3 | Like a star

***

A sweet smile broke into Seohyun's lips when she saw the lunch box bag Mrs. Im prepared for her with a note that says;

Have a great day, Seohyun-ah~

I think I will be late to go home tonight. I don't mind you grabbing dinner outside, as long as you buy me my favorites ^^

- Mrs. Im

She grabs it and finishes her coffee before she heads out of the apartment and brightly skips her way to the lift. She stepped out of it in no time and brightly greeted the middle-aged ladies in the lobby as she passed through their mailboxes. All of them greeted her friendly.

As she stepped into her scooter, she was greeted by a bouquet of flowers which made her sigh as she checked the note that said 'You always make my morning bright, Ms. Seo. Love Chen.' 

"I barely even see him around." She scoffed and decided to bring the flowers inside the building to replace the vase on top of the counter. The landlady smiled in amusement at her who was sitting behind the counter.

"Another flower from your favorite admirer?" 

"Who else, Mrs. Choi?" She chuckled softly. "Have a nice day, Mrs. Choi." She said as she bowed and jogged back to her scooter and finally drove off carefully. The guard when she passed through him greeted her brightly and she responded with the same bright smile.

Thirty minutes into the road, she started seeing high school students walking on the side of the street as they got off the bus. Some greeted her while others just didn't mind and kept going. She only greeted those who would greet her first as she slowly drove until she reached the school. 

"Quiet early this time, Ms. Seo?" The P.E. teacher greeted her as he opened the gate widely for her.

"I need to do something before my first period, Mr. Kim." She replied and smiled briefly as she passed through him. Just as she put her helmet down on the toolbox, she heard screams from students which made her run and search for where the scream came from. She found a crowd nearby and ran to see what was going on, only to find female students watching the Soccer Team's captain exercising on their field. "Ugh. I thought someone was hurt."  she mumbled as she turned around and walked away.  

While she was on the way to the faculty room, she heard female students murmuring at each other as if there was something to gossip about in the early morning. She wasn't curious at all as she reached the room in no time and greeted her colleagues as she took her seat at her desk. She opened her desktop when she heard a familiar voice nearby, She got up and realized the teenage boy who had been addressing her like a friend was sitting near their P.E. teacher, writing down some sort of an application. 

"He's earlier than most of his classmates." She was impressed as she returned to her seat and resumed what was she supposed to do. 

"Thank you, Sir. See you after class." 

She smiled briefly when she heard it without averting her eyes on the monitor and not stopping her typing on the keyboard.

"Ms. Seo! Good morning."

But when she heard her name, she automatically turned her head to her right and found the young man waving his hand while smiling brightly. He bowed at her and waved one last time.

"See you later." He said as he left the room. 

She doesn't mind responding as her eyes return to the screen. When she returned to her work, she heard her colleagues talking about Yuri.

"Dang, that kid sure changed. I mean, he looked different than before." 

"I know right? He used to be so serious always. This is the first time I've seen him smile like that."

"And I didn't imagine he would sign up for the tennis club. He is timid most of the time, I never thought he would be interested in a sport." 

"Maybe he realized something."

"Maybe."

She slowly nodded her head as she found it interesting that Yuri used to be that kind of person. She has no idea he is like that and she's glad to hear it. 

Moments later, the bell rang and she finally gathered her stuff to start her first period of the day.

***

Just the moment Seohyun was out of sight, Yoona/Yuri hastily got up and tried to follow her when two male students blocked his way.

"Yah, it's just the first period, Yuri, where are you going?" 

"Is it wrong to go to the restroom?" asked him as he raised his brows and tried to pass on them but he was held on his shoulder. He exhaled so loud as he yank his hand off of him but he suddenly pressed him against the wall. "What's wrong with you?" he got pissed yet confused at the same time.

"Don't you remember me?"

"How would..." He pauses and suddenly remembers the three male students in the cafeteria on his first day. "Yeah, I do. One of that bullies. Cha Jung-Yeop." He read the nametag on his uniform. "So we're in the same class. I didn't see you yesterday in our first class of the semester. Where were you?"

"Glad you do." Jung-hyeop snickers as he pulls back. "I still can't believe what you did Jungsang."

"Wae? Is it the first time someone talked back at him like that?" Yoona composed himself as he smirked at the latter.

Jung hyeop scoffed and leaned closer to his face. "We're not yet done. Kwon Yuri. It's just the beginning." whispered him before he pulled back and walked back to their classroom with his friend.

Sighing deeply, Yoona pouted cutely as he realized he no longer see his dear girlfriend in the hallway. He pulls out something from his pocket and rubs gently the mint candy with his thumb. He was supposed to give it to her in an effort to make her remember about her but looked like it was not the right time yet. He put it back in his pocket and bowed to the teacher that just arrived before he returned to his seat.

—

After the last subject ended, Yoona dropped his head to the desk and sighed afterward. He didn't imagine the second day in school would even be more stressful. All the teachers gave them homework and reminded them to study for tomorrow's quiz. He sighs once again after a couple of minutes before he pulls back and joins his classmates in going to the cafeteria. 

When he reached the entrance, he checked around first to make sure those annoying bullies weren't around and when he was safe, he excitedly went to the buffet and took everything he loved. 

"Whoa, you eat that much?" Jessica however took him by surprise when she exclaimed near his face from behind. 

"Yah, you freaking scared me!" 

"Tsk,tsk. You're not planning to gain weight aren't you?" She shakes her head in disbelief.

Yoona scoffed and proceeded to get his side dishes. "I have something to do later so I have to eat a lot." he explained before he left and took his seat at an empty table. He was about to take a bite when he noticed Jessica was still getting her food. "Okay, I'll wait." he decided to do so as he watched her from his seat.

Just then, Seohyun stepped into the cafeteria which made the students bow and greet her. She smiled and asked them to focus on their meals as she headed to the buffet as well. She only grabbed salad and kimbap and then left without noticing a tan boy watching her intently from the distance.

"You." Jessica takes her seat in front of Yuri, confused as to why he's agape and spacing out. "Yah, Kwon Yuri!" she shouted at her which brought him back to reality.

"Wae? Wae? Wae?" Yoona/Yuri panics as he blinks his eyes a couple of times.

"Where were your eyes?" Jessica turned her head and didn't see any interesting student or a thing. 

"Nothing. Just thinking something." said Yoona as he smiled brightly and dug into his food, finally.

"You better not eat like this again. I told you before that it might get you more bullies if you gain weight."

"Oh, is that the reason some are like that to me?"

Jessica nodded. "They hate that chubby cheeks of yours."

"Aigoo, no wonder. But it's fine." He shrugged his shoulders before resuming his food. 

"You haven't really found your memories, have you?" Jessica asked as she casually took a bite of her food too. 

"It's hard to find them when I don't know where to find it." Yoona replied as he drank his glass of water. "But you can help me, right?" He brightly smiled again. 'This is the only way to know about Yuri too.' She thought at the back of her head.

"In what way?" 

"Hmm, for example... something we only share. How about that?"

"Should I tell you?"

He scoffed. "That's what you want, right?"

"Well, let me prepare for that then." said Jessica as she finally had an idea of how to do it. Yuri's so special for her and she wanted him to remember her more than anyone.

"Okay, let's meet after my tennis training." Yoona shared excitedly.

"Omo, you signed up for a club?"

"Yup. You want me to be fit, right? Then this is a great opportunity." 

"Heol, I thought you had no interest in sports at all? Our P.E. teacher even gives up convincing you to join a sports club." Jessica chuckled in disbelief. She finds it strange but she's glad to hear it. "Should I cheer for you later?"

"Oh, it's fine. I mean, I got it. I think when I have a match, that's when you have to cheer for me."

"I'm so happy to hear this from you, Yuri." She smiled genuinely. 

Yoona smiled back as he took another bite of his food. 'I think I'm doing something really different from what this Yuri does.' He confirmed it.  

***

While Seohyun was browsing the books in a library, she heard her phone chimes in the pocket of her jacket. She casually picked it up and slightly widened her eyes when she received a notification from one of the members of the national tennis club. She hastily opened it and a photo of a young man, smiling while sitting at the seashore.

"It's been a while, Minjae." mumbled her as she tried to see where on the beach the young man was in the photo but she had no idea where. She noticed there was a comment so she opened it and a fellow tennis player commented on it.

hyoseop: Yo bro, where is this? I thought you went out of the country but this looked like in Gwangju or Jeonju?

"Hyoseop? Wait... " She walked to her laptop nearby and opened a photo scan of her files. It's one of the articles she gathered online, in search of the truth. She re-reads the article and didn't read Hyo Seop's name mentioned to the list of tennis players that were in the building when it happened. "Namjoon, Hong Nae, and Minjae... they were there. It's only them mentioned as tennis players the rest are from other clubs. So Hyoseop wasn't there." She took note of it before she opened her phone back and realized Minjae commented.

Minjae_:  It's been a while, Hyoseop-ah! Let's meet tonight. 

hyosep: You're around Seoul now?

Minjae_: The photo was last week. I've been back since last Sunday. I'll call you later.

hyoseop: Yaaass! I knew you wouldn't forget me. Let's hang out!

"Damn, they should mention the place." She hoped for it and decided to wait for a response from Minjae but after a couple of minutes, he never responded. She sighs in annoyance once the bell rings as well.

"Seohyun-ssi!"

"Yes?" She turned her head and raised her voice abruptly, causing for most students around the library to hush her. She smiled awkwardly at them as she walked to the librarian lady who was wearing