The loud sound of multiple pairs of feet quickly running into the classroom before the clock sounded eight o'clock signaled the teacher’s presence in the school building.

Everyone quietly shuffled into their seats while a young female student watched for a few moments, pondering why they always chose to wait until the very last minute to come into the classroom.

A few seconds later, the biology teacher came in, a small smile on his face.

“Well, look at all my happy students this Monday morning,” He said with a sheepish grin.

Almost everyone in the class groaned, while the young female began tapping her foot out of nervousness and impatience. They all knew what was coming.

“I have your exam results graded! The class average was slightly better, about a mid C. Some of you should reconsider your study habits, while some of you are displaying excellent test taking skills,” He stated, as he pulled out the large Velcro poster that displayed the rank of each student with their scores right next to their names.

The young female began breathing in heavily, afraid of the results. She started to tap her pencil nervously as her teacher slowly unrolled the poster and began to put it next to the blackboard. Her stomach began to buckle as she silently prayed in her mind for another good test score. She was Yun Hyun Ae, the best student in the school.

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt as she was shocked by the harsh sounds and loud bass of some type of hip hop music coming from behind her. Even without turning around, she knew it was Bobby’s iPod. Hyun Ae twitched a little, clenching her pencil just a bit tighter. However, before she could think any worse of her fellow classmate, she noticed the professor had finished putting up the test results. Her eyes shot to the very top, releasing a sigh of relief after seeing her name once again with a shiny green “100” next to it. She leaned back into her chair, pleased.

“Wow, congrats smartie. Let me win for once haha,” A voice said behind her.

Hyun Ae rolled her eyes as her eyes fell upon the poster again. Right below her name was Kim Jiwon, Bobby’s Korean name, with a sleek “95” right next to it. He had achieved the second best score again, annoying her to no end.

“Maybe if you actually spent more time studying, you would have beat her man,” another classmate stated.

“Yo, I spent like an hour and a half studying! That’s a lot in my mind,” Bobby shot back.

Hyun Ae was ready to break her pencil at this point.

“An hour and a half? ONLY an hour and a half???” She screamed inside her mind.

She had studied six hours for the biology test, which included waking up at four in the morning and trying to review every last word on the very page before rushing off to school around six. In Hyun Ae’s mind, she didn’t understand how someone like Bobby had time to study and get good grades while maintaining an above average social life, while she struggled day after day and toiled throughout the night with no social interactions whatsoever to keep her slew of high ranked scores. She was envious, no doubt.

However, as she turned to reply to his previous acknowledgement of her, her eyes slowly traced his sharp jawline before going up to his small dimple that was right next to his brightening smile. She slowly worked her way up to his adorable eye smile that made her catch her breath.

No matter how envious or angry Bobby had made Hyun Ae, she couldn’t deny how handsome he was. He was wearing a purple beanie today that emphasized how fair his skin was. Before she could stare any longer, Bobby met her eyes and gave her a grin that sent her face ablaze. She nodded in acknowledgement before facing the front again, pulling out a notebook to bury her face in.

“Alright class, now that you’ve seen the results, let’s begin the lesson. Remember, if you guys have any questions or concerns about your exams, feel free to stay after class or visit after school hours to ask. You’ll get them back at the end of class so you don’t totally spend this entire class hating my guts,” the teacher said with a chuckle.

Biology sped by with a breeze as their teacher was soon exchanged for their more flamboyant and outgoing music teacher.

“Hhhheeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooooooooooo darlings! How are we today?” The music teacher said with a big smile.

“Goooood,” the class responded in unison.

“Well, that’s great! I have some exciting news for all of you today. Although you’ve all done remarkably well on your individual performances thus far, I would like to see how you guys work in a group. So, I will be pairing you guys off – WITH THE OPPOSITE GENDER,” She said with a wink.

The majority of the class looked at each other in excitement as the classroom suddenly turned noisy with squeals, cheers, and high fives. However, Hyun Ae inwardly groaned at the thought. She wasn’t good in social situations, and was much better working off alone because she could get much more done that way. Having a partner was a nuisance and a loss of being able to work efficiently. Her face remained blank as the teacher walked around handing each student a neatly designed envelope containing their partner’s name and picture inside.

Once Hyun Ae got her letter, she stared at it for what seemed like hours. She slowly flipped it to the back and was about to open the letter until a tap on her shoulder interrupted her actions. She quickly turned around to come face to face with a grinning Bobby.

“Looks like the top two students in Kkum High are partners! We’re totally gonna dominate this Hyun Ae-ah,” Bobby said with determination written all over his face.

“Ah..yes..,” Hyun Ae replied back meekly, unsure of what to think of the situation she had been forced into. Though Bobby was her style appearance wise, they were like water and oil. The two did not mesh at all. He was hip hop, while she was ballad. He was full of confidence, while her amount of worries could age a few hundred people in an instant. Moreover, she had only written piano melodies in the past, while Bobby usually came prepared with the whole package – composing, rapping, dancing, and sometimes even singing.

Bobby pasted a sticky note on her nose as she was deep in thought. She looked at him with an inquisitive look before taking off the sticky note and staring down at it. It was his address.

“Can you come by my house around five? I have a lot of snacks at home and we can order something if you don’t have time to eat before you leave.”

“S-sure.”

“Cool, I’ll be looking forward to it partner,” He said with a smirk and a wink.

Hyun Ae merely nodded before turning around again as her feelings of dread and nervousness overcame her entire body and possessed it for the rest of the school day.

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Hey guys! I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter. I may be updating again later tonight since I need to sort of finish this by the 23rd of December for it to be valid for the contest. I will be running through this again sometime later to make final edits, so feel free to leave your comments and criticisms below! Thanks~ thucthuc