No unicorns were harmed in the making of this chapter.

“Hey Hanbyeol, you won’t believe what I dreamed of that Friday night.” I say to Hanbyeol as I slip onto my chair.

“Good morning to you too, Ham!” she beams. Ham is what Hanbyeol likes to call me.

“Good morning, Byeol” I say obligedly.

“That’s better.” She smiles and proceeds to wipe some eraser dust off her desk. “So, what’d you dream about?”

I laugh. “You won’t believe it. Kris’s mom came into my dream. She said her name was Do Kyungseo. Haha. Can you believe that? And she was sooo short, like, about Shira’s height and she was really weird.”

Hanbyeol raises an eyebrow at me questioningly. “Explain weird.”

“She was wearing a fur hat. And she didn’t have any pants on, only a really large shirt. And she had a tattoo on her thigh. Not to mention she was SHINING!”

“Then that is weird.” Hanbyeol says and nods. “What’d she say?”

I tell her everything Mrs. Do said before our homeroom teacher comes in and beckons the whole class to be quiet.

She starts, “Today, you will have a new friend.”  She looks to the door. “Come in, dear.”

Someone walks into the class and stops right next to the teacher’s podium. Is it just me or is her head wrapped in a pink cloth? She’s also wearing a long skirt, instead of the knee-length that we’re wearing and her shirt is long-sleeved. I look over to Hanbyeol, raising a brow. She replies with a shrug.

“Hi, my name is Ah Mira. It’s nice to meet you guys. I hope we’ll have a great time together.” She does a short speech.

Mrs. Ko tells her to take a seat at the empty desk beside Ika’s.  She obeyed without a word. I can see that she’s aware of all the attention she’s receiving. It seems like she’s used to it because her steps are natural and undisturbed.  Ika moves some of her stuff from the desk to give the space to the now, rightful owner.  I watch as the new kid smiles at Ika in which Ika’s lips awkwardly twitch.

The whole class is quiet as we try to decipher the meaning of this girl’s appearance. I’m not crazy, she is wearing some kind of cloth on her head, only leaving her face to be visible. Mrs. Ko grows uncomfortable of the very rare silence and starts her lesson.

~~~

“Hi!” I see Shira say to the new kid. Of course Shira’s the first one to try and be friends with the new kid. She’s a ball of sunshine.

“Hi.” The new kid turns and smiles to her.

“I’m Shira. Pyo Shira. You said your name was Ah Mira right? I’ve never heard of that surname before. Where did you transfer from?”

“Yeah.. I get that a lot. Can’t really blame them.  The number of Koreans with the ‘Ah’ surname doesn’t even reach a thousand. I’m from Shidae.”

“Shidae? Really? So you’re from Seoul?”

“Yeah..”  Shira’s doesn’t talk; she’s probably still waiting for the new kid to elaborate on ‘yeah…’. When the new kid doesn’t, she approaches the matter herself.

“So, why did you transfer here?” Shira asks, not even carefully.

“Well…” It’s really obvious that the new kid doesn’t want to talk about this. She’s suspicious, that’s what she is.

“Oh, I get it, you don’t want to talk about it.” It’s about time, Shira. She stays silent for a little while before bundling up into the ball of sunshine again. “Oh, why don’t I introduce you to my friends? This is Mia.” She twists her body and points to Mia who is scribbling something on her ‘Secret Diary’. ( Who brings a diary to school?)(and pastes a really large ‘SECRET DIARY’ at the front cover)

“Hey.” Mia ‘wass-up’s.

“That’s Haewon, the one holding the papers.” Shira points to Mom, who’s busy cleaning her desk. “The girl beside her is Hanbyeol.” She acknowledges Hanbyeol who’s dozing off. “Don’t mind her, she does that all the time.”

The new kid smiles a little. “This is Chaehwa.” She points to her who’s panicking over her last-minute Maths homework, and then finally to me. “And this is Haemi, the smartest in our class. Haemi, say hi to Mira.”

“Sup.” I coolly say without even smiling, because I’m bad-.

I see her nervously smile. Oh yeah, now she’s scared of me.

“The seven of us are best-friends, including Ika there, who I believe has introduced herself to you.” Shira continues.

“No, not actually.”  I’m not even surprised, Ika’s not the type to easily warm up to new people, especially suspicious ones.

I will have to dig deep to find out the truth behind this girl. What is she hiding behind that cloth? I stop eaves-dropping and read my new thriller novel.

~~~

“Pass me the juice!” Chaehwa half-shouts, half-asks from Hanbyeol. Chaehwa’s not in a good mood. She just got de-merited 10 points for not passing up the Maths homework. She didn’t get to finish it in time.

“Here! Take your freaking juice!” Hanbyeol slams the bottle onto the table. I kick her legs from under the table, warning her not to mess with Chaehwa when she’s angry.

“Ow! What’d you do that for?” Mia whines. Oops, my bad. I mouth sorry to her and she glares at me dramatically. I test my luck again and kick another leg.

“OWWW!” Hanbyeol screams. Jackpot. I make a ‘don’t act up now when she’s acting up’ look. Hanbyeol mutters something inaudible and shifts her eyes from me.

“Sorry, this isn’t how the lunch table is usually like.” Shira says to Mira while fake-laughing. Yup, Mira’s having lunch with us. Guess whose idea it was? I really don’t like how Shira’s trying to cover up, I mean, yes, this is how it usually is on the lunch table. She shouldn’t be embarrassed of it. It’s almost like she’s trying too hard to make a good impression on this new kid.

The new kid waves her off, “Oh don’t wor-“

“Yes it is.” Ika interjects. Again, I’m not even surprised that she spoke exactly what was on my mind.

“Yeah, what are you talking about? It’s always like this during lunch. There’s always someone who gets de-merited, and that someone will always take the frustration out on food. Every single day.” Mia explains. She’s partially right. It doesn’t happen every day. Is she trying to scare off the new kid too?

“So, Mira, right?” I say to her before Shira has the chance to oppose Mia’s statement. The new kid nods. “What are you wearing on your head?” All heads turn to look at me. I don’t want to wait for long to find out the truth.

“It’s-“ she starts but I cut her off.

“Are you bald? Do you have dandruff? Is your scalp oily? Are you sensitive to the sun?” I ask in an interrogating tone. No way will she be able to slip away from my grip now.

“Haemi..” Shira calls but I don’t want to listen. The new kid will say what she’s gotta say.

“It’s actually a hijab.” She says, unfazed.

“A what-what?”

“A hijab. A thing Muslim women wear to cover their hair, ears, neck.” Hanbyeol explains. What? How does Hanbyeol know about this?

“It’s a must for Muslim women. Man, how can you not know about this? You jerk! You should be more attentive towards the citizens of the world!” Chaehwa explodes. Whoa. I get that you’re mad, but do you have to call me a jerk?

“Yup. They said it right.” Mira flashes a smile towards Hanbyeol and Chaehwa. “It’s a way to cover my awrah.” She continues.

“Your what-what?” I ask, still confused.

This time, no one else answers for her. I bet they don’t know what ‘aurora’ means either.

“My awrah. Awrah means the parts of my body that I have to cover. For girls, our awrah is the whole body except for the face and hands –up to the wrists.” She explains and I still don’t get it.

“And for guys?” Haewon asks.

“Guys’ awrah is only from the belly button until the knees.” She extends and sips on her juice.

“So that’s why you’re wearing that?”

She smiles a little and nods. I feel really stupid now.

“Oh yeah, Mrs. Ko asked me to meet her at the teachers’ lounge. I’d better go first, guys.” She gets up and takes her juice. “See you in class.”

“Bye.” The girls say in chorus. I watch as she makes her way.

“Bald?”

“Oily scalp?”

“Dandruff?”

“Well why didn’t any of you tell me?” I ask in frustration.

“Well, since all of us knew, we thought you’d know, too.” Hanbyeol says in defense.

Shira sighs. “And I told her you were the smartest among us.”

“What does that make us?” Chahehwa half-yells and slams her head on the table, only missing her tray by mere inches. Have I told you that Chaehwa is the ultimate drama queen?

“Thanks to you, now she thinks everyone else sees her as a bald girl.” Haewon bitterly says.

“Nah. She’ll just think that Haemi’s really dumb.” Hanbyeol says and fist-bumps with Chaehwa. “Buurn.”  Chaehwa replies. Just a few minutes ago they were threatening to cut each others’ throat off and now they’re making fun of me together.

~~~

“Two years ago, a unicorn sighting was reported in Toronto. It was even caught on tape. What do you say to that?” Hanbyeol explains convincingly.

“Photoshop?” Chaehwa answers. “Have you even heard of that?”

“Well what do you say about Confucius? He claimed that he saw the Asian Unicorn. Confucius doesn’t lie.” Hanbyeol argues again. The two have been debating on the topic ‘Do Unicorns Exist?’ in which I have no interest in whatsoever. Of course unicorns don’t exist. They’re just make-believe mythical creatures. Their existence level is as equal as the perfect husband; none.

“Oh, come on Hanbyeol. Confucius died thousands of years ago. People make up things. Someone can just claim that Confucius said that.” Chaehwa preaches. “Plus, even if it really was Confucius who claimed the ‘Asian Unicorn’ sighting, isn’t he just human? He might’ve just mistaken a horse for a unicorn.”

“Wrong. An Asian Unicorn –also known as the Chinese Unicorn- looks nothing like the popular horse-like-unicorn. Which means, it’s impossible for him to mistake a horse for the Asian Unicorn.” Hanbyeol explains. Huh, this conversation will be endless. “Last November the North Koreans reported about finding the Lair of King Tomyong’s Unicorn, which is King Domyeong’s unicorn’s home. His name was Qilin.” Hanbyeol says proudly.

“Do you know that only a can capture a unicorn?” she further continues while munching on her chips (she wasn’t full even after the meal so she bought a mini bag of them). “Isn’t it interesting?”

I turn around and throw an ‘unamused’ look to her.

“What? It is. Only the purest of maiden can tame the most ferocious of beasts. “ Ugh when is she going to give this up? Unicorns don’t exist and stories about them are just tales and hoaxes.

I ignore her and continue walking to class. 

“Hmm, you’ve convinced me.” Mia responds. “Maybe unicorns do exist. They’re just not interested in revealing themselves to humankind. If I were them, I’d do the same thing too. Can you imagine what humans will do if they discover unicorns.”  Oh no, another believer.

“Yes. I can imagine perfectly what they’ll do. And I don’t like it.” Haewon joins in the conversation. “The horns, the skin, the flesh, the hooves. I know exactly what they’ll do with them.”

“Haemi.” Ika calls me. She stops in her tracks. I look at her and then towards the thing that’s she’s looking at.  My legs automatically stop moving.

Kris.

And the new kid.

And he’s talking to her.

With a smiley face.

The new kid turns to look at us and smiles wider.  The unicorn discussion behind me stops instantly and I can feel them looking at the sight in front of them, too.

So the new kid’s flirting and making smiley faces with Kris. The Kris that I have been crushing on for almost a year. The same Kris that made me cry a couple of days ago. The Kris that is known for possessing the -face. And yet, he smiled at her.

Shira reaches me before I get to react. She squeezes my shoulders. Haewon throws a sympathetic look to me and Chaehwa angrily mutters something with a curse word. The new kid is waving to us, I take it as an invitation to introduce us to Kris. Shira holds my hand and gives another reassuring squeeze. She begins to walk towards them and I follow suit.

“Guys, I want you to meet Kris.” The new kid begins. I know, I knew who he was longer before you did. And I know a lot about him probably more than you do too.

This girl is definitely a brave one. What makes her so sure that we don’t know him already? (Which we do.) Hello, we go to the same school. We’re in the same year and our classes aren’t that far. Speaking of which, how in the world does she know him? What, they bumped into each other and suddenly they’re friends for life?

The girls stay silent. I look away, pretending that I’m not even there. Obviously, I’m not needed.

The new kid is probably now feeling very bad for putting all of us in an awkward situation (I hope she is because, man, I hate her so much right now)

“Umm. I know them.” Kris says. My head jerks to his face - the face that I want to punch and caress at the same time right now. He knows us. Yeah, right. What game is he playing at? “Hey guys.” He tries to smile (in which he succeeds miserably. The smile looks like a dead cat).

“HEEEY Kris.” Chaehwa says in a very unnatural voice and the way she says ‘Kris’ makes it sound like she’s ready to slap his face with her fist any minute.

“Umm, we’d better go.” Haewon interrupts before Chaehwa is able to attempt any murderous act on Kris.

“Yeah, we don’t want to be late.” Shira agrees. “See you later, Kris.”

I demand an explanation. What does that new kid have to do with Kris? They seemed a little bit too friendly to be ‘just bumped into each other by chance’.

~~~

“I just asked her. She said she met Kris in middle school. They were classmates, nothing more.” Shira says. “So could you please not hate her?”

Shira looks at me pleadingly. “Middle school? Were they close? And who said I hate her?” I ask, trying to keep my cool.

“Yeah, middle school. Mira went to a different school after that, so they weren’t that close. They were just ‘friends’. And, no one has to say that you hate her, I can see it on my own.”

This info lightens my heart a little. Even so, I feel like a total diva for over-reacting over such a small matter. So what if Kris smiled at the new kid. So what if they know each other. Kris is not mine (as much to my dismay).

I look apologetically to Shira. “I’m sorry I put you in this place. You didn’t have to ask her how she knew Kris. I bet you feel like *ttong right now. I’m sorry.”

She takes a deep breath and smiles a little. “Nah, I’m okay. But I do feel bad for Mira. It’s not easy being a new kid. Both of us know that.” She takes her seat and I slowly walk back to mine.

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A/N: I SHALL MAKE PROGRESS! Hello dear readers, you are now tuning into a very lame story. Thank you. *ttong means . 

*Ah Mira is who you think she is. 

The seating arrangements for the kids will be uploaded later. Much, much later.