Lisa looked up at the bright blue autumn sky, shielding her eyes from the sun with one hand. The weather neither made her happy nor sad, the changes of it only meant for her to either apply another layer of her uniform or shed it.

She sighed as she lowered her hand and took one last glance at her uniform. She drew with her hands over her black tie and over her white button-up shirt, which was neatly tucked into her dark military pants, to straighten out any possible remaining wrinkles.

Today was the start of yet another series of days where she had to attend the local high school in order for the general public to get into contact with the soldiers and future generals of their country.

The idea originated in the council of the city which harbored the largest military academy in the whole nation, where mostly children of generals and high-ranked soldiers grew up to become the successors of their powerful parents.

The influence the military held in that rather small city was immense, thus the gap between normal people and those of the military was huge.

At some point, the inhabitants had become frightened of the complex and of seeing tanks rolling regularly over the streets, hearing shootings in the faint distance, even though each and every action were executed by teenagers ranging from 14 to 18 years.

As a countermeasure the city and the high school formed a plan in cooperation with the military administration to enroll its cadets at the school, which they had to attend three days a week; from Wednesday to Friday. The remaining days of the week were reserved to deepen their knowledge of war and their skills and abilities in combat and various other things.

Even though it was a nuisance for Lisa, it was a small but revolutionary step to shorten the divide between the normal people and those who swore to protect them.

“Don’t pull that face. This school isn’t that bad,” Jimin, her older brother stated as they reached schoolgrounds. He saw how Lisa’s expression continuously darkened with every step nearing the entrance to boring lessons.

“Besides the girls are so cute here,” he added while looking a passing girl up and down, smirking while doing so.

“And where’s the benefit for me in there?” Lisa said plainly as she huffed annoyed, pulling Jimin out of his reverie and bringing him to look forward again – and not after some hot chicks.

“Well, more for me then,” he shrugged with a crooked smile and opened the door to the main building.

Walking to their designated classrooms, Lisa felt many eyes on them. An occurrence that happened right after they first stepped foot unto the school and lasted ‘til now. A month and a half had already passed but their fellow classmates had yet to get used to the striking and intimidating presence they emitted.

Sometimes when Lisa was in need of a distraction she would meet their eyes and scan all those who passed her, just like Jimin did ever so often – minus the wickedness in his eyes – but nothing and no one caught her interest. Not that she wanted anyone to but seeing the same people in the academy ever since she was 7 was boring and dull, so being in a new environment after such a long time promised at least a little bit of something she herself wasn’t sure of.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that made that poor excuse of a school a little more worthwhile and a little less meaningless. So instead of forming true bonds with people her age outside of the military, she just existed in these walls and looked forward to each and every break where she would go to her secret place to smoke a cigarette and escape these tiring hormone filled walls.

An ‘ouch’ and the sound of falling books tore Lisa out of her daydream consisting of peace and cigarette smoke.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the girl who crashed into Jimin said, “I didn’t see you,”

She bent down to pick up the papers, scattered all around them.

“No, I’m sorry, I should’ve seen such a gorgeous woman coming,” he said with a charming smile, bending down to help that girl. Lisa rolled her eyes at that scene, not believing that her and that boy really were relatives.

Before Lisa walked away from the scene, she wondered about what exactly was gorgeous about her - she couldn’t see much though. Only that she was wearing a black skinny jeans and a black leather jacket. Her dark hair covered her face and thus making it impossible to judge the beauty of that irrelevant stranger.

After Jimin had collected some books, he stood up with the girl and handed them over. When he looked right into her face he was stunned. Her cat like eyes were piercing, kind of fierce but at the same time soft. These eyes held confusion as she saw the uniform of him. He hadn’t seen her around ever since he began going to this school and he was certain, that he would’ve immediately noticed someone like her. Maybe she was new and enrolled sometime in the past two weeks, when Lisa’s and his unit was on the other side of the country for a maneuver.

“Thank you for helping me,” a calm smile formed on her lips as she accepted the books he gave her. He was a bit taken aback though, since she completely ignored his sincere compliment.
 

He was used to girls swooning over him. He had a great physique, was very well trained, tall and not even his trademark smirk and going with one hand through his short, gelled hair could elicit some kind of reaction out of her.

As fast as she appeared, she disappeared and left Jimin daydreaming about her until another cute girl caught his eye.

With little tardiness he reached the room where he and Lisa had their history lessons. His younger sister could only shake her head slightly at his behavior. Even though she didn’t think highly of that place, she had to maintain a certain composure worth of a proud, future general coming from a prestigious academy. Arriving too late to any kind of appointment didn’t suit the likes of such a high rank.

“Damn, I wonder how she’s called,” he said to Lisa when he took his seat at the back of the class.

“I can’t believe you’re my brother,” Lisa said as she pushed him lightly, “Is this really all you think about?”

“I mean, you’re a girl and all, but even you should be able to appreciate the beauty of others, don’t you?” he smiled as he lightly rubbed the place Lisa had just shoved.

“I would rather worry about you acting like some lowly teenager instead of a proper cadet of our academy,” she hissed quietly, not wanting to be heard by the teacher and her classmates.

“Lisa, I’m already doing everything our parents demand of me. Cut me some slack,” his shoulders slumped visibly. Unlike Lisa who seemed made for that path, he hadn’t had a say in what he wanted.

Seeing her brother that deflated made her a little bit soft, contrasting her stony face she wore most of the times.

"Just don’t go overboard,” she said to him eventually, patting his back a couple of times.

After these one a half hours dragged on forever, she quickly waved a temporary goodbye to Jimin who was about to approach his newly made friends in school. On her way to her secret spot, outside of the school, she had to get through crowds of students filling the halls with their nosy chatter and laughter.
 

Her high ponytail swung back and forth as she took determined steps through the filled corridors, watching contentedly as the masses split in half, making way for her to pass. Maybe it was her cold and indifferent aura, maybe it was her neat uniform or the scowl on her face. Maybe it was the combination that made them so afraid of her, but either way she didn’t mind it at all.

When she finally made it out of the door and down the steps to the parking lot in front of the school, a girl approached her.

“Lisa, you going..?” The girl with long, light pastel pink hair asked as she mimicked the motion of smoking a cigarette, not wanting to be overheard by a passing teacher.

“Yes, you aren't?” Lisa halted her steps to face the girl who was a bit taller than herself.

“No,” she rolled her eyes, “I have to submit extra homework, that damn Mr. Lee is so annoying,” She was in a rush and ran off after waving goodbye.

Lisa wasn’t really a sociable person, which didn’t mean that she didn’t know how to socialize. She herself simply chose not to, but when she first had discovered that secret spot close to the parking lot she had met Park Chaeyoung smoking a cigarette. Since she didn’t seem like all the other annoying students, she gave her a shot and befriended her in the end.
 

Chaeyoung was very energetic and full of life, contrasting Lisa’s serious and dark one starkly. She radiated this energy and maybe that was another reason why she didn’t feel repulsed by the idea to befriend a commoner.

After ignoring another set of glances being thrown her way and turning right, she was at her secret spot and sat down on a wooden bench. She pulled out her pack of cigarettes and shook out a single one.

In one swift motion she lighted it and leaned back to enjoy the serenity and the mildness of the weather. Today was a relative warm day despite it being already October.

She inhaled the smoke and closed her eyes, letting the nicotine fill her lungs and curse through her veins.

The moment she enjoyed passed to quickly when the crunch of a fallen leaf could be heard in near proximity. Seems like it wasn’t so secret at all since some meters next to Lisa appeared a dark haired girl who didn’t acknowledge her at all.

Not knowing why exactly, Lisa straightened her posture and leaned a bit more forward, watching the girl out of the corner of her eyes while taking leisurely drags of the cigarette.

The girl was futilely trying to get her lighter to work but in the end she gave up and looked over to Lisa.

“Hey, do you have a lighter?” Lisa’s eyes widened a bit when she realized it was the girl who had run into Jimin that morning. It was the first time she could take a good look at her and indeed, Jimin had been right.
 

She was gorgeous and effortlessly stunning.

Her sharp eyes were the first thing Lisa noticed when she turned to look at who asked for a lighter. Her long, straight hair cascaded over her white top and almost reached her midriff. Her leather jacket gave off the vibe of a bad girl, even though Lisa couldn’t imagine this girl being anything other than innocent – judging by her round, squishy cheeks and the overall softness of her face.

“Do you?” she repeated questioningly and snapped Lisa out of her not so subtle observation.
 

Damn, Lisa didn’t even notice that she got so lost in the appearance of the stranger she branded irrelevant just some hours ago. She couldn’t pin down what exactly it was that somehow caught her attention – other than her beauty – maybe it was the calmness or the elegance of her voice?

“Here,” Lisa’s words were nonetheless firm as she handed over a lighter imprinted with the number of her unit.

She briefly thanked her as she slightly turned away to light her cigarette, shielding it with one hand while the other turned the roll of the lighter.

Lisa pretended to be in thoughts, not minding the presence of the beautiful girl over there, while she silently watched as the light temporarily illuminated the contours of her face.

The nameless girl stepped closer to her again, handing back the lighter she’d just received.

Lisa took one last drag before she threw the cigarette away. When she stood up, she straightened out minor wrinkles and fixed her tie while being watched by the unknown student.

Without another word, Lisa left the scene and went back to her classes, since the bell would soon ring.
She collected Jimin on her way and was glad that the day was already halfway through.
Only some more hours and she would be free.

~~~

The final bell dismissed the remaining students in the school, Lisa and Jimin being one of them.
 

Lisa would lie if she said she hadn’t thought about her encounter after her second period with that stranger, but she didn’t assign big importance to it either, despite the girl truly peaking her interest and surprising her.

When they almost were about to leave the parking lot and the schoolground, Jimin spoke up enthusiastically, “Hey, wait up a minute, yeah?” and with that he dashed away, leaving her confused.

She turned around to watch were he was heading to, when she saw that girl again and how he approached her. Her brows almost connected as she watched in concentration their conversation.

She saw how he said something and she knew exactly that he was playing his cards and for the first time she saw that girl smiling and her heart stumbled for one heartbeat. Her scowl deepened as she reached out for her chest. That had never happened before and Lisa couldn’t dissect yet what the meaning was. She was healthy and as far as she knew had no troubles with her heart. So why did it stumble?

Her brother returned with a big grin, “Guess what?”

Lisa shook her head and shook away thoughts regarding her health, “What?”

“Another beautiful girl might attend my party this weekend,” he said in a satisfied manner, proud of himself.

She only looked at him in wonder, she kind of didn’t think that he would invite her and much less that she would accept. They just stumbled upon each other that day and without really knowing the other she would just go to another guy’s party?

“She’s new here, that’s why I haven’t seen her around before. I think she will fit in just fine,” Jimin continued assured and they both walked back home.

Her brother was known for throwing many parties. He didn’t take their career and consequently the principals of living the life of a soldier very seriously.
 

Lisa, however, did and was almost never found at any of these gatherings.

But somehow that party seemed to have gotten more interesting all of a sudden.