Chapter One
F I R S T  E N C O U N T E R

The bell rang for the third time, indicating that 2nd hour was to start in 8 minutes. Hanbin sat at his desk with his head down, tired of school already. He was in his last year of high school at CJ Special Arts Private School where he learned about the different types of music, dances, and art from around the world. Feeling a pat on his shoulder, Hanbin lazily lifted his head to see who it was: it was his best friend, Bobby.

He and Bobby both have stuck together ever since they were little. Through good and bad times — if one gets yelled at, so does the other. Surprisingly, they both knew each other's strongest points and weakest points — it was almost as if they were brothers from different mothers and fathers.

"Yah, are you okay?" Bobby asked, taking a seat in the desk next to his friend.

"Yeah," Hanbin mumbled, setting his head back down on the desk. "I'm just tired."

"Make sure you have a good night rest when you get home, okay?" Bobby told him.

From across the room, one of the girls in the classroom called over to Bobby asking for his assistance. He jumped out of his seat patted his friend once more on the back before making his way across the room to where the girl was. Hanbin watched his friend leave with a smile, he felt happy that his friend had noticed that he was feeling tired and tried his best to help.
 

"Thank you, Bobby," he thought.

Hanbin let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes but quickly opened them again as he saw a girl walking in the hallway through the opened classroom door. She walked at a graceful pace, slow enough for Hanbin to catch every part of her: her big eyes, long chocolate brown hair, perfect figure, and her quiet aura. Since the classroom had two doors at the end of each side with a row of windows in between, it was easy for him to follow her. Hanbin slowly lifted his head off the desk and continued watching the girl carefully as she walked by the classroom, to his surprise, she didn't even notice him.
 

"Who is she?" He wondered as she disappeared. "Have I seen her before?"

Hanbin got out of his seat and made his way over to the classroom door. He turned his head and watched as the girl entered into Classroom 1-A, the class right in front of his — he was in Class 1-B. Curiously, he stepped out into the hallway and walked over to class 1-A. He poked his head inside the class and searched for the girl. With his keen eyesight, he found her sitting by the window in the back of the room, across from where he was by the door. He could only see the back of her head and her long hair that draped over her shoulders and down her back like a waterfall.

"Oh, Hanbin-ah!" A voice cheerfully called to him.

Hanbin quickly snapped his head in the direction that the voice came from, hoping that no one caught him staring at the girl. He saw that it was his friend Jinhwan motioning for him to come over to his desk, which was surrounded by a whole bunch of girls. Letting out a puff of air, he walked over to his friend.
 

"What is it?" He asked.

"Karaoke after school today?" Jinhwan asked with a mischievous smile, pointing at him. "Most of the guys are going as well as these girls. Are you in, my friend?"
 

Hanbin let out a sigh and pursed his lips, unsure if he should say "yes" — of course, he has time to go but he rather do something else that. The girls that were facing Jinhwan turned around and wrapped their arms around Hanbin's and with puppy eyes, they began convincing to join.

"Oppa~ please come with us!" One of the girls pleaded, batting her lashes at him.

"It won't be much fun if you aren't going to be there," the other one said.

"Yah, I'm going to be there!" Jinhwan exclaimed with a pout after hearing the girls plead. "How is it not going to be fun when I'm there?"

Hanbin drew in a breath and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure, but we'll see," he told them.

Just then, the bell rang indicating that 2nd hour was about to begin. Hanbin slipped his arms out from the two girls' grasp and turned to leave the classroom. As he made his way to the door, he looked out the corner of his eyes, sneaking glances at the girl. This time he was able to catch every part of her beautiful face: big and bright eyes, her slightly blushing cheeks, and her pink plumped lips. He was breathless just by sneaking those couple of glances at her!

Hanbin quickly returned to his classroom and found his seat. He sat down just in time as the teacher walked in for attendant, all the murmuring and side conversations immediately stopped. Hanbin propped his right arm onto his desk and rested his right cheek in his palm. He was still mesmerized by the beauty of the girl, whose name he did not know.

"That's right," Hanbin mumbled to himself, snapping fingers. "I'll have to ask Jinhwan what her name is later."

After heaving out a great sigh, he propped his arm on the table again and rested his cheek in his palm and this time, stared out the window. A smile slowly unfolded on his lips as he let his eyes wander the blue sky - this was the first time in a long while he had felt anything like this!

 ☂️