Her eyes opened, squinting in the bright sunlight that entered her room through the blinds.  She sat up and took a deep breath.  Her heart fluttered with nerves, her stomach grumbled with extreme hunger.  She pounded her chest with her fist lightly, trying to give herself some confidence to get through the day ahead.

"You can do this, Emma," she said quietly to herself.  "It's your first day.  This is normal."

It's completely normal.  That's if you think that being transferred from America to live in Korea with no one supporting you is considered normal.  Her parents sent her to Korea after an...accident...that occurred.  This accident separated the family forever, which broke Emma's heart.  Her family meant everything to her, even though they didn't support her at all. 

She struggled to hold back her tears.  She had been crying endlessly for days on end. 

"At least you have God.  You have your faith," she tried to comfort herself internally as she got up and washed her tear-stained face.  "Don't lose hope."

The rest of her morning before leaving for school was...let's say, boring, uneventful, and absolutely horrible.  She sighed as she messily slapped cream on her face to conceal her dark circles and acne marks.  She looked in the mirror.  She looked dreadful.  Her eyes screamed for sleep; her lips were dry and chapped; her milk-chocolate skin cracked, begging for lotion.

On top of that, she had nothing to eat. 

I can last until lunch. 

Her stomach growled with protest. 

Rolling her eyes with annoyance, she grabbed her bag and walked out the door.  The warm morning sun bloomed through the thin tops of the trees.  With a deep breath, she walked down the steps and walked down the street until she came to a tall building.

This must be it.

It was an extremely tall building for a school.  It was covered with dark brown paint.  The windows were carefully lined with silver panes.  The front door's glass exterior gleamed in the sun and glared in her eyes.  Above the front door were the words, "Knowledge is power."  She snorted.

"Hello, welcome to XOXO Academy, how can I help you?" a nice-looking lady from behind the desk greeted her as she walked up.

"Hello," Emma bowed.  "I'm new here."

"What's your name?"

"Park Emma."

After a few seconds, the lady looked up and smiled.  She handed her a slip of paper, explaining her classes for the day.  "Your first class is just down the hall on the right," the lady said happily.

"Oh, okay," Emma stuttered.  "Thank you."

The lady stood up and shook her shaking hand.  "I'm Mrs. Chung.  If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Emma forced a smile.  "Thank you."

With that, the girl took another deep breath for the nth time and walked timidly down the hall.  She could feel the kids around her stare at her with curious eyes.  She kept her head down and walked a bit faster.  She was walking so carelessly that she didn't even notice that she accidentally bumped into someone.  A boy.

The books he held dropped onto the floor with a loud bang.  Startled, Emma turned around with wide eyes.  Without hesitating, she dropped to the ground and helped him gather his things.

"I-I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Oh, it's okay.”  The boy smiled.  "I'm pretty clumsy sometimes."

He had the sweetest-looking face she had ever seen.  His eyes sparkled with laughter.  His smile was as bright as the sun that morning.  His soft-looking, brown hair was swept across his forehead neatly.

"I should get going now," Emma said and awkwardly stood up to go. 

"Are you new?" the boy asked.

Emma nodded shyly.  "I'm a transfer."

His eyes smiled.  "That's-"

"What do you think you're doing, newbie?"  A girl walked up and pushed Emma into the wall.  She winced. 

The girl slapped her face.  "How dare you knock my oppa's books down like that!"

Emma turned her cheek and looked away.  "I...er, sorry."

"Hana," the boy said and pushed the girl away.  "Stop it.  You're scaring her."

The girl, Hana, glared at him.  "How can you let her get away like that, Oppa?  She's a nobody."

His smiling eyes suddenly filled with anger and annoyance.  "Don't say things about someone you don't even know," he stated.  "Go away."

With a huff, the girl held her head high and stomped down the hall. 

"Are you okay?" the boy looked at Emma with concerned eyes.

"Y-yeah," she stuttered, still a bit stunned from the hard slap on her cheek. 

His slender hand touched her cheek lightly.  "You're hurt."

She pulled away.  "It's nothing," she said.

"But-"

"It's fine," she bit her lip and walked down the hall to her class before he could say anything more.

--

"Hello, my name is Park Emma," she said in front of her class.  "I'm a transfer from America.  I hope we can be friends."

"Thank you, Emma," the teacher said bluntly and sent her back to her seat. 

She sank deep into her seat, humiliation swept over her as all eyes turned towards her as if she was some sort of alien.

Everyone's trance broke when the door swung open.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Mrs. Kang!"

Emma's eyes widened; it was the boy from this morning.

"That's okay, Baekhyun, you're usually never late.  Have a seat."

Baekhyun's eyes scanned the room for a free desk.  His eyes widened slightly as he came and sat down next to Emma.  Her cheek was still a bit red from the impact that morning.

He reached into his lunch bag and pulled an icepack out.  He handed it to her. 

She gave him a weird look.  "What's this?"

"For your cheek," he explained.  "Just take it.  It'll be better after about two minutes."

She hesitantly nodded and took the cold pack into her hands and pressed it against her cheek.  She had to admit, it felt really good.

“I’m Baekhyun, by the way,” he smiled.  “Byun Baekhyun.”

She smiled back.  “I’m Emma.  Park Emma.”

--

The first block of the four that day went by faster than Baekhyun expected. 

Maybe it’s because of working with Emma.

When he first saw her, he saw a shy, timid girl, frightened of her own shadow.  As the first block went on, though, she had begun to open up to him a little bit.

"Hey, we have the same schedule!" he observed happily.

She hummed and nodded.  "That's good," she noted.  "And that's bad."

"What, why?"  He cocked his head.

"Because I'm stuck with you all day!"  She smiled teasingly.

He playfully poked her arm.  "Admit it, you like being around me."

"Byun Baekhyun."  She looked at him.  "We just met!"

"I know, I know!"  He held up his hands with defeat.  "I'm just saying..."

"Yes, in fact," she interrupted him.  "I do like being around you."

His heart fluttered a bit when she said that.  He looked a bit dazed. 

"Hey, Earth to Baekhyun," Emma said and waved her hand in front of his face.

He snapped out of his trance.  "Oh, uh," he cleared his throat.  "Let's go."

--

By the time lunchtime came around, Baekhyun and Emma were basically best buddies. 

"Do you want to eat lunch with me?" he asked her as they walked out of the classroom.

She shrugged.  “Sure.”

"Cool!  I'll introduce you to my friends," he said and smiled brightly.

They walked out of the lunchroom and into the courtyard.  There were trees along the dirt path they walked along, lightly shading the path.  At last they came to a spot with benches.  Emma's eyes widened a bit when she saw them.  The boys.  His friends.  Five of them.  And they were cute.  Really cute.

One with large ears like a fairy smiled at her.  She felt so stupid smiling back.

He turned to Baekhyun.  "Who's this?"

"Hello, I'm Park Emma," she said and bowed.

The boy next to him shook his head and laughed.  "No need to be formal."

Her cheeks turned rosy with slight embarrassment.  "Oh...okay..."

"I'm Park Chanyeol!"  The boy with fairy ears waved happily.

"I'm Kim Joonmyun."  The boy next to him smiled.  “But people call me Suho.”

"Hey, I'm Kim Jongin.”  The next boy with darker skin winked.  “Otherwise known as Kai.”

"I'm Do Kyungsoo," a boy with wide eyes said.

"And I'm Oh Sehun!" the next boy squeaked with a slight lisp.  "I'm the baby!"

Emma could feel a smile creep onto her lips.  "It's nice to meet all of you."

The boys smiled back.  Baekhyun ushered her to a seat in between him and Chanyeol.

"You're new?" Suho asked as he cleared his throat.

"Uh, yeah," she laughed nervously.  "I'm from America."

"Oh…"  He nodded.  "Did you move here?"

"Actually, I was sent here," she replied.  "My parents sent me here because...something happened."

The boys nodded. 

"Hey, Baek, it's your ultimate fangirl."  Sehun elbowed Baekhyun's arm.

"Baekhyun-oppa!" Hana squealed and came running down the path.  Her facial expression changed as she saw Emma sitting next to him.  "Why are you eating with the freak?"

"She's not a freak," Baekhyun said calmly.  "You're the freak, thinking that I like you."

"But, Oppa, you do!"

"I don't."

She gasped.  "Did you just-?"

"Reject you?  Yeah."

Tears of anger and humiliation flooded her eyes.  She turned to Emma.  "It's all your fault!  It's all because of you!  You ruined everything!"

Emma blinked.  "Me?  How could someone so insignificant like me ruin everything for you?"

"Don't you dare sass me," Hana slapped the same cheek she slapped this morning.

"Hey!"  Chanyeol got up and towered over Hana, causing her to cower a little.  "Don't lay another finger on her, or I swear to myself I will hurt you."

She snickered, standing her ground against the tall boy.  "You can't hurt me."

Chanyeol took a step towards her and glared.  "You wanna bet?"

"Chanyeol, that's enough," Suho warned.

Chanyeol gave one last long glare at Hana before sitting back down next to Emma. 

"You just wait, newbie," Hana huffed.  "I'll get you back so hard, you won't even see it coming."

"Just go away, Hana."  Sehun got up and pushed her away.  "No one wants you here."

Hana glared at him and marched back down the path towards the building.

"You okay, Em?" Chanyeol looked at her.

Emma nodded.  Her cheek stung incredibly. 

"Ah, your cheek again," Baekhyun sighed and took his ice pack and pressed it against her cheek.  She couldn't help but letting out a little sigh of relief from the cold.

"Thanks guys," she smiled shyly. 

Baekhyun placed his hand on hers and looked deep into her eyes.  "Promise me you won't listen to anything she says, okay?"

Emma nodded obediently. 

"Good girl," he smiled teasingly and pat her head.

--

"Where do you live?" Suho asked.

"Oh, just around the corner on the hill," Emma replied and shrugged.

"Really?" Sehun asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"We live up there too!"

"All of you?"

"Yeah, we were orphans adopted by this rich dude," Kai nodded.  "He sent us to school and gave us a small house up there."

Emma's eyes widened a bit as she saw them enter the house next to hers.  "What…we live next to each other!"

"Yay!" Sehun squealed.

"Shut up, Hun," Kai smacked the boy's shoulder.

Before going inside, Baekhyun stayed back.  "We're going to go out to eat later.  You wanna come with us?"

"Uh, sure," she replied.

He seemed to be relieved.  "Oh, cool.  We'll pick you up later, at around five, okay?"