My eyes laid on a man standing yards away from me, his back towards my front. He stood straight, posture perfect as if to impress, and his shoulder blades visible through his shirt. I could tell from the figure and the stance that it was him. I was all too familiar with it.

I call out to him. "Kris!"

His head slowly turned to the side. He was looking at me through his peripheral view, not directly. He turned back to his original position after a few seconds and didn't make any other movements.

I frowned and began to take a step toward him, expecting him not to move, but he did, taking the same amount of steps away from me.

Another step.

He did the same.

"Are you okay?" I asked, slowly leaning toward the black emptiness that stood between us.

This has not been the first that he has done this, but my reactions were still all the same. If only he would face in the opposite direction and walk from there. But my desires have not been so favorable towards me.

I continued to stare at him, hoping that he could feel my stares and tense up or do something in response. But he stood there, motionless, immobile, and immune to my calling out to him. My voice was the only thing, besides the ring of silence when I wouldn't say anything in my ears, that could be heard from miles away.

Cautiously and quietly, I took a step forward.

He responded... With a heavy thud in the opposite direction.

I pouted. Nothing will progress if I stayed like this, letting the events repeat themselves over again.

Taking a breath in, I walked forward five steps. And of course, he copied what I had done.

I stomped in place and puffed my cheeks.

This is NOT Simon says! I angrily thought to myself. If only I could tell Simon to say come towards me instead of away.

Too bad Simon didn't grant my wish.

"Come on, Kris." I softly said, and I began to jog toward him. He began the lead, slow and steady paced at first, but when I picked up speed, he did the same. He was the leader and I was his follower. I shook my head and continued my pursue, hoping to catch up and cut him off. But it never happens. He always seems to win the marathon.

And just in time, the finish line is coming up.

Oh no, I thought. Please, not now. Not again! I was inevitably running closer as Kris crossed it first. My legs wouldn't stop and I didn't have the strength to do anything. I felt numb and immobile as he was just minutes ago.

My entire body crossed the line and I was instantly swallowed by a wave of white light.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Ugh..." I groaned, unconsciously slamming my hand on the snooze button of the alarm clock on the beige nightstand beside my bed. As soon as the annoying sound ceased, I relaxed and resumed with my beauty sleep.

It was going perfectly... Until I heard voices emitting from downstairs.

"That's okay, umma. I'll just wait here until she wakes up, eh?"

Could it be?

Is it him?

I sat up in my bed and slightly rubbed my eyes, forcing them open but squinting in response to the brightness of the sun creeping through my window. I glanced at the time on the clock. 7:09. Oh no. Did I oversleep again?

I threw my warm and cozy blanket off of me and ran to my bathroom, slamming the door behind me. In record time, I exited and took a look at my ensemble in the full length mirror.

Nodding in approval, I grabbed my schoolbag from the chair and hurried downstairs to find him sitting on the couch.

He cocked his head toward me and a smile appeared on his face. "Good morning, sunshine." He greeted, standing up and embracing me.

"Good morning to you, too, Woohyun-oppa." I smiled and returned the hug.

"You better eat now, you don't want to be late to school again, do you?" His head slightly tilted to the side.

I hit his chest with my hand. "Shut up, we were almost late." I eyed him as I strolled past him and to the kitchen to grab my breakfast and scurry off to school.

----

Rapidly steering into the last empty parking stall that was closest to the entrance to our high school and putting Woohyun's Corolla in park, I unbuckled my seat belt and snatched my bag from his lap. Woohyun checked his watch and nodded impressively.

"Great job, Cho Ae." He shoved his watch in my face and I adjusted my vision to clearly see it upside down. "And in record time, too." He grinned. "Do you know what this calls for?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh no." I quickly got out from the car in an attempt to stop him, but it was too late, he began to fly hearts at me and dance his congratulatory dance in his seat and as he got out.

"Yay, Cho Ae~ You got us here in time~ Kamsahamnida, Cho Ae~ Kamsahamnida~ Saranghaeyo~"

I pushed him aside and stared at the ground. "Stop it! You're so embarrassing!"

He laughed and rested his arm around my shoulders as we strolled through the doors. "No worries, Cho Ae~ You're the only one I'd do that for~"

My cheeks flushed.

"Another day of torture, eh?" He looked down at me. We stopped at our lockers and I unlocked mine to grab my Chemistry book from inside.

"Mhm." I nodded, uninterested to hear more about dreadful school.

"At least summer's almost around the corner~"

Snorting, I closed my locker and turned to face him. "Right. In a month."

He opened his mouth to add something else about school or summer, but—

Riiiiing!

The bell rang for the passing time to get to our first class.

"Wae~" Woohyun complained. "I have Economics class now."

"Pabo! Aren't you gonna go now? It's going to take a while to get from here to there."

He sighed. "Araso." He pulled me in for a hug. "I'll see you during break, okay?"

I giggled and nodded. "De. Now get going!"

He began to run down the hallway backwards while throwing hearts and yelling out, "Goodbye, Cho Ae~ Have fun and be safe~"

And with that, I shook my head and went off to my Chemistry class.

----

Riiiing!

Ah, finally, first break.

I made my way through the flood of people in the hallway and back to my locker.

Woohyun probably stayed back in his Economics class to discuss future homework with the teacher so he can finish ahead of time and maintain his reputation as one of the honor students with straight As and the student who colleges local and abroad want in their schools. I smiled at the thought of him getting into one of the most prestigous performance schools in South Korea, pursuing his dreams with his six companions in their group called INFINITE. He has a definite dream that he wants to follow whereas I, Lee Cho Ae, am conflicted to what I want to major in college.

Sighing, I closed my locker and turned to venture off to search for Woohyun.

As I lifted my head up to watch for any sign of flying hearts from my greasy oppa, I caught sight of someone different.

Kris.

I see he came back from his one week trip to China to visit his family. But he doesn't look happy. Like he ever showed any hint of happiness prior to today.

But watching him, he still never faltered to being the perfect person I've ever seen.

As I stared at his back for a while, he turned around and met my eyes. Shocked, I shied away from his cold gaze and to the ground, only to slowly look back up and see him walking away.

I began to walk after him but got set back by the amount of people in the way and walking in the opposite direction.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to find Woohyun smiling at me and holding up hearts to his chest. I smiled for a second before turning back around and frowning at my target moving farther away from me. Woohyun followed my gaze and frowned.

"Wae~ He came back already?" He slouched in his place. "After finally thinking that I was the most popular guy in school."

"Oppa~" I said, turning back to him. "You will always be the most greasy guy in school."

He pouted. "But that doesn't count as popular. Popular means him, all conceited and cocky and bleh!" He stuck his tongue out in Kris's direction. "I hate guys like him."

The bell rang for next class. "Araso. Come now," I spoke in English, "we need to get to English class."

Woohyun brightened up. "That's right!" He replied in English. "We have English together. Let us go, Cho Ae." He slipped his hand in mine and we walked to class together.

----

"Class, we have a new student today," the teacher announced. "His name is Wu Fan."

"Kris," the new student corrected, "My name is Kris." He had blonde hair and a cold expression on his face.

"Araso. Please introduce yourself to the class, Kris."

Kris turned to us and bowed slightly, but not all the way. "Annyeong," he said in a low and irritated voice, "I am Kris."

"Annyeong!" The rest of the class greeted with welcoming smiles. But he continued to stand there, unaffected.

"Okay, Kris. You may sit next to Cho Ae in the front." The teacher pointed to the vacant seat next to mine. He walked between the desks without a word or any excuse me and occupied the seat beside me.

"Annyeong!" I greeted in my soprano voice and waved to him, but he ignored me. "My name is Cho Ae. Do you want to be friends?" He didn't reply, so I stared at him, blinking from time to time. "Do you like my drawing?" I pushed my drawing of my family in front of him. He didn't seem to care, so I pouted and sat back in my seat, but not before taking one last glance at him and concluding that he is cute.

"Psst, Cho Ae... Are you okay?"

I blinked. "Huh?" I turned my head to the right and focused my eyes on Woohyun's worried face. "Sorry," I said in English, "I think I was just daydreaming."

"Daydreaming about what? Me?"

I giggled. Should I tell him that I was reminiscing about the day I met Kris in the third grade? No. It would make him angry. So I shook my head. "Nothing."

"If it is nothing, then you should pay attention," he lightly scolded.

"Yes, sir." I smiled. "I will." But that was a lie. I frowned but shook it off and continued to think about Kris and how it all started between us.