The rest of junior year went by really slowly.

Seulgi wasn’t there anymore, and HyoHae was gone. The usual gang became two separate groups, and the only connection they had with each other was BoJoong, and they always seemed to be in a world of their own.

“Have I got news for you!!!” Seulgi said on the phone, with Boa and Hyojoo. The two were at Boa’s house, as it was the holidays and senior year was going to start the week after.

“What is it???” asked Hyojoo curiously. She was dying to know.

“I’m coming back to Korea next week! I’m gonna be there for the first day of school!” she said excitedly.

And, as always, Boa and Hyojoo squealed.

“Oh, my gosh, I can’t wait!” Boa said. “It’s been really boring here without you, y’know!”

Hyojoo scoffed. “Yeah, right! All you’ve been doing these days in make out with your darling Joongie anyways!”

Seulgi’s laughter erupted from the speakers as Boa blushed. “That is SO NOT TRUE!!!” she defended.

“Ummm…how about you, Hyojoo?” Seulgi asked uncertainly. “Are you okay… about the…thing?”

Boa looked at their friends with unease. She was always too scared to ask her about her Donghae situation.

Hyojoo fell silent for a moment and mumbled a soft, “I’m fine…” but there was sadness in her eyes an voice.

“How about you and your Yunho problem, Seulgi?” asked Boa.

Now, Seulgi was the silent one this time. Then, she cleared .

“Oh, you mean that stupid jerk? The one who makes all those bets on innocent people?” she said, as if she hated him.

“Woah, Seulgi, you sound like you hate him again,” Hyojoo said, surprised.

“Well, he started out as my enemy, anyway, so I don’t see why he can’t be my enemy now, right? Plus, all that time off from that jerk made me realize how he’s not worth it, so why waste my time thinking of him?”

There was silence.

“Oh, by the way, I’m bringing someone back.”

Boa and Hyojoo’s eyes grew wide. “Bwoh?!?!?!?”

Seulgi laughed. “I don’t mean it that way, guys!”

Boa and Hyojoo sighed with relief. “So what do you mean?”

“I have a friend here who wants to come back to Korea with me and study in our school,” Seulgi stated.

“Ooh, a new student, ey?” Hyojoo said, interested. “That’s exciting! I can’t wait!”

Boa nodded enthusiastically, despite the fact that Seulgi couldn’t see her. “So, what’s the name?”

“Oh, you shall see, my friend. You shall see,” Seulgi replied. “But now, I have to go pack! I have a lot of things to bring, y’know!” she said, and with one final goodbye, she hung up.

“So, what did they say about me coming to your school?’ he asked her as soon as she put the phone away.
She smiled at him. “They’re excited,” she said and walked over to hug him. “You’ll love it there!”

…

“Oppa!” Boa practically screamed into the phone. After Seulgi had hung up, she immediately dialed Jaejoong’s number to tell him the news.

“Yeah?” Jaejoong answered sleepily. It was in the middle of the night, for crying out loud!

“Seulgi’s coming back next week!” his girlfriend squealed.

Jaejoong’s once-heavy eyes popped wide open, as he bolted up his bed upon hearing what had Boa told him.

“Seriously speaking?!?!?!” he said into the phone.
“Yeah,” Boa replied.

“How am I supposed to tell Yunho?” Jaejoong wondered aloud. Ever since Seulgi left, he went became his old self again- the self-centered jerk he was before Seulgi came.

Boa, on the other line, was confused. “Isn’t he already over her?” she asked her boyfriend.

Jaejoong sighed. “Well, he says he is. But I think he’s still pretty hung over her. And whenever I ask him if he’s sure he’s over her, he just snaps at me and tells me to leave him the hell alone.”

“Just tell him, I’m sure he won’t take it that bad,” Boa assured him.

Jaejoong, however, looked unsure. “Okay,” he said uncertainly.

…

The rest of the week flew by and Monday came. All around the school, you could hear complaining students, grumbling under their breath, not wanting to believe that another school year had begun.

Jaejoong went to his homeroom class and took his seat beside Yunho.

“So, how are you feeling?” he asked.
Yunho looked at him with a blank face. “Feel about what?”

“Y’know…” Jaejoong began, not sure if he should say it. “…today is the day Seulgi comes back…”

Yunho looked at him with an apathetic face. “And so?”

“You’re okay with it?” Jaejoong asked cautiously.
Yunho shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be? She’s nothing to me now…she left, and it was her decision to leave. Plus, it was all a bet wasn’t it? It was fake from the beginning.”

“Okay, I’m not Seulgi but that line hurt,” Jaejoong said. Yunho continued to stare blankly at him until the teacher came in.

The whole class stood up and recited their usual greetings.

Just as Ms. Park opened , there was a sudden knock on the door and in came a disheveled Donghae, mumbling a soft, “Sorry I’m late.”

Ms. Park gave him a stern look and sighed, watching him drag himself to his seat.

From the seat behind him, sat Hyojoo, watching him with an anxious expression.

Jaejoong sighed. It was bad enough that Yunho was so -like with Seulgi gone, and now, Donghae became all emo ever since Hyojoo broke up with him.

After that incident, Donghae immediately went to a bar to drown his sorrows in soju. And he’s been going to that bar every night for the past year resulting in his scruffy look, red eyes and his all-the-time tardiness. Even the teachers got used to it.

Donghae took a the on the other side of Yunho, like he usually did. And Ms. Park went back to was she was saying.

“Class, we all know that one of your classmates, was sent to the States to study for a year…” Ms. Park began. “And I am very happy to announce that she is back and will continue her studies in this school.”

She gestured to the door. “Class, please welcome back, Bae Seulgi!!!”

And there she was. Standing right before his very eyes. “Stop it, Yunho. You’re over her remember? She’s not worth it,” he told himself. But he couldn’t stop looking at her. He had an urge to reach out and touch her just to see if she was real or if he was dreaming.

Seulgi smiled as she stood in front of the class and bowed. Then, she went to her seat in between Boa and Hyojoo, behind Yunho.

Yunho turned back to look at her and she shot him a glare.

“We meet again, jerk,” Seulgi said, shooting daggers with her eyes at him.
“Pabo,” Yunho acknowledged coldly, giving her a stiff nod before he turned back to face the front.

Beside them, the last couple standing could feel strong tension between the two.

“The tension is so thick, that you could just walk right into it and bounce off,” Boa whispered to her boyfriend, who was also creeped out.

“It might even be thicker than that,” he replied.

Ms. Park called for their attention again.

“Oh, and we also have a new student with us today, all the way from America! His family was the one that took care of Seulgi when she was in America, and has come back with her! So class, I would like you to give a warm welcome to…”

She made another gesture to the door and in came a handsome young man. He was definitely Korean, but he some kind of American aura bouncing right off him. He had a killer smile and whispers were bouncing all around the classroom, especially from the girls.

“Oh my god, he’s so hot!”
“Kyaah! I’m in love!”
“I am so thankful to Seulgi right now!”
“Is there any chance he’s still single?”

Ms. Park cleared and the class grew silent at once. “This is Park Jae Beom,” she said.

Jae Beom flashed a wicked smile and bowed. “Anneyong Haseyo! Park Jae Beom imnida. I’m really honored to come to this school, and I hope we can all get along and be good friends.”

At his last sentence, the girls squealed.

Ms. Park rubbed her ear and turned to Jae Beom, who didn’t seem to mind the adoring fan girls.

“You can sit behind Seulgi,” she said, pointing to the desk behind Seulgi.

Jae Beom thanked her and took his seat.

Seulgi turned back to face him once he was seated.
“I like it here already,” Jae Beom said cheekily, pretending not to take notice of the girls that were swooning over him.

The two didn’t notice Yunho looking at them and listening to whatever they were talking about. Just hearing Seulgi talk to that new kid animatedly made him want to knock the daylights out of him.

He mentally slapped himself. “Why are you so interested?!?!?! You don’t care about her anymore, remember?” he scolded himself.

But he just couldn’t stop.

…

Seulgi took a deep breath as she entered the cafeteria for lunch. It was good to be back.

She looked around and saw what used to be their usual table. The one that they shared with the guys. But now, it was only the guys’ table again.

Seulgi sighed, thinking about old times and went to the opposite direction, where Boa and Hyojoo were sitting.

“Hey,” she said cheerily as she took a set next to them.

“Hey…” Hyojoo said, sighing and resting her chin on the palm of her hand. Life without Donghae was…empty.

“Hello!” Boa said, still the happy person she was. There was nothing wrong about her love life. She was just fine, unlike Seulgi and Hyojoo.

“It’s so good to be back!” Seulgi said, taking a bite of her gourmet sandwich.

“Seulgi!” she heard someone call her name form afar. Seulgi raised her head up to see Jae Beom walking towards them with his lunch tray. He sat down beside her.

“Beom, these are my friends, Boa and Hyojoo,” Seulgi introduced to him.

They took turns in shaking his hands and went about their own business. Then, Jae Beom looked at Seulgi quizzically.

“Beom?” Jae Beom asked curiously.
Seulgi grinned. “Well, I couldn’t call you Jae anymore, ‘cause Boa’s boyfriend’s nickname is already Jae,” she explained.
Jae Beom nodded his head in understanding.

From the other side of the room, the three guys were watching the new face interact with the girls.

Jaejoong couldn’t help it anymore. He was always the jealous type when it came to Boa, and he couldn’t deny that Jae Beom wasn’t ugly. He stood up from his seat and made his way to their table.

“Hey,” he greeted as he reached his destination.

Boa instantly brightened up. “Jae oppa!” she exclaimed as he took a seat next to her.

“See what I mean?” Seulgi said to Jae Beom, referring to the conversation they had earlier.

The two Jae’s introduced themselves to each other and found out that they had more on common that meets the eye. They started talking animatedly to each other, not even paying attention to their surroundings.

“Boys will be boys,” Boa muttered, pouting that her boyfriend wasn’t paying attention to her, for once.

Seulgi laughed and turned her head to the side. Hyojoo was still sulking quietly.

…

Donghae entered math class, still dragging his feet behind him. His head was pounding, due to his excessive drinking session last night.

“Ah, Lee Donghae,” the teacher said, as he saw the scruffy-looking student enter his class. “Late again, I see.”

Donghae grunted and took his seat and Mr. Song continued on his lesson.

But Donghae wasn’t listening. He was too busy thinking of the beauty at the front row. She looked like she was in a world of her own, not listening to a word that Mr. Song who was in front of her, was saying.

“I miss you,” he thought looking at the back of her head, as if she would hear his telepathy.

“Mr. Lee, are you even listening?”

Donghae looked up absently and shook his head.

Mr. Song sighed and shook his head. “Always the honest one, this boy.”

Just as Donghae was about to submerge himself into his thoughts again, Mr. Song called his attention.

“Mr. Lee, please exchange places with Mr. Kim.”

Donghae just shrugged and stood up, gathering his things. He exchanged seats with his classmate, Kim Kibum, who sat at the front of the class.

Donghae didn’t even bother to look at his fellow seatmates. Ever since Hyojoo broke up with him, he didn’t care about anything anymore. He started to come late to class everyday and his grades, which used to be almost as high as Seulgi’s, shot down and he paid no mind to them.

Mr. Lee clapped his hands once and the class remained silent. “You know, I was once a student, too, and I know all the tricks.”

The class looked at him with curious faces.

“I know that you only look like you’re listening to me, but in truth, you’re not.”

The class gave him sheepish faces, which confirmed his accusations.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I’ve decided to make my method of teaching different,” he continued.

The class waited as he paused to tell them what would happen.

“Whenever I finish a lecture, you would have to discuss the lesson with your study partners. After that, we will have a test on how much you understand the topic that I have discussed.”

The room was filled with excited murmurs and whispers, as people talked to each other, picking others to be their partners.

“Oh, and I will be the one assigning your partners,” Mr. Song said. The class groaned and a smile tugged at his lips.

He then made some of the students change places with one another. The students were baffled ad the sudden action, but they obeyed, nonetheless. Donghae was still sitting on his seat in front and didn’t even bother to look around.

“Now, I want the first, third, and fifth lines of students to look at the person on their right. That person will be your study partner for the rest of the year.”

Donghae saw that his seat was in the first line, so he looked at the person on his right. He found himself looking into a familiar pair of eyes.

Hyojoo’s eyes, to be exact.

“Oh, and there will be no exchanging of partners,” they heard Mr. Song say.

<3--------------------------------

~~~~****SNEAK PEEK****~~~~

COMING UP NEXT!!!

Chapter 18:

“Do you know how hard it is, to pretend not seeing you like this?!?!” she asked, tears running down her face. “And do you know how much it hurts to pretend that I don’t care about you when all I wanna do is run into your arms again?!?”