“Move out of my way, I’m late!”

Loud footsteps thudded wildly as a small feminine figure dashed down the stairs, taking a leap to avoid the ball of fur curling in her way. She landed on both feet after successfully skipping three steps and ran for the exit.

“Song Hyejoo! How many times have I told you not to jump down the stairs?? For goodness’ sake, how old are you?” A small middle-aged lady in a floral apron freaked out witnessing the stunt her only child had just pulled.

“Bye mom, love you too!”

The mother heaved a long sigh and shook her head. She swore she could see her daughter flash a naughty smile before disappearing behind the door. “What to do with this kid?”

Hyejoo clearly understood why her mother was overprotective. They only had each other after all. But still, the fourteen-year-old girl didn’t see why her mother had to worry about her. Because Song Hyejoo had always been a strong one despite being smaller than other kids her age.

Hyejoo giggled to herself recalling her mother’s freaked-out face as she jogged through the subway station. She was especially in a good mood that day, because it was the first day of her second year in middle school, which means she’d be seeing her best friend again after the well-deserved break.

“Oh gosh, so crowded.”

The train came right when she joined the waiting line. As soon as she got in, she went for the pole to hold on. Holding onto the hanging handle bar would require her to reach her arm up to the full extent along the way, and that wouldn’t really be a nice experience.

The school was three stops away. At the second stop, Hyejoo used the short break to quickly tie her long, thick black hair into a somewhat messy ponytail. She hadn’t had the chance to dry it completely, so she had waited until it was dry before tying it up.

Before she could grab and hold onto the pole, suddenly the subway jerked and began to move again, causing her to lose balance and accidentally step on a foot behind her.

Turning around to apologize, Hyejoo was faced to a taller teenager in the same uniform as the one she was wearing – but with pants instead of a skirt. Hyejoo pushed her wavy strands aside before looking up to meet the boy’s eyes – small, cold eyes that were then locked on her big ones.

“I’m sorry,” Hyejoo bowed and offered an apologetic smile, getting a slow nod in return only three seconds later. “Oh, we go to the same school.” She pointed at her own uniform and the boy’s. Her eyes then fell on the name tag on his uniform. Kim Hanbin.

“Uh, yeah.” The boy answered blankly.

Geez, how awkward. Hyejoo decided to turn around to her previous position before she could stumble again. Also to save herself from the growing awkwardness. What’s with him? That’s a creepy way to look at someone.

Her worries about the boy were gone as soon as she stepped out of the subway station and saw none other than her old friend, Chanwoo, waiting for her with his usual sweet smile. She ran up to him like a happy child upon the sight of him.

“Chanwoo!”

“Hyejoo.” The big boy with big eyes gave her a quick hug and messed her hair playfully.

“Hey! Don’t ruin my hair,” Hyejoo swatted the hand away and proceeded to fix her bangs and re-do her ponytail. “Psh, you seem so excited to finally see me again, huh?”

Chanwoo chuckled at the girl’s sarcastic remark. “Yeah, and your hair was already messy to begin with.” His laugh got a bit louder when Hyejoo stuck out her tongue at him with a funny mocking face. “Get moving, little fairy, we’re running late.”

“Oh come on, stop calling me that. Don’t you think that nickname is getting too old now? Really, anything else would do.”

None of the two childhood friends realized that along the way, from the subway station to their school, a boy walked several meters behind them with his eyes trained on the petite girl.

Not even in the classroom... Yes, Hyejoo and the awkward boy got to be classmates that year. She never noticed how he always stared at her from the back of the class, admiring her simple beauty and adorable antics, with his chin propped up in his hand – pretty much the same pose she was always in whenever she stared out the window. He never approached her personally even if he really wanted to, and she never dared to make another eye contact with him.

She never had the knowledge of the little feelings that eventually grew stronger in him as time passed by. The young boy had no courage to let her know – everything was buried deep in his heart.

And their middle school years were gone between them just like that.

Hyejoo’s POV

“Hey, little fairy!”

I almost jumped in surprise because of how rough and loud that voice was. Goodness, it was only the first day of my second year in high school, and the first thing I heard just had to be that nickname! I had grown 2 centimeters taller than last year, so could people stop calling me that?

I was about to give whoever it was a piece of my mind, but then I turned around and saw no one coming to me – that voice came from the end of the corridor, where three tall boys were approaching a shorter one. Huh, that was interesting. So I was not the fairy anymore here? Could it be? I could shed happy tears now.

“Whoa, our second year has started but you still haven’t grown an inch,” one of the tall boys with bunny teeth said, placing his hand on the smaller boy’s head. “Really though, you should start considering wearing some heels. Look, even the girls are growing taller.”

The other two boys laughed, while the small one just stared at them quietly with his hands in his pockets. I couldn’t see his expression clearly from the distance. Right, they weren’t even talking about me, but I could feel my ears getting hot.

Are they really bullying him because of his height? I thought. This really pissed me off so early in the morning. Look, you should never insult someone for their physical condition, especially their height, because it’s nothing that they can change no matter what!

“Seriously, being tall doesn’t make you any better—“

“Good morning, little fairy!”

“Oof!” My mumble turned into a yelp as two kids jumped on my back and knocked the air out of my chest – not literally kids, since they were taller than me, but really they deserved to be called that.

Meet my lovely buddies – a somewhat manly yet pretty girl who was squeezing the life out of me, Lee Areum, and a childhood friend who was then 32 centimeters talller than me, ruffling my hair as if I were his toddler, Jung Chanwoo. They meant the world to me, I wouldn’t know what to do without them. Really.

Nah, just kidding. The world would be peaceful without them.

“Aww I missed you!” Areum pinched my cheeks wildly and I slapped her hands away ignoring her pout. Great, thanks to their loud morning greeting, now we had the boys’ attention. The one with bunny teeth earlier initiated to walk towards us, followed by the rest of them, and suddenly I felt a strong urge to walk away before he could maybe insult my height too. Damn, they walked like some gangsters.

“Ahhh hahaha yeah I missed you too, anyways that’s our homeroom, right? Come on, let’s get in,” I cracked an awkward laugh and pulled Areum by the wrist towards the classroom.

“Hey, what about me? We’re not in the same class and you’re going to leave me alone so early?” Chanwoo complained. To my dismay, the “bullies” came right on time to hear that complaint and stop me on my track. I literally had to tilt my head up to look at their faces.

“Aww, don’t leave me, my fairy,” one of them said in a mocking tone that made me want to punch him in his dashing white teeth.

“Cut it, Hoe,” the bunny faced boy gave him a playful punch on the arm before giving me a toothy smile. “So you’re a little fairy too?”

“That nickname suits her well. She’s even smaller than our fairy.” I squinted at the boy called Hoe, not bothering to hide my dislike towards that nickname.

“Koo Junhoe,” I read his nametag out loud, and the bunny guy next, “Kim Jiwon. You know, insulting someone about their height isn’t really nice. Especially someone you didn’t know before.” I noticed the short boy nodding on the side, agreeing to my remark.

“Yeah, leave her alone,” Areum said, cracking her fingers, which wasn’t necessary at all. She was a pretty and feminine-looking girl, but really, I don’t know why she turned into a manly bodyguard around me.

“Damn, so fierce,” Junhoe covered his mouth and looked at us in surprise. “That’s y– Uh, I mean, sorry I didn’t mean to insult.”

Areum and I rolled our eyes in unison, while Chanwoo observed the boys quietly with his owl eyes. Suddenly he pointed out, “Why is he hiding?”

“Who?” All eyes followed the direction where he was pointing at, and I saw a familiar face hiding behind Jiwon. For a  moment I wondered if I knew him, and then it clicked in my mind – he was Kim Hanbin, my old classmate in middle school. The awkward boy whom I bumped into on the subway. Oh, look, he was still as weird as ever. Why hadn’t I recognized him earlier?

“Um— I’m not hiding,” he stuttered a bit, not even moving from his spot. Jiwon turned his head to his back and gave him a weird look. Should I greet him?

I opened my mouth to call his name, but then closed it again when I noticed him glancing at me and turning his head away quickly.

“Anyways,” I rolled my eyes before giving them an exaggerated smile, “you guys are blocking the door. Can you please move aside?”

“This is my homeroom too.” The smaller boy suddenly stepped forward and reached out his hand to me. “Kim Jinhwan.” He gave me a smile. Oh, he was bolder than I had expected. And his voice too, it was rather deep for his look. He was a cute one, though. And the fact that he was still pretty much taller than me...

I should never call him short.

“Oh, I’m Song Hyejoo.” I shook his hand and returned a friendly smile. I figured out I should be nice to a bullied person.

“Aish, she’s acting nice to him. Earlier she looked like she was going to bite me,” Junhoe mumbled to himself, loud enough for me to hear.

“Call me Bobby.” Jiwon pushed Jinhwan aside and gave me his hand along with a goofy smile. Why was he acting nic