The bus rushed at a frightening speed for wet conditions around the bend only to come to a jolting stop only moments later at the bus stop. The small group of people that had been gathering for the bus collectively sidled towards the opening doors. Once inside it was clear that the bus was quieter than normal, as many seats were still free.

I noticed, as I sat down, in retrospect I had stood too close to the edge while waiting for the bus. Small droplets of muddy puddle water were now spattered down my nice newly cleaned uniform. I tried to brush off the liquid that was seeping into the cotton only to leave small brown spotted stains. I sighed and pull my bag onto my lap to avoid having to look at the stains for the remainder of the journey.

The journey was quicker than usual so I arrived at my desk by the window in the second floor classroom earlier than expected. In fact there was still 40 minutes left until the teacher would arrive to start the day. In order to pass the time, I reached into my bag and pulled out some tangled earphones, pushing a bud into each ear without untangling the mass of wires that was now sitting by my chin. I was too lazy to sort that problem out now.

10 minutes had passed, I’m not good at judging the length of time but 3 songs had passed in my playlist, when the door slid open.

“Hyemin.” I heard the voice of my best friend coming towards me.

“Oh, it’s you.” I said nonchalantly, shoving my headphones back into my bag without looking.

Jihye huffed and spun the chair of her desk round so that she was facing me, elbows on the front of my desk. “Yah! Song Hyemin what do you mean by that?” She demanded. “Are you not pleased to see me?!”

I laughed, “Of course I am Ji, but it wasn’t much of a surprise. No one else is stupid enough to be here this early, expect us.”

“It’s true.” She agreed. “But how else am I supposed to catch up with my best friend. No once school has started that’s for sure. But anyway, how was your weekend? Did anything interesting happen that you want to share?”

“Ji you know for a fact that nothing interesting ever happens to me. I just watched dramas with my brother all weekend.” I admitted with a smile.

“Oh poor Hyunwoo!” Jihye exclaimed, “If I’d had known that you were going to subject him to hour upon hour of Lee Minho then I might have come round and saved him!” She laughed at that, showing two rows of gleaming teeth.

I rolled my eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you, Hyunwoo is the one who asks me to watch dramas, there is no forcing about it. Besides you’re always busy at weekends, what with Wooyoung and work.”

Wooyoung is Jihye’s boyfriend of just over a year, and because he works week days after school at his parent’s restaurant, they can only meet up at the weekends.

“Urgh don’t even get me started on that job.” Jihye retorted angrily. “Do they know I’m not a slave, willing and eager to their very and every bidding? Jihye can you take out the bins? Jihye can you mop the floor again? Jihye can you turn off the machines? Jihye Jihye Jihye!!” She cried. “If I didn’t need the money then I’d definitely quit. I’m supposed to be a waitress not a cleaner.”

“At least you get paid?” I offer, trying to find the positive in the situation.

Jihye cracks a smile. “How can you be so optimistic on a Monday?” She asks with a whine. “You’re supposed to be like everyone else, and be unable to function until at least past lunch on a Monday.”

“I like Mondays though.” I replied with a small smile.

“Weirdo.”

We continued talking for a while, mostly discussing Jihye’s scary dictator-like boss and his antics in the café. About 5 minutes before homeroom was due to start, the door slid open once again and a few students filed in, chatting amongst their group.

“I’ll speak to you after class.” Jihye said as she moved her chair round to face the front. This was a normal routine for us, as we couldn’t talk naturally and freely when there were other students from our class in such close proximity. Those in our friendship group, mostly consisting of Wooyoung’s friends, were not in the same class as us and most of our classmates were easily swayed by some of the more influential and temperamental members. For some reason I happened to provoke these members more than some others do. 

*

“Hyemin Ssi? Hyemin Ssi?” I snapped my head to the front when I heard my name being called. I glanced over at the clock which read 9:20am, English had started 20 minutes ago. ‘I really need to stop day dreaming all the time.’ I thought in annoyance.

“Ne.” I replied quickly.

“Are you day dreaming? I asked you a question.” The teacher said impatiently. “Read the sentence on the board out loud using an appropriate word to fill in the gap.” He repeated.

“Developmental.” I answered without thinking. “Despite the product being very effective, it is still only in the developmen