The boy with neat high school uniform walked into the class slowly, head hung low and hair drooping over his face. He wore the thickest rimmed glasses and hid his gaze from his classmates. His name was Lee Donghae and he had just transferred from the outskirts of the city a week ago.

 

He was smart in his studies, that was why he got a scholarship to come to study in the best high school in the sity, but besides being practically a genius, he had no sense of style or anything. His parents called him a block of walking encyclopedia and he is socially awkward, but not that he cared or anything. He just couldn’t be bothered about it.

 

“Yo, would you just look at that, it’s the boy from the fishing village,” one guy snickered at the back and Donghae willed himself not to be distracted by their jeers. He was used to it already.

 

“Where are the fish you promised to give us?” another said and the group of guys laughed together. Donghae ignored them and quietly went to his place to sit down. Yeah, he’s a loser, he knew that. Stop reminding him of it everyday.

 

“Are you okay?” a girl asked.

 

Donghae looked up to see the girl sitting beside him smiling hopefully at him.

 

“Yeah, I guess,” he nodded and looked down again.

 

“Those guys are so rude,” she pouted and shook her head.

 

Donghae nodded passively. Her name is Im Yoona and she was not only the prettiest but also the nicest girl in class. She was the only girl who even bothered talking to him. Slowly, Donghae had grown to like her.

 

But he dare not make a move on her. How could she ever like someone like him?

 

Time dragged by as the lesson went on. Donghae tried his best to listen to the lesson. Well, it’s not like he didn’t already know what the teacher was teaching, but still, slacking off was not polite after all.

 

Before long, it was lunch break and Yoona was gone in a flash. She was always like that, disappearing every break time and after school. Come to think of it, it was suspicious. Perhaps she had a boyfriend in another class?

 

Donghae could feel his heart shatter at the mere thought of it.

 

Shaking his head, he picked up his lunch box and headed upstairs to the rooftop of their building block to eat. He found out about the place as he was walking around the school trying to find for a suitable location to eat. He had tried the cafeteria, the classroom, the back of the school block and even under the staircase, but it didn’t work out. He found that the roof was the only place where he could avoid his classmates, who often find the slightest opportunity to make fun of him. So being a genius didn’t mean other people would look up to him, that was what he found out when he came to the city to study. Sometimes, he wished he could go back to Mokpo, but remembering how hard his parents worked so that they could come live in the city, he knew he couldn’t just drop everything and go. He had to hold out for the next two years.

 

Today, however, when he stepped up on the rooftop, he saw another presence. It was a guy who looked about his own age, lying on the floor looking as though he was sleeping. He was about to go away but a scuffle of his feet woke the boy up.

 

“Hey,” he greeted Donghae with a smile.

 

Donghae paused in his step. This person was the second one ever to greet him with a smile after Yoona.

 

“Hi,” Donghae said faintly and nodded in greeting.

 

“Ah, were you going to eat your lunch here? Why are you going away then? Let’s share the place, plenty of room for more,” the guy said and patted the space beside him.

 

Donghae hesitantly moved over to sit next to him. “Sorry for the bother,” he said out of courtesy.

 

“You don’t have to be so formal with me. I’m a junior anyway. And you? I don’t remember seeing you before,” the guy asked.

 

“I transferred here last week. I’m a junior too,” Donghae replied, a little surprised that they are actually the same age.

 

“Really? What class?” the guy asked enthusiastically.

 

“Class 1,” Donghae replied.

 

“Ah, it’s a science stream class. No wonder I haven’t seen you around. I’m in Class 6 in the other block. I’m an arts stream student,” the guy relied with a nod.

 

“Oh,” Donghae answered, not knowing what else to say.

 

“Say…” the guy started again, “… we forgot to introduce ourselves! My name is Hyukjae. Lee Hyukjae. You?” he grinned.

 

“Nice to meet you. My name is Lee Donghae,” Donghae answered.

 

“You don’t really smile, don’t you?” the guy called Hyukjae suddenly exclaimed, scratching his chin.

 

“Er…” Donghae stuttered.

 

“You should smile more. Smiling is good for your health. Look, my smile is not nice at all, but I still smile every day,” Hyukjae said, grinning goofily.

 

Donghae merely nodded, slightly wondering if he had stepped on a landmine if he continued to stay here with this over bubbly guy.

 

“What do you have for lunch? Let me see, Donghae,” Hyukjae grinned, pointing at the lunch box he had on his hands.

 

“You don’t eat lunch?” Donghae found himself asking.

 

“Ah, I don’t really eat a lot,” Hyukjae answered.

 

“You said smiling is good for your health. But do you know that skipping meals is not good for your health?” Donghae said.

 

“Eh, you know how to use my words against me, don’t you?” Hyukjae teased.

 

“Let’s share,” Donghae said instead, opening the box. There were six rice balls inside.

 

“Wah, looks delicious,” Hyukjae commented as he took one. “Your mom made these?”

 

“Yeah,” Donghae replied.

 

“Taste like home,” Hyukjae said with a smile after he had taken a bite.

 

“Eat some more then,” Donghae replied.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“You look happy for some reason,” Yoona commented with a smile when she saw Donghae staring into space.

 

“Really? Oh,” Donghae replied, “I met a new friend today at lunch.”

 

“That’s great! I feel so happy for you!” Yoona beamed. “That’s your first friend, isn’t it?”

 

“Second,” Donghae replied.

 

“Eh? Who’s the first?” Yoona asked.

 

“Isn’t it you?” Donghae replied.

 

“Really? You consider me your friend? I’m flattered,” Yoona smiled.

 

Donghae merely smiled meekly.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Why do you always come up here for lunch?” Hyukjae asked Donghae when they met each other again. They shared Donghae’s deep fried dumplings today. Since the day they first met each other, Donghae was used to seeing Hyukjae at the rooftop everyday. They became very close soon, because Hyukjae was a friendly person.

 

“I don’t like being with other people,” Donghae confessed.

 

“Eh, you say that as though I’m not a person,” Hyukjae laughed.

 

“No, you’re different from the others. I don’t like them,” Donghae replied too soon before he could stop himself.

 

“Why?” Hyukjae asked.

 

“Everyone always say mean things about me, I hate it,” Donghae explained, coming clean.

 

“What?” Hyukjae exclaimed, surprised. “You’re being bullied?”

 

“It’s nothing, they’ll probably get tired of it soon,” Donghae replied.

 

“This is a real big deal. You should tell a teacher or something,” Hyukjae said in concern.

 

“Really, it’s not as bad as you think,” Donghae tried to say.

 

“Hmph, I still feel angry thinking about it. I should go to your class and teach those people a lesson,” Hyukjae muttered.

 

“You don’t have to do that, I’m fine, really,” Donghae said.

 

“I don’t get it. Why would people bully you?” Hyukjae wondered in annoyance.

 

“Maybe because they think I don’t look good?” Donghae answered.

 

Hyukjae scratched his chin. “Look here for a while,” he told the latter. When Donghae looked at him, he swiftly pulled away the thick rimmed glasses he was wearing.

 

“Huh?” Donghae exclaimed, surprised.

 

“If I were to be honest, you look very good looking without your glasses, are these even real?” Hyukjae wondered, peering into the lenses. “Oh owh! They’re really thick! Oh, my eyes…” he pulled the glasses away and rubbed his eyelids.

 

“Please, return them to me,” Donghae said, “I can’t see a thing without them on.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Hyukjae quickly said and returned the glasses to him. Donghae put them back on immediately.

 

“I had a bad reading habit when I was a kid, and my eyes just got worst and worst since then,” Donghae replied.

 

“Oh,” Hyukjae replied, “How many degrees are your glasses, by the way?” he asked.

 

“Four hundred on the right, Three hundred and fifty on the left,” Donghae replied.

 

“That’s pretty serious,” Hyukjae stated.

 

“Yeah, but there’s nothing else I can do,” Donghae shrugged.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“I’m so sorry I forced you to accompany me today,” Yoona smiled apologetically as they made their way to the library to return a whole stack of books the class teacher loaned for their class. Yoona was the class monitor and she usually does the job with the assistant class monitor, but he was absent today and so Yoona grabbed whoever she could get her hands on and sadly it was Donghae because he didn’t escape fast enough.

 

“It’s okay,” Donghae replied.

 

“Didn’t you have to go and meet your friend on the roof?” Yoona asked.

 

“I’ll go later,” Donghae told her.

 

“What kind of person is he? I know you’ve only known him for a week, but I’m really curious,” Yoona said.

 

“I guess he’s really friendly, and he always looks happy,” Donghae replied.

 

“I’d like to meet him someday. I still don’t believe I don’t know who he is after you mentioned his name,” Yoona said.

 

“You can say he’s not the type of person who stands out. I think if he was, he wouldn’t have bothered spending time with a nerd like me,” Donghae answered.

 

“There you go again,” Yoona scolded, “I told you to not think of yourself that way. Everyone is special in their own way.”

 

Donghae smiled faintly and thought to himself, ‘But I’m sure even you wouldn’t want to be seen with me, that’s why you always disappear during breaks and after class.’

 

They stayed silent as they continued their journey to the library to drop off the books. After returning the books their teacher borrowed, they were just about to head back to class when someone came running towards them.

 

“Eh? Hyukjae?” Donghae exclaimed.

 

“You were late so I went to your class. Your classmates told me you went out with a girl, so I came here,” Hyukjae smiled as he panted to catch his breath.

 

“I helped the class monitor to return some reference books and dictionaries,” Donghae explained.

 

“Is this your friend from the roof?” Yoona suddenly asked with a smile in realization.

 

“Yeah,” Donghae replied with a nod.

 

“Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Yoona,” Yoona smiled at Hyukjae.

 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Hyukjae,” Hyukjae replied.

 

“Ah, I’m sorry, I forgot I have something to do, I need to leave now,” Yoona suddenly said and ran off after a wave.

 

Donghae waved back.

 

“She seems nice,” Hyukjae commented.

 

“Yeah,” Donghae replied.

 

“Do you like her?” Hyukjae asked cheekily.

 

“Huh?” Donghae suddenly exclaimed, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

 

“You were smiling at her. I mean, I haven’t seen you smile at me or anyone else so she must be special,” Hyukjae explained.

 

“Oh,” Donghae replied.

 

“Eh? Don’t tell me I was right?” Hyukjae asked.

 

“I think so,” Donghae replied with a sigh.

 

“Why are you sighing?” Hyukjae asked.

 

“Because it’s impossible that I’ll get my feelings returned,” Donghae replied.

 

“Why not? She’s been friendly to you, didn’t she? You should confess,” Hyukjae said.

 

“She’s nice to me out of courtesy, who would like someone like me?” Donghae replied.

 

“Well, I would,” Hyukjae said without a second thought.

 

“Huh?” Donghae exclaimed.

 

“Woah, wait, I was trying to encourage you,” Hyukjae said in realization as to why Donghae looked so shocked.

 

“Oh,” Donghae nodded.

 

“Okay! I’ve now decided! I’m gonna help you!” Hyukjae suddenly exclaimed.

 

“Help me with what?” Donghae asked.

 

“Help you to get her, of course,” Hyukjae replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

 

“Eh! Don’t decide things on your own,” Donghae exclaimed frantically.

 

“Too late, I’m all pumped up right now,” Hyukjae grinned and dragged Donghae off with him.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“First things first, you must look more confidence in yourself, and in order to do that, you must fix your composure. Don’t slump when you walk or stand,” Hyukjae instructed.

 

“What?” Donghae exclaimed.

 

“C’mon, stand straight,” Hyukjae scolded, fixing Donghae’s stance into a more ideal one. “Good, now walk.”

 

Donghae sighed and started taking one step forward.

 

“Ah, wait, your head,” Hyukjae suddenly exclaimed, holding Donghae’s face and pulled it upwards until they were looking at each other in the eye. “Don’t lower your head when you walk, that will cause you to slump forward. And always keep your gaze straight ahead. But be careful not to trip, glace downwards when you need to.”

 

“Okay,” Donghae replied.

 

“Now try your best,” Hyukjae encouraged, slapping Donghae’s cheeks with his palms lightly.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Okay, so we’ve fixed your posture, even though it took a three gruesome lunch breaks to do so. Now, you must practice how to smile and laugh properly,” Hyukjae said.

 

“I can smile,” Donghae argued.

 

“Really? Then smile at me,” Hyukjae crossed his arms.

 

Donghae smiled meekly.

 

“Hmph, your smile looks a little forced, try to be more natural will you?” Hyukjae scolded.

 

“But I don’t have a reason to smile,” Donghae replied.

 

Hyukjae pulled at his face to make a funny face.

 

“What are you doing?” Donghae asked.

 

Hyukjae released his face. “Was