4 years later (October 1^st Friday, 3:15pm)

DING!  DING!  DING!

Finally!  School was over!  Many of her classmates rushed out of the classroom as their teacher hollered, “Don’t forget to read chapter 3 because there will be a quiz on Monday!”

Some of her classmates groan as they whispered to each other, “Great…there goes my weekend!”

“I thought our senior year was supposed to be easy, but I guess I was wrong.”

“I should have taken a different class.”

Their teacher smiled as she smirked, “You guys can complain all you want, but if you want to pass my class, I suggest you read your materials and study hard.”

“Yah, are you coming or what?” Krystal asked as she poked her left cheek.

“Give me a minute,” Sohyun replied as she quickly wrote a reminder down in her notebook to read chapter 3.  After she was done writing, she quickly put her notebook in her backpack and smiled, “Okay, we can go now.” 

“I can’t believe Mrs. Choi is going to give us a quiz on Monday!  Is she insane?” Krystal complained as they linked arms with each other.  They both walked out of the classroom together as they walked towards their lockers.

Sohyun smiled and shook her head no, “She’s not insane.”

Krystal made a face at her, “You’re just saying that because you’re her favorite student.”

Sohyun scoffs, “Excuse me?  I can’t help it if I’m a good student.”

Krystal rolled her eyes, “You’re such a nerd!”

“I’m not a nerd!  You take that back!”

“Yes you are!”

“Whatever!  If I’m such a nerd, why are you my best friend?  And why do you hang out with me?”

Krystal laughs, “I’m your best friend because you’re the only one that can tolerate my personality and I hang out with you because I pity you.”

Sohyun rolled her eyes and playfully pushed her away, “Get away from me.”

Krystal giggled, “Yah!  I was just kidding!”

“I know,” Sohyun said as they reached their lockers.  “Did anyone ask you to to be their date for Homecoming yet?”

Krystal shook her head no, “What about you?”

“No,” Sohyun sadly replied.  It’s my senior year and there is only one person that I would like to go with.

“Yah, what’s with the sad face?” Krystal asked as she closed her locker.

“Hm?  Oh…it’s nothing,” Sohyun quickly replied as she shut her locker.  The hallway was starting to clear out as she said, “Let’s get going.” 

As they walked out of the building together, they walked past the football field and saw the entire varsity football team outside practicing. 

Krystal nudged her arm and whispered, “Hey, there’s Niel.”

Sohyun turned her head and saw him throwing a football back and forth with one of his teammates.  She was too busy admiring her crush when someone shouted, “Get out of the way!”

CRASH!

“Ah!!!!!” Sohyun and Krystal cried as they both fell to the ground.  A handsome boy landed on top of her as his skateboard and backpack fell on top of Krystal’s head.

The entire football team saw the whole incident and started laughing at them.  Feeling humiliated, Krystal quickly got up and yelled, “Yah!  Are you blind or something?!”

The handsome boy scoffs as he slowly got up and glares at her, “I told you guys to get out of my way.  Apparently you guys must be deaf.”

Sohyun who was still on the lying on the ground looked up at him and blinked her eyes a couple of times.  Gosh…he has huge huge lips!  His lips reminded her of Niel’s lips.

He looks down at her and grins, “Yah, I know I’m good-looking but it’s rude to be staring.”

Sohyun snapped out of it and quickly got up and brushed the dirt off her clothes.

“Apologize to us right now!” Krystal demanded as she pointed her finger at him.

The handsome boy scoffs, “Why should I?”

“Yah!” Krystal screamed at the top of her lungs.  “You…”

“Are you guys okay?” Niel asked as he ran up to them.

“No we’re not.  This douche bag ran into us and he won’t apologize,” Krystal replied as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The handsome boy his lower lip, “I don’t see either one of you bleeding, so I’m assuming that you’re fine.”

“Why you…” Krystal started to say.

“Yah, forget it.  It was an accident.  Let’s just go,” Sohyun quietly said as she tugged her left arm.  She kept her head down because she could feel Niel staring at her.

The handsome boy looks at Sohyun and a tiny smile curved on his face, “Mandu.”

Sohyun looks at him and raised her left eye brow up, “Excuse me?”

“Mandu means dumpling.  You have cute dumpling cheeks,” he said with a grin.

Is he flirting with me?  She could feel her face burning up.

Krystal scoffs, “Yah!  If you’re not going to apologize to us, get out of our sight.”

The handsome boy rolled his eyes at her as he bent down to retrieve his backpack and skateboard.  He stepped on his skateboard and before he could skate away, he turned his head around and smiled at Sohyun, “See you around mandu.”

Say good bye to him dummy!  But she just stood there like a frozen statue and stared at him.  When she didn’t say good bye to him, he shrugged both of his shoulders and skated away from them.

“What a jerk!” Krystal cried as she stomps her left foot.

“He’s known as a jerk.  Forget about him,” Niel said as he brushed some dirt off of Krystal’s left shoulder.

Krystal flinched as he touched her shoulder.  She quickly backs away from him, “Please don’t touch me.”

Niel held his hands up in the air, “Whoa…I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to…”

“Whatever…let’s go Sohyun,” Krystal said as she dragged her away.  I’m so mad right now!

Niel stood there as he watched them disappear from his sight.

“Yah!  Ahn Daniel!  Get your back over here!” his coach shouted.

“I’m coming!” Niel cried as he ran back towards the football field.

15 minutes later

“Go home and try not to think about it,” Sohyun said as they were about to part ways.

“If I ever see that jerk again, I’m going to slap him!” Krystal growled.

Sohyun laughs, “I’m sure you will.  By the way, have you ever seen him in school before?”

Krystal shook her head no, “This is the first time I have seen him.  What about you?”

“This is my first time seeing him too.  I wonder why we haven’t seen him before?” Sohyun asked as she scratched her head.

Krystal scoffs, “Who cares?  Anyways, I was quite surprised that Niel actually came over and asked us if we were okay.”

Sohyun nodded her head, “I was surprised too.”

“Yah, do you still like him?”

“W-why are you asking me that?”

“Answer the question.  Do you still like him?”

Sohyun gave her a tiny smile, “Yes.”

Krystal flicked her forehead with her fingers.

“Ouch!  Yah!  What was that for?!” Sohyun cried as she rubs her forehead.

“I can’t believe you still like him after all these years!  He rejected you when you confessed to him.  I seriously thought you got over him by now!”

Sohyun shrugged her shoulders, “I can’t help it.”

Krystal sighs, “When was the last time you talked to him?”

“Um…4 years ago.”

“What?!”

“Yeah…after he rejected me, I was too embarrassed to talk to him.”

“Have you tried talking to him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t think he wants to talk to me.”

“Well if you still like him, I suggest you start talking to him again.  It’s our senior year and you might never see him again once we’re done with high school.”

Sohyun thought about it for a minute and smiled, “We shall see.  Anyways, I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Whatever…” Krystal said as she waved good bye to her.

Sohyun waved good bye back to her as she started walking home.  By the time she got home, she went straight to her bedroom and set her backpack on her bed.  She smiled to herself as the handsome boy words came back to her mind.  You have cute dumpling cheeks.  No one has ever said that to her before. 

Ring!  Ring!  Ring!

She took her cell phone out from her backpack and smiled, “Hello?”

“Hi honey!  How was school?” her mom asked.

“School was alright.  When are you coming home?”

“I’ll be home at 5:30pm.”

“What about dad?”

“Your dad will be working a double, so you won’t see him till tomorrow.”

“Oh…okay.”

“I’ll see you in a little bit okay?  Have a light snack and I’ll be home to cook you a nice meal.”

“Thanks mom.”

“Bye honey.”

“Bye,” Sohyun said as she clicked her phone off.  She walked over to her desk and pulled out a red leather book.  The red leather book was her diary that contained many of her personal secrets.  No one (not even her parents) knew she had a diary.  The only time she wrote in her diary was when she was feeling very happy or very depress.  She took a blue pen out from her desk and opened her diary to a fresh new page.

October 1^st

Dear Diary,

Oh my god!  The weirdest thing happened to me and Krystal today!  As we were walking past the football field today, some random boy ran into us with his skateboard.  Thankfully no one was hurt but he was SUPER DUPER HOT!  The first thing I noticed about him was his lips!  His lips were just as big as Niel’s!  Speaking of Niel, he actually came running up to us to see if we were okay.  Can you believe that?! 

Krystal was super mad that he wouldn’t apologize to us.  You should have seen the look on her face!  If looks could kill, that handsome boy would have been dead.  I told Krystal to forget it because it was an accident, and do you want to know what the handsome boy said to me?  Well, at first he called me mandu.  I was like “Excuse me?”  He said mandu means dumpling.  The next thing he says to me (and these were his exact words):

“You have cute dumpling cheeks.”

I was so shocked to hear this!  I mean…this is the first time a handsome boy has EVER said this to me!  I feel like I’m on cloud nine right now.  I know I might sound silly at this very moment, but his compliment really made my day today.  I have always hated my chubby cheeks.  You should know that by now because I’m always complaining about it.  Anyways, when he was about to leave, he turns his head around and smiles at me.  And then he says, “See you around mandu.”

OMG!  He has the cutest smile ever!  I should have said good bye to him, but what did I do?  I stand there and just stare at him.  He probably thinks I’m weird or something.  Sighs…will I ever run into him again?  And if I do, what should I say to him? 

Oh, and do you want to know something else?  Niel touched Krystal on her left shoulder!  Can you believe that?  I was shocked and jealous when he did that to her!  He touched my best friend!  Why couldn’t he have touched me instead?  She obviously didn’t like him touching her either because she told him not to touch her.  He seemed to be a bit shocked when she told him that.  I don’t want to assume anything, but I think Niel likes my best friend.  I mean, judging from the way how he was acting towards her, I think action speaks louder than words.

Although Krystal is my best friend, I do envy her a lot.  I mean, look at her!  She’s got the brains, the looks, the body, etc…  Sometimes I wonder why she is even my best friend.  We’re totally complete opposites.  I mean, she’s very popular with all the boys and girls at school and she’s also the captain of the Varsity Dance Team…so why is she hanging out with a loser like me?  Maybe she was right about me…I think I AM a NERD!  OMG!  How did I become like this?!  I need to go into my closet and scream at myself for a while.  I’ll be right back! 

(15 minutes later)

Alright…I’m back.  I have finally cooled down.  I have accepted the fact that I am a nerd.  Nerds don’t have a lot of friends and they tend to keep a lot of things to themselves…sighs…that is sooooooo me!  Nerds date too right?  Since it’s my senior year, do you think I’ll be lucky enough to date someone this year?  If I do, do you think he’ll be a nerd too?  Oh god!  I hope not!  I’d rather date a bad boy than a nerd!

Homecoming is just around the corner and Krystal and I still don’t have dates yet.  It should be easy for Krystal to get a date…unlike me.  There is only one person who I want to go to Homecoming with.  Yup…you guessed it right…I want to go with Ahn Daniel but that will never happen…so I guess I can just keep dreaming huh?

Wow, look at the time!  It’s almost 5:30pm!  I can’t wait to have dinner with mom!  I love spending quality time with her.  Good bye for now!

Sohyun closed her diary and shoved it back inside her desk.  She couldn’t wait to see her mom!

Saturday (10:00am)

“Bye mom!  I’m going out for a jog!” Sohyun yelled as she opens the front door.

“Okay!  Don’t go too far dear!” her mom shouted from her bedroom.

“I won’t!” Sohyun cried as she shuts the door.  Ah!  I love the smell of fresh air she thought as she took a big sniff of mother nature.  She took off running in a speed of light as the wind brushed against her face. 

30 minutes later

Sohyun breathed heavily as she stopped running.  She ran for a half hour without stopping and she felt like she was going to die.  Damn!  I’m so out of shape!  She walked all the way back home with sweat dripping down her face.  Yuck!  Now I smell like sweat.  Ew…..

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!

Sohyun turned her head around and saw a handsome boy crossing the sidewalk with a pair of headphones plugged in his ears.  His music was blasting so loud that he didn’t hear the car beeping at him from a far distance.

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!

Sohyun quickly ran towards him and pushed him out of the way before the car could hit the both of them.

CRASH!

“What the…” the handsome boy shouted as he fell to the ground.

The owner of the car stopped his car and got out, “Yah!  Didn’t you hear me honking at you?!”

The handsome boy took his head phones off and looks up at the man, “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“What the hell is wrong with me?  You should consider yourself lucky that this young lady just saved your life!” the man shouted as he pointed his finger at her.  “Young lady, are you okay?”

Sohyun nodded her head yes as she said, “You better get back into your car.  You’re holding up the traffic.”

The man nodded his head as he went back inside his car and drove away.  Sohyun slowly got up and immediately recognized who the handsome boy was as a huge smile appeared on her face, “It’s you!”

The handsome boy stared at her for a minute before he recognized who she was.  He grins at her, “Ah…mandu!”

Sohyun frowns, “That’s not my name.”

The handsome boy laughs, “Then what is your name?”

Sohyun scoffs, “How about a proper “Thank you” first before I tell you my name?”

The handsome boy got up and smirked at her, “Why should I thank you?  You should have let that car hit me.”

Sohyun’s eyes widen, “Yah!  Are you out of your mind?!  How could you say something like that?”

“Are you going to tell me your name or not?” the handsome boy impatiently asked.

Sohyun sighs, “My name is Kwon So Hyun.”

“Kwon So Hyun huh?  Hm…I think I like mandu better.”

Sohyun rolled her eyes, “Whatever…if you’re not going to thank me for saving your life, then I’m gonna get going.  Please lower your music down so you don’t get into another accident like this again.”

The handsome boy crossed his arms in front of his chest and snapped, “Who are you to tell me what to do?  You’re not my mom.”

Sohyun was taken back by his sudden outburst, “Um…I didn’t mean it like that.  I…”  

“Whatever,” the handsome boy mumbled as he put his headphones back in his ears.  He walked away from her as she stood there staring at him dumbfounded. 

11:00am (Sohyun’s house)

That handsome boy has some anger issue she thought as she slowly walks home.  She was too busy thinking about what had just happen earlier that she didn’t notice Niel sitting out on his front porch staring at her. 

“Hi Sohyun,” Niel said as he smiles at her.

Sohyun quickly looks up and turns her head.  Omo!  Did he just say hi to her?  She stuttered, “H-hi Niel.”

Niel stood up and walked towards her, “Where did you go?”

“Uh…I-I-I went for a jog,” Sohyun stuttered as her face started to turn red.  Oh no!  I’m stuttering again!

Niel nodded his head, “I see.”  He nervously scratched his neck as he asked, “Um…do you have time to talk right now?”

“Y-yeah.  I have time to talk.  Um…what’s up?”

Niel smiled, “Well, this isn’t a good place to talk.  How about I take you out for lunch?”

Oh my god!  Did he just ask her out for lunch?  No way!  Please tell me this isn’t a dream!

“Sohyun?” Niel asked as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.

“Huh?  Oh…lunch…um…yeah.  That’s fine with me.  Uh…can you give me 15 minutes to get ready?”

“Sure, that’s fine with me.  I’ll just sit out here and wait for you.  Just come out whenever you’re ready.”

“O-okay,” Sohyun excitedly said as she quickly walks away from him.  Once she got inside her house, she raced towards the bathroom and jumped inside the shower.  If I’m going to have lunch with Niel, I’m going to make sure I smell good!  I can’t believe this is really happening! 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello!  What did you think of this chapter so far?  Please comment and let me know.  Your comments will inspire me to continue to write.  :D