genesis
the origin of something

"Isn't this the special class?"

"Why is she transferring to the special class?"

"I heard she's just a freshman."

"What?! No way! I'm a junior, and I just got into the special class!"

Professor Kim rapped a ruler on her desk. Class A of the prestigious Han Music Academy fell silent. "This is Ga Eul Chu, your new classmate," she said. "She will be joining the special class as of today. You can go ahead and sit next to Mi Nah over there, Ga Eul-sshi."

Ga Eul Chu slid into her seat, conscious of the dozens of eyes resting on her. "H-hello everyone," she said meekly.

"It's been awhile."

Ga Eul's gaze whipped about. To her right was no one other than Yi Jeong So.

"Y-Y-Yi Jeong sunbae!" she said. "You're in this class?"

"What are you doing here?" Yi Jeong whispered.

"I trained hard," Ga Eul replied. "You see, there's someone I need to find, and I know that he has a strong connection to this school. I have to find him. I absolutely have to find him."

Yi Jeong looked vaguely disappointed. "Is he... really that special to you?"

Ga Eul's face split in an almost manic grin. "Oh, trust me. He is very, very special to me."

"What's his name?" Yi Jeong asked offhandedly.

Ga Eul smirked. "I call him... Pabo."

"Look! Izza hair-nest girl! Be careful, Ga Eul! Maybe you'll find birdies in your hair!"

As the schoolyard burst into raucous laughter, seven-year-old Ga Eul Chu vainly attempted to pull her snow-white beanie further over her hair. Her mom had given her a haircut yesterday, but Ga Eul had been dissatisfied with the final result; she attempted to remedy the situation with a pair of office scissors, but that only resulted in an obscenely short haircut which resembled a bird nest.

Hence the children mocking her.

"Bir-die! Bir-die! Bir-die!" they began to chant, circling around her like wolves around their prey.

"Just lemme alone!" Ga Eul screamed, tugging her beanie again.

"Whazzat?" called Pabo. "I think I just heard a baby birdie callin' for her mummy!"

"Lemme alone!"

Pabo let out a toothy grin. "Aww, the birdie's scared."

"Scared birdie! Scared birdie!"

"Pabo, dun be mean to me!"

Pabo stepped forward and leaned in close to Ga Eul, who shied away. "Stop cryin' for your mummy, Chu-Chu," he sneered. "It ain't gonna work. Your mummy's gone and she ain't coming back!"

Tears sprung into Ga Eul's eyes. "You're so mean! How can you say that about Mommy? She's coming back! She's coming back!"

Pabo shook his head. "She ain't coming back. She dead by now, Chu-Chu."

"Liar!"

"Scared birdie! Scared birdie!" Pabo chanted; the rest of the children looked unsettled, but joined in.

"Scared birdie! Scared birdie!"

"His real name's not actually Pabo, is it?" asked Ga Eul's dormitory roommate, Jan Di Geum.

Ga Eul snorted. "Who knows. Maybe it is. At any rate, I know he's in that class."

"Just exactly how?" Jan Di asked curiously.

"He always bragged about how his father was the principal of the Han Music Academy," Ga Eul said. "He said that when he grows up, he's going to be part of the special class A. He said that every single day."

"But you never know," Jan Di said doubtfully. "Maybe some other circumstances came up and he had to move to the States. Or go to a different college. Or maybe he's holed up on a single-room apartment doing nothing but eating junkfood and belching and playing video games and doing whatever lonely bachelors do."

Ga Eul laughed at that. "Jan Di-ah, I know that he's here!" she said. "There's that aura. That air. He has to be here."

(A/N: You cannot believe the writer's block I went through... For some reason, this chapter was IMPOSSIBLE to write. I really hope the next one is much better! Usually I write previews for every chapter, but I barely got this one out on time... eheheh... And the next chapter will hopefully be longer too.)

(Estimated release date: July 23)