Chapter I

begin again

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”Hello everyone. My name is Kim Jisoo. I’m 18 and I like poetry,” Jisoo smiles, showing her perfect set of pearly white teeth. She takes a deep breath and tries her best to look unnerved. 

New school means everyone is a stranger. She just moved here in Seoul and she doesn’t know anyone at all. Hence, the looks these strangers are giving her is making her a nervous mess. In this four walls, she silently hopes that she may find a few good people whom she can rely on or at least be acquainted with (not that she instantly wished for these people to be her friends). 

She snaps back to reality when she hears the teacher and her fellow classmates welcoming her to the class. 

“Miss Kim, you can take your seat beside miss Park Chaeyoung,” the teacher says, gesturing her to take her seat on the last row, fifth column, near the window, beside the auburn haired girl, Park Chaeyoung, who is undeniably pretty. 

“Uh, thank you, Mr. Song,” she bows her head as she shakily walks to her designated seat. 

She takes a few deep breaths while finally taking a seat and side-eyeing the auburn haired girl beside her. She puts down her bag and opens it to get her binder and ballpen. When the teacher starts writing on the board, she absentmindedly writes whatever was written on the board. She wants to doze off to sleep but it’s her first day of school and her first class so she wants to start this school year with a great determination and perseverance. However, the subject is too boring and the teacher’s voice is not as lively as she expected it to be but she tries her best to jut down every word on her binder. 

“I can’t believe I’m in this class. Ugh, it’s the first day of school and I already want this school year to end,” the auburn haired girl mutters under her breath, making Jisoo look at her.  

Jisoo couldn’t help but crack a smile. She can see herself being friends with her. And yes, she is relatable. 

The world must have listened to her thoughts when the girl smiles back at her. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—“ 

“Eh, it’s fine. Now you know how much I strongly dislike this class and mind you, it’s  not even halfway through the first semester,” the girl rolls her eyes. “The name’s Park Chaeyoung by the way. But I prefer to be called Rosé.” 

Rosé is prettier up close and when she smiles, oh Lord, save Jisoo. Rosé can’t be this pretty and Jisoo can’t have a crush on her this quickly. She needs to focus or else she might lose the last thread of her heterouality. Pretty girls are her weakness. And pretty girls like Rosé are off-limits. 

“I’m Kim Ji—“ 

“Yeah, I know. Nice to meet you, Jisoo,” she giggles, looking like a cute chipmunk with those chubby rosy cheeks. 

Jisoo nods in acknowledgement while giving her a shy smile. She then continues to listen to whatever the teacher was saying, hoping that she didn’t look too obvious a few moments ago. But she can’t seem to focus when Rosé keeps looking at her. 

“Yes?” she asks, eyebrows raised. 

“I can’t believe you’re actually listening to him,” Rosé whispers in disbelief, holding back her laughter. 

“Well, a girl needs to focus and try not to fail this class so that she can graduate peacefully,” Jisoo retorts, rolling her eyes. 

“Whatever, nerd,” Rosé sticks her tongue out. 

“Put that tongue back inside your mouth, young lady,” Jisoo jokes. She enjoys this. She’s convinced that she and Rosé could be really good friends. 

“Or else?” Rosé teases back, wiggling her eyebrows. 

“Or else you might catch a fly. And you don’t want that, no?” 

Rosé scowls at her and retreats back to her previous posture. Jisoo snickers. 

One hour and thirty minutes had passed and finally the teacher dismisses the class which means it’s recess. Students, especially Rosé, quickly make their way out of the classroom while Jisoo just sits back and looks out at the window with a sad expression written on her face. She regrets that she didn’t ask Rosé to accompany her to the cafeteria.

Maybe she has many friends already. Maybe she doesn’t want to be friends with me. Jisoo thought.