“Do you remember which bus you have to take?” Your mother asked for the umpteenth time that morning.

You rolled your eyes as you groaned in annoyance.  “Yes, mom.”

“Just what is it with that attitude of yours?  I can tell you for sure that you won’t be getting any friends on the first day of school if you act like this.” Your mother warned, pointing her finger at you.

You ignored her comment as you ate the last spoonful of cereal.

Today was your first day at Cheonan High School, and you were the least bit excited for it.  Your mother, on the other hand, was ecstatic that you were going back to school.  You weren’t sure whether she was happy that you were getting an education or that you were giving her more alone time with your stepfather.

Probably both, although I think it’s more of the latter. You grumpily thought as you washed your bowl in the sink.

It’s been a few days since you’ve moved into a new home.  So far, you’ve only seen your stepfather twice and those were only in the evenings when you would come down for a drink.  Other than that, you tried to avoid him as much as possible by staying cramped up in your room.

“Hurry up now.  You don’t want to be late on your first day of school.” Your mother scolded you.

“Alright.” You muttered as you grabbed your backpack from the seat.

"Hold it." Your mother said as she walked over to you.  She scanned you from head and toe and brushed a few strands from your face.  She then tightened your necktie, making sure it wasn't out of place.  

"Now you don't look like crap.  Go on." Your mother said as she slapped your on your way out.

You turned to glare at her but nevertheless, went to the bus stop.

You managed to ride the right bus and get to your school on time.  Students just kept on swarming in the school entrance gates, and you were one of them.  You would get bumped into by reckless students from time to time, but you could care less; they were stupid and you didn’t want anything to do with stupid people.

After a while, you finally reached your homeroom and even though you were just outside, you could hear the noise and chatter coming from the inside.  Even though you were nonchalant about everything, you had to admit that you were a bit intimidated.

But nevertheless, you slid your homeroom’s door open and walked inside.  Your classmates turned to look at you; some were looking at you in interest while some where talking about you.

Great, I’m already the subject of their gossip.  You thought in irritation as you walked up to your homeroom teacher, who was standing behind the podium.

Mrs. Lim, your homeroom teacher, was a small woman in her 40s and looked like she could fall from just a soft breeze of the wind. 

Mrs. Lim looked up at you and eyed your nametag.  “Yoon Rayi, is it?  It’s nice to have you here.  Let me introduce you to the class first.  Everybody would you please sit down?” Mrs. Lim ordered the class, but nobody listened as they continued to chat away.

Mrs. Lim tried to control the classroom but her voice was soft compared to the boisterous laughing of a group of boys at the corner of the room.

You looked at your homeroom teacher, who seemed to have a defeated expression on her face.  What kind of a teacher can’t even control her own class? You slightly shook your head in disappointment.

Just then, the classroom door slid open and inside came a young male student. 

“Yixing!  I’m glad the class president could make it here on time.” Mrs. Lim said, obviously having a brighter expression on her face than before.

“Well, I wouldn’t want you managing the class by yourself, Mrs. Lim.” Yixing replied with grin, showing his dimples.

Who’s this dude? You stared right back at Yixing when he looked at you in surprise.

Why do I feel that I’ve seen her from somewhere? Yixing brushed off his thoughts as he gave you an amiable smile.  You quickly turned away from his gaze, which kind of surprised him.  However, he decided not to think about it too much as he turned to the class.

“Everybody, listen up.  Get back to your seats so that we can continue class.” Yixing told the class.

“Hey, it’s Yixing!”

“What’s up buddy?”

“Good morning, Yixing oppa!”

The whole class greeted Yixing as they took their seats.  You were a bit surprised at the turn of events and started wondering who this Yixing person was to have such a powerful influence on the classroom.

“Mrs. Lim has got some announcements to make.  So why don’t we be good students and just listen?” Yixing told the class to which they mumbled in agreement.

Yixing then turned back to Mrs. Lim with a smile.  “It’s all yours, Mrs. Lim.”  Yixing then looked at you one again, this time with a small smile on his face and walked back to his seat.

Your homeroom teacher shot back him a grateful smile as she faced the classroom.  “Hello everyone.  I hope you all had a very fun vacation.”

She then motioned you to come closer but you just shifted about an inch closer.  “We’ve got a new student today in our class.  And her name is Yoon Rayi.  I hope you all will take good care of her and make her feel welcomed.”

The class chorused a loud ‘yes’ to which Mrs. Lim beamed.  “Why don’t you grab the seat right next to Hyeju?  Hyeju, please raise your hand.” Mrs. Lim asked and a petite girl with two pigtails shakily raised her hand.

You slightly bowed to the teacher as you sat at your designated seat.

“Alright well, I’m leaving now.  Your next class teacher will be here any moment.  Hope you guys have a great school year!”

When she got ready to make her leave, Yixing stood up from his desk.  “Everybody, bow.”

The whole class listened to his words and bowed down as Mrs. Lim exited the classroom.  As soon as Mrs. Lim left, the entire class started buzzing up in conversation.

“Hey Yixing, I haven’t seen you like forever!”

“Yixing oppa, I'm taking Biology this semester.  Can you help me with my homework sometimes?”

“Yixing, we should play soccer after school!”

You just sat and stared at the crowd of students surrounding Yixing, who sat two seats in front of you.  He’s just probably another pretty face.  You grunted and laid your head on the table.

“U-Umm…  Hi?”

You opened your eyes as you turned to look beside you.  You saw Hyeju timidly holding her hand out as if she wanted to shake hands with you.

“I-I’m Kim Hyeju.  I figured since we were g-going to be sitting next to e-each other for this entire school year, I’d introduce m-myself.”

You didn't say anything and just looked at her, which made her obviously uncomfortable but nevertheless, you shook her hand.  She immediately beamed at the gesture as she turned back into her seat, only to turn back to you again with a bright smile on her face.

“If y-you ever need a tour around t-the school, I’d be more than w-willing to help.” Hyeju offered.

If she finds me that intimidating to stutter in front of me, then why does she bother talking to me?  You mentally sighed as you nodded in response.

Just then, your History teacher, who was an old man dressed in a fancy suit, came in the class, which caused the entire class to disperse back into their seats.

Yixing stood up and did his duties as the class president.  “Everybody, bow.”  Once the class finished bowing, Mr. Kwon, your History teacher, opened his textbook and flipped through the pages.

“Nice to see everyone here.  Turn to page 7 on your textbook.” He said, wasting not a single second digging into the lesson.

Everyone groaned but they did as they were told.  You, on the other hand, took quick glances at the clock hanging by the wall.

I just want this day to be over soon. You let out an inaudible groan as you took out your History textbook and lazily flipped over to the assigned page.

author's note

I don't know how I feel about this chapter...  It just seems rather long and dry to me.  I'll probably come back to it sometime to fix it up.  But I hope that you guys are satisfied with it and that you are liking where the story is going.  I appreciate all your comments and support!  I really do guys, so thank you so much.  :)

I probably won't update in a while after this because I have so many assignments and major projects piling up this semster.  If you guys didn't already know, I'm a college student; just in my second semester of college.  And even though being a college student is fun, there are sometimes you just want to go back home and sleep all day long.  :(

But anyways, enough moping for me.  I hope you guys enjoy the story!

Hope you all have a nice day and I love you all!