*Beep beep*

 

I woke up in a snap. It was around five thirty and was still dark outside. A rooster, or two, made noises to break the eerie silence. I stood up and began to make my bed and prepare for the day. Today is the first day of school and I do not want to be late.

I took a quick bath and dressed up for school. The uniform of Kang Su Academy is similar to the one of my previous school: black pants, white long sleeves, black tie, dark brown blazer and a metal name plate. The only difference was the school logo embroidered on the left pocket; my old school didn't have any.

I tightened my tie a bit then fixed my hair for the last time before I left my room. I walked towards the room opposite mine. The door was purple with thin black stripes and a carved wood, with a name, hanging on it.

"Minchan?" I called out as I knocked twice. "Are you ready?"

"No, you go ahead. I still have to do something."

"Okay."

I sighed. So I'll be walking alone today, huh? I would have complained if we were back in the city but the town was so nice that it seemed walked to school is such a fun thing to do, alone or not.

I went downstairs and saw an old lady by the door, looking at the window.

"Morning, grandma!" I greeted.

She smiled at me sweetly. "Good morning, Min. Where's your sister?"

"She isn't ready yet, I guess. I'll go ahead now."

"Aigoo. Are you excited for your new school?" She ruffled my hair and I smiled shyly.

"No, grandma, I just don't want to be late."

We both chuckled. "Oh, don't forget to eat breakfast first, dear. I prepared some waffles."

I nodded. "Thank you, grandma."

 

I started eating grandma's breakfast waffles on my way to school. The town, just like the waffles, was great! Sending Minchan and I here was probably the only decision our parents made that I liked.

Living in the city was so hectic  and stressful. The pollution was terrible and it was way too crowded there. Unlike here, the air is clean, it's peaceful and the three days that I have been here certainly wasn't stressful. I just hope that school wouldn't break my tranquility.

 

The town is picturesque and so is the school. From what I've heard, the school has been around for five decades already but it looks new. You'd think that it was built just a few years ago.

 

I entered the royal blue gate with a smile on my face. This is the start of a new life, a new beginning so I better do this with enthusiasm.

 

The campus was huge. If I remembered it correctly, the brochure said it was fifteen hectares huge. There were several buildings, mostly brown bricked three-storey.

 

I took a blue card from my bag and checked it.

Surname: Lee

First name: Sungmin

Class: III - A

Room 137, Building 3

 

"Excuse me, do you know where this is?" I asked a group of students who seem to be around my age. They were busy talking about something but they seem friendly, so I approached them. I showed them my card then one pointed towards a three-storey building near a garden.

"There. Northeast. Just go straight ahead."

She smiled kindly. Song Victoria was engraved on her name plate pinned on her blazer's left pocket above the logo.

"Thank you, uh, Victoria." I bowed then smiled.

"You're welcome, Sungmin."

"You must be new here." the other girl next to her said. Her name plate read: Jung Krystal.

I nodded. "Ah, yes."

"Then you'll like it here! Enjoy your stay!" The girl opposite Krystal exclaimed.

"Thank you! I'll see you around." I bowed once again then proceeded. They continued their chitchat.

"I wonder which class the Cho's will be in?"

"Duh, class A!"

"Omo, did they already arrive?"

Their voices faded as I walked away.

 

"137, 137, 137..." I chanted as I looked for the said room.

It was already quarter to seven and I am about to be late because I couldn't find my way to the classroom.

 

I was too preoccupied with looking for the classroom that I didn't notice the girl beside me. "Senior class A?" she asked.

Her black her was perfectly brushed and tied into a pony tail. She was of average height, almost as tall as I am but her posture made her look so confident that I felt so small. If it wasn't for her uniform, I would've thought she was a really young teacher.

She pushed her black rimmed glasses up then spoke again in a friendly voice. "You're looking for room 137 so I assume you're from class III-A, am I right?"

I nodded.

"So we're classmates them!" She smiled widely then offered a hand. "Welcome to Kang Su!"

 

The girl accompanied me to the room. It was a white classroom with minimalist-like designs. The chairs and desks were black and blue and looked new.

"Just sit somewhere there and wait for the teacher. It's going to bell soon."

I nodded. I turned around to greet and thank her, and maybe ask for her name too, but when I did, she was gone.

 

After I got over the shock of the vanishing student, I walked inside the room then sat down on an empty chair at the second row. I straightened my posture as I looked around, tapping my hands on my desk with a random rhythm.

"Hey."

Someone poked my side and I flinched. Startled, I looked at the girl grinning beside me.

Her bangs were clipped neatly to the side; the rest of her hair was flowing on her back. She had a pencil in hand and a piece of paper on her desk.

"Minchan!" I exclaimed. "You're here! And... we're classmates?"

She nodded gleefully. "Yes! I guess they don't have a rule that siblings can't be put on the same class."

I smiled at her then she carried on to what she was doing. I ruffled her hair slightly.

"Oppa!" she whined, making me giggle.

 

I am a year older than her but our parents decided that we start school at the same time. She was three and I was four when we did.

 

I took a book from my bag then started to read. The class was pretty noisy but the noise was manageable. They seem to be talking about a pair of students they called, "The Cho's".

"Omo! I heard they've arrived already!"

"Really? Oh, I'm very excited! They're in our section!"

"Yes! I feel so lucky!"

I ignored talk and focused on the book.

 

A few minutes later, the noise subdued but they were still quietly murmuring. Two students came and sat in front of me and Minchan. The teacher came shortly afterwards. We stood up.

"Good morning, class" the teacher said. He placed his bag on the teacher's table. We greeted back then he motioned us to sit down.

 

He started writing on the board.

"Aish, Minchan, stop drawing" I whispered.

Minchan shrugged but stopped anyway.

Choi Siwon

"Good morning class. I am Choi Siwon. Your class adviser and values teacher for this school year."

Walking around the classroom, his hands played with the board marker.

 

He had a satisfied smile on his lips.

"I guess I'll be handling the two best students in the academy. I am honoured." He said.

Almost everyone started either giggling or whispering except me, Minchan and the two in front of us.

"The honor is ours, sir." They replied in unison.

Mr. Choi chuckled. "Very well then, you too shall be the temporary president and vice and help me out for the time being."

They turned to the direction of the teacher at the same time and that's when I got a better look at them.

 

They look like twins. They have the same black hair that vary only in length and style of cut. The girl's hair was straight and very long, almost up to her waist while the boy's was styled messily but it looked nice, nonetheless. Their light brown skin glowed like their eyes of the same color but the eyes were of darker shade, almost black.

They stood up with great confidence. I don't know why but I couldn't help but be in awe. It's as if they radiated power.

My trance broke when they spoke at the same time. Their voices were smooth and velvety. "Yes, Mr. Choi."

They bowed (still in unison) then walked to the teacher's table and started working. They seem to already know what to do.

 

"Thank you. Now, seniors, this will be your last year here already but it's only the first for our new friends."

He turned towards our direction. I slowly turned my head to Minchan who was almost frozen in fear; she hates what will happen next.

 

"Mr. Lee and Ms. Lee, kindly introduce yourselves. We would love to know you more."

He looked at us with a warm and friendly smile.

I stood up but Minchan remained seated. I had to pull her up and glare at her just to make her stand up but not without a silent grumble.

I cleared my throat but immediately regretted it when I realised that I caught everyone's attention. "I-"

"We're--I'm Sungmin, Lee Sungmin, and she's my sister Minchan." I started. "We're from Seoul but moved her a few days ago."

"We're--I mean, he's older." Minchan said, nervousness obvious in her voice.

"...and we're looking forward to studying here."

They clapped their hands, even the two students. We sat down and I heard Minchan's audible sigh. I smiled to myself.

 

Mr. Choi gave us our class schedules, list of teachers, classes and other important stuff.

"There will be a program later, after the break time and everybody's required to attend." He said then left.

 

I stood up and took my bag. "Let's go, Chan."

She nodded.

 

We went to the cafeteria and surprisingly, we (or rather I) didn't get lost this time. We ate our sandwiches, which our grandmother made, in silence. When the bell rang, we followed the other students to the gym.

 

The program lasted for about two hours. There were the announcements of classes, presentation of teachers and staff and other planned schedules for the year.

Election for student government and class officers would be next week.

Then there would be a club screening this week and "a bunch of other fun activities for the whole school year!" as the MCs would say. The MCs were the two students from my class. I guess they're the most popular ones since they're everywhere.

 

The rest of the day was given to us as free time. There was a school fair to celebrate the first day. Booths were everywhere and everyone were having fun. Minchan and I went the garden near our building to avoid the commotion.

 

We found a bench surrounded by a variety of flowers. We sat down and Minchan started to draw again so I took my book and read.

We have good fifteen minutes of silence until Minchan broke it.

"I'm bored." she whined.

I closed my book then nodded. "I am too."

She crossed her arms, pouting. "What to do...?"

 

"Oh, Sungmin!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. You came in to the classroom later than I did. Hah. I'm earlier than you!" She then stuck her tongue at me. "Haha!"

"Tsk." I glared at her. "I got lost, okay?" I chuckled. "You get lost sometimes too."

 

"Right Minchan, have you seen someone from our class that wears a high ponytail, black rimmed glasses and looks like a very young teacher?"

She looked at me like I'm some kind of weirdo. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"There's this girl who helped me find our classroom when I got lost. She said she's from our class, too. But when we reached out classroom, she was suddenly gone."

Minchan's eyes became wide and scared. "I hate you." she said.

"Wha-why?!" I complained.

"You're trying to scare me."

I chuckled. "I'm not!" I said. "But really, there's none in our class like that?"

She shook her head. "None that I know...."

"Creepy." we said in unison. We laughed.

 

"Have you heard of the Cho twins?" she asked.

I scrunched my eyes to think.

"I've heard of them. Earlier, there was this group of students and I think they were talking about them like our classmates.

Minchan looked at me seriously. "They're in our class."

"So I've heard."

"They're the ones in front of us!"

I tilted my head. "Oh! The best students." I shook my head. "So we meet the popular kids"

 

We've had a bad experience with popular students before. They could be very annoying and they're usually bullies. Well in our other school, they were. Once, they're even bullied Minchan and I almost got a C on my conduct grade because of that.

"They seem kind." Minchan said. "And friendly, too."

I shrugged. "Maybe? They seem so popular. I think everyone talks about them all the time."

"Yeah, but I think they're nice because I only hear nice things about them."

"Well, they are popular, right?"

 

"Hey do you want to go to the fair?" I asked. "It could be fun, you know."

She shrugged. "It's okay."

We stood up then started our way to the exit of the garden, still admiring its beauty at every step. I saw a yellow butterfly flew past my face. When I turned around to follow it, I couldn't believe my eyes: at the far side of the garden stood the girl who helped me.

"Minchan! Minchan!"

"What?"

"The girl!"

"What?"

I pointed to her direction but she was already gone again.

"Sh-she was there! I swear I saw here..."

Minchan just nodded then patted my back. "Sure you did. Now let's go to the fair. I think you need to do some fun stuff."

 

Everyone, even the teachers and other staff, were having fun. All sorts of booths and game stations were there for everyone to enjoy. Minchan was having fun too, playing games and winning prizes at different booths.

 

But I couldn't take my mind off of the creepy vanishing girl. What is she really? A ghost? I don't even remember her face but when I thought I saw her at the garden, I knew it was her.

 

After a while, Minchan was finally able to persuade me to join her. We played a couple of games until an announcement came and said that students are now dismissed but the fair would go on until six. We were already tired so we decided to go home.

 

Minchan left something in our classroom so we went back before going home. I waited outside the room while she took whatever she have left inside. Five minutes later, she was still inside. Intrigued, I went in to check on her.

 

She was in a trance-like state. One hand was gripping on a pencil and someone else's hand and the other was shaking. She and a boy was sharing stares and were both speechless.

I cleared my throat and that seemed to get their attention.

Minchan took her pencil rather abruptly from the guy then bowed.

"What happened?"

"I-I'm really sorry! I'll leave now!" She ran to my direction, grabbed my hand then dragged me home.

I've never seen her so weird before.

 

I'm sorry if this is a bit boring :c