By the time Chaeyoung reached the bulletin board, there were lots of students trying to look for their names on the list of names. Chaeyoung was pretty short compared to other students, so he decided to just wait for them to leave first, before looking for his name. After awhile, one by one left to find their respective classes. He took this opportunity to scan for his name. Tiptoeing to see clearly, he finally found his name. He's in class 7A. So, he quickly went to find class 7A and entered the class.

The only remaining seat available was at the front near the door, so he sat there. After awhile, a teacher entered the class. The students who were chit chatting quickly became silent as soon as they saw the teacher.

"Hello, Class 7A! My name is Bae Juhyun. You may call me, Ms. Bae. I will be your homeroom teacher this year. I teach Maths, so if you have problems in Maths, do not hesitate to ask me!" Ms. Bae introduced herself.

"Okay, enough about me! Now introduce yourselves! I would like to know about your name, your age, and your hobby! How about that? We'll start from you!" Ms. Bae intructed, while pointing at Chaeyoung.

"Stand up, and introduce yourself, dear! Your name, age, and hobby!" Ms. Bae gently asked Chaeyoung. Everyone's eyes were on him.

Chaeyoung then scribbled his name, age and hobby on his notebook, then showed it to the teacher. The other students began whispering among themselves. He felt very uncomfortable, he didn't dare look at other students and just looked at the ground, even avoiding eye contact with the teacher.

"Uhm, the whole class would like to know about you as well, dear. Why don't you stand up and speak to the rest of the class?" Ms. Bae gently nudged.

Chaeyoung then wrote his condition on a his notebook then showed it to the teacher, still avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, dear. I didn't know. Then, can you please find me later after dismissal? I would like to know more about you." Ms. Bae apologized to Chaeyoung.

Chaeyoung could only look to the ground and pouted. Deep inside, he hated how he was different from the other children. He was really scared that he would be made fun of.

"Anyways, this is Son Chaeyoung, everyone. He is 12 and he loves drawing" Ms. Bae told the whole class.

"Next please, dear!" Mrs. Bae gestured for the other students to introduce themselves. The other students began to introduce themselves one by one. Then came Mina's turn.

"Hi everyone. My name is Myoui Mina. I am 12 years old, and I love dancing, especially ballet." Mina timidly introduced herself.

"Ooh, we've got a future ballet dancer. Your name doesn't sound Korean. Where are you from, dear?" Ms. Bae asked Mina.

"I am from Japan. We've just recently moved because of my parents' business" she timidly answered.

"Well, we're glad to have you here, Mina. Hope you enjoy living here!" Ms. Bae beamed.

"Also, your Korean is really good! I'm very impressed!" Ms. Bae complimented.

After awhile, lunch break came and Chaeyoung wanted to eat, but he felt shy eating in front of other people, so he decided to explore the school instead. Perhaps, he could find a perfect place, where he could spend time alone. Mina, on the other hand went to the cafeteria to buy some food. She timidly walked to the cafeteria, queued, grabbed a tray, then started choosing her food. After that she paid for the food.

She picked up her tray and was confused, "Where am I supposed to sit and who am I supposed to sit with? I don't have friends here." She thought.

"Hi, you must be Mina. I'm Dahyun and that is Tzuyu. You can sit with us!" Dahyun offered. Mina then timidly followed. They sat together and started digging on their food.

"So, Mina, how do you like South Korea so far?" Dahyun asked.

"I really like it here" Mina politely answered.

"You've only been here for a little while, but you've certainly caught everyone's attention!" Dahyun blurted.

"What do you mean?" She curiously asked.

"Three o'clock, those are the jocks and the cheerleaders, they are a big deal here, at least that's what hyung told me. He's a part of that group as well. They've been looking at you, you know." Dahyun pointed out.

"Even Tzuyu seems interested in you" Dahyun joked.

They glanced at Tzuyu. He looked uninterested. Dahyun cleared his throat.

"Anyways, Tzuyu and me were in elementary together. My hyung goes to school here, he's a third year. So, I more or less know a lot of things here. Tzuyu is from Taiwan." Dahyun explained.

"In case you're wondering" Dahyun added.

"It's nice to meet you guys!" Mina politely said.

"Nice to meet you too, Mina!" Dahyun replied.

"Your Korean is really good! I thought you would have trouble understanding me. I speak really fast, you know" Dahyun complimented.

"I took lessons when I was in Japan" Mina explained.

"Oh, no wonder you're so good" Dahyun acknowledged.

"Tzuyu, will you please say something?"
Dahyun asked, annoyed.

Tzuyu still didn't say a word and just continued eating.

"If I weren't your friend, I would think you were mute, like that boy from our class." Dahyun added.








 

As instructed, after dismissal, Chaeyoung quickly went to find Ms. Bae. He politely knocked the staffs' room then went inside to go to Ms. Bae's desk.

"Ah, Chaeyoung. I was expecting you. I did some research on the internet, it said that selective mutism is a complex childhood anxiety disorder characterized by a child's inability to speak and communicate effectively in select social settings, such as school. I am very sorry for you, dear. It must be hard for you." Ms. Bae said.

"It said that treatments are possible. Have you ever gotten treated, dear?" Ms. Bae questioned.

Chaeyoung then wrote on his notebook, 'My mother is a single mother, who works really hard for both of our needs. I don't think she can afford to pay for those treatments', then he showed it to Ms. Bae. He then looked to the ground and pouted.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, my dear." Ms. Bae felt sorry for Chaeyoung.

She then held Chaeyoung's right hand and consoled him, "If there is anything I can do to help, please do not hesitate to ask. If your friends started teasing you about it, I'll be here, okay?"

Chaeyoung nodded then left. At the same time, Mina remembered she left her pensil case in her class, so she ordered her driver to drive her back to school. It's a good thing they were still nearby.

Chaeyoung then timidly walked to the gate. He was shocked to see a bunch of people, standing near the gates, as if waiting for him. He was getting nervous, this couldn't mean something good.

"Hello, Son Chaeyoung, remember me? I'm from your class, Kim Dahyun!" Dahyun exclaimed, extending his hand, signalling for a handshake.

Chaeyoung hesitantly took his hand, then they shook hands.

"So, tell me, Chaeyoung, why did Ms. Bae introduce you for us?" Dahyun questioned.

"Aren't you supposed to do it yourself?" Dahyun asked again.

Chaeyoung then wrote, 'I have a condition called selective mutism', then he showed it to all of them. Everyone started laughing at him, except for Tzuyu, who raised his left eyebrow. Chaeyoung felt embarrassed.

"So, you can't speak on certain conditions, or something?" Tzuyu asked.

Chaeyoung nodded, ashamed.

"That's bull, you're just mute!" Jackson sneered. Then everyone roared in laughter, except for Tzuyu, he's expressionless as ever.

Chaeyoung felt offended. He wasn't mute. So he wrote, 'I can speak. My mom knows I can', then showed it to them to defend himself.

"Well then, let's see if you can really speak, what will happen if we hurt you?" Jinyoung asked, then he quickly punched Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung held his face.

Mark then punched Chaeyoung's stomach, he held his stomach in pain. Then, Bambam kicked him in the face, he finally fell down, the others started kicking him, except for Tzuyu, who just watched, uninterested.

"Chaeyoung, I don't hear anything! Normal people would groan in pain" Jinyoung sneered.

"Chaeyoung, do you want us to stop? Please say so if you want us to stop!" Jaebum taunted.

"Is your mom here to rescue you and tell us you can speak!" Yugyeom mocked.

Chaeyoung could only sob silently, while enduring the pain, covering his body parts.

Then Mina saw it, a bunch of boys were bullying someone. Mina quickly ordered her bodyguards to stop them. Her bodyguards got into action, all the bullies started running in fear. Tzuyu remained in place. Dahyun then dragged him away. Mina then approached the poor victim. It turned out to be the boy, who couldn't speak. He was in a really bad state. He had a lot of bruises on his face, his nose and mouth were bleeding. Mina then ordered her bodyguards to carry him to the limosine. For the first time she was grateful, she had her bodyguards with her. Her pencil case was long forgotten.