I shifted uncomfortably, awkwardly petting the hysterical girl in some hopes of consolation. Somehow it felt like her sobs were only intensifying. I huffed and finally pulled away from her, "Suzy, it's a month! You'll be back before you know it!"

Stifling back my laughter at her watery eyes, I reached out and thumbed her cheeks to remove the streaks her tears had left. "I won't see you for an entire month." She murmured, finally taking a breather from her sobs long enough to manage a structured sentence. 

I shook my head, "Hey, I promised I'd talk to you every day right?"

"Yeah but-"

"I even made an account of that stupid chatroom didn't I?"

"I know but-"

"So don't be sad and enjoy your holiday. Visit your parents and hang out with your friends. Just remember to bring back some cute photos." I smiled, ruffling her hair and enveloping her into a final hug. 

She squeezed back and I knew she'd finally given in. "I hate school for making you take holiday classes."

I chuckled, "I'm pretty sure that's my fault for failing."

She shook her head stubbornly before moving to hug the other three girls who had been rather patient with the girl's dramatic departure. 

"Say hi to my parents for me!" I called as she headed over to the check-in. I wasn't sure if she heard me until she raised a palm in the air, making me chuckle.

"Awww our little Lian is all grown up!" Fei cooed, wrapping an arm around my waist. 

"Pretending to be all cool when you're secretly crying because Suzy left." Jia added, choke holding me.

I shook both of them off of me with dirty glares that only made them laugh harder. Even if they were right, they didn't need to rub it in. Truthfully, I was reacting the same way as Suzy, only I managed to conceal it- Suzy had never been one to hide her emotions. I couldn't even remember the last time Suzy and I had been apart. We'd been living together since we were 13 and I'd grown used to seeing her every day and night. It would be wierd being able to sleep in late because there was no one to wake me with the scream of "I'm late!".

I knew the plane trip was roughly 2 hours but I still pulled out my laptop, signing onto my freshly made EXOTIC account. Grimacing as the embarrassing username popped up, courtesy of Suzy, I quickly tapped in the easy password Suzy had assigned. 

I only had one friend, which was rather sad, but I didn't particularly care.

LILI [16/09 09:43PM]: Message me when you land. Hope you had a nice flight. xx

I didn't check my laptop again until later that night and unsuprisingly, Suzy had kindly left me with close to a dozen new messages. 

Suzybear [16/09 11:09PM]: The flight was dull without you. I miss you alreadyyyy. 

Suzybear [16/09 11:18PM]: Don't you miss me?

Suzybear [16/09 11:32PM]: LOL Guess what?

Suzybear [16/09 11:34PM]: Since you aren't guessing, I'll tell you.

Suzybear [16/09 11:36PM]: Kris and the others tried to scare me at the airport.

Suzybear [16/09 11:37PM]: But apparently they got the wrong person. How funny! 

Suzybear [16/09 11:38PM]: I bet you're laughing at the computer.

Suzybear [16/09 11:39PM]: And now you're smiling because of how well I know you.

Suzybear [16/09 11:41PM]: Now you're frowning because you hate being predictable.

Suzybear [16/09 11:49PM]: Ok seriously. WHY AREN'T YOU REPLYING?

LILI [16/09 11:52PM]: Sorry. It's late though and you're probably jet lagged so get some sleep.

Suzybear [16/09 11:52PM]: THAT'S YOUR RESPONSE? You can be so heartless Lili 3

LILI [16/09 11:54PM]: Idiot.
LILI [16/09 11:54PM]: Sleep.
LILI [16/09 11:54PM]: And how the hell do I get rid of this stupid nickname?

Suzybear [16/09 11:55PM]: I'm not telling you!

LILI [16/09 11:56PM]: Goodnight Bae. 

Suzybear [16/09 11:55PM]: Night Ahn. Be online at 8 tomorrow night. xox

A wistful sigh found its way out of my mouth as I lowered the screen. I could already feel the toll of Suzy's absence. I missed her. 

I rolled onto my bed, setting the alarm early for tomorrow. If I missed any of my supplementary classes then I'd fail the semester and I wasn't prepared to add an extra year to my lengthy high school sentence.

The alarm was ineffective and somehow I found myself sprinting through the gates. I bumped into several people, bowing my head in apology as I whizzed past.

"Made it!" I murmured to myself as I reached the classroom, bending over and resting my palms against my knees to stabilise my breathing. Without Suzy being late, noone was there to remind me that I was also late. 

I stepped into the room, analysing my seating options.

Majority of the room was unfamiliar- I guess that was expected since we were all the leftovers that couldn't pass all our subjects.

The first thing I noticed was the gender inequality. At least 3 quarters of the class was male and if that didn't make me feel bad enough, they were all staring at me.

I ducked my head quietly and walked towards the group of girls seated in the middle row. It was perfect- not to close to the front and yet not giving out the 'we don't want to learn' aura. They smiled back at me but made no move to strike a conversation so I paid them the same respect. I pulled my rucksack onto the desk, about to take out my things when a familiar breathless voice caught my attention.

"Lian's in this class?" Chanyeol huffed, standing at the doorway.

His eyes skimmed over the room before finally meeting mine. I looked away instantaneously, a bright pink blush giving away my embarrassment.

Immediately a goofy grin spread across his face as he walked into the room. He offered me a cheerful morning greeting as he passed my desk and I shyly muttered a reply. He took the seat his friends had saved for him, conveniently right behind mine, before engaging in his story of how he missed the bus.

It was common knowledge that Chanyeol had a thing for me.

It started in freshman year of high school. I was in the same class as him as well as Baekhyun and Sehun- two of his friends. I hadn't so much as spoken a word to the guy until one day during the freshman school camp and he decided to declare his love for me in front of the entire school. I had been horrified with embarrassment. I still didn't have the courage to so much as converse with boys let alone date one! Suzy still bullied me about the incident since I had ran off, completely leaving the boy hanging. Thankfully Chanyeol was an unbelieveably bright person and he didn't seem fazed by my response- rather it only made him strive to get to know me better (not that it had worked thus far). Secretly, I hoped that someday I could talk to him whilst actually looking at him, rather than his shoes. 

The class was unutterably boring to the extent where I had begun to contemplate methods of escape that wouldn't land me broken legs. After class, I hastily packed my things but it was futile since Chanyeol had ninja skills. He waited as I loaded my bag, resting against the desk opposite mine.

"How about we have a study session tomorrow?"

I bit my lip, my gaze low. He knew the answer but he continued before I could reply, "You can bring your friends...and I'll bring mine. So it won't be too awkward."

I would have denied him but his offer made me freeze. Perhaps it was about time I hung out with them. I mean I needed practice for the future when I, eventually, wanted to fall in love. Besides, Min, Fei and Jia would go ballistic if they found out I denied them an opportunity to hang out with the school flower boys. Reluctantly I nodded. I wasn't sure if he saw it but as I looked up, his cheshire grin signalled that he no doubt had. 

"Awesome. Tomorrow 9 o'clock. I'll wait for you outside the school library."

I nodded again, this time with a shy smile before shuffling to the exit,

Once I was out of proximity, I felt a huge relief in my chest. Exhaling, I shook my head in disbelief. Why did I always get so tied up around boys? Good looking boys. I had been fine in elementary school but having been stuck in a boarding school full of girls for the duration of middle school, I somehow developed a boy phobia.

I pulled out my phone to notify the other 3 girls before heading home with a heavy heart.

I needed to prepare myself for tomorrow.

As promised, I was logged on by 7.30 just to ensure Suzy wouldn't have a fit because I wasn't there. Oddly enough, Suzy was already online. I sent her a message and her reply was almost instaneous- only it was in English. Suzy didn't speak english.

LILI [17/09 07:32PM]: Heyy

Suzybear [17/09 07:32PM]: Ayo wassup?

LILI [17/09 07:33PM]: English?

Suzybear [17/09 07:35PM]: Yeah it's my new thing.

I couldn't help but take notice of the spelling mistakes. Suzy wasn't the most talented in her mother tongue of Korean but somehow the writing style seemed off today.

LILI [17/09 07:38PM]: What's wrong with you? Are you okay?

Suzybear [17/09 07:40PM]: Can we speak in Mandarin?

I frowned but complied anyway, switching my keyboard to its chinese setting. 

LILI [17/09 07:43PM]: Okay so, what's up with you today?

Suzybear [17/09 07:44PM]: Actually I'm Yifan- one of Suzy's friends. She just went to the shops with Yixing.

LILI [17/09 07:45PM]: Oh. I see.

Suzybear [17/09 07:45PM]: I can keep you company in the meantime though. 

LILI [17/09 07:46PM]: You don't have to. I don't mind waiting.

Suzybear [17/09 07:46PM]: I want to. 

Yifan actually turned out to be a funny person. He was dorky and had the funniest sense of humour. I had never found myself laughing so hard in front of a computer screen. I was even kind of glad that Suzy was running late.

Suzybear [17/09 08:35PM]: Damn it. She's back. I'm going to delete these messages so don't tell her I was talking to you.
Suzybear [17/09 08:35PM]: She'll skin me alive. 

LILI [17/09 08:36PM]: Thanks for keeping me company. 

Suzybear [17/09 08:37PM]: It was my pleasure and I assure you it will happen again sometime.

LILI [17/09 08:38PM]: I look forward to it.

He must have completely erased the messages because when Suzy logged on she seemed as clueless as always. Even as I spoke to her about today, I still found my mind wandering back to Yifan making me grin at the screen. He was probably the only guy I could converse with without combusting into a ball of embarrassment. I smiled to myself, hoping I'd be able to talk to him again sometime.

Wu Yi Fan.

Authors Note:
AND CHAPTER ONE IS UPPPPPPPPP
Thank you to Hoboprincess for upvoting <3