Chapter o2

Ji Hae woke up to the sound of her alarm clock that was placed on top of her side table. She yawned as she made her way to the kitchen and started preparing herself for school this early in the morning. She had her simple cereal meal while typing down stories on her small laptop.

Not long after, she was all ready for school. She glanced at her watch and it read, ‘5:30 AM’. Though she knew that it was still too early for a normal student, she always comes to school around that time. She simply wanted to watch the sunrise at her favorite spot in school. For her, it was a sight that never fails to give her the courage to live on, albeit alone.

“Time for school!” She greeted herself cheerfully as soon as she stepped out of her flat. She inhaled the fresh air of the morning with a bright smile on her face. She locked the door of her apartment and headed for school.

She had her usual attire to school: a short skirt and a blouse as her school uniform, a pair of knee high socks, her pair of specs hanging on the bridge of her nose and her sling bag clinging on her shoulder. She even had her hair tied in a tight bun and her bangs hiding her forehead. Ji Hae is indeed a simple school girl, and maybe that is also the reason why no one notices her.

The sun hasn’t shined yet and the streets were still empty, but she seemed to enjoy the whole travel to school. She took the earliest bus to her destination then took her remaining time to walk to school. Since it was still so early for school, she didn’t proceed to her classroom; instead she went to her own secret place in the school- as what she considers it.

She settled herself on the grass under a shady tree, her legs crossed over each other. She waited for the sunrise at a secluded garden right behind the school’s main building. As expected, no one passes by the place and she liked it. She always wanted to be alone, not that she’s anti-social, but she wanted a quiet place that she can consider as her silent sanctuary; a place where she can express herself. Aside from that place, she also considered the tree house she goes to as her safe haven.

Settling down her belongings on the ground, she pulled out her laptop and continued typing down her thoughts for the story she has been working on.

“Then……..” she placed the tip of her pen under her lower lip while thinking. “Is it alright if that happens?”

Writing stories has been her pastime during breaktimes in class since she doesn’t have friends to chat with.

“oh..right!” Ji Hae snapped her fingers and smiled when she has finally thought of a brilliant idea for her story.

Se Rin woke up earlier than her brother, unusually. Being the playful her, she sneaked into Sehun’s room and surprised him by jumping onto his bed while singing random songs using her irritating voice. She kept on making loud noises until Sehun wakes up, which she knew he really hates a lot.

He groaned in annoyance as he sat then threw a pillow onto the face of his sister. “ugghh.. NOONA STOP IT!! Please..” He leaned his head back to his pillows then continued his interrupted sleep.

She only laughed at her brother’s reaction.  “Yah! Wake up sleepy head~ it’s already 7 am. I thought your class starts at 8 am?” She squashed her brother by sitting over a pile of pillows then messed up his already messy hair.

“But I don’t feel like going to school today. Noona, just leave me alone. Go to your school if you want. I will just stay here. I am a little sick.” He mumbled a lie, his face planted on the pillow he was hugging.

“That would not work for me anymore. Now, stand up.” She stood up and pulled his brother by his foot until he falls out of the bed.

“Aiish… Noona!” He sat up with an annoyed expression on his face. He stood up and crawled back to his bed to sleep again.

“Sehun-ah! Wake up! Don’t make it hard for me.” When he didn’t move, she pulled him out of his bedroom, dragging the mattress where he was resting.

“Dooon’t! Please..I just finished a bunch of school works, let me pass this time. I want to rest the whole day!” He begged desperately while telling the truth, but she only chuckled at his response.

“No. You can’t. I locked your room already.” She stuck out her tongue and laughed, patting his head gently. “Prepare for school already. You are running late already.” She lightly pushed him to the bathroom.

“You’re really a witch! Ugh!” He shouted at her exasperatedly as he stomped his way to the bath room.

That wasn’t really a normal situation for the two siblings. Typically, they would just pass through each other quietly, keeping themselves busy on their own activities. Perhaps, Se Rin simply wanted to spend even a short time with her brother. However, it’s something Sehun doesn’t appreciate; especially that he’s been exhausted with all the works he needed to do for school. He badly wanted to have a whole day rest.

 “You done? I am going now. My class is at 7:30.” Se Rin checked her watch then grabbed her hand bag. “Bye baby Sehunnie..” She teased while messing up her brother’s hair before leaving the house. She went to her own car that was parked in front of their house then drove off to her university.

“Tss.. ” he muttered while fixing his hair, relieved that his irritating sister finally left.

Not long after, his chauffeur, Mr. So, came and drove him to school, since he was still not at the right age to drive a car. The whole ride was quiet especially that he wanted to rest in spite of a very stressful week he was still about to face.

He arrived at the school’s campus just in time, though he was still asleep. Mr. So called for him but he received no response so decided to wake him up in a yet polite manner. Sehun squinted his eyes and grumbled when he felt a constant tap on his shoulder, not wanting to be disturbed from his rest. “What?”

“Doryeonim, we’ve arrived to your school. You may now proceed to your class.” Mr. So replied courteously to Sehun. The latter came back to his senses after awhile. He reached for his bag and tediously marched towards his classroom.

The corridors were slightly crowded, unlike the usual. Students rushed to their classrooms before their respective class starts. Ten minutes were still left for the class to begin but Sehun simply walked unhurriedly like he has all the time with himself.

“Hey! Maknae!” JongIn called Sehun, who has just entered the classroom with a blank expression.                                 

“Why that face?” Chanyeol noticed Sehun’s exasperated face. He then placed an arm over Sehun’s shoulder, shaking him playfully. “Something happened?”

“Nothing. Se Rin just bullied me earlier this morning.” Sehun said crankily.

Suho laughed and patted the younger’s back. “It’s alright kiddo. Don’t be too grumpy, it’s still early in the morning. What did she do anyways?”

“Never mind. Tell me what happened to you guys at the bar after I left.” Sehun asked cheekily, face suddenly lighting up with anticipation.

All of them laughed at what Sehun said, leaving him confused. “Hey! Come on now. Tell me!”

“You don’t have to know, baby maknae.” Baekhyun teased and tousled Sehun’s hair before taking his seat that’s beside Sehun’s.

“But I assure you it was fun!” Chanyeol added before leaning in to whisper. “It was actually a very wild night with those hot and y girls.” He smirked and nudged Sehun’s side lightly.

“Don’t mind him Sehun-ah.” Kyungsoo suddenly interrupted. “Here. Guys, wanna have some? I cooked these early in the morning.” He then pulled out a food ware full of rice cakes.

“Woah~ that’s what I like about you Kyungsoo!” JongIn said impishly as he shoved a piece into his mouth.

“Pabo-yah! You could just say thank you. No need to praise me.” Kyungsoo laughed and started eating as well.

Ji Hae was still writing another chapter on her story when she felt droplets of water on her forehead, soon enough the rain drizzled around the tree where she sat. She then grabbed her belongings and shoved them into her bag hastily. The tree’s branches were keeping her from the rain so she stood there while searching for a place where she could let the rain pass. In the midst of looking for a good place to pass the rain, she glanced at her wristwatch to see the time.

Just then, the school bell started ringing. Without even thinking, she ran through the rain and sprinted to her classroom before the class starts. Fortunately, the teacher has not entered the class when she arrived, albeit a little drenched because of the rain. Having no friends at all, she did not expect anyone to help her out. She silently took her seat, which was at the middle row by the window, and checked her things. 

“I really dislike rain showers..aiish!” She complained in a soft whisper while wiping her slightly wet things with her handkerchief.

She then pulled out her small laptop, where she writes her story, and placed it on her table. “Thank God, you’re not dampen by the rain.” She sighed in relief.

The students were exchanging gossips with each other when the teacher came. They hurriedly went to their respective seats and brought out their notebook for the subject; though most were just used to pretend that they were listening.

“Good Morning Class.” The teacher, Mr. Han, greeted in a boring tone then placed his teaching materials on the front table.

“Good morning sir…” The whole class said in chorus, in a rather uninterested way.

“During the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about the basic concepts and methods in doing a research project, as well as the essential research instruments that you may use.  Before, I have mentioned about a final project that you would be working on, but it would be made by pair.” He cleared his throat. “Please turn off the front lights?” The student near the switch did as what was asked right away.

Mr. Han then opened a PowerPoint presentation using the school’s desktop, which was soon flashed on the white board by a projector. He face back to his students and carried on with what he was about to say.

“Now, it’s your turn to apply those fundamentals. Today, I will ask you to decide on who you want to work with. Choose your partners wisely because this is going to be sixty percent of your final grade.” Everybody in the class groaned in complaint. Mr. Han decided to elaborate his point. ”Your partner shouldn’t just be a person you can talk with about academics, but also a person whom you can share stories of your personal life; most probably your friend. The purpose of that is to make the project much easier and more convenient for you to work on. Okay, I will be giving you ten minutes to choose your partner.”

Right after the announcement, many students stood up and went to sit beside their close friend, blabbering their thoughts about the project. Soon, the classroom was filled with noise and so Mr. Han decided to sta

“Later, I will discuss to you what kind of research work you will have to do. But for now, I will have to call your name then state the name of your partner. If ever…just in case someone will not be able to choose a partner, I will be the one to assign the partner for him or her. So be sure you have a partner so that you will not a hard time working. Understand?”

“Yes sir.” The class said in unison; this time in a much cheerful way.

“Start. Ahn Hyukmin…partner?” The teacher spoke.

“Sir, Kang Minhyun will be my partner.”

“Bang Jiseob..partner?”

“Kim Taejin, sir!”

The next several minutes went on like that. Majority of the students in class was so excited about the final project. Everyone was happy except for the two persons in class: Ji Hae and Sehun. They are not really happy about the partnering, more like they do not care.

Sehun just slumped on his table as soon as the announcement was said. He knew that his best friend JongIn would be partnering with Tao, JongIn’s Chinese cousin. And because of that he just chose to partner up with whoever the teacher will select for him.

“JongIn hyung… Are you really not going to partner up with me? Remember that I am one of your best friends. And……I will treat you bubble tea everyday if you choose me as your partner instead of your cousin, even only for this time.” Sehun whispered, continuously trying to persuade JongIn but it seemed like the latter has already made up his mind.

“Sorry Sehun-ah.” JongIn said mockingly. “I have already made up my mind. I want Tao as my partner since he is my cousin…..and he still doesn’t know much people here. I want to help him. Please understand dongsaeng.” He patted Sehun’s head while smiling apologetically and turned to face his cousin.

On the other hand, Ji Hae was just staring outside of the window, not bothering to find herself a partner. She picked up her notebook and made a draft of her unfinished story. While in the midst of continuing the plot of her story, she found herself zoning out and drowning into her thoughts. I know no would care to partner up with me, so why would I listen? Whoever my partner will be, I am sure I will end up doing the project on my own. But I wish my partner wouldn’t disregard me even just for this project. I just don’t want to work alone on this difficult project..  She sighed at her thought. Despite of her being pessimistic, there was still a glint of hope that her partner will be a nice person; even just a very little hope.

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[A/N] Finally posted up the revisions for the second chapter! I'll be working on this and my other story before posting a wholly finished story i am also currently working on. ^^ comments and subs please? o u o