in the night sky.

Miyoon was the first to arrive in class as she selected her own seat. A seat which happened to be as far away from Chunji’s as possible. She didn’t know why but for some reason, she didn’t like being around him that much. She wasn’t sure what made her feel that way, she was just aware that she didn’t favor it.

As the bell chimed through the halls of Jungshin Junior High, the kids began to pile into the classroom. Miyoon had her chin rested on her propped-up elbow, in a dazed zone. All she had on her mind was getting on Hoya’s good side. And that was not going to be an easy task to accomplish. When she heard the door close, her head jerked up. She straightened her posture and looked straight forward, with her hands folded, neatly, on her desk.

In a matter of time, the teacher began to kill the children softly with her tedious lessons. Some were struggling to not to fall asleep while others were off drooling all over their desks. Miyoon was doing neither, for once again her mind had been occupied with Hoya. Aigoo, I don’t even know anything about him, other than him liking the color purple.

She released a dramatic sigh as she began to bang her head on the desk. “Chingu-ah, what are you doing? Are you okay? Would you like me to bring you to the nurse?” a voice bombarded. Miyoon quickly shot her head back up and ever so slowly, turned her head to her seat-mate. Surprise, it was no one other than Chunji.

“How, how did you get here?” she whispered to him.

“I saw that you moved next to Dongwoon, and so I asked him to switch seats,” he answered, smiling. Miyoon glanced over to his desk and saw that Dongwoon really had swapped desks with Chunji.

“Why did you move Chingu-ah, did you not like the front? Was the draft from the windows making you cold?”

“Shh,” she hushed him, holding her finger to her lips. Chunji nodded but was still grinning. Miyoon sulked and faced the board but when she felt a pair of eyes on her, she lost focus. From the corner of her eye, she could clearly see that Chunji was still looking at her.

She sent him a weird facial expression, before gesturing him to pay attention. Chunji immediately obliged with an eager nod as he followed orders. “Now this presentation will be a critical part of your first quarter grade, so make sure you all do your best. You may select your own partners, before the lunch bell rings.” the teacher declared.

And once she sat down, everyone else stood up. Chatter began to fill the room as kids discussed who their partners would be. But since Miyoon hadn’t been the best social butterfly, she had no idea who ninety percent of her classmates were. Which led her to sit silently at her desk. Suddenly someone poked her side, and she already knew who it was. “Chingu-ah, aren’t you going to find a partner?”

Miyoon cracked her neck and glared at Chunji. “My name is not Chingu-ah, it’s Miyoon.”

Chunji rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, as he stared at the floor. Realizing that she had sounded a bit too harsh, Miyoon sighed, regretfully. “Mianhe, I have a lot on my mind right now. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

With her apology reaching his ears, Chunji brightened up instantly. “Gwenchana Ching...Miyoon-ah! But since you don’t have a partner yet, would you like to be mine?”

“Ahm,” Miyoon scanned the vicinity to discover that everyone had already paired up.

The only available candidates were, Chunji and two other boys. Miyoon kept altering glances between the three of them, contemplating. It was like Chunji smiling right in front of her, and each of the other boys on either side of his head. The first one was picking his nose which caused Miyoon to gag and then her eyes fell to the third option who was passed out on his desk.

“I guess I have no choice,” she sighed.

“Jinjja?! Kya! This is going to be daebak!” Chunji beamed, hopping up and down. Miyoon couldn’t help but stare at him, as she started to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” she replied.

“Me? I’m funny? As long as you’re smiling, I guess it’s okay!” he replied, continuing to jump about as he ran up to each of their classmates singing, “Miyoon’s my partner, my one and only partner.”

Then an idea crossed the little girl’s mind.

Miyoon never understood the concept of that particular quote the head-maid had told her, that is until Chunji shedded some light on it. He killed me with kindness, that’s why I gave in to his request. That and he’s a much better choice than those other two dunces by at least a mile.

“Hey, Chunji-ah. You said we were friends right?” Chunji ceased all his actions at the idea of them actually being friends and nodded like a bobble-head.

“Okay then, teach me how to be like you!” she declared, firmly as she stood from her seat. Chunji blinked at her and then pointed at himself.

“You want to be like—me? Waeyo?” but before she was able to answer, the bell for lunch rang.

“Thanks for helping me, chingu-ah! We’ll talk more about it after lunch!” she exclaimed, bolting out the door. And as expected, the gang was there waiting for her.

“Mimi, let’s go to lunch!” Sungyeol roared, lassoing an arm around her neck. Miyoon nodded and turned to look at Hoya who was walking a few meters ahead of them. No mercy, Miyoon. Kill him with all the kindness you can get!

“Ouu, can I have some?” Dongwoo his lips, staring at Miyoon’s lunch.

“Sure,” she replied, sliding the tray over to him but it was intercepted by someone else.

“Let Miyoon eat her lunch, she’s getting skinnier because you keep asking for it.” Myungsoo scoffed, placing the dish back in front of her.

“But she offered!”

“Technically you asked, and then she said yes.” Woohyun said, sipping his milk. Dongwoo pouted as he glared at Myungsoo.

“Miyoon, you should eat. Here, I’ll feed you!” he suggested, picking up a piece of beef with his chopsticks. Miyoon looked at him then at the piece of cooked meat. Myungsoo noticed how she wasn’t reacting and frowned. “Aren’t you going to listen to your Oppa?”

That did it, Miyoon flushed pink as slowly fell open. Everyone watched their interaction and were still trying to adjust to their behavior. They never saw Myungsoo acting like that with anyone not even his sister.

Therefore they simply assumed he favored Miyoon over Taela, just like the rest of them. Well maybe not Hoya.

“You guys look like you’re dating or something,” Sungjong mindlessly, blurted. Sunggyu sent him a pointed look and shook his head. It was silent.

We do? Miyoon bit back a smile as she fixed her gaze on the table, refusing to look at anyone.  Then she allowed her imagination to run wild as she pictured their wedding.

“Me and Miyoon? Haha, you guys are crazy! We’re best friends, and that’s what we’ll always be!” Myungsoo chortled, patting her head. Hearing his words which continued to echo in her mind, Miyoon felt her heart cringe. Her eyes darted up to find Myungsoo smiling, obviously still amused with the comment which had been made.

Everyone sensed the awkward atmosphere, until someone laughed. It was Miyoon. “Yeah, me and Myungsoo Oppa? That’ll never happen,” she forced herself to say. And immediately everything went back to normal.

I can’t stand this, Hoya got up and stared at the group. “I’m going out to the court. Don’t follow me,” he ordered and at the last statement, his eyes were set on Miyoon. She stared at him and tried not to show any signs of displeasure.

“I have to go talk to a friend,” she announced, as she spotted Chunji at the other end of the cafeteria. “Chunji-ah!”

The la