The sunlight kissed Joon good morning as he yawned sleepily. His hand automatically went up to shade his eyes from the bright light. When he realized what day it was, he grinned like a child.

“It’s my first day of college!” he cheered. Scrambling out of bed, Joon headed over to his window and pushed aside the curtains. He peered out at Minah’s window, hoping to see her. Although he had a different major than Minah, and education major to be more specific, he would still see her during lunch and that was exciting in itself.

Finally, after five minutes of staring at the window, the curtains were brushed aside and Minah appeared. Joon’s face lit up with a million watt smile as he waved at her. He reached beside him and pulled up a card with the words ‘Good morning, Minah! Ready 4 school?’ on them. A big grin came on her face and she nodded in return, holding two thumbs up.

Waving one last time, Joon closed his curtains and began to get ready, not wanting to be late for his first day as a college student. Minah on the other hand was already dressed and ready to go. She had her composition notebook stuck in her bag as well as the other necessary material she needed for her classes.

Upon much consideration, she found that the idea of music therapy was intriguing to her. Albeit there wasn’t a course on music therapy she could still take other classes that would amount to the same thing. She looked at the list of her classes again, just to make sure she wouldn’t forget.

Okay, so first is music composition and then music theory. After that is English and then lunch. Psychology is last, huh? She nodded to herself and slipped the paper into a folder.

Minah walked out of her room and was greeted by her father. He gazed at her for a moment, a cloudy look in his eyes. Smiling softly, Minah hugged him.

“You grew up so fast. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you while you were growing up,” her father whispered. Minah comfortingly patted his back.

“Don’t apologize anymore. We’ve gotten past that, haven’t we?” she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

“That’s true, isn’t it? Well, have a good day at school today. You make me proud,” he responded. With a tiny wave, Minah left the house. She figured she could grab something to eat along the way and eat it while she walked so she wouldn’t be late.

---

“I still can’t believe you’re a business major,” Seungho said to Mir as they walked to the university together. “I mean, do you really plan on running a business of your own one day?”

“What? You don’t have faith in me or something? I could be a great businessman. My skills of persuasion are ing amazing,” Mir retorted. The truth was, he had been unsure of his major when he graduated since he didn’t even think he would graduate that year. He had almost been 100% sure that he’d flunk and get stuck in senior year for the third time. However, thanks to the help of his friends, he was able to bring up his grades and pass the college examination.

“Then wouldn’t being a lawyer sound better if you’re persuasive?” Seungho asked, raising an eyebrow. Mir’s eyes narrowed and he stuck his tongue out at him.

“ you,” he shot back. Seungho rolled his eyes at his friend’s immaturity and picked up his pace, effectively putting some distance between them. “Hey, wait up!” Mir called.

Suddenly, the sound of a car horn made both boys flinch in surprise. A familiar, black car pulled up to the side of the road and the passenger-side window rolled down. Cheondoong was smirking as he peered out at them.

“Need a ride?” he offered.

“Sure,” Seungho responded as he opened the passenger door. Just as he was about to get inside, Mir squirmed his way by and sat down first. He made a face at Seungho before kicking him out of the way and slamming the door shut. Seungho sighed at his friend’s childish actions and got in the back of the car.

“Be kind to the physical therapy major, you never know when you’ll need him,” Cheondoong snickered. Mir glowered and smacked his friend’s shoulder.

“Go yourself, Mr. Music Major,” he grumbled. Seungho and Cheondoong chuckled as Cheondoong drove off towards the university. It wasn’t long until they saw it and Cheondoong had to find a place to park, letting Mir and Seungho out at the gates.

Once his car was parked in a safe place, Cheondoong headed towards his first class which just so happened to be music composition. He scoured the campus for a while before finally finding the room. Bracing himself for the certain bombardment of screams and squeals from fan girls, he pushed open the door and entered the classroom. There were a few audible gasps and girls whispered to one another but no screams.

Well, that’s a good sign so far. It’s not gonna be like high school. Smiling to himself, Cheondoong scanned the room for an empty seat and his eyes lit up when he saw Minah sitting in a corner of the room by herself.

He shuffled over to her quickly and placed his stuff down beside her. “Hey there beautiful,” he said. Minah, who had not seen him coming, looked up prepared to snap at the flirty who dared to sit beside her. However, when she saw it was Cheondoong she merely scoffed and smiled a little.

“Hey yourself, Mr. Idol,” she replied. Hearing such light-hearted talk from Minah never failed to up Cheondoong’s mood. It was hard to believe that only a few months ago she was practically an empty shell.

“I’m glad we have these classes together. I was afraid I would only be able to see you during lunch.” Cheondoong pulled out his own composition notebook and set it down in front of him. “Excited for our first day of college to start?”

“Yeah, definitely. Because I love school so much,” Minah replied sarcastically. Albeit she was only half-sarcastic since she did enjoy most of the courses she had that year. The only unappealing course was English but she knew it was necessary.

The pair had exchanged small talk for a while until the professor walked in. Then, the lecture started and they both took notes furiously. The music composition class would be a hands-on course where the students got to work in a studio much like the ones professional composers use. The first day was merely an introduction.

After music composition, Minah and Cheondoong were pleased to find that they both had music theory together. This class focused more on the actual components of music as well as a little bit of music history. Since both of them enjoyed music, they found these classes to be interesting.

However much he enjoyed the class though, Cheondoong couldn’t stop himself from occasionally gazing at Minah. Since he was sitting to her left, he could clearly see the scar trailing down her cheek. It pained him to imagine exactly what pain she felt went she obtained that scar and he wished he could kiss it and make it go away. The feeling became so strong that he nearly grazed his fingers over her cheek but caught himself just in time. He retracted his hand and hid it under the desk, flushing slightly.

Damn, Sanghyun. What if she caught you? She’ll think you’re creepy or something.

Blowing out a puff of air, Cheondoong tried with all his might to focus on the music theory professor’s lecture.

---

Much to Cheondoong’s disappointment, the next class he had was contemporary dance while Minah had English. They parted ways until lunch. When lunch came around, Minah headed to the chorale room which she had walked by on her way to English. She noticed the grand piano inside and was instantly drawn to it.

Knocking on the door first, she waited for a response from someone. Hearing none, she went inside. Automatically, Minah headed towards the piano like it was calling to her. She set her bag on the ground and slid her fingers over the smooth keys. From the feeling of them, she could tell they were made of ivory which was meant the piano was very expensive.

Her eyes shut as she played a song she hadn’t played in a long time. It was the song Seungho had composed yet she still did not know that fact. The only thing she knew was that the piece was utterly gorgeous. It sounded like a mixture of melancholy and longing which made her think of Byunghee. She finished the piece with tears threatening to fall.

“Well, isn’t this déjà vu?” Seungho’s voice rang out and echoed through the room. Minah jumped in shock and whipped around to face them.

“S-Seungho! How long have you been there?” she asked in a panicky voice. He smirked and sat down on the bench beside her.

“Long enough to hear you play my song in my presence for the second time,” he responded. A puzzled look crossed Minah’s features as she stared at Seungho wide-eyed.

“Your song? The second time?” she wondered aloud.

“Yeah, that’s my song. Hmm, I think it was last year I heard you play it for the first time. I was sleeping on the top riser and woke up when you came in the room. I’m pretty sure it was the first day of senior year,” Seungho clarified.

“Although, I don’t know when you heard the song. I never played it for anyone but myself,” he mused. Minah’s eyes grew even larger as she recalled the memory very clearly. A tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks as she realized Seungho had been the one who wrote the piece she adored so much. What was more embarrassing was the fact that he had heard her play it two times already.

“W-well, it’s a beautiful composition,” she complimented him quietly. Seungho gazed at her for a while as she avoided his eyes and stared at the piano instead.

I think that’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten. What makes it even more special is that it came from you.

The door suddenly burst open with a loud bang as Mir strutted in arrogantly. The pair at the piano watched him with un-amused expressions. A sly smirk appeared on Mir’s face as he grabbed Minah’s wrist and tugged her to her feet. Without warning, he lifted her up bridal style and gazed into her eyes intensely.

“Hmm, this makes me think of the first day of senior year. Finding you by the piano again. Although that day I was making out with some ho,” he said. “I think we can make this déjà vu even better if I make out with you instead of a . And of course, I won’t be a stupid bastard to you this time.”

Minah glared at him; however it was undeniable that her cheeks were turning a bright red. Mir didn’t seem like he was joking around when he moved his lips closer to hers, preparing for the kiss. Before their lips could come in contact, Seungho yanked Minah out of Mir’s grip and into his own arms.

“ off, you man ,” he snapped as he pushed Mir’s face away. Gently placing Minah on her feet, Seungho immediately gripped Mir by the collar and shook him in a playful way. Mir laughed awkwardly because he wasn’t sure if there was also a bit of true malice behind the gesture.

“Hahaha…okay, let me go please!” he yelped. “I’m older than you too, don’t you know? I’m turning twenty this year.”

Minah watched the scene with an air of un-interest. She would let Seungho deal with Mir in whatever way he pleased. Her attention turned towards the door when the chorale conductor entered the room. His eyes were narrowed at the three of them.

“Excuse me, you three but you are not permitted to be in here during lunch. You may go elsewhere to eat your lunches,” he said as he ushered them out of the room.

Mir scoffed once the professor was out of earshot. “Stingy bastard,” he muttered. Minah chuckled and lightly ruffled his hair. She began to pinch his cheeks afterwards, smirking all the while.

“You pull something like that one more time and I’ll rip your lips off,” she threatened. Seungho showed no reaction to her words but on the inside he was snickering devilishly.

Serves him right, the erted idiot.

On their search for a new spot to eat lunch, the three ran into Joon and Cheondoong along the way, effectively reuniting the inseparable crew. Joon and Cheondoong had apparently both come from the contemporary dance class.

“You’re taking contemporary dance? You’re not even a music major so why would you do that?” Mir questioned. Joon shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

“I like dancing,” he replied simply.

The five of them came across a giant oak tree with two benches set underneath the shade. They figured it was as good as they could get so it became their established lunch spot. All of them sat down and got out their lunches, talking about their classes so far and what their feelings on college were.

It seemed as if the period went by too fast and it was already time for their final classes of the day. Reluctantly, the five friends parted ways until after school. Minah headed to room B-12, one of the psychology rooms. She found it easily with the help of the school map she was smart enough to carry around.

When she entered the room, the students were sitting in class silently. Apparently, no one knew one another in the class so they kept to themselves for the most part. Minah’s eyes scanned an open spot away from others, since it was her nature to be alone. The only people she was close to were her four friends, her father, and her brother.

She nearly missed the boy sitting in the back corner of the classroom furthest from the door but paused, keeping her gaze on him. Normally, she wouldn’t have found anyone in a classroom that stood out to her but this boy captured her attention. Why? Because of the mask he wore.

Memories of her late elementary, middle school, and high school years flooded into her mind again. The pain and utter loneliness she felt while she wore her mask stung her once more and she found herself walking towards the boy against her will. Albeit the mask he wore only covered his mouth and nose, it was still the same.

She could tell he didn’t wear the mask because he was sick nor for fashion. From the way his eyes gazed out the window with a sort of deep yearning and sorrow, she felt some sort of connection to him. He was just like she had been before. Hiding behind a mask.

“Can I sit here?” The words left Minah’s mouth before she even knew what she was saying. She was standing beside the boy, her hand on the chair next to his. Everyone in the classroom stared at the pair, feeling a little admiration at the girl who had the courage to speak to someone who seemed so anti-social.

The boy’s eyes widened in fear but he nodded anyways. He was obviously bothered by Minah’s presence since, when she sat down he scooted his chair away slightly. It didn’t bother Minah in the slightest and she knew she would have to be patient if she wanted to help this boy.

I’m determined to help this boy the way my friends helped me. The way that Byunghee saved me…

“My name is Bang Minah, what’s yours?” she said holding out her hand in greeting. The boy stared at it as if it was covered in a deadly virus. Minah wasn’t fazed and smiled brightly at him. She placed her hand on the desk and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. “What’s your major?”

Much to her expectations, the boy did not reply. Feeling as if she pried enough, Minah stopped speaking to him and waited for the professor to come in. To everyone else in the classroom, the moment had been extremely awkward. To Minah, it was only one of the many obstacles she’d have to overcome.

The professor walked in and immediately frowned at the students. He gestured with his hands for everyone to move closer together. “Come on; don’t be afraid of one another. You’re just proving that the average human will avoid others when they are in a room with strangers. Which just so happens to be a topic in psychology,” he said in a cheerful voice. The students reluctantly moved closer to one another.

“Now, as a little introduction to this course I am having each of you pair up with a partner and work on a project that will be due in one month. Research a topic that is discussed in psychology and present me with some sort of material. It could be an essay, a poster, or even a video. It’s up to you guys.”

Everyone glanced at one other uncertainly, and unsurely partnered up. Minah took this project as a chance to open up the guy.

“Let’s be partners,” she said to him.

“…Okay…” he responded meekly. Minah smiled warmly at him, glad that he had spoken to her. “M-my name is Do Jaesun.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jaesun-ssi,” Minah said. She stuck her hand out again and this time Jaesun shook it. “So, what days are you free to work on this project?”

“Fridays after school and S-Saturdays,” he responded timidly, his voice muffled by the mask.

“Okay, that could work. We can start next Friday,” Minah replied. She knew she was busy tomorrow because of work but she could have someone else take over her shift for the next two weeks which is the estimated time she guessed the project would take.

Jaesun said no more and curled back into his shell for the rest of the class. 

---

Apparently, Microsoft Word says this chapter is 3,052 words long which is well over half of what I've written for this fic so far... XD /bricked

Oh, and just because I like this gif, I'm posting it.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Love ya~ Hehehe