“Ha So Ra,” I heard my teacher call, his voice booming from the classroom. I was still fifteen feet away with probably three seconds before the bell rang.

“Present!” I hear a high pitched voice reply. I hurry to make it into the classroom—so close.

“Han Seon Ah,” Mr. Shin calls my name. I’m almost there. “Han Seon Ah,” he repeats.

“Here I am!” I cry as I burst into the room.

“Ms. Han,” Mr. Shin looks at me sternly. “I’d really appreciate it if you were more punctual from now on.”

“Yes, sir.” I bow respectfully. “I’m so sorry, it won’t happen again.” He nods and waves me off in dismissal.

I look around to see where the open seats were and I grabbed the first one, which was, unfortunately, next to this big group of giggly girls.

When I sat, there was an audible disturbance, there were some disgruntled sighs and I could practically hear them rolling their eyes. What was the big deal? I look to see where they’re staring and that’s when I realize: Oh, that’s why they’re so obnoxious. It’s all because of him.

There’s a guy sitting behind me to the right, and the giggly group can’t stop eyeing him. It’s kind of gross.

I glance back to check him out and maybe he’s kind of cute, but I don’t notice much except for his ID card which pegs him as a year above us. He’d never go for the giggly girls who were fresh out of high school.

Mr. Shin called the class to attention and I began to take notes. He talked about Lewis structures and things I already knew a bit about so I began to doodle. 

After a while, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see where it was coming from. Yeah, it was him.

“Hi, sorry to bother you,” he said very politely, way more than I’d expected just from looking at him. “But can I borrow a pen or pencil? My last one just broke…” he asked.

“Sure,” I reply without really thinking. I lean down to get one from my bag and turn around to hand it to him. That’s when I finally noticed.

The giggly girls were not as dumb as I thought.

He had a very strong jawline and square-ish face. His skin was almost glowing and there was something familiar about him that I couldn’t really pinpoint…and he had a strangely boyish charm.

Then my eyes noticed his arms, so toned. Shut up, Seon Ah! Stop having those thoughts!

“Thank you so much,” He dipped his head. “I’m Dong Jun, by the way.”

“Ah, yes,” I bow in return. “안영하새요, 선배님. (Hello, sunbae.) I’m Han Seon Ah.”

“Seon Ah,” He repeated, nodding.

“Ms. Han, Mr. Kim, I do expect you two to pay attention in my class. I don’t care if you’re an honors student or a Korean idol.” Mr. Shin snapped. I turned to face the front, frozen with guilt, bowing my head.

“Sorry, Mr. Shin, it’s my fault.” I heard him say from behind me. “I needed a pencil.”

“Don’t let your forgetfulness come between my teaching again,” He warned.

“Yes sir,” Dong Jun replied.

Idol? What? I thought about it for a minute. Oh my goodness. I know that face. I know that name. Kim Dong Jun—part of ZE:A. How had I not noticed?
Before I could continue my internal panic, a piece of paper landed on my desk. It read:

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. Just for that,
I’ll treat you after class.’

I started to panic again.

Noo, this could not happen. Fan girls, like that giggly group next to me, would kill me. I replied:

‘It’s really fine. Thank you for offering.’

I thought it was over, done with, forgotten. Nope. He sent back:

‘Come on, it’s the least I can do. Anyways, I don’t have
many friends on campus. You’d be doing me a favor.’

I turned around to look at him, wondering if he was crazy—he could be friends with anyone he wanted. He just looked at me with his pleading eyes. I couldn’t say no, and he knew it.

‘Fine.’

He smiled as I passed back the last note.

“Now, I will assign partners for the lab!” Mr. Shin clapped his hands.

Lab? What lab? Oh no, I was so distracted with this kid that I missed everything, hopefully my partner will know…

Mr. Shin made his way down the aisles, pairing up those who were seated next to each other, since I had no seat buddy, I assumed I’d tack on to another group but surprise, surprise.

“Ms. Han, since you were able to get to know him so easily, I’d appreciate it if you worked with Mr. Kim,” he gestured as Dong Jun. “He’s supposed to be in another class, but due to his schedule was unable to attend enough classes to pass this course last year and is fairly behind. As my honors student, I expect this sort of thing from you.”

Inside I was groaning, but I couldn’t let him know that.

“Sure, Mr. Kim, It’s no problem.” I smile my best.

When he walks away, I heave out a deep sigh.

“I’m that bad, huh?” Dong Jun chuckles as he moves to sit next to me in the open seat. I panic. Been panicking a lot today… Those girls are going to murder me, actually.

“Of course not,” I lied. “I’m just a little intimidated by Mr. Shin.”

“Don’t be, he’s a nice guy once you get to know him.” He guaranteed me. I just nodded.

“So,” he paused, letting the silent moment drag on. “Lunch?”