Eunsook didn't mind the new school. Here, many people had old phones, wore sneakers with cracked soles, the nerds were glued to the books, and the mean people were mean just because they were born that way, as most of them had no connections to boast.
The reason for her dismissal from the old school remained undisclosed, and nobody noticed her. The pretty girls ignored her, the boys stopped ogling at her after she had outrun them at the PE class and thus wounded their collective pride, and a shy girl in thick round glasses gave her a sour lemon candy as a token of friendship - the thought that having this new, strong girl who was not going to become part of the eyelash-curling, tall boy-hunting clique who always went to the bathroom together, must have crossed her mind at some point.
The class, like any random collection of people, was segregated into groups of interest, but, thanks to teachers putting much value on the collective work, everyone talked to each other out of necessity. There were no scapegoats being bullied and no big dramas happening, and, since Eunsook, being smart, didn't have to catch up with their program, she could exist more or less comfortably in that environment.
There was one guy, though, who somehow stood out of the mass and wasn't close to anyone. He was handsome, tall, good at sports, but always in his headphones and, ironically enough, the thing that really made him an oddball was the fact that he came from a rich family. People were wondering what he was doing at their school, but never asked – he always looked so disinterested.
He took an instant liking to Eunsook, and that made him somewhat more lively. He hid chocolates under the top of her desk, passed her notes with short poems of his own creation (they were quite bad actually) and gazed at her with his doe brown eyes at all times. Sometimes he would approach her desk and ask a random question, like: “Do you think photography is a nice hobby?” “Do you know that elephants recognize themselves in the mirror?” “Do you like spicy noodles?” (To all of those she said ‘yes’.) She always ignored his poems, but always accepted his chocolates, and they formed some kind of bond, which could never grow into anything bigger. Eunsook was nice to him, and it was mainly due to the fact that it had taken her about a second to realize that he looked somewhat like her old girlfriend Choi Minjung.
So, with the girl in thick glasses and Choi Minho by her side (kind of), she didn't feel too lonely. Not seeing Taeyeon every morning was a torment, however. At the first stages of that new life, the thing that kept her from falling apart was counting days left until they could meet again.
Sometimes the melancholy got really bad, though. Her chest felt stuffy, she became lazy and unmotivated, and doodled on the last page of her copybook.
Today was one of those unbearably long, Taeyeon-less days when nothing could keep her attention, and Saturday, the day when they would see each other again, was too far away to be of any consolation.
During the big break, she tossed Choi Minho's love note (“your lips are petals reminding me of the spring long gone”) into the trash can, ate the candy bar he had left for her, played a word quiz on her phone and lay her head on her desk.
Taeyeon had been too busy to even text her much those days. All of her messages were just reminders of the fact that she loved Eunsook and short, concise answers to the other's long-winded accounts of her days and moods.
She sighed.
The teacher's voice brought her back to reality and, reluctantly, she had to lift her head and prepare for another round of note-taking and task-solving.
“Everyone! I have two kinds of news today!” Mrs. Kim, a kind, plump woman in glasses, announced cheerfully.
“Start with the bad one, then,” one of the nerds requested nasally.
“Oh, no, no, no! Both news are good!”
People stopped whispering and focused, hoping perhaps that the rest of today's classes would be cancelled or maybe their sweat-smelling biology teacher had been finally replaced.
“Our school will get its own swimming pool!” Mrs. Kim exclaimed, and the whole classroom cheered. “Also the bathrooms will be renovated! And pecan cakes will be added to the dessert menu in the canteen! All thanks to the unknown new investor!”
Cheering became even louder from all directions.
“They should fix the windows in the boys'changing room, then, 'cos it stinks like Satan's socks,” the nasal nerd grumbled. “People are literally fainting.”
“I'm sure we will get to that at some point,” the teacher promised. “And now to the other news. I'm happy to announce that we have a new addition to our class!”
Again, curious silence.
“Miss Lee, please, come in!”
Eunsook imagined the door opening and Taeyeon walking in with her peach lip gloss on her lips. That would be great... But also reckless and impossible. She shook the stupid illusion away.
The door opened with a creak, and the new girl walked in, met with silence of awe and immediate jealousy. She was gorgeous and had that quiet smile that turned people's minds upside down.
In her astonishment, Eunsook bit the eraser end off the pencil she had put in absentmindedly, and swallowed it, which made her cough violently.
The new girl hurried to her rescue at once, giving her the water bottle she had in her bag and patting her back.
“You... you...” Eunsook croaked, her face getting red.
“Drink, don't talk,” the girl told her softly, her hand caressing her shoulder gently.
The class was mesmerized by the scene. The girls were secretly wondering if this girl was too sublime to even compete with her and if it wouldn't, in fact, be better to become friends with her and find all about her beauty tricks. The boys were wondering where did that flowery scent had come from, and who would be the first to snatch that beautiful maiden's Kakao ID. They even managed already to exchange a few fierce looks, trying to intimidate each other before the big fight. Choi Minho had a concerned frown on his smooth, manly face. He was wondering if Eunsook would be alright.
“I'm sorry, Mrs. Kim, but could you please allow me to take this poor girl to the doctor? I would like to do that myself,” the new girl asked, batting her eyelashes charmingly.
Mrs. Kim nodded, open.
The whole class watched the noble fairy lead the coughing (and protesting) Lee Eunsook out to save her life. And even after they disappeared behind the door, everyone was sitting still in some kind of dreamy haze.
“What's her name?” a bulky boy who excelled at PE asked in an unusually high-pitched voice.
“Lee Taeyeon,” the teacher replied in a half-whisper.
“Lee Taeyeon,” the class repeated, and gave a collective sigh.

“What the...” Eunsook began, but the other shushed her by pressing a finger to .
As soon as they were well out of anyone's hearing, she tried to repeat her indignant question, but Taeyeon (because of course it was her Taeyeon) shoved her into the girls' bathroom and, pressing her sharply against the wall, grabbed her cheeks and kissed her straight on the mouth.
Eunsook had no pride, really. Any uncharacteristic expression of fierce passion from Taeyeon made her weak in the knees. She went limp and soft, like a marshmallow in a mug of hot chocolate.
“You were saying?” Tae murmured, her lips.
“I don't remember,” Eunsook muttered, making her laugh.
“Take your time,” Taeyeon whispered, diving in for another, gentler kiss.
Eunsook's hands slid down her back and rested on her .
“You couldn't wait until the end of the year, huh?”
Eunsook was looking at her lover, starry-eyed, while Tae's fingers were playing with her long hair.
“No. I couldn't wait until Saturday.”
“Ah, you!”
Eunsook grabbed Taeyeon by the waist and lifted her from the ground to spin her around.
Tae laughed again.
“I love you, you know,” she confessed when she was put back down.
Eunsook bit her lip in that unbearably charming way that Taeyeon adored.
“I love you, too,” Eunsook whispered with a giggle. “Let's smooch a bit more and then go back to class.”
“No objection from me,” Tae answered, wrapping her arms tighter around Eunsook's neck. “I'm all yours.”

The sun was shining brightly when Jonghyun got out of the subway at Sinchon station. It was a Friday afternoon, and the streets around the U-Plex department store were filled with couples, holding hands and taking selcas, some wearing identical shirts, all happy and smiling.
Jjong sighed, placing his guitar case on the ground beside the benches. He was feeling quite melancholic. He set up the microphone stand, stuck the plugs in his portable speaker and mumbled at the passing crowd unenthusiastically:
“Hi, everyone. I'm Kim Jonghyun. I may be young but I have potential. I guess.”
After tuning his guitar he began singing.
“She is so beautiful
Women can't leave her alone…
It's sad but it seems
She can't accept my young soul
That loves her truly”
People didn't really mind him being there. An occasional couple or a tourist would stop for a minute and listen to him croon, but then walk away, either because they found his lyrics bizarre or because his music was not entertaining enough. He didn't mind them walking away either... Although he did wish they tossed a coin or two into his guitar case before they did.
He let his soul soak in the sadness of his own music, and played the instrumental part that he liked over and over because nobody cared. He was at the top of his tragic bliss, when:
“Do you expect her to accept your young soul with that chord progression?” The snarky question was followed by a chuckle.
Jjong opened his eyes, stopping the music abruptly.
A girl of his age was standing right in front of him and eyeing him condescendingly. She looked like a fox, and everything from her posture to her unamused expression channeled assertiveness and superiority.
“No offense, but who the are you?”
“Kim Gwiboon, the girl of your dreams,” she replied in that tone that rich ladies use when ordering some seafood-involving meal at an expensive restaurant – without even looking at the waiter, but demanding all the attention in the world.
“I seriously doubt that,” Jjong grumbled in return.
Gwiboon ignored that.
“Hope I won't bother you by my own performance. See ya.”
She didn't sound like she cared if Jonghyun would be bothered or not, however.
Only now he noticed that she was carrying an old CD player (Yet look at her, she behaves like a freaking queen.), which she placed on the ground on the other side of the little square. A popular girl group song started playing, she took a breath and began dancing.
She knew all the moves. She owned all the moves. A small crowd gathered around her immediately, taking videos and smiling in delight, because it was rare that young girls performing on the street had skill in addition to their courage.
Her music was much louder than Jjong's lovelorn acoustic ballads, and after he realized that turning his speaker all the way up didn't really help, he gave up and picked up his water bottle.
Kim Gwiboon danced about five or six songs and, having decided that there was enough money in her bag, stopped abruptly and gathered her stuff. Quite a bunch of guys rushed to ask for her number, but she didn't even spare them a glance. Instead, she walked up to Jjong, snoozing with his guitar in his arms, and woke him up by hitting his shoulder briskly.
“Get up, Kim Jonghyun. Let's go and eat pizza.”
He didn't expect that offer at all, and stared at the girl's back as she walked away.
Should I follow and plunge into the unknown? Or should I stay and not earn anything for my talent?
She did insult his chord progression, and was obnoxiously confident... But he thought of pizza – cheesy, salty, warm delight with a crunchy crust.
He gulped.
Obnoxious, yes. But also so new, so... intriguing?
After all, what would he lose?
Gwiboon turned around to see if he was coming. Seeing his silent agony, she raised an eyebrow.
“What are you afraid of, you fool?”
“Consequences,” the boy answered simply.
“Well, if it ends badly, you'll have something new to sing about,” Gwiboon argued.
“But my heart might get broken.”
“Maybe you need someone new to break your heart this time. Someone like me.”
Jjong faltered.
She rolled her eyes.
“Come on, it's just pizza. I'll give you three seconds to decide. One... two...”
“No sweet potato, then,” Jonghyun muttered, standing up to gather his stuff.
Gwiboon smiled.
“We already have something in common, see?”
Jjong didn't want to smile back. But he just couldn't help it.

THE END

This is it, my friends! I hope you were as happy to read this story as I was while writing it... I know for sure that I'm going to miss Eunsook... To be honest, so far she has been my favourite character to write. As always, feel free to express your thoughts! Thanks for reading!

P.S. Right now I'm working on an OnKey chapter fic and an OnTae one shot... Let's see how they turn out~