Just an important note:

If there are any further changes or additions, I’ll post them in the A/Ns in the future. Continue reading :3

-Chapter 08-

It was the first day of high school for her, and JuYeon had been so uncomfortable because she was unconfident with herself. Even from home, the girl kept fidgeting which annoyed the hell out of JaeHyun as he watched his sister played with the hem of her school skirt. “Noona, can you stay still?” The younger boy frowned from his seat at the back and JuYeon smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Jae. I’m just really nervous.” And during the first day, JuYeon watched her classmates being all shy, some friendly and some in the similar state to hers. The most exciting that day was supposed to be her, going to the same school as EunHwa who had been her best friend since elementary years. But no, there was something else much more exciting, heart fluttering and knees trembling-worthy.

The homeroom teacher for her class had them all introducing themselves to each other where she realized that everybody had titles proudly crowned to their names, mentioning their parents’ company and what they own or they’re daughters and sons of minister or ambassadors, leaving her awkward introduction as a scholar silencing almost the whole class with shock, their eyes lacing with something she was sure not nice-looking. The teacher then briefed on a bit about the school’s events that occur all year round and such before telling them they were assigned the class’ monitor where the chubby fifteen year old JuYeon wasn’t interested in listening anymore as she was feeling a bit down about earlier that EunHwa tried to cheer her up. Her best friend had moved to the neighbourhood closer to her father’s workplace.

And soon when it was recess, EunHwa had to go on and meet her new neighbor by the name Kim JongDae because he had apparently forgotten the pastry EunHwa’s mother had given him the day before so his mother passed the small box to her. JuYeon was left alone as she tried to go to her lockers to put her books and wanted to explore the school. So far, aside from her classmates that had known of her poor family status, no one else had criticized her for being a scholar yet so all was well.

There was that west wing for the artistic students.

It was facilitated with music room full of all kinds branded instruments. Behind another door was a recording room and there were a few students inside, passionate students making music together. The last room she opened was another room with two male students who showed true passion in music through dancing. It was spectacular and jaw dropping. One of the two saw her through the opened door and JuYeon gasped before bowing multiple times. “I’m so sorry, sunbaenimdeul. I didn’t mean to disrupt your session. You can continue. Just don’t mind me.” Both the male dancers chuckled before the first one approached her.

He had sharp single eyelids with dark, black irises that complimented his milky white skin and full chubby cheeks, but JuYeon didn’t make the mistake to think he was someone her age, since his aura that contrasted against his features screamed that the boy was her senior. He squinted his eyes as they studied the girl in front of him. There was a flash of something in his black orbs before he blinked and smiled at her warmly.

“Are you a freshman?” He asked, and she timidly nodded.

“I’m Kim MinSeok, just a year your senior then, but I don’t really mind with the formalities. If it makes you more comfortable, you can call me oppa.” Then he pointed to his friend who had approached the both of them with a wide smile. “That’s Kim KiBum, a friend of mine. But we call him Key since he’s also a freshman – just like you.” The Key guy shook his head. “Also, he’s quite the diva.” MinSeok whispered loudly as she giggled when the younger male scoffed. She hadn’t met him before, thus she concluded that they were of different classes.

She got out of the room and headed towards the east wing - so far being her favourite. Why? Because it was Science department. Oh yes, JuYeon was a nerd even from middle school. She just discovered that there were three huge labs for the three science-core subjects; Physics, Chemistry and Biology. “Wow. This is truly rich.” She quietly whispered in awe, grinning at the thought that she was free to use anything in the school, which included the facilities in that department.

The moment she finished touring herself around the east wing, the bell rung and marked the end of their recess.

JuYeon decided to finish the self-tour some other time.

She headed to class and found out she was one of the early birds as there were only a couple of students inside the class. Not wanting to cause any trouble, the girl shrugged before sitting at the farthest back to enjoy a new fantasy she bought yesterday using her savings (the one she would never tell to her problematic father until they didn’t have to face him anymore). It was the second volume of Harry Potter in English edition, which EunHwa had helped her ordering it online two weeks prior. The chubby girl had borrowed the first one from the library which was quite a long time ago, and she wanted to own one from the whole collection at least ever since then.

There was silence and tranquility in the class that she preferred, and she thought that maybe the class wasn’t so bad after all.

Oh, how the young girl had thought too soon.

The door opened and JuYeon was disrupted by their boisterous chuckles and loud voices. Annoyed and a bit miffed, the girl frowned and lifted her head up from her read to stop almost immediately. Black, almost wind-blown hair, clear deep orbs, sharp but cute nose, bunny-like incisors and blush pink lips… JuYeon knew that face all too well. At that exact moment, the boy slowly turned his head to her direction as if he sensed her eyes on him, and his laughter died down which was soon then replaced with an innocent yet genuine grin. The young girl snapped out of her almost indecent trance and continued to read her book where she was disrupted earlier, though she felt like all the words on the pages were jumbled up. Or maybe those were her thoughts acting up.

‘Oh no.’ She felt how her cheeks heated up with the blood running through her veins and she covered them, her hands accidentally hitting the book on her desk as it fell to the floor with a loud thud. Horrified, JuYeon bent down to pick it up as a hand snatched it first. Blinking in mild shock, she raised her head to see the male already in front of her with her fallen book in his hold. He slowly held it out to her, but took a glance at the back cover in intrigue. “Another Potter-head?” He grinned jokingly to which the girl made a blank face to. “Potter-head? What’s that?” Her confused answer made him smile wider in amusement. “You really didn’t know?” He tilted his head a bit to the side and the look he gave her was teasing, but gosh, it was adorable.

The boy chuckled. “Potter-head – a term meaning that you are a fan of Harry Potter and it’s whole collection. You must be a reader, huh?” He looked at the volume number, before nodding to himself. “But this is the first time I’ve seen anyone read it in English. You must be really smart then.” He placed the book back on her desk, and she didn’t know if he noticed her cheek’s darkening in rosey tint, but if he didn’t, she was glad. He held out a hand. “I’m JoonMyun. Kim JoonMyun, the class monitor.” JuYeon sidetracked at his introduction. “Again?” She accidentally blurted out and immediately slapped her hand on . JoonMyun widened his eyes a bit. “What do you mean?” JuYeon shook her head. “No, I was just sidetracked at the moment. I’m sorry, JoonMyun-ssi.” She tucked a few loose locks behind her ear, flustered. ‘I actually know you, JoonMyun-ah. But of course, you would never notice it enough to know.’ The guy just wasn’t just her monitor last year, but he was also the top male student adored by both teachers and students alike.

“Ah, well, I hope we’d be good friends.” He said, just as their History teacher came in.

But that heart-stopping smile that JoonMyun managed to give her before he rushed towards his seat was enough to make her feel enchanted, and exactly that day, chubby little fifteen years old Jung JuYeon fell for the umpteenth time for the same person, just a little bit more today.

It was cold out as winter was fast approaching, and JuYeon felt as though she was going to freeze as she took her luggage with her, trying to wait a bit more for her brother who, by the way, hadn’t arrive yet. She figured that it was better to drop by the café she hadn’t visited because of the fact it was a whole sea away from the country she was working in. And there was someone she has to meet there anyway. The message sent to her brother was five minutes ago, so maybe he would arrive soon.

“Hey, beautiful!” The man behind the counter beside a young barista waved as she stood beside the customers’ que. JuYeon grinned with faux-flirtatious-eyelash-batting, greeting the male with the same level of enthusiasm. “Hey, handsome!” The greeting they usually exchanged was a sign of friendship, and while a certain head of finance back in China with doe-like eyes with devious brain was like an older brother to her, this one had the same significance in her point of life that until now, she was grateful for. The man was both like a brother and sister for her as he was not only sassy, but gossiped more than her mother did. And her mother wasn’t much of a gossiper anyways. Yes, he’s not into female gender.

“Butterfly Cappuccino?” He asked, already ordering around the poor barista to make a hot cup for JuYeon. “Heechul oppa, why do you have to be so mean to him?” The woman chuckled. Kim Heechul stepped out from the counter before pulling her along to one of the couple booths. “Okay, beautiful. Spill, spill. What’s been happening over there, are there any hot guys I should be