Nari bit back a yelp of frustration as she tripped on her own feet due to her rush to get to school. She had already been late three times this month and at this rate her homeroom teacher would send her to detention and that was not how she wanted to spend her precious afternoon. Scratch that — no middle schooler would want to spend their afternoon like that.

Blowing her hair out of her face, Nari pushed herself off the ground, eager to be on her feet again as the school gate was already in sight. From the corner of her eye though Nari caught sight of a bifold wallet. Picking it up, she opened it and saw a student ID poking out, signalling that the owner belonged to her school. However remembering that she was running late, Nari shut the wallet without checking the name and quickly stuffed it in her bag, sprinting towards the school as though her life depended on it.

The young girl managed to dash through the courtyard, the corridors, up the stairs and into her classroom in record time — all while making a pit stop by the lost and found. Nari was pretty certain that she must have broken some sort of world record though she had no way of checking.

“Saaaaafe!” Nari exclaimed, harshly kicking the door open while mimicking a baseball referee’s arm motions when a batter returned home safely.

Noticing that the homeroom teacher had not yet arrived and the school bell was ringing in that very moment, Nari closed her fists in victory. Her moment of celebration was short-lived as a gruff voice crawled in her ears.

“Barely.”

Straightening her back, Nari swirled around and gave a bow to her homeroom teacher who was staring at her with raised eyebrows while standing outside the classroom. Shaking his head, the homeroom teacher waved a hand at Nari, telling her to go to her seat before walking towards his desk.

Sighing in relief, Nari slouched her shoulders and dragged her feet towards her desk, her whole body suddenly feeling heavy after the unplanned morning jog. Sinking in her chair, it did not take long for the already exhausted girl to lose interest in what the teacher was saying, her attention drifting towards the view outside instead. For better or for worse, Nari’s seat was towards the back and by the windows, offering her plenty of distractions from the monotonous lectures of the teacher.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Nari absentmindedly tied her long raven hair in a loose bun. She had always had a sort of love-and-hate relationship with her hair purely since it was so troublesome to tame and deal with. However her mum refused to let Nari cut it because as per her own mother’s own words; it was the only element of femininity that she could hold onto.

Resting her chin in her hands, Nari allowed her eyes to wander outside, following the trails left by a passing airplane. The words uttered by the teacher became an easily negligible background noise.

In the distance, just outside the school gates, two boys were on their knees, desperately searching for something and failing miserably.

“Are you sure you didn’t just leave your wallet at home?” Johnny frowned, leaning against the wall to rest.

“I’m sure,” Taeyong mumbled while pushing the bushes open to see if his wallet had fallen in there only to be met with disappointment.

Letting out a disgruntled groan, Johnny resumed the search.

・・・

The two friends ended up skipping the morning lessons and yet still came out fruitle