Trees turn bare. The wind starts to become nipping cold. Winter holidays started and ended. Another school year was starting soon. And Junghye was trying her everything to not be reminded of it. She had been busy with her part-time jobs and starting ahead on her studies in the midst of struggling to get the best second-hand books at a cheap price.

 

She was nervous for the final year in school and felt that she wasn’t ready. She remembers that during her working hours, she received notice of her results. Realizing that she was first, she almost screamed out in happiness during lunch rush hour. A huge smile couldn’t be kept off her face as the school offered more money to be given to her scholarship, resulting in her not having to pay her final year of high school.

 

“We’ll be rearranging seats,” her homeroom teacher announces.

 

Junghye sighs as her class shuffle to the front of the class with their belongings. Her eyes slightly closing as she stands at the far corner of the classroom, having taken on a night shift for her new job. She drifts in and out of consciousness as students were being partnered up.

 

“Kang Daniel! Choi Junghye!” the teacher calls out finally, “At the back!”

 

She almost jolts forward and falling if it wasn’t for his soft hidden grip. Her eyes narrow slightly, not knowing when he stood next to her. Her sight falls to his fingers as she gently wrenches the grip away by shifting her arm. 

 

She moves first, making her way back to her original seat. When she was about to sit, Daniel tosses his bag on the table. Her eyes widen and turn to narrow them at him. He smirks, hands in his pockets and strolls to his seat, the inner seat, whistling softly.

 

She frowns, setting her books down on the table and sits down. At least Hyunmin was on her diagonal right. She looks towards his direction to realize that he switched seats with his partner. Her eyes wander back to her table, frowning slightly before taking out her notebook.

 

~~~

 

Junghye’s head rests on the table, eyes shut as her conscious shifts between reality and dreamland. She hears the creek of the chair on her light and ignores it. “Rough night?” Hyunmin asks in a low tone, voice slightly muffled. “Have some breakfast. Daniel brought extra for me.”

 

Her head lifts up, eyes barely open to see the packaged bread on her table. Her gaze trails towards Hyunmin with a sleepy questioning look. “Daniel and I are friends if you’re wondering,” he states and she slumps back unto the table, too tired to investigate further.

 

Munch. Munch. Munch. “You should really eat a bit,” he says, voice standing out in the midst of many.

 

Her arm lifts up and waves slightly before falling back down. The bell ring and she groaned, wishing that she wasn’t at school. Hyunmin gets up and hides the bread under her table just as the teacher walks in with her books. “Good morning class!” she chirps in English.

 

Everyone gets up to greet her in their accented English before sitting back down. Junghye takes out the book they were studying without looking under the desk. But as her hands move around blindly, she doesn’t feel any A5 book.

 

She bends down to search for it to see nothing except for her other books. She groans softly, having remembered that she left it in her workbag since she was studying it during work the night before. “Students without their books, please raise their hands,” the teacher calls out and she hesitantly raises her hand with a couple of other students. “Choi Junghye?”

 

All eyes turn to her as she lowers her gaze, embarrassed from all the looks. Some of the guys start making a big deal out of it and the remainder of the class follows before being shushed by the petite teacher. “This is your first time so I will let you off. Do not do this again,” she warns and Junghye dips her head. “Share the book with your seatmate.”

 

Junghye turns to see Daniel with the book in his hand, smirking slightly. She bites the inside of as she makes eye contact with him. As if having understood her, he lowers the book onto in between the tables. They both lean in slightly, eyes running over the words.

 

The teacher announces that she will be reading through the first chapter with the class, earning cheers. Junghye sighs, having read the whole book already but doesn’t protest. Her eyes follow the reading by the teacher. After one long paragraph, the teacher picks on a student.

 

Their voices ring out clearly in the classroom as they read slowly. Junghye adjusts her position; having her left arm supporting the right side of her face as her right arm was in a 45-degree position, below her left hand as it bears the majority of her weight. With the comfortable position, the soft material of the blazer and the monotonous voice of the students and teachers, her eyes slowly flutter shut.

 

Daniel concentrates on the reading as his eyes dart around the page. Having learned English, this was an easy feat for him. Once he was done, he drums his fingers against the polished wooden top. He wants to move on but the book was being shared.

 

As he opens his mouth to ask if she was done, he realizes that her eyes were shut, face in a peaceful expression. He peers with slight curiousity if she was faking it but the steady breathing proved otherwise. He takes the chance to study her, having never been up close before. He notices the lack of makeup as her face was adorned with signs of puberty.

 

Small pimples invade her chin and brow ridge, something different but it made Daniel feel more humane. Maybe too much artificial beauty, that he forgets that there are natural beauties in a society focused on looks, surrounded him. He takes his time to absorb every single unique feature of hers, his sharp eyes noticing that everything was natural.

 

Suddenly he halts himself, eyes widening at what he was doing. I caused her misery. I’m not supposed to do this. Not again. He forces his eyes on the book, keeping the position, some part of him wishing to cover up for her. As the reading progresses, her eyes remain close with steady breaths.

 

His eyes will dart between the book and her peaceful face. When class was about to end, her face scrunches up and he forces to peer at the book, flipping to the correct page. From the corner of his eye, he sees her releasing a mini yawn, hand covering . She realizes that she had fallen asleep so she shifts slightly in her position to not draw attention to herself.

 

She lifts her head slightly, giving ease to her arms. Pins and needles strike her as she massages out the numbing feeling. The bell rings, halting the reading and the teacher reminds the class to finish it before leaving. Many students get up from their seats, stretching and complaining about reading. Junghye leans back in her chair, looking over to Daniel who was storing the book away.

 

“Thank you,” she whispers out and he seems to not have heard her.

 

She puffs her cheeks and pokes him gently, gaining his attention. He looks at her with a curious look, brows slightly narrowed. She looks down her lap, her hands playing with one another. “Thank… you,” she repeats, glancing up slightly to catch his small smile.

 

“For?” he asks, acting innocent.

 

She doesn’t reply, huffing softly and takes out her math book to study. “Hey, you can’t do this to me. Thanking me but not saying the reason,” he protests and she continues to ignore him, fighting a smile. “Hey!”