Youth.

Teenagers.

These were words she never thought she would be associated with again. After all, one could experience life only once. Now that she was a student once more with the mindset of a grown-up, she could not help but view things from a different perspective.

Yoon Haera stood in front of the door to her classroom. It was blocked by a pair of female students that were busy conversing, their backs facing her.

“Hey, have you watched the latest drama starring Song Joong Ki? I swear, if he isn’t the hottest actor out there, I don’t know who is!” A female student gushed as she showed her phone to her friend.

The friend glanced at the phone that was shoved at her face and rolled her eyes. “You haven’t watched Kim Myung Soo’s newest drama, have you?”

Haera observed the pair and compared them with herself.

Wasn’t she used to be like that? Wasting time talking about useless things that did not matter to her future? Indeed, she treated her time like garbage, spending it on catching up with the gossips and rumors in the school.

Who dated who, who was the most popular guy, who was the most handsome boy, who had the worst fashion sense, and who was the poorest in the school. The list went on and on.

She shook her head.

In any case, it was none of her business what they talked about; she was not going to eavesdrop any longer than necessary. She was no longer the 18-year-old Yoon Haera in mind, and in thinking; she had no need for mundane gossips.

“Excuse me,” Haera said loud enough for the two to hear.

“Oh, we are sorry—” The two stopped talking. They turned around and one of them was about to apologize before the words hung at the tip of her tongue. She froze for a moment, closing and opening like a fish before her friend nudged her with their elbow.

Yoon Haera just stared at the both of them, waiting for them to move out of the way.

“W-We are sorry!” The two then quickly bowed and uttered a panicked apology before they moved far into the classroom, and out of Haera’s sight.

Their loud actions did not go unnoticed as some students in the class looked towards Haera’s direction.

One of the boys whistled after seeing Haera’s figure standing at the doorway. “Wow, Yoon Haera! You have taken tardiness to another level!” He mockingly looked at his wrist that wore no watch. “Damn, it’s almost six in the evening! What did you do for the last four hours since class started? Did you forget you have a school to attend?”

The whole class then grew silent and every pair of eyes was on Haera. The students that lingered near the classroom door either moved aside or to the back of the classroom, clearing the way for her.

Yoon Haera glanced at the boy before moving through the polished and sleek rows of maple desks. Her seat was at the very back of the classroom, right next to the window that was now covered by the curtains.

The boy, upon being ignored, just smirked and walked to Haera’s desk. He then sat on top of it and peered into her face. The lights on the ceiling cast his shadow on Haera.

“You wore less makeup today. Not going to advertise your family’s company’s products anymore? Of course, there’s no harm in going for a more natural look. I think you look more beautiful this way.” His eyes then caught the bite marks and wounds on Haera’s lips. He flinched. “What the hell…? Did you grate your lips on a grater or something?”

Haera sighed. Why was he so keen on finding out what happened to her anyways? She did not even remember the boy’s name, though his face was familiar even after nine years since she left high school.

She looked up at him and said, “Please get off of my desk.” She noted the name on the name tag the boy pinned to his shirt.

It read Byun Baekhyun.

“Please…?” Byun Baekhyun’s eyes widened and he arched an eyebrow before his mouth split into a grin. “The great Yoon Haera just said please!” He guffawed as he got off the desk. He held his stomach as he bent over, wheezing. “Ahahaha! My stomach hurts!”

Due to Baekhyun being boisterous, and the class silent, his words were heard by everybody inside the room. As if that was the trigger, chatters and whispers immediately flew out of the students’ mouths.

“I saw bandages and band-aids on her arms and legs, but I didn’t know her lips had wounds on them too. Was she caught in an accident?” One of the students said, his speech could be heard crystal clear by Haera. “Maybe that’s why she’s kinda tame today?”

“Don’t talk so loud!” The female beside him slapped him on his shoulder.

What was it about this whole situation that was funny? Was the fact that she was injured, funny?

She put her head onto the table, her arm acting as a pillow as she disregarded the cuts on it.

She leaned more towards ignoring the whole situation. After all, it was better to shut out all of the annoyances rather than dealing with them one by one; there was simply no end to them if she did that.

Baekhyun—still bent over—finally stopped laughing. “So,” he started, “you do have a reason for playing truant this time. But for some small and minor bruises on the legs and arms, four hours is a bit much, no? Don’t know what happened to your lips, but it’s not like you couldn’t attend class.”

He stood up and leaned to the side and peered behind Haera. A corner of his mouth rose, “Where is your bag?”

Haera closed her eyes and tried to pay no heed to Baekhyun who had been ceaseless in his talk.

What did she need to do in order for him to be silent? Why did he care so much? He was someone she could not recall the name of; he was inconsequential to her life.

Perhaps it would have been better for her to convince the nurse to extend her stay at the infirmary. At the very least, the infirmary lacked nosy people. Furthermore, though the lights were glaring for her, they were not as bright as the ones in the classroom.

Her train of thoughts managed to drown out all of the sounds in the class—even Baekhyun’s endless chattering to get her attention—before it was disturbed by a shout.

“Haera!”

Hearing the voice, Haera opened her eyes and lifted her head from the table. She swiftly rose from her seat and looked towards the door where the voice came from.

“And just when I was having fun.” Baekhyun grumbled as he cast a glance at the doorway, “He’s everywhere.” He then his heels to go back to a group of boys in the classroom and finally left Haera alone.

Haera walked towards the person standing by the door. “Lay,” she called out.

“Where did you go? I looked everywhere for you, and you know, I’m sweating and I’m hungry, so let’s go eat?” Lay let out a big sigh while rubbing his stomach. His hand then paused and he abruptly looked up at Haera. “What happened to you? Why are you injured? Did you fall? How did your lips become like that? No, wait, let’s get you to the infirmary—”

“I already went to see the nurse. The bandages and band-aids are there, see?” Haera pointed at the bandages and band-aids on her arms and legs. She tapped her watch and showed it to Lay. “Break is almost over. I don’t want to miss it.” She went out of the door before she looked back at the unmoving Lay. “What are you waiting for?”

“Huh?” Lay blinked before he moved to follow Haera. He tilted his head and looked at her, his expression uncertain. “Haera, you can go home if you’re not feeling fine.”

Haera said, not looking at Lay, “Thank you, Lay.”

“For worrying about you?” Lay asked, as he picked up his pace and overtook Haera to look at her in the eyes.

Haera stopped in h