“Class, I know some of you already know her and her reason for transferring into this class, but still, be nice to Iseul.”

“Yes!” the class answered, and I shyly made my way to my friends’ place where they were calling me. I was transferring during my senior year to another class because of the subjects. I didn’t like the material my previous class was teaching and, albeit a little bit late, I still decided to go for it instead of doing something I wouldn’t like and would regret later.

I had friends in most of the classes and almost every year. I was quite popular, being a member of the dance squad at my school. All the members of the dance squad were quite popular because it was the most popular club in the school. Who didn't like performing arts?

“Don’t worry, they’re all kind, although crazy,” Yoonji, a friend of mine from the dance squad, whispered. I just nodded and smiled kindly at her. I was quiet, shy, smart, and a little bit crazy - a four-dimensional personality was what they liked to call it.

My eyes slowly traced the faces of the not-so-unfamiliar faces I'd seen throughout my high school years. I was really bad at names and facial recognition though, so I made a mental note to learn their names later on.

“That one is Sehun and his best friend Luhan, you know them, right? The others are Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Suho – Iseul! Are you listening?”

“Sorry, too many names.” I smiled sheepishly and chuckled. My gaze turned back to a certain person, and I remembered his name instantly. Luhan.

-

“So, do you have a crush on someone?” Yoonji wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I hid my smile. I was hesitating telling my friend, because I thought it was still too early to have a crush on someone I just got to know a few weeks ago.

“Luhan,” I whispered and lowered my head. Yoonji and their other friends gasped in shock and joy. They were friends with Luhan, and they knew that he had never had a girlfriend. They were worried that Luhan might not like me back, and they didn’t want their friend to be heartbroken.

“Actually, Luhan has never had a girlfriend before. He's never asked anyone out. So… just don’t get your hopes up.” Sohee, one of my friends, smiled awkwardly at me. I creased my eyebrows slightly and bit my lower lip.

“That’s totally fine. It’s just a crush anyway.” I laughed to ease the tension, and the girls looked at each other worriedly.

While we were sitting in the school canteen, Luhan’s group suddenly came, and my eyes shot up to Luhan. Luhan, who was oblivious of the stare he was getting from my lovestruck self, sat at the table beside where his group usually sat. I knew that they always sat there, but I never really paid attention to them until I joined their class.

“You like him that much?” Yoonji nudged me playfully, and I smiled in embarrassment.

Without answering the question, I just watched him from a safe distance and admired him silently. He looked so admirable, pure, and innocent to me. Although his friends had a bad reputation, I didn’t mind them. I wasn’t the type to judge people so easily. I, myself, wasn’t perfect, and I had flaws too. Although a good girl, I played around like any other student did. I didn’t do my homework at times, didn't study for exams, failed a few exams, didn't listen to the teacher – you name it, I'd probably done it. I was just a normal girl.

“Oh, Chanmi,” Sohee called as the small, cheerful girl approached them. Chanmi was one of Luhan’s friends, Sehun's, girlfriend. Oh Sehun was like a real brother to Luhan.

“Seriously, guys are crazy.” Chanmi rolled her eyes and suddenly saw my quiet self. “Seul-ah, how do you like the class so far? Better than your old class?” She winked playfully at me. Her bright and charming aura never failed to lighten up people’s mood.

I chuckled, looked up, and tapped my chin, as if thinking of a right answer. “Not too bad, I guess.” I laughed, and Chanmi playfully made a face at me.

“Any cute guys?”

That caused the whole table to look at me. They had just talked about it, yet I found myself blushing at the same question.

“If you tell Chanmi, I swear, she will tell Luhan. She has a big mouth,” Yoonji whispered to me. I knew Chanmi was a gossiper, but I wanted to trust her and believe that she wouldn’t tell anyone - or well, at least not Luhan.

“I- I have a crush on Luhan.”

Chanmi gasped loudly and covered . She found me adorable and innocent – that’s what she always told me. Maybe she thought it was really cute that an innocent girl was falling for an innocent guy.

“Oh my god, are you serious?!” Ecstatic would be an understatement if one saw how Chanmi was at that time. She was beyond happy, excited and… happy. She was thinking that maybe, finally, Luhan would get a girlfriend. The only problem was that someone had to play Cupid.

-

“D- Do you have Luhan’s number?” I nervously asked Yoonji, who just laughed at my embarrassed face.

“Of course, you cutie. Here, let me type it.” Yoonji took my phone and copied the number to mine. I was excited and nervous at the thought of messaging Luhan. I put my hands on my cheeks and breathed heavily, wishing it would lessen the redness on my face.

A very familiar laugh could be heard across the hallway. Luhan had a unique and adorable laugh that one shouldn’t and couldn’t miss.

“That is seriously gay. I never thought he would do that. What a–“ Luhan stopped talking and a small smile formed on his lips as he saw how I suddenly turned my back against him.

Sehun noticed how Luhan didn’t finish his words and teased his friend, “There’s your admirer.”

“Shut up.” Luhan bit back a smile at the teasing and watched me secretly as they entered the class. His seat was in front of mine, and I thanked God for that. I would feel self-conscious if ever I sat in front of Luhan. I didn’t want him to witness how clumsy I was and how I always made a fool out of myself.

Mrs. Lee, our motherly, sweet, yet strict homeroom teacher, was also aware of my affection towards Luhan. How had she found out? It was simple. The girls from her class told her as easy as telling their friends that this particular friend of theirs had a crush on someone. Being the lovable teacher she was, she decided to play Cupid.

“All of you are noisy and talking to each other. We have to do something about it,” she stated sweetly. The students weren’t even bothered by it. Mrs. Lee was just the sweetest and nicest. If ever she changed their seats, they would be seated not far from their friends, yet, still seated beside a student who could help them in academics.

Pairing a few students up, the others were still standing at the back of the class, waiting for their names to be called.

“Iseul, on the right.” Mrs. Lee pointed at the second to last seat in the middle row. “Luhan, beside Iseul.”

Yoonji, Chanmi, and Luhan’s friends looked at each other knowingly. They wanted to tease the two of them, but they didn’t want to make my reddened face worse. I was inwardly squealing and jumping for joy. I really wanted to scream in joy, but I knew better than to creep him out. I slowly, but deeply, took breaths to calm myself down.

Continuing with the rest of the lesson, the class started, and I found myself stuck with a question in the book I was trying to answer. I brilliantly thought that it might be a good idea to initiate a conversation with him. All the shyness and nervousness was blown away.

If he wouldn’t start a conversation with me, I would. If he didn’t like me back, I would still be okay with it. I had begun to love Luhan so much that I was willing to go through pain for him and be a martyr. Anything for him, I thought.

“Uh, Luhan, do you know how to answer this?” I pointed at the question and refused to meet his gaze. I was looking down, but I could see his sheepish smile.

“I’m sorry, but I’m stuck with that question too.”

“It’s okay.” The two of us laughed. It was a simple question, yet a start of something far more beautiful.

-

“Hi,” Luhan greeted me, and I greeted him back with a wider smile.

We had become texting buddies ever since I got his number. To my surprise, he had my number too. Endless text messages had been exchanged every day. We had been exchanging just simple text messages and no flirty ones. We would ask what the other was doing, if it was okay to message since he or she might be busy, and a little gossip about the teachers.

“Someone’s making a progress,” Yoonji cooed, and I pushed her away playfully.

After going home and waiting for a few more hours, I heard my phone beep. It was indeed a message from Luhan.

Luhan: What are you doing? Busy?

Iseul: Yup. Busy being bored haha. What are you up to?

Luhan: You’re really busy indeed. Lol. Playing dota with Sehun and the guys.

Iseul: Am I disturbing you? You can text me later.

Luhan: Nope, not at all. I can multi-task.

Iseul: Okay then…

Luhan: Uhm… How about we ask each other questions?

Iseul: Like what?

Luhan: Tell me about yourself or maybe… love life?

Iseul: You know me well enough. I’m crazy, hyper and weird… Lol.

Iseul: Love life you say? My ex broke up with me because of family reasons. That, I completely understand. After all, family comes first.

Luhan: Actually, I’ve heard about that before since your ex used to be in our class before he dropped out.

Iseul: Tsk. And you still asked about my non-existent love life. How about you?

Luhan: Sorry haha. There’s this girl I used to like. She is younger than me and she didn’t like me back.

My eyes widened in disbelief. Who wouldn’t like someone as perfect as Luhan?! The fact that he had liked another girl before made me see red with jealousy. I couldn’t help it. Somehow, I still felt as if I would lose him any moment; worse, he wasn’t mine from the start.

Iseul: Oops, sorry about that. So, did you ask her out?

Luhan: Nope. I was too shy and you do know that I’m extremely shy. I’m not lying.

Iseul: I know. liking someone one-sidedly, huh?

Luhan: Sure is.

I stuck my tongue out to my phone and thought, You should know how I feel now. A few more exchanged messages later, I got the girl’s name and searched her on Facebook and Twitter. I mentally rolled my eyes at the pictures. Indeed, she was pretty and had a lot of admirers. I then thought that maybe Luhan was one of those guys the girl counted as admirers and didn’t take him seriously. Too bad for you. Your loss.

I was smiling in contentment that the girl didn’t like Luhan back because that would mean one less opponent for me. I didn’t even notice that my older sister, Dana, had already come home from work. Dana was watching her little sister with a weird look. “Someone’s really thrilled when she’s just messaging someone,” Dana teased.

I got a little bit startled and wore a poker face again. “No, I’m not,” I lied. “Let’s eat.”

Luhan: What do you like in a guy?

I felt my cheeks warm and nearly choked on my food. Other people would just play hard to get and wouldn’t answer the question at first, but it was Luhan I was talking to. I would take all the chances I got just to get closer to Luhan. I loved him with all my heart.

I gulped nervously and replied to Luhan.

Iseul: Idk. Someone whom my family will approve of, someone who can take care of me and someone faithful. I don’t really have high standards hehe.

Luhan: I’m surprised that you don’t have high standards. I mean, I thought the reason why you keep rejecting guys is because you have insanely high standards. Lol. But what do you mean by ‘someone your family will approve of?’

I felt shivers run down my spine. I wasn’t dense. I had a feeling why Luhan was asking those questions, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

Iseul: Someone who will take care of me, a guy with respect and no bad habits. You know, just typical characteristics of what parents would want for their child. After all, they just want the best for me.

Iseul: How about you, what is your ideal girl?

Luhan: I think we have the same ideal likes in a person. Someone who will take care of me, love me for me and will accept everything about me. Someone who won’t give up on me.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why is he talking as if he has a dark background? Shaking the thought away, I decided to be thick-faced once again and took the role of the man between the two of us. Well, I guess he didn't like me as much as I liked him. Yes, I was making assumptions that maybe, just maybe, he had a little bit of liking for me too.

Iseul: Don’t worry, if that person really loves you, she would accept everything about you.

It took me a good few minutes before I managed to send my next text message.

Iseul: Do you have anyone you like as of now?

I swear, the moment I sent that, I threw my phone away. I was really nervous. What if he didn’t like me back? What if it was all just an illusion? What if – My thoughts were cut short as my phone vibrated. I my dry lips and looked at my phone for a few good seconds, just staring at the black screen. I didn’t want to open the message because I was not ready for heartbreak yet. But then again, I would have to face reality anyway.

Luhan: I like you.

-

“What?! Really?! Oh my god, congratulations!” Yoonji squealed in happiness as I told her what happened.

“Oh my god, Yoonji, shut up!” I half shouted. I wasn’t angry, just plain embarrassed. We were getting unwanted attention from everyone, which included Luhan’s group that was laughing at us.

“You two are so cute!” I think she had become deaf. All my complaints and begging fell into deaf ears. She didn’t keep quiet. Instead, she just got louder. I think she was doing it on purpose.

“A new couple is born. Luhan and Iseu–” Before she could finish what she was shouting, I clamped shut. I didn’t want to look at the table where Luhan and his friends were sitting. I was so afraid that he had heard everything. What if he thinks I got my hopes up high and that I’m already assuming things when I don’t even stand a chance?

“Ah, I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m going up first,” I said as I cupped my face with my hands. I was sure that my face was red. I had never been so embarrassed my whole life. Not listening to them, I went ahead to our classroom.

During breaks, our classroom would usually be empty, but sometimes it would have as many as half of the number of the whole class. To my luck, there were only three people inside. I smiled at them, and we talked a little. I became close to all of them quickly, and it was safe to say that I clicked with them in no time.

Planting my face cheek first on my table, I closed my eyes and let my arms hang limply on my side. I breathed heavily and listened to the footsteps. Someone was walking towards me, but I just ignored it, thinking it was just another student who decided to stay in the classroom.

“Hey,” the voice greeted. If only I had the power to stop time, I would have used it. I would have stopped time and run away from Luhan. He was the last person I wanted to see that moment.

“Oh, hi,” I answered and opened my eyes with my head still on the table, only to see him staring back at me with a little smile on his face. I quickly turned my head to the other side so I wasn’t facing him. I didn’t want him to look at my face. What if he finds me unattractive?

“You might be hungry since you didn’t even finish your food. I bought you a few chicken nuggets. Well, I noticed you always eat this. I hope that’s okay,” he said shyly, and I looked at him in amusement.

He really thought of me? I fought with all my strength not to attack him with a hug that instant. “You didn’t have to, but thank you,” I said sincerely. I was really touched by his little action. It was enough to make me feel as if I was on cloud nine.

“Uh, do you want to go home together?” he asked. I was at a loss for words. Am I going to die tomorrow? Why is this happening? When did I get so lucky?!

“But my bus doesn’t go to your house.” Well, our houses were just three streets away – less than a fifteen minute walk. Actually, he could take my bus too, since the next stop to my house was the bus interchange. From the bus interchange, he could walk home, which would take three minutes for him to reach.

“I can just take the bus again from your stop or I can just walk home.” I never thought God loved me so much. I felt like the happiest suitor in the whole world.

I wasn’t officially asking him out or anything, but that was what it looked like to all of us. I had always been the girl who believed that no girl should ask a guy out. I wasn’t planning on breaking that belief of mine even for Luhan, but I was willing to express my feelings first if he wouldn’t take the initiative to make the first move.

But then, he did the first move this time.

“I mean it’s okay if you don’t want to –“

“No! It’s okay.” My voice suddenly got a pitch higher, which sounded awfully funny. The two of us laughed at my reaction.

When our laughter was dying down, the two of us heard a small commotion outside the classroom. It was no other than my group of silly girl friends who were enjoying the scene in front of them.<