"Hakyeon-ah! Yah," an eleven-year-old Jin Ae shook her friend of five years, struggling to awaken the boy. "Get up!"

Hakyeon made no move to listen to her, though he did make a sound or two at her. The young girl pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't you realize what today is?"

"Monday." He finally replied, sighing as he sat up.

Jin Ae lifted an eyebrow. "Which means...?"

The male yawned and scratched the back of his head. "Which means school starts to--"

One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks.

"SCHOOL STARTS TODAY!"

The short-haired girl watched with amused eyes as Hakyeon scrambled around the room, trying to get dressed and brush his hair at the same time (which he was failing miserably at) while attempting to shield Jin Ae's eyes so that she wouldn't see his body. She laughed at this; it wasn't like she hadn't seen him without a shirt on before, and boxers seemed to be nearly the same thing as swimming trunks to her, and she had told Hakyeon this several times. He still didn't like dressing around her, though. Jin Ae briefly wondered if it was because her best friend was starting to go through the "liking" phase that her parents had told her about. They did say that once you started to go through it, you acted differently around the opposite gender.

Deciding to be merciful to the poor kid, Jin Ae turned around and walked over to the bookcase that stood in one corner of the room, going through the various titles more to keep occupied than wanting to actually read one. She ignored the sudden thump behind her because she knew that Hakyeon had fallen down, just like he always did when he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off.

"When you're done getting ready--"

"I'm ready now!" Hakyeon cut her off, a grin resting on his lips. "Let's go."

The girl smiled back and nodded, walking out of the room first and leading her friend into the kitchen where their mothers sat going back and forth about what singer was better or something. Jin Ae wasn't paying much attention due to the fact she was more concerned with making sure Hakyeon actually got to eat something before they had to leave for school. Knowing the kitchen just as well as her own, she quickly got out the toaster, bread, jam, a pan, and eggs, shooing Hakyeon away when he tried to take over for her.

"No, you just go sit down. You did this for me last year, remember? I need to return the favor."

The boy made a face. "But--"

Jin Ae glowered. "Cha Hakyeon, don't even."

Not intimidated one bit, he just pouted. "Fine. But just this one."

The short-haired girl had wanted to give him a proper Korean breakfast, but eggs and toast had to do the trick because they didn't have much time that morning. Hakyeon didn't seem to mind; he seemed happy enough to eat the breakfast and even decided to be cheesy when he gave her his thanks -- something he was promptly flicked for.

~StillWantToSquishTheirCheeks~

"Now, Hakyeon-ah, you look after my little girl, alright?"

The eleven-year-old boy nodded enthusiastically at Jin Ae's mother. "Yes, ma'am!"

"And Jin Ae-ah, do your best to keep this troublesome son of mine out of trouble, okay?"

Jin Ae smiled back at the other adult female. "Of course, Auntie Cho Hee."

The two children received hugs before being nudged in the direction of the school intrance. Jin Ae and Hakyeon gave one last wave before rushing in, the boy playfully pushing the girl who yelled at him for it, though he just laughed and taunted her to race him to the class. This wasn't exaclty the best idea because once they made it to the class, breathing heavily and hair a mess, the students already inside began to stare at them. They both gave an awkward laugh.

"This is a little weird." Jin Ae whispered as she walked beside Hakyeon to a couple of desks in the back corner of the classroom.

Hakyeon sat down and motioned for her to do the same. "What do you mean? We get stares all the time." And they did. The two caused some kind of ruckus on a daily basis.

She shrugged. "It just feels weird to be stared at like this... Usually we have our friends around us, but I don't think I really know anyone here. I mean, there's Chin Ho and Kang Dae, but there isn't really anyone we're close with."

"We'll be fine," the boy gave her a reassuring smile. "Just talk to people like you talk to me."

Jin Ae dropped her gaze to the top of her desk and mumbled something.

"Hm?"

She mumbled again, but Hakyeon still couldn't hear her, so he brought his ear closer. "What? Speak up, Jin Ae-ah."

Sighing, the eleven-year-old spoke up just loud enough for Hakyeon to hear. "I can't do that."

"Why not? Aren't you Lee Jin Ae, the girl who can do anything she puts her mind to?"

"This is different... I don't like interacting with new people."

Hakyeon raised an eyebrow. "What about when we first met? You warmed up to me pretty quickly!"

"Only because my mom wanted me to be friends with you and I though it would make her happy to see me actually playing with her best friend's son. I would have been silent as a mouse and avoided you like the plagu