New Faces
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
The next day, Yoona floated through the school grounds, making sure to stay out of people's ways. At the lunch period, she stayed in her classroom, munching quietly at her desk while daydreaming about graduation and her life of freedom afterwards.
The bell rang and students slowly began shuffling in. She whipped out her notebook and began drawing when the teacher tapped on the blackboard to begin lecture.
"Alright, everyone. Settle down," the teacher said. "First, it's time for a seat change."
Some students groaned out loud.
"Everyone, stand against the front, and take a seat when I call your name."
Yoona waited for her name, staring down at her feet until she was called.
"Yoona, here." The teacher pointed to a desk at the back of the room, and then continued. "Howon."
She took her place and began settling in. She started scratching away at another doodle, and didn't even look up when she felt the seat next to hers slide back and a body sit down.
"Hi."
She didn't respond. Is he talking to me?, she thought. But then she remembered not to be interested.
"Uh. Hello...? I'm Howon, but you could call me Hoya."
She didn't look up.
"Uh... you're Yoona, right?"
No answer.
"I heard you're really smart. I'm glad we're sitting next to each other, so I could ask you questions."
She rolled her eyes. This guy is just not giving up!, she thought to herself. Still not looking up, she gritted her teeth and muttered. "What do you want."
This time, she was the one left without an answer, and it irked her. Finally, she looked up, wearing her best frown, and met a pair of soft, smiling brown eyes. They didn't faze her.
"I said, what do you want." She stared blankly at him until finally he chuckled.
"You're an interesting girl, Yoona. I look forward to getting to know you." He flashed her a wide smile, but she just scoffed and turned back to her notebook as lecture began.
*******
Partway through lecture, she felt that boy staring sideways at her. At first, she pretended she didn't notice. Then, she felt him push a paper against her elbow.
Annoyed, she looked down at it. He had drawn a tic-tac-toe cross, inviting her to a game. She scowled, and scratched it out roughly with her pen.
Hoya smirked, peeked to make sure the teacher wasn't looking, and then took the paper back. He hunched over it and began to draw. Though she'd never admit it, she kind of wanted to see what he was doing. But she focused on not looking interested.
When he finished, he slid her the paper. On it was a simple stick figure of a girl.
Yoona frowned at it and drew a rain cloud above the girl. Large drops fell from the sky above her.
He took back the paper and drew a boy holding an umbrella over the girl.
The corners of Yoona's mouth twitched upwards when she saw the drawing, but she focused on maintaining her frown. She made the rain cloud bigger, so that it loomed over the boy. She etched in larger raindrops that fell on him.
Hoya took the paper and drew a smile on the girl's and boy's face. Yoona watched, frowning. Then, Hoya drew a heart above the boy and girl, penciling a question mark at its middle.
Yoona's eyes grew wide. Hoya met her gaze and smiled widely. Then he motioned, pointing to himself and then to her, then to the drawing. She was stunned. Before she could even process what Hoya was proposing, the bell rang, and she snapped back to reality, using the bell as her chance to grab her belongings and bolt out of the classroom.
Hoya watched her go, a grin on his face. Then, he folded up the drawing and carefully tucked into his pocket.
*******
Woohyun took his time walking back home. Practice was cancelled again, and he looked up into the autumn sky, taking in the smells of leaves and grass and enjoying his free time off.
He arrived at a crosswalk and waited for the light to change. He bent down to tie his shoe, when a girl also walked up and waited beside him. Casually, he peeked up at her, eyeing the way her milky white legs disappeared beneath her short skirt like any boy would. His gaze continued up to her face, and when he recognized her, his eyes grew wide.
...Yoona?, he thought in disbelief.
At the green light, the girl quickly stepped off the curb, but Woohyun was rooted to his spot and couldn't take his eyes off her. This was his chance. When he got over feeling stunned, he hurried after her across the street.
"Cho-chogiyo!" he found himself calling.
The girl paused, but didn't turn around. Slowly, she removed her earphones as he caught up to her.
He met her eye, panting, and forgot what he wanted to say. He couldn't believe that he was here, before her, and she was finally meeting his eyes.
"What do you want," she asked quietly.
"Nothing... it's just... do you also go to Seoul High School?"
She rolled her eyes, motioned to her school name tag, and then made to step around him.
"Wait! Wait. I was thinking that, since we're schoolmates, we could walk together?"
She stopped, glared at him with her best look of disinterest, and then kept walking, pushing her earphones back into her ears.
After a few moments, he ran and caught up to her again. This time, he didn't say anything, but rather just walked beside her in silence.
*******
Woohyun walked with her all the way to her front gate. He stood awkwardly as she fished her keys out of her bag, and then he decided to speak up.
"I'm Woohyun."
She looked at him, but gave no response.
"Well, it was nice walking with you. Maybe we could do it again sometime. Even tomorrow?" He flashed a greasy smile that made her frown. She turned away, into her house, and let the front gate bang closed behind her.
Woohyun watched her go, and even though she didn't say anything, his heart swelled with happiness. Quickly, he raced home, eager to watch her from his window once more.
*******
"Hoya, go get more kimchi," Sunggyu ordered.
"Neh!" he happily replied.
"And Woohyun, go get Dongwoo for dinner."
"Mm!"
Sunggyu frowned, wondering why the two boys seemed so chipper today. Must be the weather, he thought as he began to dig into this ramyun.
Sunggyu enjoyed living with Hoya, Woohyun, and Dongwoo. They were all brothers by law, but only because Sunggyu's and Hoya's mother married Woohyun's and Dongwoo's father. After having the families move in together at the beginning of summer, the parents disappeared for an unknown amount of time to travel the world for their honeymoon. The four boys adapted to their new lives together quickly, forging friendships between each other and learning how to keep up a house together.
They had only enrolled at Seoul High this year, with their cousins Myungsoo, Sungyeol, and Sungjong. The seven of them, with their exceedingly good-looks, became the hot topic of discussion over night.
Woohyun returned with a groggy Dongwoo, and the four sat for dinner. Sunggyu tried to make conversation, but Dongwoo was the only one responding. Woohyun and Hoya sat, each in their own worlds, a smile playing up the corners of their lips.
*******
Yoona was studying hard in her room, when suddenly, her door flew open. She looked up, and to her despair, the evil twin sisters stood at the doorway, smirks on their faces and hands on their hips.
"What's up Yoona?" They entered without waiting for permission and circled her, like predators eyeing their prey.
"Mari, Sue, what do you want. Your perfumes are stinking up my room."
Mari smirked, and kicked Yoona's textbook out of her hand.
"YAH!"
"Save it, Yoona. So, got our homework done?" Sue towered over her.
Yoona searched her binder and pulled out a week's worth of homework assignments. They snatched it out of her hands.
"No funny business, this time, right?" Sue threatened.
"Yeah," Mari piped up. "I got in trouble last time 'cuz you made me sound too smart."
Yoona smirked. "I could write your essays like a caveman, and still make you sound too smart."
At that, each of the twins hit Yoona hard on the head. As she stood there, rubbing where they hit, they strolled cooly out of the room.
"Kumawo, Yoona," they said with a smirk.
Yoona eyed them. Just until graduation, she reminded herself. Just get through it until graduation.
---
Holy Hera, this is a long chapter! But it had to be done, so sorry 'bout it.
I'm listening to Infinite H's "Special Girl" and Sunggyu's "60 seconds" on repeat the entire time I write. Gotta love the way Hoya and Dongwoo say "y" :P
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