"You like me? Geez, this is gross. Who would want a girl like you?" 

Jinri bolted up from her pillow with a start. She checked the time. It was a quarter past three in the morning. Its been the third time this week she'd woken up in the middle of the night. They say you can't sleep in a new environment and on some levels, it was true. Technically speaking, this wasn't a new environment. Its only been two weeks since Jinri arrived back in Seoul. She missed Busan so much, especially Sohyun and Jiyoung. Although she was born in Seoul, it had no sense of home at all. She moved to Busan at the end of fifth grade and was now back in Seoul in the middle of her first year of high school. It . 

At least Soojung would be there.

Jinri practically begged her parents to enroll her into the same school as Soojung. Soojung was the only person that she remained in contact with all these years of living in Busan. At first, they wrote letters, then emails, then when they both got phones, they pretty much texted their lifestories to one another. Soojung gushed on and on about how Jinri would fit in with her friends in Seoul. Jinri could vaguely recall their names. Park Sunyoung she remembered for sure. The other two weren't Korean, so Jinri had a bit of trouble memorizing their names. One was named something like Annie. Annette? Antoine? She knew that she was American-Taiwanese. The other ones name was beyond Jinri, but she definetely knew she was Chinese. Jinri lay back down in the still unfamiliar bed and closed her eyes.

School started tomorrow. 

***

Jinri was ready. Her uniform was crisp and new, no wrinkles whatsoever. Her skirt was short enough that she didn't look gloomy and long enough to keep her out of trouble. Her name tag was pinned neatly on her blue blazer and her bow tie wasn't slanted. Her shoulder-length brown hair was brushed and straight. She put on some light make up and for good measure, the locket that Jiyoung had gotten for her on her neck and the bracelet from Sohyun, both gifts from her farewell party. 

The school wasn't far from where she lived. In fact, it was quite close. She passed several students from her school on the way there. She had texted Soojung early this morning and Soojung told her to meet under the giant sycamore tree behind the school at 7:50 AM sharp. Classes started at 8:00. 

Finally, Jinri arrived at the school gate, where groups of friends were gathered, chattering excitedly. Jinri ignored all the stares she got and went to the back of the school as Soojung had instructed. She was already two minutes late. Sure enough, underneath the sycamore tree, stood an irritated looking Soojung. 

"Choi Jinri!" Soojung stormed up to her and threw her arms around Jinri, who was startled because she was almost sure that Soojung was about to smack her. 

"I missed you!" Jinri hugged Soojung tightly. 

"I was worried that you got lost or something!" Soojung hit her lightly on the shoulder. Jinri grinned.

"Come on. Lets go." 

***

"Hello. My name is Choi Jinri. Please take care of me." Jinri bowed low and looked up to see Soojung beaming at her proudly. 

"Alright, Ms. Choi. Please go sit next to Hwang Miyoung in the second last row. Ms. Hwang, please raise your hand." 

Immediately, a hand shot up into the air, belonging to a girl with a bright smile. Jinri sat down in her seat and took out her books. Miyoung leaned over into the aisle. 

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hwang Miyoung. If you ever need anything, just ask!" Miyoung grinned.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Jinri smiled back. The people here were quite nice. To her right was Miyoung. To her left was a tall girl with the nicest pair of legs Jinri had ever seen in her life named Choi Sooyoung, who was just as supportive as Miyoung. Jinri also learned that the girl sitting in front of of her had lived in both Canada and the United States whose Korean name was Son Seungwan. She had used the name Wendy when she was living overseas. Strangely, the seat behind her was empty. Not that Jinri minded though. She was rather tall and prefered not to block anyone's view. Class started and soon Jinri found herself copying notes on the Battle on Inchon and trying to keep up with what the teacher was saying. It was rather difficult since Jinri had to learn all the new lessons and the previous lessons before she came. Suddenly, the door to the class slammed open. Jinri looked up from her notes for a split second before continuing to write again.

"Mr. Park. This is the second time you have been late to class this week." The teacher's eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at the cheerful looking boy who had just arrived. 

"Sorry, teach." The boy smiled. 

"Please go take a seat. Should this happen again, I don't think I'll need to repeat the consequences." The teacher picked up the chalk, glared at the boy one last time and continued to scribble away on the board. Jinri didn't even look up as the boy passed by and plopped down behind her. The class went on and on and finally, it ended. There was five minutes left before the bell. Soojung was still working on the sheet the teacher handed out, so Jinri decided to pack away her history books and pull out her math binder in preparation for the next class. The classroom was rather loud and noisy since everyone had gotten up and had begun to talk. Jinri played around with her pencil.

"Chanyeol!" 

Jinri froze. She remembered that name. It belonged to a boy whom she wanted forget. The first boy who managed to snag her heart and the first boy who broke it. The pencil dropped out of her hand and rolled onto the desk, then dropped onto the floor and rolled behind her. Jinri prayed it was a different Chanyeol. Prayed that she wouldn't have to face him. She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around slowly.

"Hey. New girl. You dropped your-" 

Jinri recognized him. The way his ears stuck out. The way he smiled brightly using all his teeth. His large eyes. It was the Park Chanyeol. The one she wanted to forget. 

Chanyeol recognized the new girl. Her full lips. Her pale skin. Her slightly droopy eyes. 

Soojung saw the two of them.

. 

She got up and marched up to Jinri's desk. 

"Come on Jinri. Lets go." Soojung grabbed her wrist and pulled Jinri out of the classroom. 

***

Jinri stood in the hallway with Soojung, who was shaking her head and apologizing.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Jinri. I wasn't sure if you remembered and I didn't want to bring it up." Soojung apologized profusely.

"Its okay. I'm fine. I'm not hung up over it anymore." Jinri lied. 

"Well, he's not much different. Popular douchebags. Him and his friends." Soojung rolled her eyes. 

"I see.  Lets go back to the classroom. The math teacher should be there any minute now." Jinri smiled. Soojung went back to her usual bubbly self as they made their way back to class.

***

"Come on, Chanyeol. Its lunch." Baekhyun pulled Chanyeol out of the classroom. They walked down the hallway, ignoring all the usual stares and fawning. A girl confesses her love to Chanyeol and he dismisses her. Baekhyun only receive two love letters today. Girls still go after him even though he has a girlfriend; the popular Kim Taeyeon. He shoves them into his pocket and the pair continue to their usual meeting place with the rest of their friends. 

"You're in a pretty ty mood today. What happened?" Baekhyun asked Jongin, whose face was scrunched up in frustration. Usually, he was overflowing with energy and laughter. He became unusually quiet after first period.

"No, nothing. Just...tired." Chanyeol was, of course, lying. He was anything but okay. Jinri was back. When the hell did she come back? Its been nearly four years since she left Seoul for Busan.

The two arrived in the noisy cafeteria, where their table was waiting for them. It was the nine of them that made up one of the most popular groups in the school. Sitting and laughing at the table was Kim Minseok, Kim Junmyeon, Zhang Yixing (Chinese transfer student), Kim Jongdae, Do Kyungsoo, Kim Jongin and Oh Sehun. Wu Yi Fan and Luhan, who used to go to this school had returned to China. Huang Zitao, another one of their friends who had come from China, was currently going through health and family issues. Awhile back, Zitao had injured himself quite severely and had taken some time off school to go back to China. His father now wants him to move back because he's sick of missing and worrying about him. They're still working things out. 

"Yeol, I'm ₩2000 short and I need to buy lunch." Sehun called out. 

"Shut up, you greedy . I'm broke." Chanyeol scowled as he sat down. 

"Oh, Baek. I hear you got a new student in your class." Jongdae commented as he sipped his juice box.

"Yeah. Its a girl. Remember Choi Jinri from elementary? Its her. She's back from Busan." Baekhyun said as he unwrapped his sandwich.

"She was really popular back then. How's she now? She hot?" Jongin raised his eyebrow. Chanyeol clenched his fist.

"Yeah. Saw her walk by in the hallway. Our soccer team captain Minho already called dibs on her. Heard him talking about it with his friends." Minseok pointed out. 

"I ought to check her out." Jongin smirked a bit. Chanyeol fumed.

Technically speaking, it was Jongin's little crush on her back in fifth grade that brought Jinri and Chanyeol where they were now. Then again, Chanyeol couldn't blame Jongin for what happened since it really was entirely his own fault. Soon, the group was drabbling over random subjects like movies and sports. Chanyeol was in deep thought. He hadn't seen Jinri since the last day of fifth grade, where both of them were in the same class and were quite close with one another. They often laughed and joked together and he helped Jinri when she was being bullied by the boys that liked her. When she told him she was moving to Busan, he was actually quite devastated. 

Stupid judgement on his part lead him to bid her possibly the worst goodbye in human history. 

***

February 27: Seoul Elementary School

It was the last day of school and Chanyeol was, of course, thrilled and content. However, he couldn't enjoy it to the fullest since Jinri would be leaving for Busan tomorrow and he didn't know if he would ever see her again. She was his best friend that was a girl and he didn't want to lose her. It was currently lunch time and Chanyeol hadn't spoken to her all morning. He was losing time. Of course, he wasn't the only one who was saddened by her departure. Jongin was pretty much down in the dumps. He really liked her. Chanyeol sat with Jongin and Kyungsoo, looking across the room where Jinri was laughing with Soojung. 

"So she's really moving? Boy, the two of you look sad." Kyungsoo shook his head as he tied his shoe. 

"What should I do?" Jongin balanced his Pororo the Penguin pencil between his nose and his lip. Chanyeol flipped through his copy of Naruto absentmindedly. 

"I don't know. Let's go change our shoes and go play soccer or something." Kyungsoo motioned the two over the the shoe cubbies. Chanyeol pulled out his running shoes and a white envelope fluttered out of the cubby and landed on the floor. All eyes were on him. The boys stopped giving each other noogies. The girls stopped chattering. 

"Woooooo! Chanyeol's got a secret admirer!" 

"Awwwww, Yeollie's got a girlfriend!" 

Kyungsoo picks up the envelope and hands it to Chanyeol without looking at the cover. Chanyeol takes the envelope and sees that his name was written in cursive. Chanyeol searches the faces of his classmates.They were all staring at him with curious faces, waiting for him to open the letter. One face, however, was obscured and red. 

It was Jinri. 

Before Chanyeol could do anything, a boy tears the letter out of his hands and opens it. Chanyeol reaches for it, but its too late. The boy is already reading it out loud for the class to hear.

".... I just wanted to tell you I really like you before I move to Busan. Goodbye. Sincerely, Choi Jinri." the boys finishes the last sentence and every single head turns to stare at the crimson Jinri, who is close to tears. Soojung is shooting daggers at the boy with her arms wrapped around Jinri's shoulder. 

"Really? The Choi Jinri liked Chanyeol?"

"Aw man! Lucky guy!" 

"Whoa, that letter was sappy! Ugh, I'm gonna throw up!"

"Woooooo!"

The room was filled with cheering and hollers as the boy shoved the letter back to Chanyeol. To be honest, Chanyeol was elated. He was always proud and happy that he was the closest boy to Jinri and he wasn't too keen whenever his friends talked about her. Jongin's crush on her had put a certain amount of stress of Chanyeol. Jongin was one of his best friends and he wanted to support him. Chanyeol looks over at Jongin, who turns his face away from him and flushes with envy and anger. Chanyeol feels a stab in his chest. Without thinking, he marches up to Jinri, who looks up at him, eyes hopeful. The words that escape his mouth are the words he will learn to regret.

"You like me? Geez, this is gross. Who would want a girl like you?" 

The next few moments pass by in a blur. Jinri runs out of the class, in tears. Soojung punches him across the face so hard that he falls to the ground in a heap. She then goes after Jinri.

Kyungsoo helps him up, a look of disapproval in his eye.

***

Jinri was enjoying her first day at her new school. Park Sunyoung was endearingly sweet and part of choir. Amber Liu was really popular. With girls. With her short hair and sharp features, she had her own fanclub. She was crazy athletic and could play basketball and had a black belt in Taekwondo. Song Qian was a beautiful senior who was from Qingdao, China, primarily focusing on dance. She was mindblowingly flexible and had a certain motherly quality that drew Jinri to her almost immediately. 

"You like theatre?" Sunyoung asked as they sat in a circle underneath the sycamore tree. 

"Yeah. I was in the drama club at my old school." Jinri smiled.

"We have one here. We can show you if you'd like. After school." Sunyoung offered. 

"I can't though! I have basketball after school!" Amber whined. She was actually quite feminine despite her appearance. She fangirled over boys just as much as the next girl. Jinri found her very easy going and fun to be around. 

"I have dance practice! Damn!" Song Qian shook her head. 

"No worries! Soojung and I can take her!" Sunyoung beamed. Jinri wonders how people spend time around Sunyoung without getting a toothache from how sweet she is. Jinri loved her already. The rest of lunch passed by peacefully with small talk and just getting to know the new member of their group; Choi Jinri.

***

"The girls are running the track." Baekhyun pointed out to Chanyeol. Baekhyun's hands were pressed onto Chanyeol's feet as he did a grueling 100 situps. Chanyeol didn't find it that difficult, but due to Baekhyun's lack of any stomach muscles, the earful of whining and complaining was going to tire him out even more than the sit ups. 

"Whoa! She's going really fast! Who is that?" Baekhyun craned his neck to see. The boys were in the middle of the track, doing push ups and sit ups as the girls ran laps. 

"96... 97... 98... 99... 100!" Chanyeol finished triumphantly.

Baekhyun made a painful expression as he began his sit ups, going at an excruciatingly slow pace. Chanyeol looked around, bored. His eyes soon caught sight of Jinri, who was taking the lead running around the track. She was always good at running, even back in elementary school. Chanyeol's gaze followed her around the track as she ran gracefully. Her hair was shorter now, Chanyeol noticed. Before, Jinri was somewhat skinny, with thin limbs and bony knees. Now, she had flourished nicely. Her limbs became slender and she had the small waistline that most girls would kill for. Not that Chanyeol was looking or anything, but she was also curvy, with the right angles and was prominent where she needed to be.

"Dude, you're practically drooling. That's gross man. You're a horndog." Baekhyun lay in the grass, smirking.

"You done your sit ups?" Chanyeol demanded.

"No." Baekhyun sighed.

"Then shut your and keep going. This is why everyone has abs but you. You have absolutely nothing."

"Ha... Ha... Very... Funny." Baekhyun huffed as he continued with his sad, sad little sit ups. The whistle blared and Baekhyun collapsed, breathing hard and concentrating on trying to fill his lungs with air and not the cramp blossoming through his abdomen. Chanyeol rolled his eyes. 

"Alright class! You have five minutes to cool off, then go get changed!" The teacher shouted. He then grabbed his things and left, preparing for his next class. One by one, the students left, not wanting to be left in the sun longer than they had to. Pretty soon, the only people left were Jinri and Soojung, who were at the large outdoor sink, spraying each other lightly with the hose, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Chanyeol because of Jinri and Baekhyun because Chanyeol wouldn't let him leave. Baekhyun lay in the grass, soaking up the sun while Chanyeol took a deep breath and marched over to the two girls. Soojung noticed and glared at him, but didn't do anything. Jinri had her back to him. 

"Hey. Jinri." 

Jinri recognized the deep voice and spun around to see Chanyeol. Soojung moved closer to her and glowered at him.

"Look, Soojung I just need to talk to Jinri." Chanyeol explained. 

"Alone." Chanyeol enunciated when he saw that Soojung hadn't moved an inch. She scowled at him one last time before going to bother Baekhyun.

Jinri didn't know what to do or say. What was she supposed to say? That she was cool with him humiliating her four years ago? That it didn't scar her heart horribly and she hadn't confessed to another boy ever since and she rejected every single confession she received because of him? 

"Long time no see." Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck. 

"I'm sorry. Chanyeol, is it?" Jinri wasn't pretending not to know him on purpose. She just figured to might be easier to talk to him that way.

"You don't remember me?"

"Not really." Jinri lied. She remembered him all too well. 

Chanyeol felt irritated. How could she not remember him when he couldn't forget her? He curled his upper lip and furrowed his eyebrows as he walked close to her. Jinri backed onto the ledge of the sink and wrapped her fingers around the hose. Chanyeol lowered his head and leaned towards her ear. Soojung was on her feet where as Baekhyun was practically asleep in the grass.

"Fine. I'll just have to make you remember." Chanyeol whispered and pulled away. He was met with a face full of water.

"I'd like to see you try!" Jinri smirked as she shot another blast of water at him from the hose. Soojung and Baekhyun came running over. Chanyeol picked up a second hose and shot a cool stream of water directly at the two girls who were laughing hysterically. Pretty soon, a full on water war was being waged and before they knew it, everyone was soaked to the core. Before anything could get too hectic, the four lay in