It was still early for her class so Seohyun was really not surprised to see only a handful of people in the classroom. She herself did not originally plan to arrive this early but Taeyeon insisted on dropping her since the latter will be looking for things for their new home with Tiffany. After checking her locker, she decided to just wait inside the classroom. She was busy reading her novel when she noticed a girl standing beside her desk.

“Yes?”

“Hi, I’m Nicole…” introduced the girl. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” answered Seohyun.

“So I’m correct,” said the girl named Nicole while nodding. “I’ve been meaning to introduce myself the other day but you kind of left early. You see, we’re classmates in another subject.”

“Oh, my parents were waiting for me then so I have to get home early.”

“We’ll I just want to ask if you want to hang out with me and my friends. I heard earlier that our professor is going to assign us some task and that it’s by group so I assume that you still don’t have anyone to go with.”

Seohyun gave Nicole a smile. “Thank you. I’m Kim Joohyun by the way, but please call me Seohyun.” She extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Nicole.”

Nicole accepted the offer and shook Seohyun’s hand. Their professor arrived shortly and true to Nicole’s words, he instructed them to form groups of their own preference and assigned them to observe and submit group and individual reports for their project. They were given 2 months to finish the assignment. Since it was their first meeting, their professor dismissed them early.

“Seohyun!” called Nicole, the former walking towards the latter. “Let me introduce you to my friends – Suzy and Luna.”

Seohyun bowed to them. “Hi, I’m Kim Juhyun but please call me Seohyun.”

“Hi,” the two girls greeted Seohyun while smiling warmly.

“So,” started Nicole, “have you given a thought about my proposition earlier?”

Seohyun nodded. “Yes, I would love to if it will not be any trouble.”

The girl whom Nicole introduced as Suzy replied. “No, it is not. We would love to have you with us.”

“Any of you have classes after this?” asked Nicole.

“I don’t have any until 4,” replied Suzy.

The other girl, Luna, shook her head in response.

“What about you Seohyun?”

“This is my only class for the day. Saw an announcement earlier that my professor for my next class can’t make it today.”

“Do you want to start scouting for any possible subject?” asked Nicole.

“Sure,” replied the other three.

Their group decided to walk around a shopping district near their campus.

“May I know where you came from, Seohyun?” asked Luna.

“I came from LA,” replied Seohyun. “I just arrived a few days ago with my parents.”

“Woah,” exclaimed Luna. “You’re from LA? Nicole is also from LA.”

“I thought you knew each other for a long time?” inquired Seohyun.

“Me and Suzy, yes,” answered Luna. “We bumped into Nicole a few months ago.”

“Yeah, I remember that,” continued Suzy. “We were walking around when we heard her asking someone about where to go. The guy tried to explain it hard but apparently, she did not understand most of what he’s saying.” Suzy and Luna laughed their hearts out.

“Stop it,” scolds a clearly embarrassed Nicole. “I already admitted that my Korean is still faulty.”

“We know,” smiled Suzy, “that’s why we’re here to be you teachers.” She then turned to Seohyun. “How come you’re so fluent in Korean, Seohyun?”

“I lived here until my adoptive parents brought me to LA when I was about 8,” explained Seohyun. Never has she made an attempt to hide that fact; she loves her parents. “My mom also made sure that we speak Korean at home.”

“Lucky for you,” said Nicole. “Although I’m pure Korean myself, I can only understand and speak the language to a certain degree. Just imagine my shock when my father told me that we’re relocating here.”

They were talking about other things while walking around when Seohyun heard her name being called. She then saw Taeyeon and Tiffany walking towards them.

“I thought you have class until later?” asked Taeyeon as soon as they we’re within reach.

Seohyun smiled apologetically to her friends before turning to her parents. “Hi umma, hi mom.” She then saw from her peripheral vision her friends’ surprised reaction. She suppressed a laugh before she introduced them to each other. "Girls, these are my parents. Mom, Umma, these are my new friends.”

Her friends bowed to her parents while her parents smiled at them.

“What brought you here?” as usual, her mom is the more diplomatic type (but not all of the time).

“Our professor dismissed us early after giving us our research assignment, so we’re