The opening ceremony for the new school year was boring as always for everyone. It was full of long- speeches and unnecessary information. Sori walked out of the auditorium with her backpack sluggishly hanging off one of her shoulders and clutching her laptop with her other hand. She walked into her new homeroom and grunted when she saw all the familiar and unfamiliar faces. Students were laughing and happily chatting with each other; something Sori hated seeing since it was so freaking loud. She let out a deep sigh before making her way to an empty seat at the back of the room.

 

When Sori thought things could not get any worse, a handful of screams started filling the room. She snapped her head up to see what all the commotion was about and rolled her eyes when she saw the 13 guys who had just walked in. They all greeted the girls warmly and conversed a bit with some other friends before making their way to their seats.

 

When the teacher finally came in, everyone returned to their own seats.

 

“Good morning homeroom 11B! My names is Mr. Kang and I will be your homeroom teacher for the last 2 years of your high school journey,” a man who appeared to be around his late 20s greeted.

 

“We’re going to start off the year with a seating arrangement,” he announced as everyone groaned,” and I will not change it until you graduate.”

 

Mr. Kang the projector and revealed the PDF document that contained the new assigned seats. Sori lazily searched for her name and was delighted to see that she was sitting in her designated seat. Her eyes turned into confusion when she saw the name written beside hers: Chwe Hansol. She’s never heard of him before and just shrugged before putting her head down on the table. She felt the seat beside her shake as he new ‘seatmate’ sat down.

 

For the next 3 classes, Sori kept her head down as she doodled on the table.

---

Lunch passed quickly as students started heading towards the gym for PE. Sori went to her locker to put back her lunch bag before following the other students. She quickly changed to her gym clothes and headed out towards the middle of the gym where everyone was sitting.

 

“Welcome back to school kids! Today we’re just going to have a small game of basketball. It’s a mixed game and there will be 8 people on the court from each team so that everyone will have a chance to play,” Coach Park said before picking the team captains.

 

Sori got picked by a guy named DK. He appeared so happy and energetic as he greeted her with a big smile. After everyone were picked, DK started picking people to play on the court.

 

“Sori-shi, Do you mind playing first?” DK asked as he faced Sori.

“I’m still recovering from the stomach flu so it would be best if I just stay out of this,” Sori replied.

 

Of course this wasn’t true, but she would do anything to not be involved. She wasn’t in the mood to do any physical activity.

 

“Oh my, are you feeling alright? Do you need to go the nurse’s office?” DK questioned as worry filled his eyes.

 

“No, it’s fi-

 

“Coach! Sori doesn’t feel well. Is it okay if she rested in the clinic?” DK shouted as he pulled Sori by the arm towards coach Park.

 

“I said it’s fin-

 

“Oh, is she not feeling well?” the coach asked.

 

Sori tried speaking again, but DK cut her words again with multiple nods.

 

The coach wrote Sori a pass before giving it to her.

 

“Get well soon Sori-shi! Rest well,” DK said as he ruffled her hair and walked away.

 

Sori stood still for a minute, trying to process what had just happened, before walking out of the gym. She was already given a pass to the clinic, so why not use it? At least she could sleep a bit before her next class.

 

The trip to the clinic didn’t take long. Sori opened the door and was greeted by nurse Lee.

 

“Hey Sori! It’s been long hasn’t it?” nurse Lee greeted.

 

Sori used to come to the clinic often since she has a bad case of anemia. She hasn’t fainted in class – yet; but she regularly feels lightheaded.

 

“Oh yeah. I just came here to take a nap,” Sori replied as she handed the slip to nurse Lee.

 

“That’s funny. You usually come here without a pass,” nurse Lee chuckled as she led Sori to one of the beds.

 

Sori climbed on the bed and pulled the covers up. After a few minutes, she fell asleep.

---

 

Hansol was awakened by the soft snores coming from the other bed beside his. Without wanting to wake the person up, he carefully pushed aside the curtains between the two beds and took a peak. He broke into a small smile when he saw a girl, about his age, sleeping with a bit open and her arms in weird spots. He swore he saw a bit of drool on the pillow as well. Hansol decided to go since he was feeling better. During lunch, he might have had something bad to eat which led him feeling terrible stomachaches. But now, the pain was gone.

 

“Feeling better already Hansol-shi?” nurse Lee asked as she saw him walk towards her.

 

“Yeah… oh and please call me Vernon. I’m more comfortable with that name,” he said before walking out the door.

 

---

“Vernon! You feeling better?” Hoshi asked as he saw his friend walk towards him.

 

Vernon collapsed on the seat beside him and nodded.

 

“We missed you in PE! My team kicked Seungkwan’s in basketball,” DK said, earning a scowl from Seungkwan and laughs from the other guys. 

 

The guys kept chatting among themselves until the teacher came in.

 

“Welcome back to school! As you all remember, I mentioned last year that we’ll immediately start on a project when the New Year begins,” the music teacher said.  

 

“This project is simple: compose anything you want – whether it be a dance choreography, a song, or any composition. Use the skills you learnt from the previous years. This assessment will be a practice assignment to prepare you for the final one – which you will start in your senior year. It will be done in groups and the groups will stay the same for the final one as well,” she continued.

 

The class erupted in both cheers and groans as the teacher showed them the group list.

 

“You lucky bastard! Your in a group with all girls,” Seungcheol exclaimed as he pointed at Jeonghan.

 

“We’re in one group hyung!” Dino said, hugging his precious Joshua hyung.

Everyone got up and joined together with their groups.

 

Hansol carefully searched his name and was delighted to see his group: Seungkwan, Hoshi, Seungcheol, and Sori?

 

He realized that it was the same name from the seating arrangement.

 

“Who’s Dae Sori?” Seungkwan asked as he scooted his chair closer to Hansol.

 

“She’s the girl sitting beside me in class I think… I’ve never seen her face though,” Hansol replied.

 

“Well I’ve never heard her name before,” Seungcheol added.

 

As they started brainstorming, someone came in the room. Hansol’s attention was diverted to her when he realized it was the same girl from the clinic.

 

“Ah, Ms. Dae. It’s so nice of you to join us,” the teacher said.

 

The teacher then explained the assignment to Sori and pointed towards the group of familiar-looking boys.

 

“That is your group. Work well with them!” the teacher exclaimed before Sori rolled her eyes and started walking towards her ‘group.’

 

“You must be Sori!” Hoshi said as he stood up and gave her his seat.

 

Sori replied with a small nod before sitting down.

 

“Did you sleep alright?” Hansol teased, confusing the guys and Sori.

 

“Vernon…?” Seungcheol questioned.

 

“Oh right, she happened to sleep on the bed beside mine earlier at the clinic,” Hansol explained.

 

Sori shook her head as she tried hiding the embarrassment on her face. He must’ve heard me snoring she thought to herself.

 

 “I’ve never seen you before… are you new?” Seungkwan asked.

 

Sori shook her head again.

 

“Well, to start it off, my name’s Seungcheol. I’m good at rapping” the big-eyed boy said.

 

“Boo Seungkwan here. I’m good at everything,” the overly confident diva-like guy said.

 

“I’m Hoshi and I like dancing,” the white-haired guy said.

 

“Hansol, but you can call me Vernon,” the guy who looked half Korean half Caucasian said.

 

Sori replied them with a nod.

 

The guys waited for her to introduce herself as well, but nothing came out.

 

“Aren’t you going to say something…?” Seungkwan asked.

 

Sori got confused for a second before introducing herself, “I’m Sori.”

 

There was an awkward silence before Hoshi spoke, “I think we’re all aware that that’s your name… tell us more about yourself since the rest of us know each other pretty well.”

 

“Like hobbies, birthday, relationship status, etc,” Seungcheol added.

 

 Hansol eyed his hyung curiously.

 

“I’m 16, um… I’m not a major fan of performing arts… and have no talent in it as well.”

 

The guys burst into a fit of laughter – even Hansol.

 

“Cute~” Seungcheol cooed as the other agreed.

 

“But how are you 16 though? We’re all pretty much 17 here,” Hoshi asked.

 

“Oh, I started school earlier,” she replied.

 

“Oppa! We’re your oppas!” Seungcheol exclaimed.

 

Sori cringed before shaking her head.

 

“I’m more comfortable without the ‘oppa’ to be honest,” she said.

 

“But it’s more polite to address us with the ‘oppa’” Seungkwan sassily replied.

“Aren’t we supposed to brainstorm ideas for his project?” Sori asked, trying to change the subject.

 

“Oh right… the project,” Hoshi mumbled.

 

Hansol smiled to himself as he noticed the look of relief on Sori’s face. He couldn’t keep his eye off of her as they were arguing before. It just amused him how someone who looked ridiculously cute when she slept could look ridiculously beautiful as well. The expressions she had when talking to the guys caught his attention real fast.  

 

“Hansol-shi? Hansol-shi..” Sori said, waving her hand in front of his face.

 

Hansol snapped out of his faze before replying with a nod.

 

“I asked if there was something on my face since you kept staring at it,” Sori repeated.

 

Hansol’s face turned completely red as the other guys chuckled. They knew what he was up to.

 

“Yeah, there was a small bug on your f-face, but now it’s gone,” Hansol replied as he cursed at himself for stuttering.

 

Being the oblivious person she is, Sori just nodded.

 

Does this girl really not know what our Vernon-ie was up to? Seungcheol thought to himself.

 

She is really dense… stupid, Seungkwan thought.

 

For the rest of the class, they couldn’t focus on brainstorming and just continued talking about nonsense that orbited around Sori and her personal life. Hansol would jump in from time to time, but he was more of an observer. Sori went along with their shenanigans until the bell rang.