Kim Shinyoung sighed as she walked into her first class of the day. Just the thought of teaching a bunch of first year high school students is already making her tired. It had only been a week into the new school year, yet she already knew that her students in class 1-7 were going to be a handful. 

As she walked in, she already felt a headache forming as she saw most of the students out of their seats, conversing with their friends, throwing around crumpled notes, and— my god, were they having a dance battle in the back of the class??

Pinching the bridge if her nose and letting out a deep sigh, Shinyoung noticed one student sitting in her seat and working through their assignments. One small student. Her favorite student.

Jung Wheein was sitting in the very back corner next to the window, with her head held up in one hand as she scribbled into her textbook. Now, Shinyoung knows that she shouldn’t have favorites in school. But damn, does Wheein make it hard not to have favorites. Wheein is a quiet and so very shy. She’s so shy that she mainly keeps to herself, to the extent that she seems a bit unapproachable to the other students. Also, Shinyoung is pretty sure that Wheein is a genius. The girl is usually one of the first to finish her quizzes and assignments, yet she always aces them. ‘Makes sense since she’s always got her nose in her textbook.’ is what Shinyoung reasoned, ‘Now if only her classmates could learn a little from her.’

“Alright class, settle down and sit in your seats! Why do you all have so much energy so early in the morning?? Why don’t you put that energy into studying?” 

Kim Shinyoung knew her class this year was going to be a handful, but at least she has one student to keep her sane.

Unbeknownst to Shinyoung, however, Wheein was not paying attention to the class or studying at all. Rather, she was doodling her beloved pet, Ggomo, everywhere in her notebook, listening to music with the hand holding her head. She had hidden one side of a wired earphone through her sleeve and onto her left palm so that she could inconspicuously listen to music during class. It was a little trick that she and Hyejin had come up with during their middle school days. As she finished her small sketch, she lifted her eyes toward the window, letting her mind drift toward her best friend.

‘Hmm, I wonder what Hyejin is up to right now. Knowing her, she’s probably thinking about what to eat for lunch.’

‘Hmm… what should I eat for lunch?’ was the only thought that is currently running through Ahn Hyejin’s mind as she looks out the window, staring at the wind gently blowing through the branches and completely ignoring the current teacher’s lecture. 

It had only been thirty minutes into the first class of the day, yet Hyejin already wanted to go home. Or at least to lunch.

She was sitting near the back of the class next to the windows. Her notebook was open, but rather than notes pertaining to the current topic on the board, her notebook was filled with small poems that Hyejin loved to write during class. She loved writing about anything that comes to her mind, whether it’s about the people in her life or how boring her classes are. But recently, she’d been writing a lot about nature and her love for flowers.

“'Flowers bloom even in falling rain.’ Ohhh that’s a nice quote. I gotta write that down. Hmmm, what else can I add-”

“Ahn Hyejin!” Hyejin snapped her head toward the teacher as she called her name. Park Narae looked at her student in slight annoyance mixed with disappointment. She knows Hyejin is a bright kid and could be one of the smartest students in her class if she wanted, but she spent too much time with her head in the clouds.

“Since you believe this lesson is easy enough that you can daydream during class, why don’t you answer this question on the board?” Maybe a bit of humiliation will get her to focus more on her studies.

“x equals 3.”

Or maybe not.

Narae looked at Hyejin for a solid 3 seconds before looking down at her solutions book, then back at Hyejin. She didn’t know if Hyejin was just guessing or if she actually knew the answer, but Hyejin had said the answer so quickly and confidently that Narae couldn’t help but believe in the latter. Hyejin always had such an air of confidence around her. And paired with her heavy makeup and dark long hair, it made her the most intimidating student in class 1-9, even for teachers. “..correct. Good job, Hyejin.”

Hyejin’s face showed nothing but a small smirk before looking back outside, though internally she was releasing a large sigh of relief.

“Oh thank god I got that right. I guess my guessing skills are still sharp this year. Now where was I…”

Moon Byuli was surrounded by several of her classmates in her class 2-2, laughing as she retold a story that happened last week.

“So I’m sitting there, barbecue sauce on my tiddies, when-“

“While I’d hate to interrupt what I’m sure is a riveting story, Ms. Byuli, I think it’s about time everyone finds their seats.” Everyone in the group looked up to see their homeroom teacher arrive with a stack of papers in her hand.

“But Ms. Dahee, she was just getting to the best part of the story!” Sandeul groaned as Byuli simply began to move toward her seat at the side near the back door. This caused the rest of the group to naturally disperse to their respective seats as well, making Dahee smile. Byuli may be the class’ jokester, but she was still a well-mannered kid.

“I’m sure she can finish the story during your break time, after you all finish this quiz we have today. Everyone get your pencils out and I’ll pass out the quiz.” Dahee stated, making the rest of the students groan.

As everyone began to take their pencils out of their bags, Byuli was still rummaging through her bag, looking for something to write with, but coming up empty handed. She was sure she threw a pencil in there the night before.. .

“Hey Deul, do you have a pencil I could borrow?” She asked her best friend who was sitting in the seat right in front of her.

“You think I would carry around two pencils?? I barely found this one at the bottom of my bag.” Sandeul replied while holding up his dull wooden pencil with the eraser completely used up.

Byuli groaned, looking around to see if anyone could lend her a pencil. As she turned a full 180 degrees, she spotted two pencils on the desk right behind her. Her eyes trailed up to see the occupant of said seat was none other than the new transfer student, Kim Yongsun.

Now, Byulli didn’t dislike Yongsun per say, but she did find her to be a little weird. She remembered seeing Yongsun on the first day of school. During their break, Byuli was walking up to Yongsun to welcome her to the school, when she saw her talking to herself then suddenly erupting in a laugh that sounded like a mix between a dolphin and some window wipers that needed to be replaced. “She’s kinda crazy.. . I should probably stay away from her,” was her first thought when she saw her, and she’d been keeping her distance ever since. But seeing as Ms. Dahee was already passing out the quiz, she knew she had no other choice.

“Hey, Yongsun-ah could I borrow one of your pencils please?” Byuli asked with a hopeful look on her face. 

Yongsun gave her a blank look for a couple of seconds before nodding and handing her one of her sharpened pencils.

“Thanks!” Byuli exclaimed, giving Yongsun a big smile before turning forward and waiting for her quiz.

As Dahee reached Byuli to give her the quiz, she offered, “Byuli, I heard you needed a pencil? If you need one, you can grab one from my desk.”

“Ah, it’s ok, teach, the kid behind me was kind enough to lend me one!” Byuli explained, while pointing her thumb behind her. Since she still had her back facing Yongsun, she didn’t see Yongsun give her a slightly offended look.

“Who does she think she is calling me a kid? Is she making fun of me? Doesn’t she know I’m older than her??” Yongsun silently fumed as she received her own quiz. She was sure that she explained to the whole class that she’s a year older than everyone in Year 2 when she introduced herself on the first day of school.

When she was younger, Yongsun’s family had moved to the Philippines for a year due to her parents’ work. When she came back to Korea for middle school, she was told she had to repeat the year she missed, putting her in the same class as students who were a full year younger than her. Because of that, she had been bullied for being “dumb enough to be held back” at her old middle school and eventually followed her to high school, causing her to transfer to a different school. Ever since then, she vowed to study hard, so that no one could say she was held back because of her lack of intelligence.

“And here I thought she was one of the nice popular girls, but I guess I was wrong. I better keep my distance from her too if I don’t want be bullied here too..” is what Yongsun vowed to herself before she breezed through her quiz.

a/n:

let me know what you think :)