Daesung walked through the empty hallway, his steps echoed through the corridor. He could hear the faint sound of teachers starting their lessons, he was late because he had to go to the registry office first to finish his registration and get his timetable. Half of the semester was already over so he was a bit nervous that he wouldn't be able to keep up with the schoolwork. He hated changing schools, the first week was always the worst. You knew no one and didn't know how anything worked and the other students were constantly looking for your weak spot. Now it was even worse since almost all the students here came from wealthy families, Daesung didn't have two cents to put together. He was here on scholarship, his beloved teacher in his old school had pulled some strings to get him admitted even though the semester was half over. He was going to miss her, he didn't really want to change schools, he had been happy at his old school. It didn't have the best facilities and it was harder to get into college, but the teachers were really nice and he had made a few very good friends there. However when the offer came, he couldn't refuse it. His mother cried tears of happiness when he got the letter and looked at him with those teary eyes bursting with pride. He couldn't say no. So here he was, all alone with his insides in a knot, trying not to panic. Breathe, breathe.

Room 264, he was here. He knocked lightly on the door and entered. The room was filled with well groomed students with their noses in a book. One student had been reading aloud when he entered but had stopped abruptly and was now staring straight at him along with all the other faces. Except one. At the back of the row next to the windows, bathing in the morning sun, sat the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. Maybe it was the rays of sun that reflected off his chin, almost making him sparkle, but he looked other worldly. He had his eyes closed and his feet were on the table, pushing the chair as far back as it would go. How did he keep his balance, only two feet of the chair touched the floor and it looked like they could give in at any moment.

“Hehemm”. The teacher beckoned to him to say his greetings and find a seat. “Hi. I'm Daesung, the new transfer student. I look forward to working with you, please take good care of me.” He said the words as fast as he could and avoided eye contact. He looked around for a seat. Oh no, the only seat that was available was next to the strange sparkly being at the back of the class. He walked slowly towards the back and sat down as quietly as he could, all the while keeping one eye on the boy next to him. The boy didn't open his eyes, he hadn't even moved a muscle. Daesung pulled up his books and tried to concentrate.

The bell rang, finally the last class of the day was over, he had survived! He peaked to his left at the strange boy in the seat beside him, as he had been doing all day, but he had disappeared. How did he do that? He hadn't opened his eyes once all day and as soon as the bell rang he had vanished without a trace. Everything about that boy was a mystery. Daesung was fascinated but also a bit intimidated. He gathered his books and threw them into his bag and headed outside as fast as he could. A boy deliberately bumped into him in the schoolyard, so hard that it hurt. Daesung was just going to keep on walking, but the boy grabbed his bag and threw it across the pavement, his books and pens spreading all over. He looked at Daesung menacing “Look what you made me do! Are you going to clean this up or what?!”, “Ye...yes..” Daesung quivered. He bent to pick up the book in front of him, but the bully pushed him so he stumbled backwards. The bully smirked “Oh you're not, huh? You think you're some big shot, huh?”. The boy now held his fist in the air, getting ready to punch Daesung. Daesung closed his eyes, the tears wanted to come out but there was no way he was going to let them. He held his breath, this was going to hurt, he would just take it, there was nothing else he could do. The waiting was the worst, where would he punch him, would it hurt as much as he was imagining. He waited.

Nothing happened. He slowly opened one eye and saw nothing but skin, sparkly skin. It was the back of the hand of the boy that sat next to him in class. He had intervened and grabbed the bully's fist with his hand. He squeezed it so the bully fell to his knees from pain and let out a small scream. He released and the bully ran away with his friends as fast as they could. Daesung was speechless. He bent down to pick up his stuff that was scattered all over the ground, when the boy grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back up. Without looking at Daesung, the boy bent down and quickly gathered all of Daesung's things and put them back into his bag. He placed the bag in Daesung's arms and Daesung just stood there, flabbergasted. He wanted to say thanks, he wanted to express how touched he was and how he would do anything to repay him this kindness, but no words came out. Without a word, the boy walked briskly away, leaving Daesung standing there, stunned.