My alarm clock went off at 6:00 AM, the sound pierced through my ears, as I opened my eyes still half asleep. I’m not a morning person for sure as I yawn and stretch out my arms. Again I slept like a baby in this bed and smiled. I didn’t want to get out but had to if I want to be on time for school. 

I didn’t want to get used to this life as I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay. Ever since my arrival, everyone has been kind to me, treated me well, except for one person, I sighed. I was in a constant battle with Chanyeol, every time he gets the chance to annoy me, he would. I haven’t been here that long, but it felt like forever, it was mostly very tiring, but I refused to cry in front of him. How is he expecting me to stay out of his life while he’s the one bugging me the whole time, I don’t understand him? I’ve tried my best to keep out of his way, but still we would occasionally see each other at home, even if he doesn’t talk and ignore me most of the time. How can he be so cold? Maybe he’s still angry because I yelled at him? 

I sat down on my seat at the table as I glanced at Chanyeol, who’s sitting across me. He didn’t even look at me and just ate his breakfast in silence. He was ignoring me again. Sometimes I just want to scream at him, but I know it wouldn’t make any difference. 

“Dear, did you sleep well last night?” Mr Park asked although he preferred me to say halabeoji to him. 

“Yes, I did, thank you.” I smiled. 

Mr Park nodded. He seemed pleased that I’m finally here. 

“I’m done!” Chanyeol suddenly stood up. “I’m going to school now.” He grabbed his bag and walked away. 

“Take Hae Ra with you…” Mr Park called out to him, but he was already gone. 

“Don’t worry,” I said to him. “I’ll take the bus. I don’t like to go in the car anyway.” I smiled. “Plus, I prefer to sit here with you, halabeoji.” 

The older man was so happy. I finally called him ‘halabeoji’ and forgot about his grandson. He was very pleased as we continue to eat our breakfast. 

When I finished breakfast, I hurried and ran out, as I realised that Chanyeol was waiting in front of the gate. Is he still here? Why? I thought he would’ve left already?

“Why are you still here?” I asked him, as I was in a hurry, afraid I would miss the bus. I looked at my watch again. Because I was stressed about missing it, I grabbed his hand and pull him along with me, as we ran towards the closest bus stop. 

“YAH—“ he yelled, and yet he ran with me. 

“We’re going to miss the last bus if we don’t hurry,” I said, not realising that I was still holding his hand. 

After running for a couple of minutes, we finally arrived on time at the bus stop. People were getting on already, and we waited our turn to get on. 

“You can let go of my hand,” Chanyeol said, looking away awkwardly. 

“Oh…” I whispered as I let go. My heart fluttered a little by the thought. 

It was quite a busy morning, but luckily we found some seats. Chanyeol sat down by the window, immediately took out the headphone and looked outside. I still wondered why he would wait for me, though. He even took the bus without making a big fuss about it. Was it because halabeoji told him? 

I saw an old couple struggling to stand up, while other people were minding their own business, not caring about them. Suddenly it reminded me of my grandmother, and my eyes got teary. I stood up, walking towards them, offering them my seat. I looked at Chanyeol, eyeing him to stand up as well. He finally understood and did what I asked. 

More people got on, and it started to get crowded. There were no seats left. I found myself standing in front of Chanyeol’s tall body with my face, almost buried in his chest. I could feel his warmth covering me. Chanyeol was looking outside, still with his headphone on, as if he was in another world. I saw his lips moving a bit, as he sang along with the song that was playing right now and smiled. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him even if I tried; my eyes would automatically find him somehow. When he wasn’t mean and annoying, he looked so peaceful, I thought. There was this calmness around him that I couldn’t describe. I felt my heart flustered again by the thoughts of him. His thick lips were so attractive, as I bite on mine. For the first time, I started to realise that he was handsome; every detail of his face caught my eyes. 

The bus stopped abruptly, waking me from my thoughts, as I grabbed onto Chanyeol’s body to hold on. I felt a strong arm behind my back, preventing me from falling. It was Chanyeol, looking down on me, our eyes met again. “Thanks…” I whispered, smiling shyly, my cheeks burning. I slowly let go of him, and he did the same, looking away from me as if nothing happened. For a minute, I had to calm my heart down because it was beating ridiculously fast. I needed air, some fresh air. 

***

I was usually good at sport, but today I can’t seem to keep up with the rest. My mind was somewhere else. I decided to tell Chae Won everything that had happened until now, but the girl was more than excited. Who wouldn’t want to marry the famous Park Chanyeol, right? It was every girl’s dream to be his future wife. 

“Hae Ra—!” 

I heard Chae Won’s voice from a distance when something hard hit my head, my legs weakened, and I fell onto the ground. Everything went black for a while. I could hear voices around my head, but couldn’t make out who it was. 

“Yah, Hae Ra… you ok?” I recognised Chae Won’s voice, as I tried to regain my strength. 

“What happened?” Another familiar voice interrupted, I could feel some girls screaming. 

“Hana knocked her out with the volleyball,” Chae Won explained, looking angry at the girl and her friends giggling in the background. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“She didn’t pay attention,” Hana defended herself. “It’s not my fault!”

This girl was always mean to me since the beginning. Somehow she hated my gut for being here. I didn’t belong here. I was the poor kid, without parents, an orphan. Although I try to ignore it, she wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted, which is making my life more miserable. 

“It doesn’t matter who’s fault it is, everyone leaves!” 

I slowly opened my eyes just to see who this person was, but my vision was blurry as I kept on looking at the person in front of me. It was Chanyeol; he looked concerned, and yet I couldn’t help but smile a bit. 

“Why is she smiling like that?” Chae Won got surprised. “Omo, something must be wrong, right?” 

“I’m all right…” I whispered, rubbing my head at the same time, auwtch, I thought. 

“What’s going on there?” Mr Kim yelled from afar. 

“Tell him I’m fine,” I looked up, trying to get up, as Chanyeol held onto my arms. 

“We’re fineeeeee,” Chae Won yelled back. “Hae Ra just fell!” 

“Why are you here?” I asked, looking at Chanyeol holding me. He suddenly pushed me slightly into Chae Won’s arm, trying to act as normal as possible. 

“Because…” he paused, “Just because…” he sighed deeply. “Just take care of Hae Ra, will you?” He ignored me and looked at Chae Won instead. 

The girl nodded, “Yes, sir!” 

He then returned to the boy’s area where his classmates were playing basketball. Why did he do that, he thought? The moment he saw what happened, his instinct was to run towards her. Inside he was genuinely concerned, but he couldn’t let her know that. This girl is going to make his life even more complicated. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get herself into troubles again, for his sake. 

“Omo,” Chae Won squealed. “He’s so romantic! Did you see how concerned he was about you?” 

I didn’t believe my own eyes; the ball must’ve hit her quite hard. Was he concerned about me, I thought? That’s not possible. 

“Whoa… I’m so jealous right now,” Chae Won sighed, smiling at the same time. “I wish I had a fiancé like that.” 

“No, you don’t!” I said back, a little too quick. “You don’t…” I whispered to myself. 

I head into the girl's locker room with Chae Won, as I felt a bit lightheaded. Hopefully, I wouldn’t feel like this the whole day. Maybe I should take an aspirin later? 

“Are you going to be ok?” Chae Won asked, rubbing my head softly. 

“I’ll be fine…” I smiled, sitting down on the bench for a bit.

“I have to hurry,” Chae Won explained. “Mr Lee wants to see me before lunch for some tutoring lessons.” 

“Will you be back on time?” I asked her because I didn’t feel like sitting alone during lunch today. 

“I’ll be quick,” she promised. “Text me, ok?”

I nodded, and soon after the girl left. I decided to get changed as well and opened my locker, just to find my uniform wet. “What the…?” I whispered, looking around. I took them out; they were drenched all over the ground. Some of the girls were still there, they laughed a bit, but no one cared. 

“Omo, what happened here?” I heard someone giggling behind me. 

“How come they are wet?” Minji asked surprised, pretending she didn’t know how, but probably knew.

“I don’t know, maybe you can tell me…” I sighed, looking at them. 

“Omo, how would we know?” Ga Eun pretended. 

“We didn’t do anything…” Minji came closer, trying to intimidate me, as she was a little taller than me. 

“You sure about that?” I looked up, facing her. 

Ga Eun pulled her friend back, scared we might get into a fight. “Let’s go,” she whispered. “She’s not worth it.” 

When they both left, I realised I was alone in the room; everyone had gone to lunch already. I tried my best to dry out the clothes, but it would take me a while, so I decided to take them with me, hoping to dry them during lunch. It was sunny today so that it might help. 

Other students were staring at me, because I was walking in my PE uniform, holding my wet clothes. I tried calling and texting Chae Won if she had an extra pair uniform with her for me, but the girl still didn’t answer. Why is she taking so long? 

Do Kyungsoo and Byun Baekhyun were both Chanyeol’s best friends. They were also really popular amongst the students. They mostly call them ‘The Three Musketeers’ because they were always together. They’ve known each other since they were young, growing up together, they were each other’s, childhood friends. 

Kyungsoo was a gentle and friendly guy, although he might be mysterious at times. Every girl would immediately fall for a guy like him. Yet, he has never seen with a girl. 

Baekhyun, on the other hand, he’s very active, like to play jokes on people, but also a friendly guy. Unlike his friend Kyungsoo, he has been seen with different girlfriends in the past. Any girl would be lucky to date him, though. 

“Whoa, isn’t that Kang Hae Ra?” Baekhyun whispered to Kyungsoo, as he saw her from afar, still wandering around in her PE uniform.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo looked surprised as well. “I heard Hana hit her with the volleyball in PE class.”

“Damnnnn…“ Baekhyun laughed. “I missed that?” 

“But why is she walking like that?” Kyungsoo was curious, but as soon as they both passed her, they saw the wet clothes. 

The girl was looking down, busy with her phone. She looked uncomfortable, though. Although it was sunny today, it was still a bit cold outside. 

“She’s going to be his fiancé, isn’t she?” Baekhyun said, still in disbelief. 

Kyungsoo nodded, they both heard from Chanyeol about the news, and it has been spreading quickly. Soon the whole school would know about this. 

“Should we let him know?” Baekhyun asked his friend. 

“I don’t know…” Kyungsoo shrugged. “Should we?”

Baekhyun quickly took a picture of the girl, without her noticing it, and sent them to Chanyeol.

“Voilà…” he said. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Kyungsoo agreed, and they both headed to the cafeteria. 

As soon as Chanyeol ended his phone-call with Suho, he headed outside, waiting for him. Suddenly a text from Baekhyun came