I plugged in my headphones and closed my eyes savouring the taste of my iced coffee.

I was sure that the canteen lady who makes this caffeine-loaded marvelousness was the guardian goddess of grumpy sleepy-heads.

I threw my empty plastic cup into the trash outside the lecture hall once I was done with my daily morning fix and took my place inside; right row, right in front.

There were just a handful of students that I didn’t know inside so I only had my diabetes inducing cutesy Korean tunes for company.

Yeah, beneath the harsh exterior of jeans and t-shirts that have seen way better days lies a Kpop fan.

That stuff is addicting, man, those sugary sweet girl groups and boy groups with tighter than tight pants.

Seunghyun laughs at my music taste, though, but this I won’t change for him.

This music saved my dreary weary soul from spiralling into the depths of depression.

And also the shrill voices of the female idols promising of undying love for their Oppas kept me awake in class.

I whispered the lyrics in garbled Korean as I took out my Math homework that I had sacrificed my sleep on.

Just three more questions to do…

“Wow! Look, guys! Mirae’s trying to stare her homework into completion!”

“Just sit your down and hand your answers over, babo.”

Ri laughed and pulled out a sheaf of papers as he sat down one seat away from me while Ji and Bae took the seats next to him with sheepish smiles.

The four of them were all-rounders like Seunghyun, but each with their own forte.

Seungri was the resident dance prodigy, Youngbae ruled the basketball court, Jiyong played the piano for our college Orchestra and then Seunghyun the distinction student.

But more importantly, all of them were better than me in Math and Ri was the easiest to get the answers from.

I reached for the papers and Ri pulled them away, shaking his head dramatically.

“Ah ah ah! Ask properly, Mirae!”