The world is a beautiful place. Go Hana knows it. Don’t ask her how she knows, she just does. She can see it in the people’s smiles, the happy dogs running around the park, the small seedlings that are just beginning to blossom into beautiful flowers, and the way the sun’s rays cast a radiant glow on everything it touches. Although there might be hard times in this world, it is still a beautiful place. You just need to be able to see it that way. Outside, birds sing happily, forgetting all of yesterday’s troubles, and making a brand new start to a new day. That’s when the world seems the most amazing, when you can just forget about all your problems and live life knowing that there is a brighter way you can live instead. When you can forget all about the negatives in life and just enjoy it as it is. That’s how Hana wants to live. She wants to forget about all her troubles and just live appreciating God’s gift of this beautiful world. Because that's the only way you can achieve happiness in a place world where you can lose yourself at any minute. Happiness, a state of not having to worry about anything. The easiest way to achieve that is by thinking positively and seeing the beauty of this world.

.

.

.

Hana opened her bedroom door and skipped downstairs, greeting her mother in the kitchen.

“Morning mum!” she said, kissing her mother on the cheek. “What’s for breakfast?”

Her mum smiled. She was glad that her daughter was able to stay cheerful all the time, despite going through a very sad event during her life. She placed a bowl of rice with kimchi in front of her, telling her to eat up or she might be late for school.

After gobbling up her breakfast, Hana raced to put on her shoes and ran outside, shouting to her mum that she was leaving. It was a sunny day, with only a few clouds hanging in the sky. Hana stopped at a local bread shop to buy her favourite red bean bun for lunch because she didn’t feel like eating cafeteria food today. The lady working at the shop greeted her merrily and asked if she wanted the usual, to which Hana replied yes.

Like every other day, the bus to school was packed with students wearing the same uniform as Hana. She headed towards the back of the bus where her two best friends, Lee Aeri and Park Seol, were sitting. She had been friends with them since middle school, so they were quite close. Aeri and Seol were your typical teenage girls, they liked boys and loved shopping. Aeri had long black hair that was always tied in a ponytail and Seol sported shoulder length brown hair. Out of the three girls, Hana was the most optimistic. She was always so cheerful that at times it even annoyed her friends.

The girls said their hellos and started talking about random things.

“Oh!” Aeri exclaimed. “I think there’s going to be a new student in our class today. I overheard our teachers talking about it yesterday.”

“Really? Is it a guy or a girl?” asked Hana, interested.

“A guy. I hope he’s cute,” said Aeri dreamily.

“What if he turns out to be ugly?” asked Seol.

“Aish. Don’t ruin my dreams, Seol.”

Hana laughed at her friends. She felt lucky to have such great friends like them. They were always there for her whenever she had a problem.

The bus stopped in front of their school and all the students got off. Their school wasn’t one of those prestigious schools. It was just a simple high school but the teachers here were very strict. Once, Hana arrived at school ten minutes late without a good excuse and was forced to stay back after school to clean the massive gym where the air lingered with the smell of sweat. Since then, she made sure she got to the bus stop fifteen minutes before the bus was due to arrive.

Hana and her friends walked into their classroom, Class 2-2, and greeted a couple of their classmates who had already arrived. They took their seats. Hana sat next to the window while Aeri sat next to her and Seol in front of them.

RING RING~

When the bell rang, all the students rushed to their seats and waited for the teacher to come in. Their homeroom teacher, Ms Kim, was an old lady who always tried to find something about her students to complain about. Hana could not count how many times she had been told of by her for not listening in class. It’s not my fault that Ms Kim’s lessons are always so boring, she thought.

“Morning class. We have a new student joining us today,” she said, proving Aeri to be right about a new student transferring today.

Excited murmurs filled the room.

“Quiet, everyone,” Ms Kim said loudly. When everyone was quiet she started talking again, “Okay, you can come in now.”

The door opened and in came a boy with tousled black hair and a frown on his face. He stood at the front of the room and everyone stared at him. He was very good looking and most of the girls were already ogling him dreamily.

“Class, this is Kim Myungsoo. He will be studying here from now on,” Ms Kim announced. “Introduce yourself, Myungsoo.”

“Annyeonghaseyo. I’m Kim Myungsoo. Nice to meet you,” he said in a monotone and bowed.

“Okay, take the extra seat at the back,” said the teacher pointing to the table behind Hana. “That’s all for today, guys. Get ready for your next class,” she said and walked out.

Myungsoo sat down in his seat and looked out the window.

Hana spun around in her chair. “Hi Myungsoo. Welcome to our school. I hope we can be good friends,” she stuck out her hand.

Myungsoo looked at her. “Go away,” he said angrily.

Hana winced at his cold words and retracted her hand. “Is something wrong?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes, everything’s wrong. Now leave me alone,” he muttered and looked out of the window again.

Before Hana could reply, the maths teacher came in and started the lesson. During the whole lesson, Hana found herself thinking of Myungsoo. Why is he angry? She thought. I wonder what he meant by ‘everything’s wrong’. Hana felt compelled to help him with his problem.

Finally, the lessons were over and the students headed out to lunch. Hana turned to Myungsoo again. “Hey, do you need someone to show you around? I would take you but you don’t seem to like me. Hmm… I know! I’ll ask someone else,” she said and looked around the classroom. Her eyes lit up when she found someone. Before Myungsoo could stop her, she shouted, “Woohyun!” and waved.

Woohyun stopped on his way to the door and walked over to them. “What’s up Hana? Oh, hey Myungsoo,” he greeted.

“Woohyung, do you think you can show Myungsoo around the school? He doesn’t seem to like me very much,” Hana implored.

“Of course I will! Anything for you, Hana,” he replied with a wink. Hana laughed at his flirtatious ways and shoved him jokingly.

Myungsoo sighed, “I don’t need anyone to show me around.” He turned to leave but Woohyun grabbed him before he could even take one step.

“C’mon, man. It’s no trouble at all. I’d be glad to show you around this wonderful school,” he said with a grin and turned back to Hana. “It’s okay, Hana. He’s safe with me.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Myungsoo muttered but no one heard him.

Hana smiled. “Thanks Woohyun. I knew I could count on you. C’ya around,” she waved and went to join her friends, who were waiting near the door.

After waving to her, Woohyun turned to Myungsoo. “Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Nam Woohyun. Nice to meet you. Now, we’d better get moving if we want to finish before lunch ends.”

Myungsoo nodded. He sighed and decided just to go with him.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Woohyun asked while they were heading down the hallway. Myungsoo didn’t answer. “Why do you always have a frown on your face? Come on, smile.” He started pulling funny faces but gave up when Myungsoo looked away.

They walked in an awkward silence for a while until Woohyun couldn’t stand it any longer. “So why did you change schools, Myungsoo?” he asked, hoping to start a conversation.

Myungsoo stopped. Ugh, he just had to remind me of that, he thought, clenching his fists. Fragments of a memory that he desperately wanted to forget flashed in his mind.

“Hahaha. You actually thought we wanted to be your friends?”

“Loser, no one wants you. Even your parents left you.”

“Get lost already!”

“N-no! Please s-stop it!”

“Help!”

“Myungsoo?” Woohyun looked back when he heard Myungsoo’s footsteps stop. “Is something wrong?” He asked, walking up to him. He reached out to touch his shoulder.

Myungsoo slapped his hand away. “It’s nothing,” he said angrily. “Just continue.”

“Okay… If you say so,” Woohyun replied unsurely.

First, Woohyun showed him where the toilets were, then he showed him the gym, the library, science labs, and lastly, the cafeteria. By the time they reached the cafeteria, lunch was almost over so they decided to just grab a small sandwich. Woohyun asked Myungsoo if he wanted to sit with him and his friends but Myungsoo refused, not wanting to associate with too much people. He ended up sitting alone on an empty table in the corner, away from everyone else.

Hana and her friends sat at another table near the more crowded areas of the cafeteria. She munched on her red bean bun as she and her friends talked about anything that came to mind.

“You were wrong, Seol. The new student turned out to be really cute,” Aeri said smugly.

Seol responded back, “I never said he wasn’t going to be. I said what if.’”

“Speaking of Myungsoo, where is he?” Hana wondered, looking around the cafeteria. “Woohyun was showing him around but he’s with his friends now,”

“Ooo, do you like him, Hana? I saw that you were talking to him this morning,” Aeri teased. Hana looked back at her friend, surprised.

“He’s good looking, but I don’t know him well enough to have a crush on him. I was just trying to help him out,” she replied coolly.

Seol pouted, “Aww, that’s no fun. I was hoping you’d yes so we could tease you about it.”

“Yeah, but that’s just the Hana we know. She would help out every new student,” Aeri added.

“Yep! You’re exactly right!” Hana grinned.

---

Ms Kim finished her lesson and dismissed the students of Class 2-2. Everyone rushed to pack up and leave. As Hana turned to push her chair in, she spotted a wallet lying on the ground.

Hmm, I wonder who this belongs to…, she thought, picking it up. Opening it, she found Myungsoo’s student ID card inside. I guess he must have accidentally dropped it when he left, she shrugged and decided to hand it back to him the next day. Placing it in her bag, Hana headed to the bus stop with her friends.

On the bus, Hana got bored with listening to her friends’ conversation about the hot actor in a new movie so she started staring out the window. She suddenly recognised a familiar figure walking not too far ahead from the bus. Deciding to hand Myungsoo back his wallet now, in case he might need it before tomorrow, she signalled to the driver that she wanted to get off.

After saying goodbye to Aeri and Seol and telling them where she was going, Hana stepped onto the hard pavement. She was just about to call out Myungsoo’s name when, all of a sudden, he turned the corner. She tried to catch up to him but then he entered a small, rundown apartment. She tried to open the door and was surprised to find that it didn’t have a lock. Wow, this apartment really needs renovating, she thought as she climbed up the stairs. She was looking for Myungsoo’s apartment when she suddenly heard a loud banging noise and a scream coming from an apartment on the floor she was currently on. Thinking that, maybe, someone just dropped something, she ignored it, until she heard more screaming and banging.

Getting worried, Hana knocked on the door. “Hello? Is everything okay in there?” she tried to yell over the top of the banging and screams. The noises continued. Hana knocked more urgently. “Hello? Open the door!” she shouted as loudly as she could.

The door opened. Standing in front of her was a teenaged guy. He had a string of piercings along his nose and upper lip and tattoos covered his left arm. In his right hand he held a baseball bat. Overall, he looked like a thug.

“What do you want, little girl?” he demanded gruffly.

A shiver ran down Hana’s spine. She looked past him, into the apartment, and was shocked to find Myungsoo lying on the ground, covered in bruises, as he tried to prop himself up. There were three other guys in the room. One of them was beating Myungsoo up with a baseball bat while the two others smashed holes in the walls.

“Myungsoo!” Hana screamed in horror and consternation. She looked back at the imperturbable guy standing in front of her and glared up at him. “What are you doing?!” she shouted angrily.

---

Ommo! What’s happening? Keep an eye out for the next chapter to find out. Hehehe~

Thanks to everyone who read this story. I’ll try to update as soon as possible but I make no promises :D

Please stay tuned for the next chapter ^^