It was a gloomy Monday morning. As always Zico and his so-called “gang” were composing music again. Not that it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t my style or choice in music. The bell rang and shortly after the teacher walked in, we all stood up until the teacher gave us approval to sit. After sitting through an hour lecture about poetry, the class ended. I didn’t have many friends because I was slightly chubbier than the other girls in my class and I was also shorter than them. The only person who accepted me for me was my best friend Lee Yurie. Sadly, Yurie wasn’t at lunch for the third day in a row. I quickly ate my lunch which consisted of kimchi, kimbap, rice, and eggs. After I was done eating I saw Yurie attempting to “flirt” with our sunbae Taemin. I ignored them and headed straight for the empty music room. I wasn’t involved in many extracurricular activities, but I was very interested in singing, dancing, and composing music. When I got to the music room, I slowly took out my sheet music from my bag and began to play the piano and gradually started to sing along with the melody. After finishing I heard someone slowly clapping from door. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Zico standing by the door.

“SeoYeong,” Zico said. “I like that song, but I’ve never heard it on the radio. Why.”

“Because it’s one of my original songs Zico.” I replied.

Zico slowly started to walk towards me. When he finally got to the piano, he examined the music and told me to play the  piece of the music faster and in a more upbeat way. I did exactly that. After two measures into the song he began to sing. Once Zico got to the chorus of the song, he began to rap. I didn’t have feelings for Zico because I knew I had no chance with him, and when I did have feelings for Zico, it was merely just a middle school crush. My songs sounded pretty much the same, a slow, ballad-like song. Not all my songs were about sadness or depression, they were about life, happiness, and feeling good about yourself. Zico told me to sing my song with him so we could harmonize our voices, so I did. I sang the first verse, Zico sang the second, the two of us sang the bridge, and Zico rapped the chorus. After we finished Zico looked at me dead in the eyes.

“You really have talent for this SeoYeong, and to be honest I’m actually jealous” Zico said proudly.

I was shocked because someone as cool as Zico was complimenting me and my work.

“Maybe you can help me  write some songs for my group someday.” Zico said as he  

rubbed my head and began to leave the room.

After he did that, my face began to redden and I quickly dug in my bag to grab my mirror. When I finally got a hold of it I examined my face. When I looked into the mirror my face was bright red. Why was I feeling like this. I had no feelings for Zico, or anyone in my class. I felt so confused.

After standing in a moment of silence, I packed my bag and headed off to class. As I walked to class I noticed P.O. flirting with other girls. People called him P.O. because his last name was Pyo. I ignored him and carried on to class. When I arrived at the classroom door the bell rang and I could already hear the teacher taking attendance. I walked in attempting to get to my seat, I heard the teacher shout my name from the front of the class. I jumped at the sound of his voice.

    “Hey,” the teacher shouted. “Why are you late!”

I stood by one of the desks trying to come up with a reason why I was late. As I was about to speak I heard a chair and desk loudly slide against the tile floors.

    “Seonsaengnim!” A male voice shouted. “Please forgive SeoYeong, it was my fault that she was late.”

Turning my head back the student who was taking the blame I realized that it was Zico. Zico bowed twice and maintained his bold posture.

    “Either way you two will be on cleanup duty for the rest of the week,” The teacher responded. “Now, sit down.”

Both Zico and I took our seats and looked up at the interactive board. As the teacher was talking I glance over at Zico who was passing notes to his “group”. Somehow they must have noticed that I was looking because they were looking back at me giggling. After class ended, Zico and I stayed behind to clean up the classroom.

    “Zico,” I murmured. “what were you and your friends laughing at?”

Zico stared at the broom and whispered something under his breath.

    “Zico.” I asked.

    “It was nothing,” Zico responded. “The guys were just asking me where I was during lunch and why I took the blame for you.”

    “Why did you take the blame for me?” I asked

    “I was trying to be nice,” Zico replied. “I hate how everybody here thinks I’m a bad boy who doesn’t care what others say and do.”

This must have been the first time Zico has opened up to anyone and told them how he was actually feeling. As I stepped forward trying to put up the last chairs up onto the stack, I accidentally slipped in a small puddle of water.I could faintly see Zico looked back noticing that the once organized pile of chairs were on top of me. He ran towards me pulling off the chairs very forcefully. Before I knew it I was in Zico’s arms. I could tell by the movement and the pace of his breathing that he was running. As Zico ran, his footsteps echoed through the empty hallways. We reached the nurse's office and quickly barged in. Zico laid me onto one of the beds and started to call his friends. I slowly started to lose consciousness, but before I knew it heard Zico’s friends barge into the room. I could pick out a few words that were being said but, my vision was darkening quickly.