Even though her alarm clock was ringing loudly in her ear and the sun was shining brightly outside, she didn’t seem to have enough motivation to get out of bed. It was comfortable and to get out would only be a disservice to her. Throwing a pillow at her alarm clock in an attempt to silence it, she pulled the covers over her head and groaned. When she heard the alarm finally go silent, another loud noise took its place.

“Jung Sooyeon! Get up now! School starts in a little over an hour!” She heard her mother’s voice boom from the kitchen downstairs.

The second she heard it, she knew it was time to get up. It wasn’t often that her mother used her Korean name. Having grown up in the United States with her family, she was always known as Jessica. But when your Korean name is used, you know your mom means business.

She rolled herself out of bed and had to catch herself before falling flat on her face. You see, Jessica Jung wasn’t the most coordinated person in the world. In fact, most of the time, she finds it hard to simply walk without tripping on her own feet. Her awkwardness always seemed to come out at the wrong moments. There’s no telling how many people have witnessed her clumsiness and suffered from second hand embarrassment.

So, maybe it was a good thing that her family relocated to Seoul, Korea. Maybe the people here would be less judgmental than those girls in California. That wasn’t the exact reason her family decided to move here, but it was part of it. Their whole family needed a fresh start. After her father’s business failed, they had to suffer the consequences. Falling on hard times is something that cause strain in the family, but the Jung family was a little different. Instead of complaining and losing hope, they decided to relocate to Korea to be with the rest of their extended family in hopes of starting over. Her uncle had a struggling business in the city of Seoul and her father offered to help out in any way that he could. So, a few months ago, Jessica, her sister Krystal, and her parents all packed their bags and headed to Seoul.

It was a welcome change for both her and her sister. They weren’t very popular among the students at their old school, but they weren’t at the bottom of the bunch either. No one really noticed them, nor did they care enough to. Girls were too busy dieting and plastering their faces with makeup and the boys were too busy high fiving each other and checking out the girls. When news of her family’s hard time spread, however, attention shifted to the Jung sisters. At times, they were the of jokes, other times, they were just looked at with pity.

Jessica felt a little helpless and sad that she couldn’t protect her little sister. She wanted to just scream at those people that their family was fine and didn’t need anybody feeling bad for them. Krystal was strong, she knew that. But, as an older sister, she felt it was her job to shield her younger sister from the cruelty of the world.

That’s why this change was a welcomed one.

What wasn’t very welcomed, however, was the thought of her first day at a brand new school.  Though she wanted to start anew and be herself without the fear of being judged, it did terrify her that she was going into a whole new world with strangers she had never seen before. Who knew if they’d be nice to her? If they’d ignore her? If they’d poke fun at her?

Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she headed out of her bedroom door and headed to the bathroom, only to find that it was being occupied by her sister. Having lived with Krystal most of her life, she knew how long she’d be waiting and decided to get breakfast before cleaning herself up. Heading down the stairs, she found her mom preparing some pancakes and eggs while her father read a newspaper at the table. When her parents’ attention landed on her, she smiled and politely bowed and greeted them before joining them.

“Why aren’t you getting ready yet? You have to leave for school soon, honey.” Her father stated.

“Krystal’s in there. That’s at least another twenty minutes before I can clean myself up. Who knows, I might even end up going to school like this!” Jessica laughed along with her parents.

Just then, they heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Turning their heads, their eyes met with the bright smile of the younger Jung sister. She was already dressed and ready for the first day of school, looking neat and well put together. She came down the stairs and bowed to her parents much like her sister had done earlier. As she quietly joined her family at the table, her mother couldn’t help but snicker at the image of the two sisters sitting together.  One was neat and tidy, dressed in her school clothes with her hair in loose waves. Her makeup, consisting of only BB cream and a light pink blush, brought out her natural beauty.

By her side, was the elder Jung sister, whose looks told the truth. She had just rolled out of bed, and that was evident. She was still dressed in her sweats and had her hair up in a messy bun.

Ever since her sister had come down the stairs, she had not taken her eyes off of the younger one. hung open as she looked at Krystal up and down.

“Yah! Krystal, you’ve changed! You usually need at least another thirty minutes to finish getting ready!” Jessica laughed, slightly pushing her sister’s shoulder in a playful manner. The rest of the family laughed along with the two girls, enjoying their breakfast together and chatting away.

After finishing her breakfast, Jessica took her plate and walked it over to the sink. Bowing to her family once again, she exited the kitchen and returned upstairs to prepare herself for the day. Cleaning herself up in the bathroom, thoughts of what she should wear and how she should present herself entered her mind. She wanted to make a good first impression, especially since she would be starting school towards the end of the semester. She didn’t want to look like the strange kid who doesn’t have a clue what she was doing. She decided she didn’t want to stand out. If she could, she’d just simply drift among the sea of students until it was time to leave the place. She wasn’t going to call attention to herself and just blend in.

Picking out a simple, neutral toned shirt and some jeans, she decided she was just going to let her hair sit where it was, not wanting to put too much effort into it because of the time constraint. She quickly pinned her bangs out of her face and placed some BB cream and blush on, much like her sister did. Simple, natural, and quick.

She grabbed her backpack and headed to her sister’s room, finding her sitting on the edge of her bed, smiling at something on her phone. It was most likely some funny text message she had received from her friend, but there was no time for that. School was a thirty minute walk away.

The sisters found themselves standing in the midst of the large student body, holding one another’s arms as they tried to figure out which room they were supposed to be heading to. Jessica chose to help Krystal find her room first and that she could find her own way later on. Navigating their way through the crowd, she quickly figured out how the numbering system of the rooms worked and was able to find her sister’s classroom. After wishing her good luck on their first day and giving her an encouraging hug, the elder Jung sibling watched as her sister walked into the nearly empty classroom and quietly take a seat in the back.

Looking at the clock on the wall, Jessica saw she had about five minutes to get to her own classroom, which was just down the hallway. Slowing down to catch her breath, she walked over to the room and looked inside. There were only a few students sitting at the desks, each in their own little world. The teacher wasn’t even inside yet. Walking inside, she met eyes with some of the students, smiling and bowing as she made her way towards the back. Sitting there would assure that she wouldn’t catch too much attention.

Grabbing her phone, she set it to silent and decided she’d message her sister until class started. Quickly finding herself in a funny conversation with her sister, she failed to notice the time passing. She heard the warning bell ring and saw students starting to fill the once empty room. Many of the students greeted one another and sat in what seemed like their own little groups.

Putting her phone away, she put her head down and started playing with her fingers, deciding that it probably wasn’t a good idea to be staring at the people who entered and be labeled as a creep.

“You’re new here, right?” She heard a voice say from next to her. With her head having been down and not paying much attention, she failed to notice the boy heading towards the seat next to her. Nodding her head, she watched as he seated himself down. She quietly introduced herself and bowed to the stranger.

“You can call me Seungri. Welcome to your first day!”