Uh-oh uh-oh oh Beautiful Stranger

Uh-oh uh-oh oh Beautiful Stranger

Uh-oh uh-oh oh Beautiful Stranger

Uh-oh uh-oh oh oh

 

Sana’s head subtly bangs along to the music blasting through her earphones, eyes peering out the open window from her seat. Her attention had fallen on the seniors having PE instead of the teacher explaining a simple equation with a monotonous voice. She had her fair share of chalks and duster thrown her way from her obvious disinterest in lectures, but this ahjusshi in front is cool.

 

Because he’s as uninterested in teaching a bunch of kids minding their own business instead of focusing on his trigonometry teaching.

 

Sana mumbles the wrong lyrics as she watches a group playing handball on the field. A corner of her lips quirk up when one of them was smacked with a ball on his face, falling flat on his back. She remembered Momo getting the same fate from a volleyball last week, and oh boy she can still vividly remember the painful cry she exuded from the deliberate accident Jeongyeon made. Her cheek was stamped with the ball’s brand name, the school nurse thought it was a tattoo instead.

 

Sana laughs to herself, a hand muffling from making a noise, but her shaking shoulders might have given her away to the teacher. However, her attention suddenly strays to the cafeteria building. Her eyesight is bad, but there’s a suspicious student walking to the back of the building. She squints her eyes, not because of her blurry vision, but due to the bright yellow colour of the person’s hair.

 

Sana wonders if her friends are ditching school without telling her, because as far as she knows, the ones bold enough to dye their hair in this school are her circle of delinquent-wannabe friends. As Son Chaeyoung once declared during their sleepover session last week, “My motto in life is, there are no rules on hair color.”.

 

Hence, the natural shade of their hair was soon replaced with artificial ones overnight.

 

But no one within her friends has hair that long and that bright for their liking. Sana’s eyes didn’t budge from the blonde stranger as she followed the latter leisurely walking without anyone noticing her presence, before disappearing behind the corner. She scratches her unitchy head, wondering if their secret passage of their daily escapades had been found out by other random students.

 

Suddenly, a familiar whistling sound of an ostrich steals her attention.

 

Sana whips her head to the door, Jeongyeon’s flattened face greeting her from the small window. The girl with short brown hair grins her trademark dopey smile, flicking a thumb to her back, probably asking Sana to accompany her to the washroom.

 

Geez, toilet break again?

 

Waiting for the right moment, Sana crouches on the floor, crawling and rolling her way to the door before slipping out the classroom with a small cry of celebration.

 

“Assa!” 

 

She slowly closes the sliding door before making her way to Jeongyeon already taking refuge by the staircase. Sana feigns a scolding face, hands hoisted on her waist. 

 

“Really, Jeongie… the trouble I had to go through just to walk you to the washroom. Can’t you just do number 1 on your own?”

 

“Who said anything about peeing?”

 

“Eh? So you’re doing number 2 then?”

 

“Better.” Jeongyeon wiggles her eyebrows, “We’re ditching the morning period.”

 

Sana gasped, looking back at the empty corridor before pushing both of them behind a wall. "Are you kidding me?”

 

"Nope, the others are already waiting by the back gate. Nayeon’s paying, by the way."

 

Sana quickly beams at the mention of free food. “Let's go!"

 

With their expertise of playing truant all the time, Sana and Jeongyeon successfully escape the academic building and make a run to the cafeteria. She finds Nayeon, Momo and Chaeyoung already waiting by their usual tree, taking cover under the shade from the morning sun with the oldest wearing an expression similar to a kicked puppy.

 

She hears their conversation as they step closer, of Chaeyoung whining about cleaning the toilet after school when she has an art exhibition to go to; all for the sole reason of their dyed hair. They were almost given suspension for a week, if it wasn’t for Nayeon who confidently volunteered to sweet-talked her way with the principal; by agreeing that all of them would clean the toilet for the whole week.

 

It was, by far, the most betrayal moment they had with Nayeon.

 

“Oh, leave this to the superior Im Nayeon! No one can resist the charm of Im Nayeon! Only Im Nayeon can save your asses!” Momo mimics the oldest in an exaggerated way, the others groaning together from the memory.

 

“Arasso, arasso! I’m buying you guys pizza for compensation, okay? No need to rub salt on my wounded pride!”

 

“Pizza again? Unnie, that’s basically the cheapest meal at ahjumma’s place, and they're full of carbs!” The small girl flexes her nonexistent biceps, "My muscles need proteins, unnie! They need meat!"

 

Nayeon narrows her eyes at the youngest with the bob-cut hair, “Do you have money on you, Chaeng?”

 

The girl resembling a mushroom frowns, and Nayeon clicks her tongue. “Exactly! We’re poor so don’t ever think of eating that sashimi… unless Jisoo comes along.”

 

“Wait, we’re ditching her?”

 

“Miss Park is teaching right now.”

 

Jeongyeon answered Momo's question, and they all snickered loudly from the bad fate of their friend. Sana listened to their conversation absentmindedly, eyes still straying around the back area of the building when she heard a nasal voice yelling close to her ear. 

 

“Oy, you’re coming or what?”

 

She visibly wince with a glare directed to Momo sporting an aesthetic non-prescription glasses with monabelle hairstyle holding the gate open, the others already walking ahead while talking noisily between them. Sana gives one more look behind her, making a quick scan for the long blonde hair she saw, before following the others out of the school perimeter... 

 

Unaware of a presence sitting by the corner, minding her own business from her hiding spot.

 

*

 

The bell for first period had sounded, and Sana cursed loudly as she stopped on her tracks.

 

She tries to catch her breaths, a hand holding her aching waist from running like a maniac. If only she was a millisecond early, the front gate wouldn't have closed on her.

 

Screw the drama she binge-watched last night for being so addicting that she sacrificed her sleep going through the whole season. It was a bad decision on her part as well because she actually forgot that the first class today is Miss Park's subject; she would surely be punished to stand outside the classroom for being late.

 

"Aish, why must she teach at this school…"

 

There's no use complaining about a rotten fruit, so Sana makes a detour to the back area of the school and enters through the secret passage. She decided to spend the first period behind the building for a short nap, but she didn't expect to find another presence already taking over her hiding spot.

 

Ah, it's the stranger!

 

Sana takes in the girl's presence; of long yellow hair tied in high pony-tail, exposing her long and slightly tan-skinned neck, while her straight back lean against the wall in a disciplined manner, her long pair of legs stretched out with an open book on top. 

 

Sana thought she was being stealth enough as she ducks her head lower, trying to peek at the face fully concentrating on the book, only to be surprised when the girl glances up at her.

 

Sana fakes a cough, trying not to be obvious of being caught staring as she hastily plops herself beside the girl. Their distance is separated by a few meters, but it didn't stop Sana from stealing a glance at the girl. She didn't realize how her jaw was slackening by the seconds because there's only one thing in her mind from looking at the student's side profile; she's really pretty.

 

"... already ends."

 

"Huh?"

 

Sana blinks a few times, not catching the words the girl just muttered, only to have the latter turning her face to Sana.

 

"First period." She said, voice barely above a whisper. "It already ends."

 

Oh, wow… beaurifurr...

 

It took Sana a few seconds to process her thoughts, the new face a bit distracting for her slow brain to work. Just as the cogs in her head start functioning, she snaps her attention at the wristwatch, and her eyes widened. 

 

Was she really staring at the girl that long?

 

"Shoot, I'm late!" She hurriedly stands on her feet, already taking a few steps towards her class but stops when she notices no sign of movement from the girl.

 

"Um, you're not coming...?"

 

"In a bit." She taps her thumb on the open page, "I'm finishing this chapter."

 

"Uh, right… okay, then." 

 

Sana gingerly nods, finding the reason a bit odd to comprehend. Well, who is she to judge when she too, used lame excuses to ditch class. She slowly backtracks from their spot, her brain is raking to say something, but the girl had already returned her attention back to the book on her lap. Chewing her bottom lip, Sana turns on her heel and leaves.

 

The whole day, Sana feels as if her brain had short-circuited. Even with a chalk hitting her forehead, she still can’t function properly. She blames herself for skipping sleep last night, thinking that was the reason.

 

*

 

"Ahhh, why do they have to smell like piss?"

 

"They're called toilets for that sole reason, Mo?"

 

The girl glares at the oldest with her smartass answer, before reaching for the empty bucket in Nayeon's hand and placing it inside the janitor's closet. The others soon follow suit, returning the borrowed mops and long hose back to their designated place before all of them sigh in relief, squatting down the deserted corridor.

 

"Ahhh, I'm hungry!"

 

"Yah, Momo… Can't you shut your mouth for a second?" 

 

"Yes I can, Jeong! if you feed my mouth with food!"

 

"I'm with Momo, though. The cleaning really drains my energy." Sana chimes in as she leans against Chaeyoung with an audible sigh.

 

"Can we have chicken?" The junior asks with gleaming eyes, earning a pat on her head from Jeongyeon.

 

"Chaeng, you don't need chicken." She ruffles Chaeyoung's bob hair before leaning in with a smirk, "What your height needs is lots and lots of milk instead!"

 

Momo joins Jeongyeon now cackling on the floor, clapping amusedly from the dejected face of the junior pouting at her useless sunbaes. Jisoo coos at the pouting Chaeyoung, wrapping the latter in a side hug as she takes out her phone.

 

"Should we order delivery, then?"

 

"If you're the one paying, Ji!"

 

"Sheesh, seriously?" The mentioned girl with red hair makes a face at Nayeon, only to have another four pairs of puppy eyes directed to her. "Fine, just because you guys are sore losers."

 

The others quickly run to the locker room, not forgetting to mess Jisoo's hair while yelling thank you as the latter ignores their silly antics, currently occupied with ordering the chicken on her phone. 

 

Sana was the first to change her clothes, and because she's closer to the door, also due to the others taking their sweet time in changing, she is assigned to fetch the food from the delivery guy.

 

"They're waiting at the back entrance, hurry!"

 

"I'm going, I'm going!"

 

She makes a small jog to their secret passage at the back, her eyes gleaming in recognition at the red and white scooter of their favourite place. She waves at the driver sitting on the scooter, holding paper bags of their order. 

 

"Sorry, did you wait long?"

 

Sana asks with a wide smile, only to be surprised when the person stands up and takes off the helmet, revealing a lock of tied yellow hair she's so familiar with.

 

"You..."

 

"Me?" The girl points to herself in confusion, and Sana is quick to shake her head from embarrassment. 

 

"Ah, sorry… I was just - uh..."

 

"Here, your chicken." She shoves the paper bags towards Sana, her face expressionless. "And receipt."

 

Sana hugs the bags close to her chest, trying to balance them while reading the receipt on the girl’s hand. Just as she pats her skirt for the money, she remembered; she left Jisoo’s purse on top of her locker.

 

"Ah, !" She cursed aloud, earning a confused look from the girl. "I'm really sorry, I forgot to bring the purse..."

 

The confused expression changes into a frown, and Sana begins to panic.

 

"Um, I'll go get the money quickly. Can you wait for a while?"

 

The frowns deepen, and Sana understands that the delivery girl thought she's going to run away with the food unpaid; a common habit of the students in this school.

 

"No, I'm serious! I wasn't planning to run or anything, I really will fetch the money!"

 

The girl scratches her cheek, only to grab one of the bags about to fall and starts walking.

 

"Eh? W-Where are you going?"

 

"I'm coming with you." She said, sparing Sana a short glance. "To get the money."

 

Sana is dumbfounded with the response, scratching her head in confusion before running after the girl. They walk together in silence, with Sana leading the way. It wasn't awkward, but Sana's naughty eyes had stolen a few glances at the tall girl. It was out of reflex, and she can't seem to control her actions of staring at the rather stoic but beautiful face.

 

"Sana, were you fetching the food or cooking the food? I'm on the verge of dying just waiting for you!"

 

"Yeah, you should see how she tried to eat my cheek-..."

 

The noisiness surrounding the bench abruptly dissipates, replaced with a deafening silence from the unexpected presence. The tall girl wordlessly grabs the paper bags in Sana's hand and places all of them on the table. The group turn their attention to Sana, the suspicious look makes the latter slightly intimidated with her friends.

 

But before they could voice out their curiosity, the girl had slammed the receipt on the table. 

 

"Pay up, please."

 

They visibly flinch, except for Jisoo who lets out a deep sigh as she waves her own purse found on Sana’s locker.

 

"You forgot this again, Sana?"

 

She gives Jisoo an apologetic nod, grinning innocently while scratching her head as the latter takes out a few wons.

 

"Here, keep the change."

 

The delivery girl takes the money and counts them, a pleased look apparent on her face. She gives a small bow to the red-haired girl. "Thank you." before turning her attention to Sana. "Enjoy your meal."

 

Sana is clearly taken aback, resembling a fish as she stammer for a response. However, the girl had already walked away, sparing Sana from getting caught bumbling like an idiot.

 

"Phew, that was unnerving!" Momo lets out a gasp as she attempts to regain her breathing, only for Jeongyeon to gasp too.

 

"Omo! Momo, why are you blue?"

 

"That girl was glaring daggers at us, I was holding my breath the whole time!"

 

"She's not that bad…" Chaeyoung mutters, only to gain stinky eyes from Nayeon.

 

"Wait, did I miss a memo? Why are you guys acting as if she's a notorious delinquent or something?"

 

"Sana, you didn't know? She is the delinquent everyone's been talking about! She got kicked out of her previous school for beating up a senior - rumour has it that he was hospitalized for a month!"

 

Sana sports an incredulous look towards her gossip buddy Nayeon. "Really? I haven't heard of it."

 

"Because you were so busy daydreaming about your crush." Momo mocks Sana's smitten face with her kissy pucker lips, earning a deep frown from the latter.

 

"She just transferred last week, Sana-unnie. She's in my class." Chaeyoung adds in, already munching on fries poking out from the bag. 

 

"You're lucky she didn't hurt you or anything, Sana. If it was me, I would have made you a slave for your blunder."

 

"Ohhh Jeongyeon, is that your kink? Should I be your slave instead?" Nayeon flutters her eyelashes annoyingly at the disgusted Jeongyeon.

 

"No, I just want you to shut your loud mouth for the rest of your life."

 

"YAH! YOU GOT BEEF WITH ME?"

 

“Oh god, here they go again…” Jisoo sighs deeply along with the others.

 

They decide to ignore the bantering of the "married couple", their attention now falling on the steaming hot fried chickens waiting to be devoured. 

 

Sana idly nibbles on a fries, her mind still preoccupied about the supposedly "delinquent" blonde girl, as stated by her friends. A nudge makes her turn to Chaeyoung, the junior pushing one of the boxes to her.

 

"Don't mind them, they're just rumors anyway." 

 

"E-Eh? I wasn't thinking about her…"

 

Chaeyoung snorts from Sana's obvious stutter, making loud noises from her unabashed chewing. "She's not as bad as they said. We're group buddies for history class, actually."

 

Sana slowly nods at the free information she's getting from Chaeyoung. She didn't ask for it, but there's a nagging feeling at the back of her head that wants to know more about the new transferee. She feels intrigued to know her, especially when the girl is the talk of the school that Sana is unaware of.

 

"Chae."

 

"Hm?"

 

"What's her name?"

 

A knowing smirk appears on the younger's face, because that question might make her face two consequences; to be the subject of ridicule by her annoying friends, or have Chaeyoung as her secret ally.

 

"It’s Chou Tzuyu."

 

*

 

Sana takes her sweet time walking to the cafeteria after helping the teacher carry their homework to the faculty room; a punishment for submitting her supposedly ‘last week’ assignment in today’s class. Sana never misses lunch, all of her friends have big appetites that can feed an army. Surprisingly, she’s not feeling hungry that day, but her friends are already waiting for her at their usual table.

 

Just as she was about to reach the building, her steps halted. She quickly leaps behind a corner, peeking at the senior holding a stalk of rose and a pink envelope.

 

Damn it, Taeil is already here?  

 

He’s been on the lookout for Sana’s whereabout since last month, pestering her friends to tell him about Sana just because he wants to confess to her. Please, Sana has a lot of secret admirers at this school and he should get in line to try his luck. But his persistence just makes her irk instead. Just like how he’s waiting at the cafeteria entrance in hope of catching Sana there.

 

To be honest, he is worse than a stalker.

 

With a deep sigh, Sana turns around and makes a detour to the opposite direction. She looks up at the sky with a hand shading her eyes, the bright sun now partly hidden by thick white clouds. That place would be a nice hiding spot for her, for now.

 

Again, as she reaches the back area, she is greeted with the sight of blonde hair, or Chaeyoung’s classmate and history buddy, or the rumored delinquent transferee Chou Tzuyu. However, instead of alone, the latter has company today.

 

“Meoww!”

 

The furry friend leaps on the girl’s leg, pawing the exposed skin with remnants of milk on its chin. Sana sees the corner of the usually stoic face lifted, her own doing the same from the cute sight. 

 

“You’re such a messy eater.”

 

“Mew?”

 

Sana unconsciously giggles from the kitten’s tilted head, the sound managed to expose her presence to the blonde girl.

 

“Ah, s-sorry... I was just-”

 

Sana rubs her neck sheepishly, but the girl merely stares back before turning her attention back at the small tuxedo cat. Sana rubs her hands together anxiously, confused whether her presence is wanted or not. But there was no discomfort shown on the girl’s face… or does this Tzuyu really wear no expression on her face?

 

Making her own initiative, Sana plants herself beside the girl with the kitten in between them. Her hand unconsciously the fluffy fur, a pleased giggle bubbling up from the purring noise she received.

 

“So cute.”

 

“Mm.”

 

Sana almost forgot the girl’s presence if it wasn’t for the small hum she made. The latter isn’t looking at her, but Sana knows she doesn’t mind her presence. There’s no hostility in her body language; her knees are hug close to her chest with a hand reaching out to the kitten’s long black tail. 

 

“You’re Chou Tzuyu… right?”

 

Sana holds her breath; she notices the slight discomfort on the girl’s face, jaws visibly tightening. She must have thought that Sana knew her from the rumours floating all over school.  

 

“I heard about you from Chaeyoung.” Sana quickly adds, which manages to get the girl to look at her. Oh what a bad move it was because her gaze is so strong and intense, Sana’s heart almost thumps out of the ribcage.

 

“Son…?”

 

“Yeah, Son Chaeyoung! The small picasso-wannabe... she’s your classmate, right?” Sana chirps with a clap, an elated smile etched on her face.

 

“She’s cool.” The girl shrugs, and Sana’s smile widens as she makes a delighted noise. She’s really glad she listened to Chaeyoung because this Chou is not that bad, like her small friend said. 

 

“Um, so Chou…”

 

“Tzuyu.”

 

The girl casts Sana a glance, before turning to the kitten now cleaning itself while lying on the ground, a finger poking at the round and full belly. Sana responded with a long hum; she didn't even realize how the ends of her lips had already reached her ears.

 

“Tzuyu.” She stumbles on the word, her tongue slightly twisted by the foreign name. But the girl doesn’t mind, it seems. “Why are you here?”

 

There was a slight pause of the finger, before she was met with a shrug. 

 

“It’s nice here.” Only to have the question bounced back at her. “Why are you here?”

 

“Oh. Well,” Sana rubs her nape, thinking of an excuse to her escape from the secret admirer. “I need some fresh air, the cafeteria is rather crowded at the moment.”

 

“What about your friends?”

 

Sana waves a hand dismissively, “They’ll be fine without me.” She is met with a small frown, and Sana quickly shakes her head. “I-I mean, they won’t mind! We’re usually like that, so it’s fine.”

 

The worried face returns to its normal stoic expression and Sana automatically chuckles from the compelling gesture. Maybe she was wrong before; Tzuyu does express her emotions, just not at the same scale as everyone else. It’s minuscule, and Sana is already enthralled by the girl’s peculiar trait.

 

Surprisingly, Sana enjoys the weirdly calming companion of the indifferent girl. She mimics Tzuyu's way of sitting, head leaning sideways on her knees as she silently watches Tzuyu tease the sleepy kitten.

 

"What should I call you?"

 

"Something adorable, maybe?"

 

Tzuyu glances up at her, eyebrows furrowed. 

 

"What?"

 

"You want me to call you with pet names?"

 

Sana blinks her eyes a few times, only to feel her face heating up as she realizes to whom the question was directed. 

 

"Ah, y-you mean… me?"

 

"Yes." Tzuyu answered casually, "But it's fine if you prefer pet names over your real one."

 

"N-Nooo, it was a misunderstanding!"

 

Sana quickly covers her red cheeks for making a fool of herself, only to be startled when she hears the light snort coming from her side. She turns to Tzuyu, catching the small smirk on her lips before it disappears. She realized then, she was being teased.

 

After collecting herself, Sana clears , catching Tzuyu's attention once again.

 

"Sana."

 

"Hm?"

 

"You can call me Sana."

 

She smiles with twinkling eyes, receiving an acknowledged nod from Tzuyu.

 

"That's rather formal for a pet name, isn't it?"

 

"Yah!"

 

Sana didn't get a laugh, but the full blown smile appearing on Tzuyu's face is enough to make Sana's heart flutter an unknown beat.

 

What a beautiful face…

 

As she is being mesmerized by the rare sight of a natural beauty, a packet of sweet buns lands on her lap.

 

"I need to go." Tzuyu stands up gracefully, patting her skirt to get rid of the dust from the ground. "Enjoy your lunch… Sana."

 

Without waiting for Sana's response, the girl turns around and leaves, not before giving one last to the already snoozing kitten. Sana watches with mouth agape as Tzuyu's tall back slowly retreats and disappears behind a corner. She idly stares at the bun, albeit the smile still plastered on her face.

If only Sana realizes that the day she saw the beautiful blonde stranger, was also the day her fate was tangled with Tzuyu… forever.