“I’m leaving, mom!” Dara said while putting her shoes on.

                “Take care, sweetie, her loving mom kissed her forehead.

                Dara waved with a sweet smile on her face while walking away. That was the relationship she has with her mom. Her mom is very lucky to have her.

                Dara is a typical teenager – going to school to reach her dreams, hanging out with her friend, Bom, spending precious time with her family. She is in her senior year at high school. Being a straight-A student, she is looked up by her fellow students and teachers alike – active, intelligent, diligent. She loves reading novels. In her room, one wall is covered with books she worked hard to buy on bookstores. With these qualities, everyone in her school admires her, his male classmates have tried courting her but she turned them down. Most of them never once gave up. But Dara never got impatient with all of her stalkers. She even talked to them casually. That’s what men loved about her. However, she always notices all the hateful glares the mean girls on her school throws at her. She never once flinched. She tolerated them since she entered this school, and is hoping she could manage it until her graduation.

                However, Dara, like many other teens, has this deepest darkest secret. She never once fell in love. But if she did, she never called it falling-in-love. She called it “puppy love”.

                It’s the first day of her senior year. Everyone is chit-chatting about their possible classmates and teachers. She felt nervous too since she has to do good to be on top and to prepare for her college application. Walking along the school hallway, Dara can feel the weight of everyone’s eyes on her. She didn’t mind it, but she kept her eyes on her book. Reading while walking, it’s one of her skills – if you could consider that as a skill.

                The novel she’s reading now reached the and now she’s focused. Because of this, she became unaware of her surroundings, including the weight of their stares.

                Suddenly, someone has bumped her. The impact was unexpectedly strong that she fell on her while her things – including the novel she was reading – fell on the ground.

                “Mianhe..” she said immediately. “I didn’t mean to…”

                She was cut off when the guy she bumped into bent his knees and picked up all her things.

                She stood up and straightened her uniform.

                “Here…” the guy said.

                Reaching out to get her things, she felt his skin touching hers for a fraction of a second. She felt a tingle of heat.

                “Kamsahamnida…” she bowed. But, he left without her finishing her sentence.

                Her eyes followed the back of his head until he the next corridor.

                “DARA-YAAA!” Bom’s voice echoed through the room when she ran towards Dara’s desk to give her a hug. “We’re still classmates. Yay!”

                Bom is Dara’s best friend since their grade school days. Being a happy-go-lucky girl, Bom was the one who first introduced herself to Dara when the latter was just sitting on a bench alone watching every one of her classmates playing on the playground. Bom is athletic, sporty, and physically fit and healthy. She also never misses a single gossip going on around their school.

                Dara smiled at her. While Bom went to greet every one of her classmates, she went back to reading.

                Suddenly, the usual noise of the classroom quieted down. She looked up from her book and saw HIM walking in. she now understood why they silenced. He looked like an angel, he looks so cool. She can’t believe that she has met him already earlier today and now they’re classmates.

                “Bom, that guy…” she whispered to Bom.

                “Who? Him? He’s my cousin, Jiyong.”