"As I call your names, please sit beside each other." Mr. Tang said as he pull the classcards out of a legal-sized envelope. "Eva Prescott and Mark Martinez." He gestured to the two armchairs in front of him and couple by couple, students piled on their seats until there's only four of us left. Jae Joong, the 'stalked', the Sung Min guy and myself. I can see the other female losing the color on her face slowly.

"You pair me with that ert and you're out of job!" She yelled and stormed out of the room.

"I. . .Where was I?" Mr. Tang asked absently, shocked from the girl's outburst. "Ah, Ma. Joralyn Adriano and Kim Jae Joong. Wait, was she referring to you?" He creased his forehead and eyed Sung Min. I was laughing hysterically inside and the Korean male just stared back at him with wide eyes while shaking his head frantically. "Okay, scratch that. Mr. Kim, you're with Ms. Han and don't mind her, she'll come back." Jae Joong looked like he won the lottery and was smiling goofily the whole time. Can't help but smile at his silliness. But my smile disappeared when I realized that that leaves me with. . .

"Lee Sung Min and Ma. Joralyn Adriano." I occupied the seat beside the weird guy wordlessly. "From this day forward, you would have to sit beside your partner. For the past couple of semesters that our university accepted foreign students and isolated them from the local student population, we've noticed less and less or no progress on their development at all. Now, we're introducing the 'buddy' system. Partners will be rated as one so you guys have no choice but to work together."

"What?!" I hissed under my breath. This is the most stupid arrangement ever. For one thing, I don't really consider myself as a team player. I choose my friends carefully and those I am with were my friends since the beginning of time. And this hell hole of a school just threw me with someone I barely knew and expect me to put up with him in what, five months?!

"It's not as if you're the best partner ever." I heard the boy beside me say.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" I can feel my ears starting to change color.

"If you think that I like to be paired with you then you can think again." He slouched in his seat and tapped the desk with his fingers nonchalantly. I opened and closed my mouth several times but I couldn't find the words to hurl at this insolent man.

"Is everything okay?" Mr.Tang asked, sensing the tension between us as he went around to hand out syllabus.

"We're fine." He took the liberty to answer and I really want to hit him with my notebook. "Aren't we?" He flashed me a smile and my heart skipped a bit.

"Good. Ms. Adriano, see me at the faculty room after class."

"I thought so." He mumbled after the instructor left.

"And what is just do you mean by that?" She asked sharply.

"That you did something wrong and on the first day of class too." He chuckled.

"Why--you!" She huffed and forced herself to look at the board and Mr. Tang, hands balled into fists.

***************************************************************************

"Kim Jae Joong?" I stopped in my tracks when I heard the low voice. I looked behind me to see a tall man leaning on the door jamb lazily.

"Y-yes?" *You didn't have to stutter, Kim Jae Joong, you pabo!* I berated myself silently.

"Han Geng. I am Iris Han's BIG brother." He stood towering above me by a few inches and I swallowed an imaginary lump in my throat. I can recognize the man. The president of the university's debate team and the head master of a dreaded fraternity of Engineering students. I just didn't associate Iris to this person. But now that I knew, I'm a little scared. Not because I have bad intentions on his sister though.

"Can I help you?"

"No, but you can help yourself and keep your away from my sister, you get me?"

"Ge ge!" Iris appeared from nowhere and she had this horrified expression on her face. "What are you doing? I told you I am going to handle this!" She linked her arms on her brother's and started to drag him away forcefully but he won't budge.

"You trust me to leave this to you after you hid it from me for so long? If my brods weren't there during the enrollment, you would continue to keep me in the dark!" He was talking rapidly in a language that I can only recognize as Chinese but I didn't have any idea on what they were talking about. "You." He held me by the collar harshly but before he can say anything. . .

"Hey. What's happening here?" It was like a miracle really. His face softened and he let go of my collar slowly before turning towards the voice. It was. . .Gem? That was her name, wasn't it? "Joshua? Jae Joong?" She was looking back forth Han Geng and I.

"Gem. . .What. . .are you doing here?" Han Geng asked carefully, eyes shifty all of a sudden.

"I-I was in the other classroom and I heard some yelling and--"

"It's nothing. We're just. . .talking. Yeah, talking. Right." Talking my . He attempted to fix my shirt that he ruined and gave my back a pat (more like a smack) that I nearly coughed.

"Oh. Hey, you're here too. I don't think we've been introduced. My name's Gem." Gem turned to Iris and Iris let out an awkward smile. I nearly melted into goo.

"Han Yi--I mean, Iris Han."

"My sister." Han Geng butted in. I'm sure this guy's hitting on my classmate who seem to be real slow on the uptake. Were all women this. . .clueless?

"I didn't know you have a sister." I heard her say.

"She's not here for long. Do you know this guy?" He pointed at me.

"Yeah, I do. He's a classmate."

"You're an Engineering student?!" He looked at me like I am too dumb to be one.

"Uh, no. . . I've been transferred to the International Block." Gem answered for me.

"They're accepting locals now?"

"You've been so busy with your nonsense that you don't even know your own sister has been transferred too." Iris said and she looked at me straight in the eyes. "Come with me." She caught me by the wrist dragged me away leaving the two in shock. I think I'm ready to die now.

***************************************************************************

We stared at the two retreating backs long enough. Joshua's jaw was hanging low. "Are you here to warn Jae Joong about Iris?" I asked carefully. I knew how temperamental Joshua can be and my heart went out to the Korean guy. Jae Joong's a little aggressive but his eyes and actions were just too sincere to ignore. He just scared the hell out of Iris that she probably developed a trauma already. But judging what we saw just now. . .

"That guy's been pestering my sister!"

"I don't think he has bad intentions though. He looked. . .harmless?"

"How could stalking be harmless?" He got ahold of my stuff and took it from me. "Let me send you home, ayt?"

"But I still have a meeting for this particular project." I'm about to meet Sung Min for a research due at the end of the semester. I told him we have to start early or before we know it, it would be finals week already and we have no choice but to cram. And cramming I hate. I saw Joshua's face fell.

"I'll wait for you, that's no problem." Joshua's my senior and good friend. Coming from the rich chunk of Filipino-Chinese that seem to rule the business world, he's not only very intelligent but very assertive as well. The reason why not a few people thought he's an airhead.

I shook my head in disapproval. "No, it's okay. It will probably take a long while." He pouted cutely.

"Alright. I'll see you around then." I retrieved my things from him and gave him a parting smile. I was a few steps away when. . .

"Gem!"

"Huh?"

"W-will you. . .go--I mean, will you look out for my sister when I'm not around?" He scratched his head.

***************************************************************************

I was about to say 'Will you go out with me on Sunday?' but I chickened by the last second. I am so stupid. If my fraternity members know about this, I wouldn't hear the end of it. She gave me a big smile and my heart did a sommersault.

"Of course. You didn't have to ask." She waved and was gone though the sea of doors in the long corridor.
I sighed in frustration. I've been crushing on Gem since the welcome party for the freshmen two years ago and I even warned everyone in my circle not to even think about going after her or there would be a lot to pay for. But two years had already passed and I hadn't even confessed yet. I shook my head in incredulity. I was racking my brains on how to ask her out when I tuned a corner absentmidedly and bumped into someone.

"Wei! Ben dan!"

***************************************************************************

I wouldn't know I still had this smile plastered on my face if the snippy guy hadn't pointed it out. "You look so happy making me wait." He didn't even look at me when he said it that it annoyed me like crazy. His full attention was on this guitar he was playing. "Busy flirting with your boyfriend?"

"You don't have the right to ask me questions about my personal life." It was true that I'd been crushing on Joshua Han since the beginning of time but the guy had been too dense to notice. But still!

"I suppose you're correct if only you're not making me wait while you're taking your own sweet time." I didn't know why he was so pissed when I was only late for a couple of minutes.

"Okay. I'm sorry. Happy?" I gave way. I just came from unanticipated long quiz and I certainly had no energy to argue.

"No."

"What is wrong with you? You've been real NICE since we met." I retorted.

"It's just that--" He took a deep breath. "You have to send me home." He declared.

"Pardon?"