She sighed as she walked through the school gates, raking her hair back from her face with her thin dark fingers. She had tried every trick and tactic to get out of going to school, but her mother just ignored her protests and drove her right to the front gates. Keeping her head down, she attempted to rush past a group of giggling and gossiping girls unnoticed, but to no avail.

“Hey, loser!” A girl with long, blonde hair yells out. She walked faster in order to get away, ignoring their snickers as they threw crumpled pieces of paper at her back until she turns a corner. She rushed to science block and sighed in relief at the open door. Slipping inside she smiles shyly at a few people, the only ones that actually acknowledge her and respect her. She scanned the class for a free table¸ only stopping when her eyes lock gazes with a boy sitting up the back in the last seat. Unvoluntarily, her legs carry her over to the desk, drawn by the messily styled brown hair, and the devilish grin that hid behind a polite smile. She stopped just shy of the empty seat, the boy looking at her with a soft gaze.

“M-May I sit here?” She mumbled, hair draping around her face as she abashedly hung her head, ashamed for stuttering. The stranger’s smile only grew, still staying honey sweet as her heart thumped in her chest, a slight blush flooding her cheeks.

“Of course. Maybe with you sitting next to me I won’t look like such a loner.” He replied with a soft laugh, his voice slightly deeper than most of the boys at his age. Blushing darker at the laugh she slipped into the seat next to him, sliding the books onto the desk beside his, away from the Bunsen burners. “I’m Kim Himchan, and I’m obviously new here. What’s your name?” The boy named Himchan ducked his head lightly to peer up at her face from under her hair, smiling at the small squeak emitted as she saw his face appear, her head snapping up to cover her cheeks with both hands, looking in the opposite direction to avoid his gaze.

“A-Areum. Lee Areum” Again, she kicked herself for stuttering, closing her eyes as he laughed again at the small stutter. She was beginning to think she was doomed, he was just going to turn out like the rest of the people; always teasing her for what she did.

“It sounds cute when you stutter.” She blushed darker, and Himchan grinned, opening his mouth to ask her another question. He didn’t know what question he was going to ask, he just wanted to give her something to talk about and maybe hear that cute little stutter again. He was interrupted by the blonde female from earlier, who rested her elbows on the desk in front of him, angular chin resting on her pale hands, a sickly sweet smile on her face.

“Hi. Are you new? I’ve never seen you around here before, but I was hoping you would come and sit with my friends and myself over there” The female pointed over to her friends and they all wave giggling. Areum felt the small smile that had begun to grow on her face fall; she knew that he was going to sit with them. He was just their kind of people. But to her surprise Himchan stayed sitting where he was, a polite smile on his face as he shook his head.

“No, thank you. I’m fine over here with Areum, but thank you for coming over to welcome me.” Areum looked at him shocked, mouth ajar as he turned to grin happily at Areum. A look of annoyance flashes across her face before she smiles at him again, strutting back to her friends. She opened to speak but he cut her off. “They didn’t look like nice people. Besides, I was enjoying your company. We have good conversations” He said, making her laugh a bit at his small joke; they had hardly spoken since the moment she sat down, he had been carrying the conversation.

“Thanks, but you know you are going to be labelled a loser for sitting beside me, don’t you?” Areum mumbled, pushing her hair out of her face. Himchan shrugged in reply, grinning at her.

“I don’t care, I’ve made a friend” He replied, and Areum’s heart fluttered as the teacher walked in and began to set the work for the lesson. Quietly they both began to go through the questions, helping each other out when one of them got stuck, then debating over the correct method for another. No matter how distracted she was, Areum could still feel the glares from the blonde girl drilling into her mind. The bell rang and she stood up, grabbing her stuff and began to dart to the door, soon getting stopped by a hand on her wrist. Himchan looked at her, eyes betraying his slight hurt at her wanting to run off. “Why are you in a rush? Am I that bad? Do I smell or something?” Areum’s heart hurt at the sight, and she shook her head quickly.

“N-No, it’s just a habit” She said quietly, and he grinned at the stutter, and led her out of the classroom. She blushed, noticing that he still held her hand. Seeing her blush, Himchan tightened his grip, locking their fingers together. The crowd at the doorway had dispersed, he let go of her hand and took her stuff from her. Areum looked at him shocked, opening to say something before getting cut off once again.

“I have to have some way of getting my new friend to stay with me. Even if that means taking all of her belongings hostage until she takes me to her locker” Himchan snickered, laughing at the look on Areum’s face. She blushed, shyly leading the way to her locker.

a/n : rewrite 1/13 complete