[ August 2007; Aged 18 ]

“Ah!” Seo Joo Mi winced as the hammer she was using accidentally knocked onto her own finger. Her thin eyebrows knitted together at the centre of her forehead as she groaned painfully in silence and it, praying it would really help her to reduce some pain. She saw the end of her index finger started to reddened and might be swollen soon. She had a piece of thought to rest for a while but when she looked around, everyone was doing their best to finish their given duties. So, she just blew it for a few times and continued hammering the nails until they embedded straight into the wood.

***

“Finally!” she wipes her sweaty forehead with her sleeve, beaming in satisfaction as she observed her work but then she was distracted when someone called her.

“Joo Mi-a, can you pass me some hot glue sticks?”

She tilted up only to see her only close friend who was preparing the class decorations. Once in a while, the girl would fix her glasses up to her nose though she never lifted up her head from her task.

Joo Mi looked at the empty plastic on her left and back to her friend. “Ha Na-a, there's none left. Wait, I’ll go get some more.” She said and stepped away from her wooden banner. “Eh, never mind! I tell the others to get it. Just finish your job” Ha Na said softly.

“It’s okay. I’m already done.” She replied before a cheeky grin crept onto her face. “Besides, I also can ditch for a while. He! He!”

And Ha Na only let out a chuckle upon that. Joo Mi arranged her steps out of the classroom and strolled down along the crowded corridor. Once she reached the corner, her fingers casually ran through her hair, combing them into a ponytail while she lazily climbed up the stairs. From the stairs, she could see every part of the school was especially hectic and noisy on that Wednesday, unlike the other school days. Almost everyone in the school was busy and working hardly for the preparation of the upcoming annual school festival. After a few more steps, she reached at the 2nd floor and immediately walked past the corner.

However, in just a blink of an eye, her body almost flew down the stairs as she abruptly bumped into a sturdy body. She shut her eyes tensely upon her instinct. One of her hands aimlessly wandered in the air while the other hand curled up into a ball near her over-beating heart. All that she heard was nothing except her emergency silence pray. Help me! Her mind was screaming loudly even though her teeth gritted tightly together.

Suddenly, she felt the warmness of a pair of huge hands on her waist and on the palm of her right stretched hand. Her ears caught the sound of an arrhythmic heavy breathing and it genuinely made her feel safe in those hands. Her curly eyelashes batted calmly as she peeled her eyes open, welcoming the sight in front of her.

The first thing that came through her eyes was the face of her saviour and her eyes widened in double once she realised that her saviour was none other than Chang Kyun.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a deep voice.

"I-I um oka- Ah!" Been more aware of the tall presence in front of her, she impulsively pulled a step backward, making her almost slipped down again since her position was not really stable. And for a second time, he saved her again.

Her pulse rate arose drastically even when her small heart almost stopped for a minute as he unintentionally pulled her deeper into his embrace. Her eyelashes kept fluttering and her cheeks blushed as she felt his hot breath was slapping her nose and her face. Furthermore, both of his eyes were looking deeply into her eyes.

[ September 2008; Aged 19 ]

The thick tension was lingering in the air of her classroom. Joo Mi frowned and her eyebrows knitted together in the middle of her forehead. No sound could be heard except for the ticking clock and the tapping of mechanical pencils. But her ears were literally deaf to hear those noises as she saw the trouble on her desk.

There were two algebraic expressions and a halfway-solved solution written on her paper for ten minutes ago and yet nothing was continued after that.

“5 minutes left!” Mrs. Kim, her mathematics teacher, said as she threw a glance at the clock.

Joo Mi begun to panic and picked up her pencil one again. Nevertheless, she only ended up with a sigh when she had had to submit the paper without any progression.

The last bell rang and all students stood up to bow at Mrs. Kim. Joo Mi tidied up her desk and stuffed all her things into her bag even before the female teacher had made her way out.

“Joo Mi!”

She whirled around as she heard someone called out her name and found Chang Kyun was beaming at her. “Hi!” She greeted as he arranged his steps towards her with a bashful smile on his face.

“Um, how was the quiz? Can you do it?” He stood restlessly and asked her with a quiet voice which didn’t seem to fit his tall frame.

“Maybe.” She answered and ducked her head low. She bit her bottom lip and stole a glimpse at him with the corner of her eyes.

“Maybe?”

Joo Mi rubbed her nape though she didn’t feel itchy. “The quiz was really easy, right? There are even some questions that we practiced together came out just now. They were easy but…I couldn’t solve all of them. I’m so sorry. I have made you stay back with me every day after the school ended and yet I disappoint you.”

“How much questions you couldn’t solve?”

“I completed all the first five questions and solved halfway for another two questions. So, three.”

Chang Kyun remained silence for a moment and Joo Mi grimaced in guilty. However, his darkened expression quickly faded away as he plastered a soft smile on his face again. “That’s good then!”

“Really?”