“Not again, __________!” The teacher let out a complaint when I closed the door gently behind my back. “This is the third time in this week. What are you thinking?”

   “Well… I haven’t done much thinking lately…” I mumbled and slided in to my seat while the class was too busy giggling and whispering to each other. After finding a sitting position that was comfortable enough, I looked up and realized that someone was standing next to the teacher with his hands behind his back. My heart skipped a beat. I’ve never seen such a handsome guy in my life. He was sticking his tongue out cheerfully. I threw him a curious look and he looked at me too. Just then the teacher tapped on his desk:

   “Now back to what I was saying before Ms. Yoon interupted us. Yang Yoseob is joining our class from now on.” He pointed at Yoseob, and the new guy did a perfect ninety-degree bow.

   “I’m Yang Yoseob, but you can just call me Seobie. It’s a great pleasure to be with you here in our class.” He said and flashed a gorgeous smile, making half of the girls in class scream silently.

   “Now, Mr. Yang,” said the teacher, as he looked around the classroom. “Since there are nearly no more seats, I would recommend that you sit next to __________ over there.”  He nodded his head at you and Yoseob began to walk towards you. “She will show you the basics. Now, shall we get back to our lesson?”

   Yoseob smiled at me. “Nice to meet you, __________.”

   I felt something that was somewhat freezing on my back. I turned around and saw at least half a dozen girls glaring at me with their razor-like eyes. Oh God, I thought, this ain’t going to be easy.

   The new guy looked at me with his puppy eyes. “Why aren’t you answering me?” He pouted. My heart melted at that moment. But then I remembered the girls and their horrifying glare. One of them cleared their throat loudly, breaking the silence of the classroom, and I knew they sent me a signal. Something that might sound like “Enough talking or you are dead.”

   I turned back to Yoseob. He was still looking at me, waiting.

   “Uh huh.” I mumbled and ignored his hand sticking out.

   “That’s too much of a warm welcome.” He said and began to listen to the lecture. I glared at him; the anger meter inside my head began to climb on top. Oh no you didn’t, I thought.

   “Oh, yes I did.” Yoseob smiled and hummed. Now what the is happening here? He can read my mind or something? My eyes widened in surprise. Yoseob smirked and shook his head gently.

   “Nope, I was just guessing.” He told me. More like he was talking to himself, but I knew that I was receiving his answer. “And it is not good to swear, __________. Be a nice girl or nobody will love you.”

   “Okay, I don’t know how you did that,” I murmured and lifted my foot off the ground. “But this is just far too enough.”

   And then I stomped on his foot, making a loud noise when hitting his desk. Yoseob shrieked in a really high-pitched tone and jumped out of the way. After things settled down, we realized that all eyes were on us. I blushed and got back to my seat but Yoseob stood there, frozen in his position.

   “Mr. Yang, Ms. Yoon, what exactly are you two doing?” The teacher gave me a sharp glare, making me cower on my seat.

   “Er… Just getting to know...” Yoseob mumbled and used his foot to draw circles on the floor nervously.

   “Nothing, sir.” I interrupted him as quickly as I could. “Nothing. I was still concentrating on the lesson until…” I looked at my new classmate accussingly. “He tried to get my attention with his puppy eyes and sweet voice and…”

   “Enough, Ms. Yoon.” The teacher raised his eyebrows at me and turned to Yoseob. “Is that true, Mr. Yang?”

   Crap, that was the only thing that flashed to my mind. I looked at Yoseob nervously while fighting with the part inside my head that wanted to kneel down and beg him not to say a word. Surprisingly, Yoseob turned to me and winked fast. Then he turned to the teacher and said:

   “It was my fault, sir. I am very sorry. I promise not to do it again.”

   “Well, in that case,” A wide grin spreaded across the teacher’s face. “Do any of you two have a chance to prove your statement?”

   I looked around to find a clue. What are we studying? My timetable was in my pencil case, but I couldn’t open it when everyone was watching me. Gajin, the hipster in front of me? Nah, he never brings anything to school. Bethany, the exchange student? Nope, she is too far away from me. Is there anyone who accidentally left their timetable on the table so that I can see it easily? Then someone poked my knee with their foot.

   “What?” I looked up, annoyed. Yoseob was looking at me, his timetable sticking out of his sleeve. It was Monday, and we were having History. I looked up again. The monitor’s book was cracked opened at page 119. Hm… If I were right…

   “Can you do it?” The teacher asked.

   “Yes, I’m ready.” I cleared my throat with a small cough and began. “Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Linc…”

   “Okay, enough, enough.” The teacher tapped on the table. “Excellent memorizing ability, Ms. Yoon. But…” He raised a finger at me, who had just decided to sit down. “I’m afraid I can’t forgive you unless Mr. Yang can do the same thing. Ready?”

   “Er… Yes.” Yoseob mumbled. I crossed my fingers and began to beg. Come on, come on, come on! If you really can read minds, than read mine and pretend like you have been listening to that lecture! Please!

   In contrast to what I had been waiting for, Yoseob stood up and began to invent stories: “Abraham Jefferson… no, I mean Lincoln, was the 60^th President of… er…. South Korea serving from April 1816 until his act of suicide in… in…”

   “I believe it’s in 1965, right, Mr.Yang?”

   “Yes!” Yoseob flicked his hand. “That’s right, in 1956!”

   “Excellent work, Mr.Yang.” The teacher chuckled as my smarty-pants friends began to giggle. “Now please get out of the classroom, two of you, and I’d be honored to see you at five for a detention.”

   “But sir, I…”

   “No buts, Ms.Yoon.” The teacher said coldly. “You are wasting my time. Please go.”

   I grabbed my backpack and started to walk out of the classroom, being followed by Yoseob. He closed the door behind his back, and the teacher continued with his lecture. I gave him a death glare:

   “Now what? It’s your fault.”

   “I know.” He replied.

   “Can you be any more stupid? Abraham Lincoln is Korean!” I bursted out and sat down. On the floor. “After his act of suicide! Seriously, Yang Yoseob, what the hell were you thinking?”

   “I don’t know.” He tapped his chin. “Something like Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Yes, it was something like that?”

   “You know it! You know the answer!” I stood up and glared at him, again, angrily. “You know it and you didn’t even bother to spend some of your precious time just to prove my excuse! You have just been in this class for, like, fifteen minutes and you have already ruined everything! Everything!” I sobbed as the tears began to flow. I couldn’t believe I could cry that easily after everything I’ve went through. Then I felt Yoseob’s hand on my head. He embraced me tenderly and rested his chin on my head.

   “There, there,” Yoseob began to hum slowly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you feel bad. It’s just that I wanted to spend more time with you and I thought that was a nice excuse.”

   His gentle smell of cologne went past my nose and I froze. Something was screaming inside my brain. My throat felt like it was burning. It hurts so bad that I knelt down holding my head. That feeling was familiar, but it wasn’t like anything I had been through.

   “Stop… Please, Yoseob. Stop.” I pleaded. Yoseob let go of me, and the pain disappeared. I looked at him, both scared and angry. He, in contrast, looked very normal and happy. As he turned away, I saw a flash of metallic yellow in his eyes.

   “Remember me?” Yoseob smiled. He raised his hand slowly until it was right before my eyes. He pulls out a lighter and burned his hand. Slowly, the flame turned into some sort of greenish blue. He pulled himself closed as I stepped back. My heart sank and my legs were shaking. I fell down.

   That.

   “Oh, it’s nice to meet you again, Princess.” Yoseob smiled as he kissed my forehead.

***

 Author's words: Hello guys. I hope you enjoyed the beginning. The credit of the Abraham Lincoln part (except for Yoseob's invented story) goes to Wikipedia, our all-time favorite free encyclopedia. See you in the next chapters! - Love you, dreamybaby XOXO