In math class, the girls were all fangirling over L.Joe and his sidekick Chunji. But when Changjo entered the room, all the girls switched sides and huddled around him. I struggled to get to my seat but got elbowed in the face by one of the girls. She turned around to glare at me. "Watch where you're going!"

Clutching my cheek and finally arriving at my seat (which was right next to L.Joe... yeah, great isn't it), I dabbed a tissue near my mouth. Blood stained the tissue and it hurt pretty badly, but I’ve dealed with worse injuries before.

“What’s so great about the new kid?” I heard L.Joe say. “So what if he’s a bit good-looking? I bet he doesn’t even half the talent as I do!” 

Chunji, the second most popular guy at Namsan High, nodded his head in agreement. "You're right! What's up with this new kid?!" 

I silently studied the two boys from behind my text book; L.Joe had blue streaks streaks in his blonde hair and nice jawline. According to the girls at this school, he had the most perfect eyes and could ‘make all the girls die from the hotness’. His only weakness was that he was shorter than most of the kids at this school. Chunji, who had his hair up in a mohawk-style, was pretty handsome as well. But just because they had the confidence in their appearance, that didn’t mean they had to be all snotty and rude. I turned away and tried to focus on some studying before class start.

But I couldn't focus because of all the racket. I sighed and leaned back onto my chair and heard the two Kingkas still arguing. L.Joe seemed really pissed, so I tried to stifle a laugh. He must have heard me because he turned around to glare at me. “What was that?”

I took my left hand and covered the edge of my mouth that was bleeding and met his eyes. “That was a laugh, you doofus.”

He either didn’t hear me this time or just ignored what I had just said. “You’re the only girl in this room that’s not over there.” He pointed his thumb at the group of girls near the front door. I strained my neck but I couldn’t even see Changjo anymore.

“And…?” I replied, as if it were a stupid question.

L.Joe opened his mouth to say something but the math teacher entered the room and was horrified when he saw the girls and what they were doing.

“Ya, settle down! Sit down, now!” He bellowed.

The crowd seperated and the fangirls went to their desks, still fangirling. Changjo, who looked perfectly normal and unshaken, sat down in the chair next to me. How he survived that without a single scar, I do not know.

The hairs on my neck stood up as I looked around me and gulped. I was being sandwiched by two popular boys and all the girls were giving me death glares. What did I ever do to deserve this? And how many glares can these people give me?

The class went by pretty slow, but as soon as the class was done, everyone bolted from their desks to go to lunch. As usual, I went to the blossom tree I usually sat at. But when I got there, the Queenkas were sitting on a laid out tarp and complaining about how uncomfortable it was sitting on the ground.  

Yoona looked around with fright in her eyes. “Aish, my skirt is going to get dirty! Do you know how expensi-“

Jessica clasped her hand over Yoona’s mouth and pointed at me. That probably meant ‘Look, she’s here! Act as if sitting under this tree is fun and nice! Then she won’t have anywhere to sit and eat!’

Yuri gave me a cold smile that told me to ‘beat it’. The Queenkas must have heard about me being all friendly with the new transfer student, even though in reality I wasn’t. But I wasn't surprised, I knew I had it coming. The Queenkas have always acted as though the guys at our school were ‘their property’. How I wish I didn't have anything to do with Changjo...

I had forgotten my lunch anyways, so I gave them a shrug and left, hoping they took it as ‘I don’t care, it’s just a tree’. I walked along the edge of the school boundaries and ended up at the school garden. 

I took out a camera from my bag. It wasn’t those new high-tech cameras, since they cost big bucks to get your hands on them. Not like I could afford it anyways; my laptop and my iPod are hand-me-downs from previous owners and I work part-time on weekends at a bakery shop to pay the rent for my apartment. This camera was the old-fashioned kind, where the camera was big and the flash was bright and it printed out the pictures on the spot. This camera used to belong to my best friend, Seohyun. I walked around the school’s garden to see if there was anything worth taking a picture of.

Seo Joohyun, or Seohyun (as everyone called her), has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. She was practically my twin, the only difference being she was tall, pretty, smart, witty, talents, and that everyone loved her. We shared secrets, had the same hobbies, and were happy together.

Three years ago, in seventh grade, her parents wanted her to move to America permanently and become successful there... something about business and taking over the SeoMate company her parents owned. Seohyun's parents have never approved of me and always said I was unlucky, that I was a beggar, and that I wasn’t good enough for their daughter.

On the day she was supposed to leave for Seattle, Washington, I came to say goodbye. But Seohyun refused to go and ran away into the nearby rush hour. Then time seemed to stop and the scene replayed in my mind: her frightened look when she tripped and landed in the middle of the road. The car coming at her wasn't slowing down. I stood there, like an idiot, and watched my best friend die in front of me. I never knew I meant so much to her, that she decided not to go without me.

Her parents blamed me for everything. They cursed at me and accused me of practically murdering their one and only child. Everyone else at school acted like they didn’t know me and bullied me, making me feel like they only talked to me just because I was friends with Seohyun.

I went through a period of shock where I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep, and I didn’t do anything but bawl my eyes out. Maybe if I hadn’t had met her, she would still be alive and achieve her dream of becoming a singer. Depressing but true, this was the reason why I lived in loneliness and silence for three years.

I spotted a pretty white rose in the midst of red and pink roses. I lifted my camera to take a picture but I saw nothing through my glasses because I was tearing up at the thought of my best friend. I wiped my eyes and refocused my camera when a blob of blonde and blue hair popped up from behind the roses.

“Are you crying?”

I lowered my camera and made a face, startled at the sudden intruder. “Yeah, your face is so ugly it made me cry.”

L.Joe smirked and walked over to me. “Riiiight.” He pointed at my camera. “Why do you have that?”

I held my camera protectively and avoided his question. “Where are your fangirls? They can’t go that long without having you in their sight, you know."

The Kingka crossed his arms. “Well, they’re not smart enough to ever thinking of coming to the garden, so I guess I’m safe.”

I did agree with him. “It’s such a pity no one comes here though. These flowers and plants and beautiful, and it’s the only peaceful place in the whole school.”

I let him gaze at the garden for a moment before asking him, “So, what is the real reason you’re here?”

L.Joe looked at me. “I have two questions for you…”

What was the harm of answering questions? I sighed. “Ask away.”

He asked an unexpected question. “Why do you treasure your camera so much?”

I hesitated to tell him and held the camera closer to me, but I answered anyways. “This belonged to Seohyun.”

L.Joe’s eyes softened and he grew quiet (or was that my imagination?). He knew what had happened to her, just like all the other students that attended this school.

I went on in a quiet voice. “She loved taking pictures. She always said it was like ‘capturing your favorite moments into a piece of paper that you could keep forever.’ We had many albums that were filled with photos of us two. Her parents took most of the albums and burned them, but I was able to salvage a few.”

There was a pause of silence. I fidgeted my feet and looked down at the camera. He was probably going to laugh at me for being so pathetic. He would say how stupid I am for holding onto pictures as if they actually had any value.

“Oh... I’m sorry.”

I looked up at L.Joe and for the first time I thought maybe he was feeling sorry for bullying me through all these years. But no, I was wrong. He immediately became the self-centered jerk I was familiar with.

“Um… the second question is why didn’t you go crazy over Changjo?”

I rolled my eyes. Not this again. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not interested in flower boys that think of only themselves.” I turned around to leave.

But L.Joe kept going at it. “You didn’t fangirl over him because you think I’m better than him, am I right?"

This was getting really annoying. “Andwae! Absolutely not! In fact, just thinking about the idea of having girls go crazy for me sickens me. Do you really need all that unnecessary attention?”

L.Joe was shocked at my outburst. “Wha-“

I cut him off. “I can’t believe how selfish you Kingkas are. You think you’re so awesome that people should worship you. But you know what, just because you’re a little cute doesn’t mean everyone has to bow down to you!”

Then I raised my camera and took a picture of him up close. I guess it was too close because he rubbed his eyes in pain from the overly-bright flash. But I didn’t care.

“There, I took a picture. Maybe I’ll upload this on the school website so everyone can see how good you look in pictures!” I spat.

I turned my back on him and walked as fast as I could into the school building. I adjusted my glasses and put my camera back into my bag with a huff. I've never talked to anybody for that long before. That was the most longest conversation I've ever had with a guy, but it felt good to let it all out.

I could hear squeals and voices behind me. “Ooh, there he is! L.Joe oppa! Where were you? We were looking for you everywhere!” His fangirls whined.

Just great. If L.Joe told his fangirls that I talked bad about him, they'd murder me in my sleep.

I practically ran to my class and was the first one to arrive in the English classroom, taught by Teacher Anthony Yang. I sat all the way in the back, left corner of the room, and waited for everyone to file in.

I sat there, thinking about how crazy I am. No sane person would confront a popular Kingka and tell him off, let alone threaten him. I almost risked my life right there, and that's no exaggeration. But it was true. He was such a self-conceited jerk. Of course he deserved it.

The picture I had taken of him was half-crumpled in my hand. I flattened it out. Even though I took a surprise picture of him, he still looked pretty good-looking with that dorky face of his. Then I realized something.

During my outburst, I called L.Joe cute. I mentally slapped myself. Why did I say that?

My classmates slowly started to fill up the desks, so I put the picture in my bag and turned around to see Changjo sitting on my right and Jessica in front of me.

"Annyeong, Eun Mi!" Changjo said to me with a smile.

I just stared at him bluntly, nodding my head to show him I was aware of his arrival. Jessica turned around, looked at me with disgust, and then gave Changjo a flashing smile. "Annyeong, Changjo-ah!"

The sweetness in her voice made me want to throw up in my mouth. Surprisingly, Changjo ignored her and turned back to face me. "Where were you at lunch? I couldn't find you."

He was looking for me? Now, that was a first. "Oh... I forgot to bring my lunch and someone took the spot I usually eat at." I shot a look at Jessica and as if on cue, my stomach growled. Jessica snickered at me.

Changjo reached into his backpack and took out some crackers. "Would you like them? They're leftovers from my lunch."

This was the first time someone had offered to give me something in years. The feeling of being offered something felt strange and foreign. "No thanks, I'm fine."

Jessica looked at Changjo and batted her eyelashes (probably fake, by the way). "I'll take it, Changjo-ah." He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, but gave it to her anyways. I looked straight ahead of me, but I could feel Changjo staring at me.

"Eun Mi, what happened to your mouth right here?" Changjo pointed to the part that was bleeding earlier.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." I said, trying to turn away. He held his hand out and touched it. It stung. "Ow!"

"See? You're not okay." He looked at me with his concerned eyes.

I blinked and pushed his arm away. "I'm fine, it just stings a little. I won't die."

I felt Jessica's eyes on us and so I turned back to the front. She glared at me again, obviously jealous of the attention the new transfer student was giving me.

Our English teacher came in and told everyone to take out a notebook to take notes on what he was going to say. Thirty seconds later, I had just gotten into the 'zone' of being focused when the door busted open and a tall girl stood in the doorway.

She had dark brown bangs and her hair was in a messy braid on her right side. She was wearing our school uniform but for some reason it looked really cool and edgy on her. The guys in the classroom stared at her in awe.. well, except for Changjo.

"Mianhaeyo. Sorry I'm late. I ran here as fast as I could." The girl bowed to the teacher.

Teacher Yang patiently told the student to sit at the empty seat next to Changjo. When she saw him, her face lit up and she immediately sat down in the seat. "Changjo, I didn't know you were in this class with me!"

Changjo rolled his eyes. "I told you to check my schedule this morning, Sooyoung, but you didn't."

Okay, now I was confused. Changjo and the girl, Sooyoung, already seemed to know each other. What was their relationship with each other? Maybe they're a couple! But I immediately erased that possibility from my mind, since they don't seem like it.

When Teacher Yang's back was facing the students, Changjo passed me a note that explained everything. This is Sooyoung, my sister. She is older than me by a couple months.

Oh, now I get it. They had that same carefree vibe, that same feeling of positivity and outgoing-ness.

That's nice... I wrote, not really knowing how to respond. I tossed the note onto his desk.

He tossed it back ten seconds later. Yeah, she's dependable but she can be a real nutjob too.

I read his comment and smiled. Big mistake. "Eun Mi, what is so funny about the word 'inconvenient?'" Teacher Yang asked me.

I quickly hid the note in my sleeve, wondering how in the world did he catch that smile. "Nothing, Seonsaeng-nim."