It was another normal day at the Ultimo in Sydney. People going to public transport stations to go to work. People driving to work, everything at that moment was related to work. It was a winter's Monday, a time when people just wanted to stay in their cozy beds. Likewise for Sam Carter, a foreign language teacher who had just arrived at his bus stop. He had worked at Sydney Boys for two years but left, as he wanted to pursue more learning. As a result, after graduating again, he was finally going back. Bored due to the disinterest around him, he took out a textbook that he would use in class and started to examine it to find important notes for his students. Unaware of the new presence a few seats away, he continued to read. Who would’ve known that the new presence would change him so much later.

Luhan… A name that had been used so much, it had lost its purpose. Luhan was the name of an exchange student who had came from Beijing's Nan Sheng Zhong Xue, one of the most prestigious schools in China. Upon choosing Foreign Languages, Luhan was sent to Australia to learn proper and fluent English. However, this action was a huge mistake. Arriving in Australia was no different from entering the house of Satan. Mockery, bullying, ual harassment, isolation and the disapproval from others were all Luhan had experienced so far.

“Hey Luhan, will you go on a date with me tonight?” A boy asked

“…”

“I’m taking that as a yes so meet me at the aquarium at 5pm tonight, okay?” Laughing, the same boy arrogantly walked back to his group of mates as they gave out high-fives to each other.

“Hey Luhan, do you want to go to the salon with us tomorrow after school? You really should get something done with your hair. Why do you keep on cutting it so short? You’ll look so much cuter with long hair.” A girl snickered as she walked past.

“Good morning Mrs. Smith, long time no see.” A voice spoke, breaking the pressuring silence of the school office.

“Oh Sam! Why how delightful is it to see you back. How was your new course?” an elderly woman asked in response to the voice.

“It was wonderful! But I still missed you all a lot. So what’s on my timetable today?”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you. Anyway back to business, you have a Foreign Languages class at eleven o’clock, another at one and tutoring after school for the new exchanged student from China.”

“Really? So much work for the first day back!”

“Well, what did you expect? Lunch supervision?”

“Oh, I really wish that was all!”

“Just get ready for class. Oh, you might want to… never mind. Have a nice day back!”

Ignoring her hesitation, Sam waved goodbye to the office lady and walked to the staff room, greeting old teachers and students along the way. As the bell called out the first period, he watched as students went into classrooms and the hallways going back to their soundless sleep.

“Today, we will be teaching…” As Mr. Williams began his class, Luhan was daydreaming while looking out the window. Pluck… a messily folded paper plane had dropped on the desk. For the whole three months since Luhan’s first day, paper planes with love messages had just lost their whole cute and cheesy purpose. Crunching the paper plane up, Luhan threw it across the room in the bin as thoughts took over again. Mr. Williams was a strict teacher but he had never told Luhan off. All he ever did was just to make Luhan stay back after class, with today being no exception. As the bell called out again for the start of the second period, Luhan, like usual, stayed back…

“I see you’re very quiet there Luhan. Do you need help?” Mr. Williams asked as he walked closer.

As Luhan never replied, the usual routine began, Mr. Williams closed off the space between them as his hands ran down Luhan’s back. ual harassment, although the law forbade this, nothing could be done in Luhan’s case, as being an exchange student would only make matters worse.

Knock, knock, knock. As someone knocked on the door Mr. Williams grunted in displeasure and walked towards the door, opening it with a smile. Grabbing all the materials, Luhan scurried away to second period.

“Who was that?” The question lingered in the air as Mr. Williams glared at Luhan’s back.

“That was the new exchanged student. Since Luhan was having trouble learning, I have taken the responsibility to hold an extra class for… never mind. So old fellow, welcome back Sam!” Mr. Williams explained as he looked back at the intruder.

As lunch came skipping around the corner, the students bulldozed each other to get to the cafeteria for a break. However, there was one student who went to the rooftop. As this rusty old lock was broken, the one lonely student easily went outside. Sitting on the ledge like it was just a mere meter high, he stared down at the ground.

“Why can’t I be like the other… why can’t I be strong, masculine and handsome… Why can’t I be tall…” Mumbling, he glared intensely at the innocent court just beneath throughout the whole of lunchtime. He had just mumbled questions as he sat on the ledge. Not caring if third period had already began, he stayed up on the ledge. Soon… everything seemed to complete itself.

“ I must jump… it’s the only way. No one would care anyway and I’ll be able to escape and go to heaven! It’s a great idea… I must jump… I must fly to heaven!” Without another word… the student jumped…

He was flying to heaven… Luhan was freed.

“So class, I’m Sam Carter or Mr. Carter as you’ll address, and I’ll be taking this Foreign Languages class until your teacher, Mrs. Song, comes back from her maternity leave. Feel free to ask me any questions.” Sam introduced himself to his their period class.

“Sir, what does Nan Sheng Zhong Xue mean?” a student at the back of the class had asked.

“It means Boys Middle School in Chinese…”

This was the story of Luhan and Sam’s first interaction… their last as well. As a scream was heard, everyone had looked outside only to see the corpse of Luhan, the feeble, feminine and short exchange student who Sam was supposed to help. Unfortunately, the action made by Luhan had prevented Sam, from helping him. Sam, who was the supposed savior of Luhan, had arrived a step late, resulting in the death of his student, Luhan.