I entered the school wearing my earphones, completely ignoring my surroundings. I sighed to myself as I saw the scene at the school grounds when I entered the gate - It was the same as my first day in high school here. It was crowded and it made me dizzy. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I walked past by all of the new students. It was probably because the amount of people made me feel like suffocating, or maybe because I just lacked sleep. I kept on hesitating if I should send Soo Ah a message that night. As a result, I couldn't rest... Or didn't have sufficient shuteye. We were not able to talk directly when vacation came, and I was too timid to let her hear my voice over the phone, so I ended up deciding on just sending a simple "Good Morning" text.

She hasn't replied yet. And it's not like I was expecting anything to happen.

I kept on walking straight. Unknowingly, I bumped onto someone's shoulder. "Ah!" He exclaimed and bowed his head lightly, "Sorry." He smiled. My expression didn't falter, even though I was the one that bumped unto him; but I bowed back. I wasn't trying to be rude now that I'm a year higher than them, it's just that it was hard for me to converse with other people even if it was just a simple "Sorry". I guess I haven't changed at all, and I was unhappy about it. "I should really try to loosen up a bit." I whispered to myself. I looked back again at the guy I bumped unto. I've never seen him before, even though he had a striking face. I bet he's a new student slash transferee, or a first year... Who knows. I didn't remember seeing a ribbon. But all I remembered about his facial features was that he had clear skin and big, rounded eyes. His ears were also quite round. Don't ask how I knew.

Eventually, Hak Yeon found me. And when we looked at the bulletin board, which has all sorts of announcements and posts that contain which class and section you are in, I realized that I would still have to stick around with this guy for quite some time. "Yay~! Taek Woon!" He cheered and did a little victory dance, which gained the attention of the others. "We're in the same class! Whoo!" He threw a balled fist in the air as I tried to hide away from him as much as I could so that it wouldn't look like I'm of any connection with this idiot. 

Hak Yeon told me to find Soo Ah and Ji Eun's names on the list. Probably because he couldn't find it since he was too lazy to actually look for it. I scanned the whole board, and what I saw made my heart skip a beat. "What's u?" Hak Yeon's head popped up from my back. I avoided his eyes and just batted it at the list. "What!? Soo Ah's now our classmate?" The dark-skinned boy gasped and shook my shoulders like a massage chair set to max. "Leo-ya! Did you see that!? Did you see!?" He kept on pointing at her name, the tone and pitch of his voice got higher and higher that it cracked.

The kid ruined the mood.

I wet my lips and tried to prevent any damage in his body or any chaos from happening. He was already dead in my mind.

"Hak Yeon." I gave him a glare. "You don't have to tell me. I already knew before you did." He shot back with a very bright smile, "Isn't it amazing?" He then put both his hands on his chest and swooned like something romantic happened. But actually, nothing did. It was all in his mind. "Fate really is playful, huh Leo?" 

"Stop calling me that!" 

"Call you what?" A voice that I have known of came from behind. Hak Yeon and I both looked back. Ji Eun was standing there; her smile didn't waver. "Morning!" She greeted us. I nodded as a reply. She really is a mushroom, just showing up unexpectedly anywhere... I nodded to myself. Hak Yeon had his own weird way of greeting other people. He pointed a finger at Ji Eun. "You again!" He cried. Ji Eun ignored the latter and neared the post, examining it with her lips pursed. I bet that she was tired with arguing with him almost every day. "Aww! What!" She stomped her feet and complained like a little kid. Hak Yeon backed a bit. "Soo Ah and I are in different classes!?" She shouted out of the blue. "It seems so..." I whispered.

"Soo Ah! Look at this!" By the time Ji Eun turned around, she was speaking to none other than herself. "Wait, where is she?" 

We all searched the crowd, and we couldn't find her. "Did she get stuck?" I asked, barging into the large crowd in front of me. "What if she get hit on again!?" Hak Yeon scratched his head and looked around. Ji Eun did the same. We kept on bumping against stranger's arms and shoulders until we heard some recognizable voices. 

"I-I have to go now..."

"Oh come on!" It was a guy's voice, and it was absolutely evident that he was pleading for something.

"I'm lost! Help me find the way in."

Hak Yeon and I halted as soon as we heard the guy's voice. We looked at each other's eyes and nodded.

Lee Jae Hwan.