(A:N/ Firstly, thank you SO SO much to Aegyo Graphic Shop for my amazing poster. I absolutely LOVE it. It was done by the artist, hypnotized. Here is the link to the shop ___ Again, thank you so much. 

For the first chapter, i've made it especially long to kind of put the story into play. I'll apologize in advance for any gramatical errors. This was such a long chapter, and it was hard for me to repeatedly check over it. I hope you guys enjoy this, I worked very hard.)

Ugh. There was nothing that I hated more.

Work.

Waking up every day during my summer break at 8am? Not my slice of pie. Summer break was for sleeping in, swimming, and having fun. Not breaking my back while working.

But unfortunately, in this day and age of society, it was the only way to make a buck. Well, the only decent way, that is.

My Sunday morning had started off easily, (other than waking up early) with a nice breeze and a cool mist surrounding me as I rode my bike on a small path that led to Fluffy Puppy, the dog kennel that I had been working at for the last five years.

I took this road often, because it got me where I needed to go in a short amount of time, while driving me away from the heavy traffic of main roads. 

The sun had just risen, and honestly, the only good thing about riding my bike this way was listening to the sound of the calm nature that was hidden in the woods around me. This certain path went through the forest, because woodlands were very common in my hometown of Suncheon.

After a short bike ride through the woods, I arrived at Fluffy Puppy, and gently propped my bike up against the side of the dog kennel.

“Five bucks.”

I heard Shannon speak defiantly as I walked into the door, ready for work. My eyebrows rose as I saw all of the girls surrounding something as they stood by the shower in the corner. I looked back at Shannon. Shannon and I have been best friends since kindergarten, and it has stayed that way throughout our lives and up to high school. She is quite comical, and frequently dyes her hair bizarre colors. Currently, her hair is dyed a neon orange color. She tells me that it’s a way to express her ‘awesome personality’, but personally, I think it’s a form of rebellion.

At the age of twelve, she went through her first phase. It was basically a time in her life when she was super jealous of my Western-style name. I kept telling her that my parents had been crazy when naming me, ect. But she didn’t listen. So she marched home and demanded that her name be changed to Shannon. Honestly, I don’t know what she was thinking. Out of any name, she chose ‘Shannon’. Not that Shannon is a bad name. It’s just…?

Never mind.

Anyways, she marched home and demanded that it be changed. When her parents refused, she went on strike for three days and three nights. Let me remind you that she was twelve. We didn’t even know what ‘strike’ meant.

But eventually her parents gave in, and ever since, we have all called her Shannon. She even refuses to let us ever bring up her old name, because apparently it ‘brings back old wounds’ or something.

“I will bet you five bucks that that is an actual wolf.” She said again.

I was confused at first, but I slowly made my way to the shower, wanting to see what they were talking about. And then I saw -possibly the biggest- dog I had ever seen. It was standing up, tied with a thin rope to the wall of the shower.

Sure, I had seen St. Bernard’s in here before, which were pretty big dogs, but this dog was even bigger than that. It seemed to be a giant, blonde, husky. Even stranger than its color was its size. I had a hard time even comparing it to a husky, because it looked so much like a wolf. But calling it a wolf would be weird, right? Wolves are vicious, flesh eating animals that we don’t speak of because of our fear for them. So, for now, I’ll just call it a husky.

“Hey, we aren’t contradicting you. There is no doubt in my mind that that is, in fact, a wolf.” One of the girls said. I cut in, shooting her a look.

“No way. Have you ever seen a blonde wolf? I don’t think so.”

 “It actually looks too big to be a wolf… But, why is it here?” My boss asked skeptically.

Shannon shrugged. “I don’t know. I was the first to arrive this morning to let the dogs out in the back, and here he was. All that his owners left was a note saying that they would be back at 12:00pm to pick him up. How rude. They didn’t even call in and make an appointment.” Shannon pouted, not wanting to bathe the giant dog. Its fur looked dirty and matted, so it would probably take almost all day.

“I can do it.” I stated, suddenly feeling compelled to wash this dog myself.
Aish, if I hadn’t said anything, Shannon would have just done it. *Facepalm*

“You would do that for me? Oh Natalia, you are the sweetest bestie anyone could ever ask for! Thank you~” Shannon wailed happily, spinning around in a circle.

One of the other female workers, Hye Jung, cut Shannon off.

“That’s weird.” She stated simply, casting me a glance. My eyebrows rose again, questioningly.

“Ever since you came in here, that dog has been staring at you. Creepy.”

I hadn’t noticed, but it was true. Slowly looking to the side, I saw that the dog was staring at me, intensely. His eyes were a gorgeous gold color, with crimson specks by his pupils. It was strange. His eyes almost looked… human. I shuddered at the thought, and quickly tore my stare away from his. It felt weird looking into his eyes, like my heart was beating faster. Creepy indeed.

“That is creepy. Maybe he likes you~” Shannon said slyly, smiling at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, haha. Very funny Shannon. Keep personifying a dog; it will get you far in life.” I said sarcastically, trying to push off the fact that the dog was giving me a weird look.

“Whatever, Natalia. You can’t deny the wants of a wolf. They are dominant animals, and usually get what they want.” She replied suspiciously, wiggling her eyebrows.

“That’s not a wolf! It’s a husky-“ I began to complain, but my boss cut me off.

“Alright everyone. BACK TO WORK!” She yelled, and all the girls scattered back to their jobs. The boss didn’t like dilly-dallying. She was very strict. That’s one of the reasons she makes us call her ‘boss’ and not by her formal name.

Shannon ran back to the front desk to greet customers and answer the phone, and the other girls ran to the kennel to attend to the dogs that were staying while their owners were out of town. My job was bathing dogs. Personally, I think that my job is the hardest. Bending down and washing annoying dogs all day is not fun. All that I’m saying is that answering the phone all day sounds a heck of a lot better than bathing dogs.

Let me tell you, some dogs are just stupid. Sometimes, you even have to muzzle certain dogs or they will bite your arm off. Well, maybe not your entire arm, but it’ll still hurt.

And by the looks of how big this dog was, if he wanted to, I was sure that he could kill me. There was no doubt in my mind. He was even bigger than a wolf. He reminded me of a grizzly bear. A cute grizzly bear.

Once I was alone, I sighed deeply, already regretting my decision to wash the husky. He was still giving me that weird look.

“What is it? Is there something on my face?” I questioned dramatically. He replied with a small whine.

“Whatever. Just stop staring at me like that.” I whispered.

I casually walked over to the large cabinet that held gallons of dog shampoo. You’d be surprised that there are actually multiple different kinds of dog shampoos. There are medicated shampoos for dogs with hot spots, tea-tree oil shampoos for dogs with sensitive skin, and even different scented shampoos for weird people that like that sort of thing.

After a few minutes of consideration, I chose the heavy duty, grime fighting shampoo that was for dogs that spent a lot of time outdoors. And it looked like this dog did. His fur was covered in twigs and was badly matted. Although, I believed that once I finished washing him, he would look beautiful. Even in this state, his coat was silky and soft, and a beautiful blonde color. 

“How could your owners let you get to this state? Your fur is a mess.” I said doubtfully. He tilted his head slightly and began to pant.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It must be hot in here with all that fur. Let me open a window.” I nodded, standing up and walking over to the window. There were very strict rules about opening windows in the kennel, considering dogs could jump out and run away at any given moment. So I slightly lifted the window open a few inches, allowing some cool air to drift in from outside.

The Fluffy Puppy was located right next to a small convenient store that was the only place anyone could get a snack in this town for miles. Because of this, it was the teenagers local hang out.

Seeing the teens sitting outside, I sighed deeply. They were out there, eating ice cream and gossiping while I was stuck in here. Unfortunately, no matter how much Shannon and I ate ice cream and gossiped, we were always labeled as the weirdo’s in high school. Everyone thought Shannon was a lesbian for some reason. Maybe it was her crazy hair? Or that we were attached by the hip?

I was labeled as the ‘athletic weirdo’. I was a good runner, but somehow after all that running I didn’t gain a pound, and had stayed the same height (5’4’’) and the same weight (94 pounds) for my entire high school existence. I guess that freaked some people out. Not sure why.

I was also labeled since I hung out with the ‘rainbow haired lesbian’, and somehow that also made me a ‘possible’ lesbian. Don’t get me wrong, Shannon and I have nothing against lesbians. It’s just kind of hard to get hit on when the entire student body thinks you’re gay, if you know what I mean.

The first day of school would be this Monday, and I was already dreading it. The summer had seemed to fly by in a matter of days, and I had spent most of it working, trying to save up for college. After all, this would be my last year in high school. I was finally a senior!

Turning away from the large window, I faced the task ahead of me. I pulled out a pair of scissors and began to gently remove the twigs that were lodged in the dog’s fur. It was a long process, but I finally finished, setting the scissors aside.

“Step 1, complete! Now to soap up that coat of yours.”

I tilted my head to the side, sizing up my job. Yep. This would definitely take a while. And after almost thirty minutes of scrubbing, I had finally covered the wolf- I mean husky- in tons of shampoo.

“Haha. You look cute~” I said lovingly, piling some bubbles onto his head. It was weird. He seemed to be smiling, if dogs could even do that.

Suddenly I heard a ring as the front door opened, and a customer came in.

“Hello. Are you here for a drop off?” I heard Shannon ask politely.

“Yes. I made an appointment yesterday. I only signed up for a nail clipping, but I wanted to get Clyde bathed too, if that’s ok?” The man asked timidly.

Great. Another dog to bathe within my already packed schedule.

I quietly opened the door separating the grooming room from the front desk to get a look at how big the dog was. It was a Doberman, with pointed ears and a vicious spiked collar. It looked scary, but pretty hardcore as well. Someday, I should get a Doberman.

“That’s fine! I’m sure our groomer will be fine with an extra dog on her schedule.” Shannon laughed awkwardly, knowing that I would kill her.

“I’ll call you when Clyde is finished. It’s the same number you called to make an appointment with, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.” Shannon stood up and walked around the desk counter, taking the dog’s leash. It suddenly turned around and barked ferociously at her, pulling back its lips to reveal sharp white teeth.

Ok, scratch that. No Doberman for me.

She jumped in surprise, dropping the leash in the process. The man pulled the dog back in a hurry.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Clyde! What is wrong with you? I swear he never acts like that.” The man said apologetically.

Pfft. Sure it doesn’t ever act like that.

I stood up angrily. No one terrorizes my best friend but me.

Storming into the room, I pulled Shannon away from the dog.

“I’m sorry sir, but unless we muzzle that dog, we cannot bathe him. You’ll have to take him somewhere else.” He looked at me with a shocked expression, but agreed reluctantly. I guessed that no other kennel would bathe this dog. I could only imagine why.

After a whole lot of struggling, we muzzled him successfully, and the man left, leaving Clyde in our care.

“Gosh Shannon. Are you alright?” I asked, feeling awful.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me, Natalia. It’s not like it’s the first time that this has happened. Besides, I’m not the one bathing him.” She said remorsefully. “Good luck.” I nodded and dragged the dog into the back room. He was being quite annoying, and wouldn’t move his legs to walk.

“Aish. Stupid mutt. Why do I put myself through this?” I heard a whine in the corner, and turned my attention to Wolfie. After tying up Clyde, I walked back to him.

“Of course, the only thing that gets me through this awful job is meeting sweet dogs like you.” Smiling, I ruffled his hair, and began to rinse him. Dirt spiraled down the drain, along with many other foreign objects.

“Now you’re nice and clean. Just let me go grab the high powered blow dryer real quick-“

I stood up and turned around, about to grab the blow dryer, when BAM! The awful Doberman lunged at my legs, snarling furiously. Holy Crap, this dog has issues.

Jumping back in surprise, I slipped on the wet floor, falling hard onto my . I quickly scrambled away from Clyde, and my back hit the wall next to the shower. It seemed that the straps had somehow become loose on Clyde’s muzzle and it had fallen off.

I winced painfully. I think I bruised my tail bone. Ouch.

Clyde broke out into another series of growls and barks, which were honestly quite horrifying. He looked like he wanted to rip my head off. Thank God he was tied to the wall; otherwise my head would be ripped off.

Before I could even stand up, I heard a surprising sound behind me. In the shower, Wolfie was practically glaring daggers at Clyde. He was standing in a defensive position, and a low menacing growl escaped his throat.

Great. Now I had to deal with not one, but two dogs that were going nuts.  

I slowly looked at Clyde to see his reaction, and he seemed to not be fazed at all. Pfft. He was too cocky. I guess even male dogs had big egos.

When Clyde didn’t back down, Wolfie barked louder, and my ear drums almost popped. They were both snarling at each other like a pair of uncivilized mutts. In less than a second, Shannon ran into the room with a crazed expression.

“NATALIA! WHAT’S WRONG? DID IT KILL YOU?” She wailed, looking at the scene before her.

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought you had been eaten.”

“What? Would the two dogs join forces and devour me together?” I mocked, standing up slowly and brushing myself off.

“Haha. Very funny. But no, seriously. It barked so loud! I’ve never heard a dog bark that loud. I thought something was wrong.”

“Yeah, well Clyde over here just tried to murder me, but thankfully Wolfie stepped in. How chivalrous.”

“You named it? You know, that’s the first step of growing an attachment to something.” She stared at me seriously, crossing her arms. Before I could say anything, Clyde suddenly lunged at me again, and his leash broke off because of the brute force. He leaped towards me and I heard Shannon scream out.

I closed my eyes in horror, waiting for the painful burn of a dogs bite to hit me. I waited. And waited. But nothing came.

“Oh my god. Natalia, look.”

At Shannon’s surprised voice, I hesitantly peeled my eyes open, and my mouth fell open.

There before me stood Wolfie, standing in front of me protectively. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, and his ears pointed backwards, showing aggression. Clyde was cowering in front of him, obviously discovering his place.

With one more gruff growl, Wolfie stepped back and looked towards me. His eyes looked… almost… worried. They held a certain sort of sadness in them. He walked towards me and gently nudged his head into my shoulder.

“Oh my gosh, Wolfie. You saved me.” I muttered in a daze, surprised at the weird gesture.

Shannon looked almost as surprised as I was.

“I told you, Natalia. He’s in love with you. You can’t ignore wolf’s desires.”

^.^.^.^.^

I slowly mounted my bike, kicking up the kick stand. I thought back to earlier that day.

How strange.

After I had finished blow-drying Wolfie, I had gone to the bathroom for a short pit-stop. But when I returned, he was gone. Shannon had told me that she didn’t see anyone come in, but there was a 100 dollar bill left on the front desk. We both assumed that Wolfie’s owners had come to pick him up and had just left the money there.

I mean, I wasn’t complaining. One-hundred dollars is a lot of money. That’s almost a $40 tip for me.

I guess I was just sad to see him leave. I liked Wolfie.

But more importantly, I wanted to meet his owner and tell him what a great dog he had.

After the Clyde/Wolfie incident, Clyde kept cowering the entire rest of the day. Even when I washed him he didn’t even flinch. He seemed to be in a certain state of shock.

I woke up from my daze and rode down the same bike path that I had used to get to work. It was 8pm, and starting to get dark outside. Maybe I should invest in a car. It probably wasn’t safe to be riding in the woods alone at night.

As I thought about what had happened, my legs unconsciously began to peddle faster. I guess I hadn’t shaken off the weird feeling I got from Wolfie.

My head snapped to the side, and I heard the leaves rustle next to me. I was moving quickly, so whatever was in the woods had to be running. Cautiously, I stopped my bike and peered into the woods, waiting for a man to jump out and kill me. To my surprise, a head popped out of the leaves. Not human, but animal.

It was Wolfie!

I jumped off my bike and kicked down the kick stand.

“Wolfie! What are you doing out here? Your owner must be worried sick!” I said kneeling down.

“Come here.” I gestured with my hand.

He leapt out of the forest and bounded towards me, practically jumping on top of me.

“Holy crap wolfie. It hasn’t been that long, did you miss me that much?”

He showered my face with kisses like we hadn’t seen each other in forever. I closed my mouth trying to avoid the dog saliva.

“Where is your owner?” I pondered aloud. It was too late to bring him back to the kennel. Fluffy Puppy had already closed. And Wolfie wasn’t wearing any tags, so there was no address to bring him to.

Man, when I did meet his owners, we would have to have a serious talk.

“What am I going to do with you?” I shook my head, giving his a pat. He whined and widened his eyes, looking at me cutely. I pondered for a moment. I had only one solution.

 “Well…I guess you’ll just have to stay at my place until tomorrow morning.”

.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.

I arrived at my small lodge after about a twenty minute bike ride. The entire time I had been coaxing Wolfie to follow me because he didn’t have a leash, and I didn’t want him running away again. If he got lost, it would technically be Fluffy Puppies fault, and we might get sued. Boss would kill me if that happened, so I tried my best to get him to my place safely.

My tiny house was located pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It had been built in the middle of the mountains, and there wasn’t really anything by it other than woods, woods, and more woods.

This was the Jagers house, and had always been. From generation to generation this house had been passed down, and from the awful exterior, anyone could see that it had been around for too long. The paint was peeling off everywhere, and the shingles were hanging off of their hinges. It looked dark and dreary, and also appeared that no one was living in it. Alas, I was the poor unfortunate soul stuck with this place; I was just too lazy to do any maintenance. Plus I didn’t even know where to begin.

I was currently staying alone at the house due to my mom and dad being out of town. They were presently on a business trip. My parents owned an overseas weapons corporation, selling the newest and more improved versions of old weapons to multiple military sites in the United States. Weird, huh? When someone asks me, “What do your parents do?” I’m kind of hesitant in answering. Not many people own a weapon organization, and it sounds kind of intimidating, right?

My parent’s corporation also explains my Western name. My mother actually started the business herself, and one summer while she was in America promoting, she met my father, an American, and they fell in love even though there was a language barrier. (My father did eventually learn Korean.)

You’re probably thinking, “If her parents are leaders of such an important organization, why is she living in the middle of nowhere in a run-down shack?” Let me tell you, I don’t know either. My father is too damn stubborn to give up this stupid house because it’s been ‘passed down from generation to generation, and it’s our duty to keep it, blah blah blah.’ So yeah, I’m stuck here for now.

I looked at the dingy house and sighed. If a bad storm rolled through here, I knew it would be over for us.

I noticed that Wolfie was sitting next to me quietly, looking at the house as well.

“Don’t make fun of me. I know it looks like crap.” I mocked sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

“Come on, I’ll show you what it looks like inside. Trust me; it’s at least 20% better that what it looks like out here.”

Hesitantly taking off my shoes, I set them in front of the door neatly, and lifted up a small rock that was sitting by the door frame. There was a small key under it, and I quickly used it to open the door. Flicking the light switch, the house illuminated and the interior did as well. Inside were simple furnishings, nothing too fancy, and hard wood floors that expanded throughout the house.

 The family room and kitchen are at the front of the house, and the bedrooms are pushed to the back. It was tiny, but it was home.

“Come on in, Wolfie. Make yourself at home.” He gratefully accepted the invitation, and pranced through the door, wagging his tail happily. Once he was in the house, he seemed to accompany most of the space in the already-tiny family room.

“Wow Wolfie. I never really noticed how big you are until now.” I stated

He cast me a glance, and then suddenly ran to the back of the house.

“Hey! Where are you going? Wait for me!”I exclaimed, running after him. After I caught up to him, I found that he was sitting in front of my bedroom door. The door was open, but he wouldn’t enter. It was like he was waiting for permission to come in.

“It seems that you’ve found my bedroom. Pretty boring, right?” I cast a glance at my watch. “Oh crap. It is pretty late. We should get to bed. I have school tomorrow.” I said aloud, and walked into my room. He hesitantly followed, like he wasn’t supposed to be there.

I began to strip out of my clothes, and when I turned around to offer Wolfie something to drink, he had vanished. Haha. Who knew dogs could be prude? I turned back around and quickly pulled on my pajamas. I had taken a shower this morning, so I think I would just take one before school tomorrow morning.

Ugh. School. I was definitely not look forward to it. Spending so much time in one place every day was almost suffocating. I remembered my summer homework. Thankfully I had finished it a while ago, so there wouldn’t be any last-minute work being done.

I sulked into my bathroom and washed my face, and brushed my teeth, popping my retainer in. Yep, that’s right. I had braces in elementary school. What an embarrassing time period for me. I felt like I had been the only one in the entire school with them. Thankfully, this retainer was one of the invisible ones, so it wasn’t very noticeable.

I fell face-first into my bed, already feeling tired and not wanting to really do anything else. Before bed I would usually watch television for a while or check my social media, but tonight was a do nothing, sulk about school night. Flipping onto my back, I yelled. “Wolfie! It’s time to go to sleep! You can come in here now!” 

And in less than a second, he came darting into my room and all I could see was a flash of blonde fur. Then he was on top of my bed and lying right next to me.

It felt weird. I had never slept next to anything before. Other than Shannon during our multiple sleepovers, this was a first. Suddenly it became very awkward for me, and I did the only thing I could do, grab my phone. Usually if I was every feeling awkward, playing on my phone helped. A little.

I pressed the on button and saw that there were many messages left by Shannon.

As soon as I sent the text, my phone erupted with its ringtone. Shannon was calling. I slammed my finger on the answer button and held the phone up to my ear. Bad decision.

“NATALIA!!!! AJRSODNGINRWAODF!!!!”

I jerked the phone away from my ear because of her screaming on the other end. Even Wolfie looked annoyed.

”SHANNON! Stop yelling! You just blew out my ear drum! Take a deep breath and tell me slowly, OK?” I said through clenched teeth.

“Oh, sorry Nat. I didn’t mean to yell! I’m just so excited!” She bubbled with joy, and continued with her story.

“You wouldn’t believe it! Today when I was leaving work, I passed the convenient store, right? Well, when I was walking by, a bunch of teens were sitting outside talking. I got called a lesbian again.”

“Wow. What a great story. Not like it hasn’t happened before?” I questioned dramatically.

“NO! Not that. I heard the story after they made fun of me. They thought that I was out of earshot, but I really wasn’t. So I heard what they were talking about, and get this!- Apparently, six super hot guys just moved in, like, a mile from here! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!” She squealed happily.

“No I don’t. Please enlighten me.”

“THAT MEANS THAT THEY’LL GO TO OUR SCHOOL!” She shouted, waiting for my reaction. Wolfie’s ears had also seemed to perk up, and he looked for my reaction as well.

“Umm… that’s great?” 

“Great? GREAT? NO NAT! THAT’S AMAZING! We finally have a chance at a relationship!” She said, clapping.

It was true. In our small high school, there were hardly even 100 seniors, and most of them were all in relationships with one another. That left Shannon and I single.

“Not really. You just said that they were rumored to be ‘super hot’, so how does that give us a chance? I mean, we’re cute, I guess. But don’t ‘super hot’ guys usually go out with ‘super hot’ girls? Not to mention, as soon as they arrive, they’ll probably be informed about how we’re ‘lesbians’, right?”

“Wow Nat. Thanks for crushing my dreams. I was just hoping, ok?” She whispered, and I suddenly felt bad.

“I’m sorry, Shannon. I guess after seventeen years of having no boyfriend has left me rigid and heated.”

I could hear Shannon laugh on the other end of the phone.

“Oh Nat. What is it that I always tell you?”

“Nope. Not gonna say it.”

“SAY IT.” She demanded.

“Ugh. Fine. Only for you. ‘I’ve been single for seventeen years, and I can be single for at least a few more.’”

“That’s my girl.”

We both began to laugh. This was something we told each other often, because it was true. It was like our motto, almost. After going through seventeen years of being single, loneliness was beginning to grow tiresome, so we would tell each other this to keep our spirits up.

“Anyways, how was work? I left a little bit earlier than you. Did anymore dogs come in?” Shannon asked me, changing the subject.

“Nope. The evil Doberman was the last dog I did today. And you wouldn’t believe it! When I was going home, guess who I encountered?”

“Who?” She asked skeptically.

“Wolfie! He was following me in the bushes!”

I looked down at Wolfie and patted his head.

“Really? How do you think he got loose? Didn’t his owners pick him up?” She questioned.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. Maybe he escaped from them or something? Whatever the case, I just brought him home with me. He’s sitting on my bed.”

“WHAT? He’s on your bed? Be careful, Nat. He might try to take you.”

“WHAT? Shannon, I swear, you are so weird. Stop talking about Wolfie like he’s an actual human being. He won’t TAKE anything!” I wailed, my eyeballs bulging. She laughed.

“Whatever Nat~” She sang in a sing song voice.

“Hey, I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow!” She said.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I replied. We both hung up, and I set my phone on my nightstand.

What a strange girl. I guess that was why we were friends.

^.^.^.^.^.^

The night had been a blur. After my short phone conversation with Shannon, I had fallen asleep after setting my alarm for 7:00am. I woke up to the annoying beeping of the wretched machine, and I slammed my fist on it hard. School, here I come.

As I was getting dressed in my uniform, I noticed that Wolfie was gone. I had no idea where he had disappeared to, but the window was open. Maybe he had jumped? It wasn’t that high. I was just throwing myself into a panic because I knew that Boss would kill me.

Oh well. I’d have to look for him later. Right now I had to get to school, and I would NOT be breaking my perfect attendance record just to look for a dog that had a bad tendency of running away.

After brushing my teeth and eating breakfast, I gave myself one last look in the mirror before grabbing my house key and locking up. A brief thought passed through my mind about what Shannon and I had spoken of the previous night. I wondered if six boys would be coming to our school. The thought was weird. Why were six of them moving to Suncheon at once? Were they brothers? That was unlikely. They couldn’t all be brothers at the same age.

Casting the thought aside, I slipped my shoes on and pranced to my bike, climbing onto the seat. It usually didn’t take that long to ride to school, and taking the bus was a waste of money. So taking the usual route, I got to my high school safely, and locked my bike up next to many others.

Shannon was waiting for me at the front doors, wearing her uniform fashionably with her orange hair.

“Hey Nat. You look as cute as ever.” She smiled, backing off of the door frame.

“You do too. Hey, isn’t that not permitted?”

“What?”

“Your orange hair?” I pointed to her almost waist-length hair.

She shrugged, walking in step with me.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. They’ll kill me before I change my hair color.” She held up her fist triumphantly, pushing out her lips. I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever.”

We slowly made our way through the crowded halls in no hurry, because class didn’t start for another twenty minutes.

“I wonder if we’ll see them.” Shannon suddenly whispered.

“See who?”

“You know! The hot guys that moved here!” She said excitedly.

I sighed deeply. That’s all she cared about.

“Let’s just go to the classroom now.”

She nodded, and we walked to the classroom, along with multiple other seniors. On the way we received a few nasty comments like, “So you decided to come back to school too, Lesbos?” Because apparently lesbians don’t go to school…? What a clever joke.

We ignored them like we had been for the last three years, and shoved our way into the classroom.

Shannon and I quickly claimed two seats next to each other, even though because of it we would probably receive even MORE comments about being lesbians. But we didn’t care. Sitting next to each other every year was the only thing that got us through to the next one.

We watched as the rest of the seniors made their way into the classroom, and saw how many of them had taken the opportunity to change their appearances over the summertime.

And then HE walked in.

He had been the main target of our frustration throughout high school, and also the main source of our bullying. He was an attractive guy named Kim Woo Bin, and the top bully of the school. He always made a point to tear down our self-esteem, and he was good at it too. Anyone that was insecure about anything, he would find out what it is and terrorize them about it for the entire year.

He smirked at me cockily and bent down, setting his hands on my desk. Shannon scowled at him angrily.

“Hey girls. How was your summer? Did you have any make-out sessions?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. The girls around us giggled, laughing at pretty much anything he said, EVER.

“No, unfortunately we didn’t. But you did, right? With your non-existent girlfriend?” I mocked, smiling back at him. His smile turned into a frown almost immediately. The room grew silent. It was a known fact among the school that even though Kim Woo Bin was attractive, he could never hold a girlfriend for more than a week. No one knew why. Some thought maybe he had a small… Ehrr… you know. Others thought that he was just too cocky for his own good. It was also never him who ended it. Always the girl.

In a swift motion, he backed away from our desk. He scowled, and was about to advance me in a possible physically harming way, when the teacher busted into the room.

Thank God.

“TAKE YOUR SEATS!” He yelled, and everyone, including KimWoo Bin, immediately obeyed. This Seonsangnim was very strict with the rules, similar to my Boss.

“First of all, everyone stand up and move to the seat on your right. We will not choose our own seats this year.” He stated simply, which was awarded with a chorus of whining.

Everyone stood up and moved to the desk on their right. This left me completely alone, sitting by myself at an empty desk. Shannon was currently stuck next to none other than KimWoo Bin.

She looked at me desperately, but there was nothing I could do for her now.

“I am SO sorry.” I mouthed to her, and she frowned, lowering her head. This year was already beginning in the wrong direction. I looked around, finding that many people were also sitting alone. That was odd; because our seat count was always identical to how many students we had each year. Seonsangnim quickly cut my thoughts off, answering my question.

“You all may be wondering why there are so many extra seats in the classroom today. Well, I’ll take this time to introduce you all to your new peers.” Suddenly the door opened promptly, and in walked six extremely good looking boys.