*You-Jung*

I sat at my desk, my fingers shuddering as I held onto my audio player.

They were talking about me again. I wanted to scream and cry, but didn’t. I was labeled "melancholic oblivion" by students who meant nothing to me. They mistook my quietness as a sign of stupidity and dysphoria.

"Look at her! She's so slow when it comes to writing!" A guy yelled, probably pointing at me.

"I doubt she'll even be able to catch up" A girl's voice rung out, clear as a bell.

"Why doesn't she just drop out of school" Another person said.

I had never felt this numb in my entire life. I felt so stupid. I quickly got up and headed for the bathroom. It took me a while to find the girls' restroom but I finally found it. I entered one of the stalls and sat on the toilet seat. I covered my mouth, trying to mute myself, while tears streamed down my cheeks. My eyes already felt puffy from crying but it got even worse. My face was now dry and puffy.

I was taught by my father that a nice, good person needed to be selfless sometimes, but these kids were just plain bad. After crying my heart out, I washed my hands and left, heading for class. As soon as I entered the room, I was bombarded with questions.

“Where were you, huh?! Were you crying again?!”

"She was probably crying again, guys! Just look at her eyes," A girl screamed. They all laughed in a response. I walked back to my seat and sat. All I could do was rub my eyes and regret that I didn’t say a word in defense. I didn't...for the fear of their torments getting physical. I sat there for the remaining 15 minutes of morning study hall, thinking of Soo Hyun. When the bell rung, I heard the movement of chairs and shoes scraping against the tiled floor. I listened as the teacher walked in. There were pair of shoes following close. The class president got up and did the morning greetings before he sat down.

"Class we have a new student," Mr. Woo, my math teacher announced. I heard footsteps come forward, and then the person cleared their throat. It was a husky voice, judging by the sound he made.

"Hello, my name is Yeo Jin Goo," He introduced.

"OK you can sit next to You-Jung," the teacher said. I heard gasps from a few girls as I heard Jin Goo get closer.

"Wow the new guy's hot! Can't believe, he's stuck sitting by HER!" Mina whispered her voice full of disgust.  Mina was the self-proclaimed queen bee of our school. The boys and girls literally worshipped her. I my audio player and sat there, ignoring the new student.

"What are you doing?” he asked, this person who I did not know asked. I really didn't feel like answering, and wondered why he was even asking. He wasn't worth my consideration since he already had fans.

“None of your business,” I said, secretly afraid he would say something mean to me.

“I’m just trying to be nice”

I flinched as he scooted closer.

His tone was surprisingly even as he spoke, “Is it really that bad talking to you?”

“You really have no idea” I turned back to the board, ignoring him.

“You’re absolutely right. I have no idea”

“Don't talk to me. I have nothing to say to you…”

I heard him hesitate for a moment before speaking.

“I doubt you're a bad person”

This caught me off guard. I wanted to open up to him, but I was scared.

“Talk to me...” By all standard of practice, he wasn't supposed to be talking to me. He was going against the ethical code of popular people not talking to losers. But here he was, trying to break my wall. It would have been one thing if he had just said hi, but this guy seemed so into making me talk that it was starting to anger me. Anger and shock ran through me all at the same time.

“You can—”

"Jin Goo, do you have anything to share with the class?" Mr. Woo asked his attention on us.

"No sir" He answered. With that, our conversation...no his one sided conversation ended. When the bell rung, the teacher left and a new teacher came. I ate lunch by myself as usual. I went to my baking class, where I worked by myself due to the fact that people didn't want to work with me. When I got to class, I put on my special apron, with a long tag running down the back. I went to my station and washed my hands, waiting for the teacher. When everyone came in, and class started, some suddenly opened the door.

"Sorry, I'm late. It took me a while to find this class" The familiar voice of Jin Goo said.

"Ah! It’s ok" Ms. Im said. She told him to grab an apron.

"You-Jung is going to be your partner from now on"

I stopped whisking the eggs and stood there, listening as he got closer. I felt his presence as he stood by me.

“Hey” His voice was smooth and strangely soothing. I was getting frustrated. Why was he talking to me?

That was when I finally turned to look at him. Even though I couldn't actually see him. I could only make out a big shadow figure of a boy.

This guy was talking to me again. There was something different about him though.

“Don't talk to me. You don’t even know anything about me,” I said. I began whisking the eggs again. Didn't this person even take the hint that I didn't even want to talk to him?

“You’re right,” he answered. He came closer.

“You don’t know anything about me, either.”

And then he laughed...a really hearty laugh.

My chest tightened...getting tighter the longer he laughed. The aura around him made me want to know him more. It sounded so familiar; it sounded absolutely crazy, I know. It made no sense. But the atmosphere around him, that soft laugh really got me. The more I listened, the more I realized, the more it all made sense. It reminded me of Young Jae, my dead older brother. His warm spirit seemed to be lingering over me.

"My name is Kim You-Jung" I said calmly, officially introducing myself. I held onto his hand, shaking it.

"Yeo Jin Goo..."

I want to know more about Jin Goo.