KYUNGSOO

I opened my eyes, still feeling drowsy from the warmth of my blankets hearing my alarm buzzing off at 6 am in the morning. After spending five minutes laying down, I finally had the motivation to get out of bed, wash up and put on my uniform whilst preparing for an important day of the year.

It was the first day in High School, where the guys come together and spend classes with the girls.

You see, SM Academy is a prestigious school especially for those who believe they can achieve their very best for their future. The school is divided into three, separate campuses. Junior High campuses are separated between the girls and boys from seventh grade to ninth grade. While our senior campus is Co-Ed from years tenth grade to twelfth grade. Our homerooms are allocated based on student ranking starting from D all the way to A which has the highest ranking students.

As I've been studying at SM Academy since I remembered, the building was still spacious only to get a little crowded now that the girls have joined the campus.

The first bell rings and everyone began to scatter into their classrooms. I was casually finding my way when I happen to accidentally bump into another female student. Books, sheets, pens and a pair of glasses were scattered on the floor. I rushed over and quickly helped her clear up. "S-sorry," the girl quietly muttered. "I was lost and I had no idea where I had to go." She tried not to make contact with me as she frantically picked up her dropped items.

"Hey, it's alright." I calmly replied. "There's no need to panic when you're in a rush on the first day." I handed the girl her glasses.

"Thanks," As she put them on, the girl looked up at me. Then suddenly her cheery expression changed as I noticed her smile faded.

"Excuse me, are you okay?" I asked.

"You," she whispered. Then she quickly turned away, prepared to walk to class.

"Wait, do you need a hand finding your class?" I called out to her once more, but she already left. The unfamiliar girl didn't even at least say thank you for my help earlier. How rude.

Although I got to see a glimpse of her face, she looked rather innocent and cute behind those spectacles. But somehow, behind her eyes, she seemed rather... familiar.

---

Eventually, I found my class and took my seat. I heard the new girls in my class already quietly whispering and giggled behind me. I heaved myself a sigh. Although I'm one of the best students at this school, I don't seem to have any interest when it comes to dating.

"Hey D.O.!" Chanyeol, my best friend came and sat on another vacant seat beside me. "Have you heard the news that we have a new student in our class?" he asked. "I heard that she recently moved back to Seoul from Tokyo just a few days ago."

Of course, a new scholar student- from Tokyo. And Chanyeol did mention for a fact that it was a girl? I wonder how she managed to top up her grades from studying abroad.

The second bell rang. Class was finally starting.

Everyone in the room settled into their seats as our new homeroom teacher walked in. 

"Good morning everyone and welcome to your first year on the main campus of SM Academy." He greeted cheerfully. "I am Mr. Kim and I will be your new homeroom teacher for the year. I hope we'll get along well."

I overheard some of the girls were fangirling while the rest of the guys groaned. Have they not seen a male teacher this attractive back at the girls' campus? I mean Mr. Kim looked young yet rather short in height. Not to mention that he's actually one of the students who recently graduated here.

"Now, as some of you may have heard. We apparently also have a new student who will be joining this class. She had just recently moved back from Tokyo so make her feel welcome. Okay?" Mr. Kim winked with an assuring smile.

Everyone looked around the classroom and started to buzz into conversation again, anticipating for our new class member.

The teacher walked over and opened the door. The transfer student slowly came in. I recognized that it was the girl I encountered in the corridors earlier. She seemed mellow, but quiet and still. Maybe she was feeling overwhelmed for the first day and was just not used to Seoul again since she lived in Tokyo for a while.

"Her name is Lee Jinhye," Mr. Kim introduced.

Wait, Lee Jinhye? From Seoul Elementary?! That name, I knew it sounded familiar. But it's impossible. The Jinhye I knew looked almost nothing like back from she was younger.

She had short, black hair which grew long past her shoulders and I could barely recognize her face behind her glasses!

"It's nice to meet you all." Jinhye softly spoke as she bowed.

"Jinhye, how about you take that empty seat behind Do Kyungsoo?" Mr. Kim suggested I instantly raised my hand up. "I'm sure he'll be happy to show you around the campus if you would."

She and I exchanged glances. And some of our classmates began to make weird noises from behind.

"Thanks, but I'm sure I'll be able to get used to my time here on my own." Jinhye smiled.

The class began to suspiciously murmur over something as Jinhye walked over and quietly took her allocated seat behind me. I tried to smile, to see if she'd remember me, but her look seem straight and blank. So I turned away.

"Hello! I hope we'll get along well." Chanyeol whispered to Jinhye. With one hand, I hit his arm. Chanyeol massaged his arm as he winced in pain. Either that he's trying to be friendly or that he's flirting with an old friend of mine. I know that a girl would feel intimidated for Chanyeol's first impression.

---

Jinhye may be quiet and demure, but also gentle once you get to know her.

Well, at least that was how I remembered her.

Now after realizing that she would end up as a scholar student at my school, Jinhye somehow, changed. Not only she looked rather different, but the way Jinhye behaved at school especially towards myself. It somehow felt strange. Like the way she flashed her cold, icy glare into her eyes as we were walking past each other in the corridors. It was almost as if we were never friends to begin with in the past, but parallel strangers.

Our first test for today was Mathematics. Despite the difficulty, the first, few questions were quite easy as excpected, then it got to the point when the formulas became too complicated to solve the problem. After checking over my answers one last time, I was about to hand over my test paper to the teacher's desk until Jinhye somehow managed to beat me to it.

Little did I know, wasn't Jinhye terrible at math in elementary school? I thought she couldn't stand problem solving questions!

---

93 percent. Still satisfied from looking at my paper. Chanyeol told me he got 85. Still, not a bad test score, but at least he's getting better.

"Whoa, the new scholar student managed to pass the test with a perfect score!" One of the students exclaimed.

"I've heard that she's taking advanced classes for foreign languages." Said another. "She was even awarded for three consecutive years since seventh grade."

You probably didn't notice, but usually, I don't often keep up to date with these somewhat rumors the students are spreading out at school.

But from hearing these stories about Jinhye, it's no wonder that she became a scholar student here.

JINHYE

"Jinhye, you've really improved a lot since last year! Good job!" Seol Han Byul exclaimed looking at my test paper."

"Thanks," I blushed. "But you did pretty well on the test too."

"And to think you only applied the international scholarship for one year? You're so lucky! You could've stayed in Japan for another year at least."

"What? You're not trying to get rid of me are you?" I asked, acting out in a dramatic matter.

"What- no, not in that way!" Han Byul frantically replied.

I chuckled, my best friend still hadn't changed since fifth grade.

"So, what made you decide to come back to Seoul anyway?" she asked after she handed back the paper.

I stopped for a moment and stared up at the ceiling.

"After the scholarship, I guess I didn't really have the choice but to re-enroll at SM Academy." I replied. "I missed hanging out with you guys."

"Hey, do, you still like him?" Han Byul asked nervously.

I stumbled back from my seat "W-what are you talking about?" I stuttered while the blood rushed to my cheeks.

"Come on, I know everything Jinhye. I'm your best friend. And if you really like Kyungsoo, you should tell him how you truly feel." She placed her hand on my shoulder for support.

"I-it doesn't matter anymore..." My smile faded.

---

THIRD PERSON'S POV

Kyungsoo decided to look for Jinhye as class was dismissed for break. Eventually he found her carrying her books over to the library, so he followed.

"Lee Jinhye!" he called out.

Jinhye's heart stopped. No, it can't be him... it can't be...

But it was impossible to deny the fact that it was really him.

Do Kyungsoo. The boy from Seoul Elementary.

How could Jinhye forget that he was one of the of the scholar students at this school?

His features haven't changed a bit since the last time she seen him. Black hair, dark, round eyes and heart shaped lips. Kyungsoo still looked short but he probably grew a few inches taller than Jinhye. But one that shocked her was his mature, yet alluring voice.

"Don't you, remember me?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Of course I remember you." Jinhye said straightforwardly. "It's been a while."

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that we didn't get to talk much now that we're in the same school." He sheepishly apologized, looking down from his eyes. "I thought I couldn't recognize you back there."

"What matters is that it's good to see you again, Kyungsoo." Jinhye simply nodded with a small smile.

She continued walking while Kyungsoo somehow decided to stick around asking her questions.

"So, what was it like back in Tokyo? How did you get the scholarship?"

Jinhye stopped in her tracks.

"Things, have changed Kyungsoo." She replied. Her voice sounded cold and emotionless as she held on to her books tight.

"What do you mean?" He asked cluelessly. Unaware of what was going on with this new, invisible aura that was slowly surrounding her.

Jinhye removed her glasses revealing her familiar face. "Why do you care? Our parents lost contact with each other after we graduated." She replied again.

"But hey! At least you're here now, with me. Maybe we should catch up sometime!" Kyungsoo tried to sound positive.

"Catch up?" Jinhye scoffed. "You think this is the right time to catch up after what you did to hurt me that day?" She was on the verge of tears as they began to form, welling up in her eyes.

"I... I had no idea..." Hearing from the sound of guilt in his voice. Jinhye knew she had him there.

"Oh, so you're sorry now?" she scoffed.

But still, would Jinhye stand another chance?

"You don't understand Kyungsoo. Don't you see? This is isn't who I am anymore."

"Jin..."

"Just forget it!"

She quickly puts on her glasses and rushed away. Kyungsoo tried to stop her, but it was too late.