She was sitting in the darkness, but it wasn't intimidating. Trees formed a canopy above her head, not allowing even a faint stream of moonlight in, and a gentle breeze caressed her skin. Soft footsteps padded towards her; she looked up to see a large white wolf staring at her intently. But she was not afraid – rather, she felt strangely at peace.

The wolf lowered it's head slightly, as though bowing to her. Then, one by one, it took slow steps forward. She did not flinch or even feel a flicker of fear. Finally, it was only two steps away from her and she held her hand out. It laid it's soft cheek against her palm and nuzzled into it. With her other hand, she gently patted the top of it's head. It's white coat was silky soft, and it pulled back to look at her, head cocked to one side. After a while of just studying her, it laid itself down at her feet and she the silky fur.

It was complete bliss to sit in the forest with the wolf.

Having it by her side made her feel at peace.

Su Ji woke up, still feeling an unrealistic sense of peace within herself which she had never experienced in her life. The chaos within her had churned with more fury than ever since the arrest of her father, and whispers of self-doubts and self-worth grew louder inside her.

It's been three days now that she no longer woke up feeling drained and weary; she was rested and peaceful, ready to embrace whatever the new day had to offer.

How long would this last?

Before, no matter how long she slept, she was still tired when she woke up, afraid of what the day would throw at her. It's been three nights of peaceful sleep, and she hoped it would stay a bit longer.

For three nights, she also dreamed of the wolf. It was always the same dream; she sat in the forest, and it would be next to her. It was weird but she didn't feel threatened by it – she even had good dreams about it now!

Grandma had accompanied her back from school for one more day, the wolf following slowly as it had the previous day. Su Ji didn't know why, but she was now entirely unafraid.

"You don't have to come pick me up anymore," she had told Grandmother – she was busy enough already, without having to come and get Su Ji (Grandmother gave Su Ji her umbrella just in case though).

For the next two days, the wolf kept the same distance from her, following slowly.

Call Su Ji crazy but she felt as though she was being watched over – by a wild animal, and the fact that she wasn't scared of it proved that she was crazy after all. Instead of seeing a killer, she saw a graceful and majestic animal.

Urghhhhh, I'm insane.. I'm seriously crazy...

Her phone buzzed with a text and she huffed in annoyance, groping to get her phone.

Of course, it was Namjoon who had sent that text. That guy hasn't left her alone ever since he got her number.

Namjoon: Did you read the analysis of Book 1?

Su Ji sighed; honestly, did he have to bombard her with texts about schoolwork every morning?

Su Ji: Yeah.

And that was it. She'd have to summarize it as proof when they met at school. So far, neither of them had been called on but Namjoon was forcing her to know every little detail about Book 1, which they had just finished.

The day after they had been assigned as partners, Namjoon was standing in front of the school's parking lot. Su Ji hadn't pay much attention to it until he called out "Yah, new girl" in a voice that made her freeze. He strode over to her, his face slightly peeved. "Did you read it or not?" he had demanded.
"What? Oh, you mean the book right?" Thankfully, she had made it to chapter six. "Yeah, I read it."
"Good." He had still looked peeved as he turned his back and strode off.

"What's with him?" asked Hoseok.

Su Ji had shrugged. "No idea. He just asked me if I read the book."
"Have fun working with him," said Jungkook. "I once did and...it was hell."
"He expects you to do everything as perfectly as he does," explained V. "But come on! He's perfect without even trying! There's no way any of us could be on the same level as he is – and I'm not just talking academic-wise. Everything he does is so perfect and effortless... man, I wished I was half as perfect as he is!"

Jungkook had patted her shoulder. "Good luck, and I hope you'll survive it – seriously, you do not want that guy mad at you."

If this had been said under nomal situations, Su Ji would have cried and ripped her hair out – she knew all about working with perfectionists, and Namjoon seemed to be the dangerous kind. But there had been no time for a meltdown, as Hoseok had dragged her inside for Assembly.

She had tried not to pay attention, but throughout, Namjoon was staring daggers at her.

"What is it?" she had demanded, once they all started filing towards their classrooms. "If you have something to say, just-"
"If you were lying about reading the chapters-"
"I wasn't! I really read them!"
"Then summarize them for me," Namjoon had challenged. "Go on."
The words stuck in Su Ji's throat. She had honestly read... but it was right before bed and she had been too sleepy to store all of the information.

"I-"
"See, I knew it." His eyes had narrowed. "You're a moocher, aren't you? You're just hoping to mooch off of my work."
"I wouldn't do that!" she had protested, and he sneered before going ahead of her.

Namjoon's odd behavior had lasted all day. He had glared at her and made remarks about moochers and leeches until Su Ji could have banged his head against the wall.

When school ended, Su Ji had just been about to go in the bus when Namjoon suddenly appeared at her elbow and ordered, "You text me about what you read, and if I call, you better respond."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, fine," she said. Control-freak.

Namjoon had looked like he wanted to say something else; his eyes had softened just a fraction of a bit but Su Ji had shrugged him off and taken her seat next to Hoseok.

Thankfully, he didn't glare at her anymore – he must have just been in a foul mood that day – but it grated at her nerves that he addressed her solely as "new girl".