Goodbye, summer break. Hello, hell high school.

Ara's POV

Letting out a heavy sigh, while Ara stares at the ceiling, she starts her soliloquy, "It's that time of the year again. Before you know it, school slaps you right in the face. I like to be ahead, so I'm already counting down the days until our next break; which is the winter Christmas break. Three months... I need to bear with this for another three months. I can do that, right? Let's be optimistic, Ara! Go for it."

"Ara, is that you talking to yourself again?" Her mother asked.

"Umma, this my pep talk. Don't judge me." Ara called from the other side.

"I have a weird child." Her mother mused while walking away from Ara's room.

Ara harrumphed and said, "I heard that. Like mother, like daughter. Heard of that phrase before, mother?" Without further ado, Ara gets out of bed and goes into the bathroom to make herself look presentable. Back in her room, she spots the school uniform lying on her bed, waiting for her. The uniform is made up with: a red tie, dark navy blue skirt, and a dark navy blue blazer with the school's emblem stitched on the upper left chest area. "I'll admit, the uniform looks pretty good." Ara thought whilst changing into it. She twirled left and right in-front of the mirror, content with how she looked, Ara left her room and headed to where her mother was.

"Good morning dear." Her mother greeted.

"Morning umma, and what's for breakfast?" Ara beamed.

"Since today is a special day, you starting the final year of high school; I've made traditional breakfast." Her mother told her.

With round doe eyes, Ara astonishingly said, "Really, umma? You did?"

Leading her daughter to the dining room, on the table was truly a traditional breakfast. It is composed with: Kongnamul Guk (Soybean Sprout Soup), rice, banchan, and a meat dish.

Awestruck by the sight, "You must've woke up really early to prepare all of this. I feel bad...but thanks for everything, umma. I mean it." Ara squeaked out as she hugged her mum.

"I know that. I'd do anything for my precious daughter." Her mother lovingly said. "Now, now, let's not waste time and eat.

"Yes madam!" Ara saluted.

Together, they sat around the table and ate with joy and warmth. Very homey. "Yeap, your cooking is definitely the best. I feel blessed." Ara complimented. 

"Yes yes yes, I'm only getting praise because I'm feeding you." Her mother sarcastically replied. 

"Hey, mother. Accept all compliments with a smile. Like what I'm doing." Ara grinned widely.

Tick tock.

Checking the time on the wall clock, it screamed "You're going to be late if you don't leave now, Ara!" Realising the time, Ara vacuumed the rest of the food in her bowl, into . She bids her mother goodbye, grabs her school bag, and leaves the house.

"Always in a rush." Her mother shook her head but smiling at the same time. 

Brisk walking her way to school, it takes fifteen minutes for her to get to the said place. Lifting her wrist, her watch read 8.10. "Man...I can't be late on the first day." Ara mumbled to herself. Picking up her speed, her legs going as fast as it could take her. Moving left and right, dodging passerbys, all the while throwing multiple "sorry's". Finally reaching a traffic light, which gave Ara some time to slow down and take a breather. Fanning her face to try and prevent herself from sweating, while she waits for the green man to appear so she can cross safely. It's like Ara can predict when the lights change, the moment she said "now!" in her head, it immediately changed. Chuffed with her skill, she crosses the road like everyone else is. Checking the time, it shows 8.20, relieved that she could make it in time, Ara slows her pace down. All is well until someone carelessly walks past and shoulder bumps her pretty hard. Ara wanted to shout abuse at the perpetrator, but stopped when she caught a small glimpse of the person's side profile. Which lasted no more than one second. Suddenly, a wave of thoughts come rushing into her mind. She stood rooted in her spot. "...That's not him. It can't be. He left, remember? It's probably someone that looks similar to him. Yeah, it must be." she thought. Dazed by this, Ara shakes her head in attempt to clear her mind, and resumes her walk to school.

You know you've arrived at school when you see a mass of students, hearing loud laughters, and see students chatting amongst their group of friends. As Ara walks into the school grounds, out of nowhere, two hands were covering her eyes. 

"Guess whooooo?" the person sing-songed.

"Who else could it be apart from you?" Ara retorted. 

Uncovering her eyes, Soojung stood in-front of Ara, "Hiiiiii Ara!!" she greeted enthusiastically. 

"How can you be so...energetic?" Ara responded lethargically. 

"I just am...deal with it, Ara!" Soojung replied.

Ignoring her friend, Ara walked ahead, with Soojung tailing behind and saying "wait for me". With that, the duo headed inside the building. The image of students standing beside their lockers, texting on their phones, or leaning on the wall welcomed them. They continued to make their way through until they see students huddling around the board that tells them which class they're in. 

Standing in the middle, "I wish people would be considerate and stop pushing. It really grinds my gears. At least give them about twenty seconds to search for their name and class." Ara complained about the people around her. 

Soojung clutching onto Ara's blazer sleeve, "I agree..." she piped up. 

Scanning rows and columns of names, before finally spotting her name and Soojung's name. She traced the line and seen they're both in the same class. Turning around to Soojung, "We're both in class 2-A." Ara informed her. 

"Yes!!" Soojung beamed while fist pumping. 

Just when they were about to leave the area, they heard three girls gossiping about a new student joining the school.

"Yah, did you hear, there's a new student!" a girl with blonde hair started.

"A MALE student. And OMG! I heard he's not Korean." a girl with brown hair dreamily replied.

"Well, I seen his face! Beat that." the last girl said in a smug manner. 

The other two girls bombarded her with questions of "what did he look like?", "is he good-looking?", "can he rival the school's most popular guy?". Shushing them, she started, "I only seen him when he walked into the office when I left. So... I didn't exactly catch a look of his face." She meekly finished her speech. 

Disappointed with her answer, they dropped the subject and went on to the topic of makeup products. 

Making their way to somewhere more quiet, Soojung started the conversation with, "A new student joining this school...what do you think of it?" Hearing nothing from Ara, Soojung went, "Ara? Hello?". Still no reaction when she waved her hand in-front of Ara's face. "This time, I'm sure I'll get her attention." Soojung mischievously thought. "Aiiiiii! Ara there's a spider near your foot!" Soojung exclaimed. 

Alarmed, Ara jumped up and down and yelled frantically, "Oh no oh noooo. Is it dead? Is it still there?"

Laughing while clutching her stomach, Soojung managed to let out, "You should've seen your reaction, it was priceless."

Ara glared at Soojung menacingly, "Did you think about the consequences when doing that?"

Immediately, Soojung stopped laughing and straightened up. "I.......didn't. But I...I know wha...what's coming next, judging fro...from your f..f..face." she stammered. 

Taking slow strides, Ara went, "So you should be." Once she's in-front of Soojung, a whack can be heard. "That'll teach you not to scare or prank me." Ara lectured. 

Rubbing her right arm, "I know I know. It's just that you were in a trance, I couldn't get your attention. So that's why I resorted to...that." Soojung reasoned.

"You tried to speak to me? I didn't hear you. Mianhe." Ara apologised, instantly feeling regretful for slapping Soojung.

"It's ok, really! Don't worry, I'm used to your...violent side. Moving on! I wanted to ask your opinion on the new student joining our school." Soojung reinforced her statement. 

"Hmm... It doesn't concern me? I mean, it's just another person entering our school." Ara replied nonchantly. 

"I see... That is true. Just another person, nothing big!" Soojung mused.

"Listen. I want to talk to you about something. It's been annoying me since I arrived at the school." Ara started.

"Is that why you ignored me earlier on?" Soojung guessed.

"Correct. Anyway, it happened when I was on my way to school. I was in my happy bubble, until someone bumped into me. Hard. It's as if he was a walking statue!" Ara told her story, feeling agitated once again.

"Did that person apologise?" Soojung asked.

"He didn't. But that's not the main part. When I got glimpse of his face, I nearly thought it wa-

RINNNNGGGGG!

"Omo, we need to get to class now. Continue later?" Soojung said.

"Darn you, bell! What timing! I'll tell you later." Ara frustratingly let out. 

Not long until the corridors were filled with students making their way to class. 

"Here we are, class 2-A." Ara pointed out.

Half of the class was already filled up with students, they were either chatting to their friends; or sitting in silence. Choosing their seats, the duo sat on the left-hand side, second last row, with Soojung sitting on the inner seat. "It's kind of a quiet class, compared to the other classes. Good, suits me." Ara thought.

"AHH!! I'm going to be in the same class as oppa!!" Eunji fangirled.

"Me too! I feel so lucky!!" Haerin squealed with her hands covering her rosy cheeks.

"Oh for goodness sake. I really jinxed it, didn't I? What now?" Ara complained to Soojung.

All Soojung did was point at the door. Ara's eyes followed and clicked on immediately. Lee Taeyong. The sole reason for the loud screaming. The most popular boy in the school. All, if not, most girls practically worship this guy. Just by simply making eye contact, the girls go crazy. That, my friend, is the power of Lee Taeyong. 

Rolling her eyes, Ara turned to face the front of the class. "It's just a boy. What's so special about that?" she beed in her head. She heard footsteps getting closer and closer, then it stops. THUNK. It sounded like a bag being dropped on the floor. "Are you actually being serious?" Ara whispered to herself. Feeling as if someone is boring holes into the back of her head, she turned around, and indeed her intuition was correct. Taeyong was staring at her.

"Hi." He instigated a conversation. 

"Bye." She turned to face the front again.

Whispers can be heard, "Why talk to her?" and "How dare she speak to oppa like that Who does she think she is?" were exchanged between the members of the Taeyong fanclub. 

"Sorry for being late, class! I was dealing with the paperwork for the new student. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mr Ahn, your homeroom teacher." he announced. 

Once the topic of the new student is brought up, everyone, mostly the girl's were murmuring about who he was. Again.

"Quiet please. I'd like all of you to welcome the new student." he nodded at the door, presumably the student is standing behind it.

And then...

"Annyeonghaseyo. My name is Yuta Nakamoto. Nice to meet you all." Yuta introduced himself with a stoic face.

At that point, Ara didn't know what to think or say, or how to react. She just stared blankly at the male. "I knew it. I knew I wasn't wrong. I should've saw it coming. But...why now?" Ara thought.

Things will get a liiiiitle complicated now.

The Korean breakfast part... I'm not entirely sure on what Koreans actually eat for breakfast. I do know they have soup, rice (of course, a must have), and some side dishes. I'm sorry if I've got it wrong. :| Just waned to clarify that. Haha!

Anyway! Yooooooo! Ara finally meets, well... it's more, like staring at Yuta. So she was right, it was him! You should've believed in yourself, Ara!

To: sazuka, ShinChanRi, sajidabe, water_lilies, lollijoe, nikiiiichan,

Thank you thank you for subscribing to my story! It means alot to me, knowing that you guys like and read my story. The subbies are the best! :D

I hope I don't disappoint anyone with this chapter. :) Happy reading! Until next time!