"So. Did your parents say you could move to the Jeon District?"

Eunjoo's best friends were standing in front of her with their arms crossed. They looked a bit... annoyed? For some reason. They were all at school and it was lunch time. Eunjoo had stood up to get lunch but was confronted by her friends. 

Her friends were... well, they were what you might think of if you thought of steriotypical teenage girls. They were more interested in sticking with the trends and dating more than grades or what the Min District was known for, art.

. I forgot to ask. Eunjoo thought. 

Laughing a bit nervously, Eunjoo replied, "My parents say they have to think about it." Eunjoo prefered not lying but she wanted to stay in simple Min District. It was her home ever since she was two and she and her family, consisting of her, her parents, her little sister sister Iseul and her little brother Jooyoung. How could she leave them and all those memories behind to follow trends and stay with her can-be irritating friends 24/7? They were also very different from each other. While Eunjoo and her friends had moved to the Min District because of their families, her friends were only still here because of their families. Eunjoo genuinely loved art in all shapes and forms and used it to express herself better, since she could be a bit awkward with words sometimes. She'd participated in instrumental music, visual art and singing, which she was the best at.

"Ugh, seriously? Well, if you can't go, don't worry. We found another girl that can go." Her friends said.

Why are they so pissy today? Eunjoo wondered, inwardly rolling her eyes. 

She put a smile on her face and nodded. "I think I'm probably going to stay here. I mean, you guys know I'm not into keeping up with trends and stuff, so yeah." She awkwardly scratched her neck. "So... uhh... when are you guys moving?"

Her friends looked relieved. It was then clear that the four of them weren't meant to friends. Sure, differences were fine, but they were like absolute opposites. "Uh, this saturday." It was friday. 

"So... I guess this is goodbye. If I ever need to, you know... go to Jeon District or whatever for any of events, I'll give you a call." They all knew that was bull. 

The atmosphere was a strange mixture of awkward, relief and a bit of sadness. After all, they'd been friends for a long time. But Eunjoo couldn't imagine living with them for two more years, at the least. They were close to finishing grade 10, after all. 

"I'll... I'll see you guys around." Eunjoo softly smiled, then turned to get lunch, when the bell indicating that classes would continue rang. Eunjoo deeply sighed and glared at the ground as she walked back to her desk. 

God damnit. 

****

Eunjoo clutched her stomach as it grumbled softly. Her face was heating up with every growl and she wasn't happy that her problem was interfering her learning. So much of her focus was on her hunger that it left only a tiny bit to listen to her teacher. 

"Eunjoo, dear? Are you alright? You look a bit pale, honey." Mrs. Joo, Eunjoo's math teacher, asked worriedly. 

Of course, the teacher was only concerned for her student's health, but Eunjoo blushed beet red. She thought that it was obvious she wasn't - and couldn't - pay attention. 

"Ah, I'm totally fine, Mrs. Joo. Thank you for your concern." Eunjoo stammered and laughed awkwardly. 

Even though she wasn't convinced, Mrs. Joo didn't want to pry and she knew that Eunjoo was pretty shy and decided to mind her own business. "Alright, Eunjoo. Anyway, continuing on with linear equations..."

Eunjoo shook her head. How could she have stopped paying attention? She slapped herself once on each cheek anf let out a sharp but short sigh. 

She blinked hard once then started to focus on Mrs. Joo's lesson but her mind started drifting away again, but not for the same reasons. She was thinking about her "new friend" Suga. He was just so mysterious that it was spinning her head, but she didn't want to be rude and pry into his personal life because as of now, he was technically her only friend. Yes, she only hung out with her three other friends, naively thinking that they'd be "friends forever." On the other hand, Eunjoo had always been on the curious sides. 

Eunjoo tuned back into the lesson. 

"Ok, kids. I'll be splitting you guys into partners to do the assignment." Mrs. Joo explained as she passed around a paper with the said assignment.

Most of the kids sighed in disappointment, making sad eye contact with their friends but Eunjoo sighed in relief. She had been so absorbed in her other friends who were in another class that she hadn't ever really talked to anyone else in the class unless it was necessary. She hoped that Mrs. Joo would pair her up with a nice girl so that she could actually communicate with someone. 

"Mmm... Eunjoo and... Chunji." Mrs. Joo announced. 

Everything came crashing down on Eunjoo. Chunji was rumored to not care about grades but only about video games. She was pretty sure he'd failed grade ten so he was older than all the other classmates. Chunji was also known to be loud. Great. She could feel her dark circles darkening with the thought of doing an assignment meant for two people by herself.

"Hey, Lee Eunjoo, right?" Chunji came up to her, waving. 

Eunjoo bit her lip and nodded. "Lee Chunji, right?" 

"Haha, we could be siblings!" Chunji laughed loudly, then started whispering. "My real name is actually Lee Chanhee, but don't tell anyone, alright?" 

Blinking quickly, Eunjoo nodded, trying not to let the confusion seep out. Why was he telling her that?

Chunji nodded and started reading. Eunjoo was surprised. He was... reading? She thought he was... well... not smart, from the rumors. She shook her head, not wanting to be judging and read the paper. Thankfully, the paper reviewed all that Eunjoo assumed Mrs. Joo talked about so she could actually do the assignment.

"Ok, question one. What is a linear equation?" Eunjoo read out loud.

"A linear equation is an algebraic equation in which each term is either a constant or the product of a constant and the first power of a single variable. Linear equations can have one or more variables. Linear equations occur abundantly in most subareas of mathematics and especially in applied mathematics." Chunji replied, rubbing his eye absentmindedly. 

Eunjoo just stared at him. She thought he wasn't smart??

Chunji noticed how quiet she was being. He looked up and chuckled. 

"Come on, Eunjoo. You can't think I'm stupid, right?"