to over the years however, when she entered her first class, people started to glance at her. Some were happy to have a new face around but some didn’t care much.

Her confidence dropped when she saw a few girls look her way and laugh. She sighed heavily and sat on a chair in the far back, next to the window. There weren’t many kids in the back. There were only a few girls who were studying hard and a guy. His desk was on her right on the row beside the wall. She dropped her school bag on the desk and took her books out. History wasn’t really one of her favorite classes.

Jina heard the same girls giggle and whisper while glancing at her over their shoulders.

“Great,” She mumbled.

While she was listening to the teacher she felt watched. The teacher looked like he got bored of repeating the same things to a class who was doing anything but listen. She felt like that before, in her old school. However, they had a reason to stare. Bucheon was completely new for her.

She waited for it to stop but it didn’t. Jina glanced over her shoulder curiously and noticed the guy. It seemed he didn't have a single problem with staring visibly at her. She raised an eyebrow questioningly. He copied her expression. She chuckled and shook her head in amusement. He smiled. She bit her lip and thought about having some fun. She started to write random things on her notebook.Jina glanced at him from the corner of her eye and realized he started to write too.

She waved at him and he did it too. She crossed her eyes and he tried to do that too. It looked really weird. She snorted while trying to contain her laughter. The teacher glanced at her and she stopped.

When the bell rang Jina was half asleep. She was more than thankful to that annoying high pitched noise. She grabbed her things and got up quickly. The guy tried to get out of the classroom at the same time as her. They stopped in front of each other and he let her pass first.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jina had the chance to see how big the school was. The halls were large and overwhelmed with teenagers. She searched for Joonyoung but couldn’t see him. He was a year older therefore he might have been in a different building. The school had three.

“I’m doomed,” She was getting nervous while walking to her locker.

Moving from place to place so much, she learned how to cope in such situations. She opened her locker easily and put her books in, taking the others she needed for English. Jina was just about to close the locker when she felt a few persons coming her way.

It was weird how she could feel and hear the people around her. It was at a higher level than normal. Her father used to tell her that it was just how she was born; call it sixth sense, he said. It was annoying, though; she was paranoid.

That was why she started to rub her hands together when she turned and met three unknown girls. One had beautiful  dyed blonde and curly hair and she had surprisingly big brown eyes. She was wearing high heels and a floral dress, smiling widely. The second one looked different. She had brown hair with red and orange highlights; she wore tight black jeans, black converse and a nice simple shirt; her eyes were a nice green color and were really big. The last one was a little shorter than the other two and wore red converse. Her eyes weren’t something extraordinary but they were a blue/grey color  so she had contacts; she had a purple shirt and blue jeans. and her hair was reddish.

“Hi! We saw you today in history and knew you were new. I’m Yuna!” She said extending her hand to Jina, who was overwhelmed by the happiness and excitment of the new girl.

“Nice to meet you,” She wasn’t good at dealing with weirdly happy people. Her smile got bigger, if that was possible, and she started to talk more.

“It’s nice to see new faces. Ever since Hongbin moved no one came to stay. Just people wandering,” Yuna continued. Jina's eyes wandered on the two other girls.

“And you?”

They smiled and introduced themselves. The redheaired was Seulgi  and the brunette was Soyou.

“We’re not going to become all stereotypical on you. You can calm down.” The brunette added chuckling making Jina sighed in relief. “And what about your name? You didn’t mention it,”

"Jung Jina.”

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

They really didn’t seem like preppy girls but they did talk about boys like crazy. She had one girl in each class, sometimes all three of them. It was nice.

“Who’s this Hongbin that you’re talking about?” Jina asked at lunch. She heard his name thrown in a few conversations.

Seulgi rolled her eyes and took a bite from her sandwich.

“Hongbin moved here last year. He was the new source for gossip. Girls were talking about how hot he was and things like these. Since his father died, he lives with his uncle who moved here too. At first he had friends and all but after his father’s death he changed. He spends most of his time alone and doesn’t talk to many people. The ones he talks to are only for work. He was best friends with my cousin before he left.” Seulgi started.

Jina raised an eyebrow, curious and unconsciously glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He was at the table near the window, all alone like the girls said.

“He left?” Jina asked after a few seconds.

“Yes. He said it was just a short vacation, to get his head off his father’s death. He never talks about his mother. They say that she died a long time ago in a fire. He was young, he tried to save her but the building collapsed. It’s still a mystery how he walked out alivr. He was blocked in the house too. Roy told me this.”

“Roy is your cousin?” Jina asked the redhead which only brought a nod. “So he saw death with his own eyes?” When those words got out of she felt a tingling feeling. She felt excited for some reason.

“So, back to the story. I heard that he lived in Seoul before he moved here. His father was very strict. He used to come and take Hongbin from school and instruct him to do this and that. It was sad to see such a nice boy being commanded around by such a strict man. His father was quite handsome, though,”

Jina raised an eyebrow and chuckled. She didn’t want to know that bit of information.

“He left three months after he moved to Bucheon and he came back last month. However, it seems he didn’t lose anything. He knew everything perfectly fine when he returned. He wasn’t the same old Hongbin, though. He keeps everything for himself. Roy is the only one he talks to these days, but not much,”

Somehow, the excitement in Jina’s body only grew. Hongbin was the guy she played with in class but at the same time, Hongbin was a complete stranger. She was curious.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The culprit felt eyes on him and it wasn’t a shock why. He had seen the new girl and he surprised himself by joking with her. It felt normal and a little melancholic; he felt the need to get her attention for some reason.

His life changed, his destiny changed and he didn’t know to expect from life anymore. He had time to think about that; more time than he thought.

Hongbin opened his eyes and took a deep breath in. He closed them tightly when he felt a pair of eyes inspecting him from afar. Her heart was beating really fast and the blood was running through her body wildly. It was tempting. It was calling out for him; he wanted to taste it. Hongbin opened his eyes and stared at his plate. He wasn’t hungry anymore and turned towards the new girl,  whom was staring at him quite visibly. She wasn’t really hiding her curiosity. He smirked at her but she only blinked. She turned her full attention to her new friends a few minutes later.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jina couldn’t take his eyes off him. He was fascinating. She didn’t know him at all but he seemed fun. There was some kind of strange feeling pushing her towards him.

“Don’t tell me you like him,” Yuna sounded a little bit offended yet she was smiling widely. Jina didn’t know what to make out of her words. She looked down at her food and took a bite from her apple.

“I think he likes you too. I saw him smile at you in History. That’s a huge thing!” Soyou smiled kindly.

“Go to him. Maybe he’ll talk to you,”

Jina chuckled but got up and made her way towards him anyway. She only needed a nudge and the girls were nice enough to give it to her.

When she arrived at his table, his eyes moved on her instantly.

“Hi. I was just wondering if I can sit here?” It was awkward and she suddenly felt shy. She was definitely not a shy person but he seemed intimidating. He was staring at her with those deep eyes of his.

“Sure. I’m Hongbin, by the way,” He smiled and kindly made room for her to sit.

Jina nodded and smiled, not sure what else to do. His ears picked on her quick heartbeat and chuckled under his hand. She was nervous.

“I’m not a treasure full of mystery,” He continued. That was when she realized that he got that kind of behavior a lot.

“Sorry, it’s just that-” She wasn't sure how to explain. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“They told you my story?”

“Kind of, yes. I’m sorry for your father. I would be messed up if something would happen to mine.” He nodded in understanding. “Mom didn’t die but she left me and my brother. It seems we were a burden for her,” She continued. He frowned, which was cute to see truthfully. 

“They told you my mother died in a fire and I survived mysteriously, didn’t they?” So that was why he frowned. “It became Seulgi’s hobby to tell my story to everyone she meets and make a big deal out of it.” He explained. 

“She’s a little weird, huh?” Jina asked him bemused. He nodded firmly which suddenly made Jina understand that she shouldn't believe everything Seulgi was telling her.

“But Yuna’s the worst. She never stops talking. I tried once and I failed.” He didn’t seem very affected by their family discussion. He only turned it around and changed the subject, somehow but he didn’t look uncomfortable at all.

Jina giggled, making Hongbin’s smile brighten and his dimples deepen. It was something about her that was making him loosen up. It was probably the family background or how she didn’t really forced any answers from him. Whatever it was, she was a person he could talk to.

“They’re great girls. You’ll have a lot of fun with them,” He decided to compliment the girls sicne he just enlightened their bad parts. 

“What about you?”  Jina suddenly asked. He raised an eyebrow, making him look extremely cute.

"What about me?” She rolled her eyes playfully.

“Why don’t you have fun? I’m sure you have people you want to talk to in the cafeteria. Why are you alone?” He shrugged and started to play with his food.

“I just enjoy being on my own. Is there something wrong with that?” She glared at him playfully and pinched his arm. He looked like it hurt a little. What was weird was the fact that it did.

“That hurt. Are you secretly Superman or something?” She rolled her eyes.

“No. I’m Robin but I don’t want to let everyone to know. You have to keep the secret.” He started to laugh loudly. It surprised Jina and the rest of the cafeteria.

“Batman does the job. Robin is just assisting!” He joked. 

“Don’t insult me, you’ll have nightmares” She narrowed her eyes at him and pushed him slightly.

“Nightmares? Really?” Hongbin asked, completely blown away by how that conversation ended on superheroes. 

“That’s everything that came to mind, really.”