Minhyun, my one and only childhood friend, must have noticed me staring off into the distance as I didn't even realise he had come in and taken his seat next to mine. Truth be told, I had actually been day dreaming about beating up JR and his ugly minions Angry Mom style. 

'Hey, are you okay?' 

'Yeah, I'm great. Never been better.' I couldn't hide the sarcasm and instantly feel bad. He doesn't deserve this anger projection from me.

‘I really hope so… I missed you during break you know but you wouldn’t answer any of my calls or texts. I even called your house phone and I think halmoni got annoyed because I was calling so frequently.’ His eyes look sad which I don't like.

Waves of guilt crash through me. Yes, yes, I'm a horrible friend okay? I didn't answer on purpose. We had made loads of summer plans and most of them to do with the beach. But how could I go through with them when I was covered in bruises? Bruises don't go well with swimwear. I was ashamed that I got into a fight with little girls as well. Also, I never told Minhyun about any of the JR fiasco the whole of last year because I didn't want to worry him.

'Sorry about that, Minnie. I didn't mean to be an awful friend, I promise.' I say, feeling truly apologetic. 'I just had some stuff to sort out at home.' I lie.

God, I'm such an awful person.

‘Oh, don’t worry about it. I was worried you were mad at me or something.’ I feel even more guilty. Seriously, what good did I do in my past life to deserve this guy as a friend?

I remember the first time we met in the school playground when we were about 8 years old. He was the cutest boy in the year if not the entire school and everyone wanted to be his friend. If you ask him, he'll probably tell you that I followed him around all the time but really, it was the other way round. I think he had developed a crush on me then as he used to chase me with his lips puckered up - something he won't ever admit to doing now.

Throughout the years we became closer and managed to become really good friends. There were consequences for me, unfortunately. The girls didn't like that Minhyun was giving me the attention. They started being exceptionally mean to me; they would make comments about my parents, my appearance and everything I did. I remember I used to cry a lot and quite often would blame Minhyun for it and also for the fact that I couldn't make any other friends. He would wipe away my tears and always say the same thing:

'Yah, uljima! Don't listen to them, they're just jealous! And don't worry about making friends cos I'm the only friend you need.'

He sure knew how to talk then. He still does to be honest and is as charming as ever but as we've grown older, he has become a lot more reserved. Regardless, I feel grateful for him and am proud to say that he is one of the few (if not the only one) guys to have his head screwed on right.

‘Good morning everyone!’A chirpy and shrill voice cuts through the classroom full of murmurs, startling my train of thoughts.

‘I’m sure everyone had a wonderful summer but it’s time to get back to working hard! This year especially as you all will have to work towards getting the grades your chosen Universities are looking for! And also because our new objective set by the head this year is to start restoring our reputation as one of the best high school nationwide!’ The homeroom teacher looks tanner than usual and seems to be glowing. Well, at least one of us made the most of summer.

Restoring reputation, yeah right. There is no way all of these kids are going to university. I mean, most of them possess the maturity level of a choding. Especially the transfer students. Especially JR.

The rest of the day back goes by in series of blur with most lessons introducing us to what we would 'learn' this year. Minhyun and I talked through most of it, catching up with each other. His parents practically forced him to get a summer job to learn the importance of earning your own money so he worked part-time at an ice-cream stand at the beach. He told me about all sorts of customers he had to deal with and I almost felt envious I hadn't been there because some of the stories sounded absolutely hilarious. I on the other hand told him of all the movies and tv shows I watched altogether (there were over a hundered of them). He was rather amazed at my accomplishment.

Just like that, the day comes to an end.  It was a rough start and quite a vigorous day but thank heavens for Minhyun who made it bearable. I grab my bag and start walking out of the school gates with him when I hear a familiar car honk.

‘Hey you! Get in the car!’ I recognise Baekho’s voice from this morning. I had completely forgotten about him actually.

'Who on earth is that?' Minhyun asks beside me. 'Where's ajhussi?'

'Oh yeah, didn't you hear? He was apparently attracted to ummm girls... the underage sort.' I check his reaction, his eyes have widened. 'So he is the replacement.'

'What? That is nuts! I thought he was cool older guy as well.' He says, still looking at Baekho.

'We all did.' I meant it. Baekho honks again.

That impatient little...

 'Well, I better head home. I am freaking tired!'

'Tell me about it! Alright, see you tomorrow! And from now onwards if you don't pick up my calls or answer my texts you're dead, you hear me?'

I laugh and nod as I walk towards the car and take the passenger seat. I roll the windows down and wave bye at Minhyun and he waves back.

‘So...how was your day? Were you happy to get back? Were you excited to see your friends? Was that your boyfriend? He's kinda cute. Oooh, do you have any cute girl friends? If you do, can you set me—‘

‘No.’ I interrupt him. ‘I’m exhausted, so can you just please take me home?’

‘Oh.. sorry. Alright.’ Baekho replies quietly. He looks at me through the rear view mirror and doesn't say much more but gives me a bright smile. I can't help but instinctly smile back. He chortles but I'm too tired to roll my eyes. I manage to fall asleep quite quickly because the next thing I know, we're home.

I am greeted by halmoni who has prepared Kimchi chigae and rice for dinner. I tell her she's the best and chomp my way through. When I'm done, I go wash up and settle down with homework in my room. Luckily, there isn't much to do with it being our first day back allowing me to head to bed sooner than expected.

Ahhh, a year more of this everyday. A year more of JR and his girly minions, a year more of endless studies, a year more of…..zzzzzzzzz