Not so long a time ago, I was once a high school student. A carefree teenage girl who barely gives a sh*t on anything about the world. The only things I cared about? My looks, my money, my outfit, my nails, my hair, well I think you got the point. Oh and… I forgot to mention, Kim Soohyun.

                My parents worked overseas, and I was left alone growing up with only my old nanny by my side. I understand why my parents had to leave. It’s for my own good. Kids in school say I’m lucky because there’s no one to dictate me what to do, but they just don’t understand. They don’t know what it’s like not having a mommy to prepare your breakfast or a daddy to pick you up after school.

                But I’m fine with my life since there’s Jiyeonie… my best friend. Oh I remember her, yes. She’s a rich kid like me, but richer. Her Dad owns a production company and her mother passed away when we were kids. Ever since we were young, Jiyeonie has always been hated by her dad. Well, that girl, she gets to be… you know, air-headed sometimes and she has this thing with food. Her big brother, Hyojoon, is loved more by Mr. Park. He said Jiyeon is nothing but a disappointment. So, yeah… That’s why we ended up being besties, because we both need a friend by our side.

                And as for me… hey… wait! Oh my……. You still don’t know who I am, do you? My God, I’m so stupid! I’ve been talking here for like, I don’t know how long… I’ve told everything about Jiyeon and I forgot to tell you who I am?!! Okay… okay… Let’s start over, shall we?

                I’m Ham Eunjung, an only child born with a golden spoon… Family? Well, I told you already about my parents. Friends? I told you already about Jiyeonie… Looks? Well… yeah “Shipjeom manjome shipjeom~!” Money? A lot… but not as much as Jiyeonie’s. Grades? Uhmm… Uhh… Well… Let’s say… I’m still passing it all so far. Let’s just not talk about that. Uhmm… Love life? Oh, yeah~… Of course… Kim Soohyun my boyfriend~ Oh, the love of my life, my prince charming… joke! Just fantasizing a bit. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just some guy that I really, really liked.

                Okay… so… let’s begin the real story. I remember this day when we were seniors in high school. It was a very special day for me. Something I’ll remember for so long that I don’t know how long it will be.

                “Ya! Jiyeon-ah!!! Pali!!”, I yelled at Jiyeon.

                “Yeah… yeah… just wait for a second.”, she said.

                “What do you mean a second?! I’ve been waiting for like hours...!!”, I yelled at her again.

                “What? Eunjung-ah~ You just got here! You’re just acting like that because you can’t wait to see Mr. Kim Soohyun in school…”, she said, teasing me.

                “Oh, really?! Okay…”, I said making my way out of her house. “Go find another way to get to school! I’m leaving!”

                “What? Ya! Eunjung-ah! I was just kidding… Ya!!!”, she went after me but I was already in my car. Jiyeon and I always go to school together and we had the car to ourselves ever since I got my license. “Eunjung-ah… jebal! Ya~”

                “Arasseo! Get in!”, I said unlocking the door.

                When we got to school, that day, thank goodness we weren’t late. And look who the lucky girl was. When we got to our building, Kim Soohyun was on his way down the stairs.

                “Jungie~ It’s your lucky day!!!”, Jiyeon whispered to me as we started up the stairs, meeting Soohyun and his friends halfway.

                Everything was so perfect. Me and him, intersecting… It was going the way it’s supposed to until everything went wrong. My foot slipped, and I was falling. But to my surprise, Soohyun caught me. He held me in his arms, my eyes looking straight at his and his straight at mine. Joke!!! Well, the truth was… I slipped and my face hit the floor, and I was like a frog on the ground. Soohyun and his friends ended up laughing at me.

                “Ya~ hahahaha… What happened?!! Hahahaha… Look at you!!!”, he kept laughing.

                “Ya, Soohyun-ah… I think she likes you! Look, she’s blushing!”, one of his friends said.

                “What? What do mean she’s blushing? Dude… I think her whole face is just bruised. I mean, it literally hit the stairs!”, Soohyun went on making fun of me and laughing with his friends.

                “How dare you… you think you’re so good, huh? You ruined my day! I HATE YOU!!!”, I said grabbing my stuff and going up the stairs.

                “Hey… hey… chill, girl! Oh and… watch your steps.”, Soohyun said before his friends started laughing again from down stairs.

                “Jungie~”, Jiyeon called.

                “What?!”, I said.

                “That didn’t go so well, did it?”, she said.

                “Ughh… Shut Up!!!”, we arrived at our classroom and it was just a typical morning.

                When we got to the room, as usual, it was chaos. Everybody in the room was saying at least something. And do you know what it means when it’s like this? There’s a home work to be passed today… And I haven’t done mine!!!

                “Ya~ Eunjung-ah… Jiyeon-ah…”, one of our classmates came to us. “Let me copy your homework in Science, please… please… please…”

                “Oh, shut up Hyomin-ah~ We still haven’t done ours!!”, I yelled at her.

                I went to my seat and brought out my blank copy of our homework, trying to spot something or someone to copy from. I scanned the room and I noticed that a lot of people were checking out something at the back. When I came closer, I caught a glimpse of a paper with a lot of answers in it, and I mean, A LOT.

                “Hey… hey… who’s copy is that?”, but everyone was too busy to answer, so I just started copying it too.

                “Ya!!! Who gave you permission to copy my work?!”, I turned to the familiar voice from behind and the next moment, I was staring at Kim Soohyun with his face inches apart from mine.

                Yeah… I forgot to mention. He’s in my class and he’s a top student. That paper I was copying from, is definitely his.

                “What? Oh… I-I’m not… copying! In fact, I’m… uhh… telling them to stop! Our teacher might come any second now.  I’ve done my homework already…”, I said with my head held high.”I finished it last night.”, I let the words out though I knew that the paper I’m holding behind is empty.

                “Oh, yeah? Then what’s that you hiding behind your back?”, he tried to grab my homework from me.

                “Hey, stop it! Ya~”, I cried out as I tried my best to protect my blank paper. But he was just too good.

                “Well, well, well… Look at this finished homework~ hahahaha”, he said, making fun of me.

                “Soohyun-ah~ stop it! That’s mine! Give it back! Yah!”, I tried to get it back but he started running away with it.

                “You want it? Come and get it! Hahahaha…”, he yelled as he ran down the stairs.

                I didn’t stop and went after him. When I got down the stairs, I saw him entering the boy’s bathroom with a grin on his annoyingly handsome face.

                “Ya!!! Kim Soohyun! That’s so unfair! Ya~!”, I kept yelling, but he just won’t come out.

                I even thought of charging in to the boy’s bathroom before I received a text message from Jiyeon. “Jungie~ The Guidance Counselor arrived… we’re all busted here. Where are you? We’re gonna be sent to the guidance office including Soohyun.”

                I was about to go on panic-mode when Soohyun went out of the bathroom, my homework on one hand, his phone on the other. By the look of his worried face, I’m guessing he got the news from his friends too.

                “Hey… You got the news too?”, I asked him in worried tone.

                “Yeah… you have to go back to the classroom, okay? But, you have to use the other stairs.”, he said with a straight face, which is so not like him. But who won’t be having a straight face in a situation like this.

                “Okay…”, I simply said, though using the other stairs would be a longer path.

                He gave me back my homework and we started on opposite directions with our backs turned to one another. “Eunjung-ah…”, he suddenly called in a tone that I’ve never heard before.

                “Wae?”, I said, turning to him.

                For a few long seconds, he didn’t say a thing. Instead he simply smiled at me. The next moment he was back to his old self. “Ya babo-ya… Remember, I never touched your homework. It’s already done when you got here because you’ve already finished it last night.”

                “Huh?”, was all that came out of my mouth. I didn’t know what he was saying. That guy is really weird sometimes. What does he mean I’ve finished my homework?

                I just ignored him and started towards my path back to our classroom. When I arrived, as expected, Soohyun was already there getting scolded at by our Guidance Counselor.

                In my surprise, the counselor turned to me. “Oh… Ham Eunjung-ssi. Where have you been? Do you know anything about all this? Are you a part of it?”

               My whole body froze at the question. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to tell the truth. I deserved to be punished, but I just didn’t know how to say it.

                “Sonsaengnim! She doesn’t know anything about this… She just got here, you see?”, Jiyeon blurt out trying to save me.

                “Was I talking to you Miss Park?”, I got more scared with the way she spoke to Jiyeonie. I felt so bad. I really have to tell the truth.

                “No, Ma’am…”, Jiyeon said bowing her head down.

                Our Guidance Counselor turned to me again. “Where’s your Science homework Miss Ham?”, she asked.

                I didn’t know what could be more appropriate to do than to hand her my empty paper, so I just did. She examined it for a moment before staring at me again.

                “Did you copy Mr. Kim’s work too?”, she asked out of the blue. I didn’t know what she meant. Didn’t she see my work? I mean, it’s literally blank. How could she suspect me?

                I glanced at Soohyun, trying to understand what’s going on. But, he just gave me his straight face again, like reminding me what he said earlier. I don’t know what came to me. I don’t know what I was thinking, but the words just came out of my mouth. “No, Ma’am… It’s already done when I got here… because… because I already finished it last night.”

                I waited for her to yell at me, scold me, tell me to come to the guidance office too, but nothing like that happened. Instead, she just looked at my paper and said, “Hmmm… Very well, I’ll pass this to your Science teacher for you. And for those who were caught cheating and those who tolerate cheating, I will see you at the guidance office after school.

                At first, I didn’t know what just happened. But before the Guidance Counselor got out of out room, I caught a glimpse of my paper. Then I understood. I just passed an instant homework. Because I am a hundred percent sure… that’s Soohyun’s handwriting.