“Hello, I’m Xi Luhan,” the angelic boy smiled at the class which began to murmur and gossip about him. 

“Ah, yes the chinese exchange student, I have your papers here and your books,” The professor said as she looked at her clipboard. She then pointed to the last seat of the boys table, directly across from me. 

“That will be your seat for now,” She remarked. With no servant, Luhan walked towards his seat and once he got up on the high chair. He opened to the page we were on. All eyes were glued to him.Well, not exactly across due to the distance. However, each boy and each girl were matched together to keep an even and orderly number of students.

“And since you started the next paragraph, please continue,” The teacher added and waved her hand in the air as a signal for the class to focus again. Although some of the class went back to their books, most kept staring at Luhan. I couldn’t blame them, he stuck out a lot. I watched him as he got ready to read. It was strange seeing someone across from me. For the most part of the year, till he had come, no one sat there. The one guy who should have been in that seat, never was here. He came once at the start of the term in March, but that was it. 

'It's different not being able to see the window' I mused looking at the covered blue skies. 

“I take thee at thy word: call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;” Luhan’s melodic voice filled the quiet classroom. Luhan looked up, gazing right at me. His eyes connected with mine as he said the last words.

“Henceforth I never will be Romeo,” He softly said.

My eyes widened at the intense eye contact he was making with me, and I couldn’t pull away from it. It was as if he was saying those words directly to me. Was he trying to say something to me? I kept staring at him for a while, entranced by his gaze.

“Lady Jiwon,” Gongchan whispered. His voice brought me back to reality, and I realized that the class was on the next page already. Gongchan quickly flipped the page and pointed where we were. I looked down and caught on quickly. After a few minutes, my eyes glanced at the boy again, but he no longer was staring at me.

*****

“So Luhan, you’re Chinese?”

“Wow, and you already know the Korean language? That’s impressive,”

“Ah not really, I still have some trouble at times,”

‘How irritating,’ I thought. It was tea break. The class had moved into the tea lounge. I sat alone at my own round table where Gongchan had prepared small sandwiches and tarts. He was preparing to pour tea at the moment.

I speared an apple as I waited for him to be finished with the tea.

“How annoying are they,” Gongchan whispered into my ear as he leaned to place the tea cup gently in front of me.

“is what your facial expression shows,” Gongchan smiled to me. I blinked my eyes a couple of time before I quickly grabbed the tea cup to cover my blush.

“Don’t go reading my thoughts…” I mumbled as I took a sip. It was Apples Spice tea. I took in the fragrance as it calmed me down.

Luhan had both boys and girls surrounding him. He was laughing with them, but something seemed out of place. Although he would fit perfectly, the puzzle piece didn’t work.

“Hey Luhan, I wanted to ask you for a while, but why don’t you have a servant?” a girl asked. Her own butler was handing her tea.

“You walked in without one! And also you had to pull out your own chair, flip your own pages!” commented a boy as if it was something horrendous.

“Ah…you could say that I like to do things by myself without the help of others,” Luhan smiled at them. The girls all sighed in admiration.

“No servant, chinese, and suddenly comes in mid-September of freshman year. He also missed the first marking period of fall,” I commented to myself.

“Taking personal notes of people, I see,” Gongchan chuckled when I shot him a glare.

“It’s not, it’s not because I care for him or anything, just he’s…interesting,” I defended myself very poorly.

“Yes yes,” Gongchan said as I puffed my cheeks out. The action did not miss the attention of my classmates.

“Ah, ah, look at her again. did the servant put too much sugar in her tea?” one of the boys sarcastically asked in a low whisper.

“hey she might hear you,” a girl said.                  

I took a long sip of my tea, ignoring them. There has always been this unbreakable invisible barrier between me and the others. On the other side of the lounge, they all sat at large tables in groups of twos or threes or even five. And I was always in the small corner.

It was a wall that only let me hear and see them, but I couldn’t ever be near them. I convinced myself though long time ago that this was easier to blocked them off.

“AH! Luhan don’t! that’s not safe!” A loud whisper called out.

I looked towards a potted plant off in the distance, my chin rested on my hand. I was thinking of how it must hate being inside. It was tapped in a confined area with a lack of sunlight.

“May I sit here with you?” a voice asked.

“Tch, to share a table with the likes of…” I gradually looked up to see the Chinese exchange student. He smiled down at me.

“Do what you want,” I scoffed at him. I kept a bored expression, but I was sincerely aggravated at the fact that I couldn’t just say sure, join me.

I snapped my fingers for Gongchan to help him with his stuff and to help him in his seat. Gongchan obediently went to the other side to assist Luhan.

“Ah there is no need, I can do this much by myself,” Luhan replied, declining sandeul’s help. Luhan pulled the chair from the table and placed his books by his seat and he gracefully sat himself on the velvet chair. My eyes widened at his every movement.

The lounge was silent as they stared at us.

“To decline help from a servant, you truly are strange,” I said in a bored tone as I looked into those eyes.

Luhan though didn’t frown or looked shocked at my words. The others did though.

“Luhan is just trying to be nice!”

“We need more people like him who treat people correctly!”

“Unlike Sung!”

“Didn’t she hear how he wanted to do things himself? Rude of her!”

I glared at the direction of voices, but regained my composure. I looked back at Luhan who was smiling at me.

“The tea smells wonderful,” He sniffed the air. “Apples and a touch of cinnamon,” he commented.

Gongchan began pouring a cup for him, but Luhan even declined to that. Luhan poured himself one. I eyed his movements carefully. He then sipped it with a refreshed look.

“Ah, delightful,” he said with satisfaction. He gave me a smile.

“You sat here just to taste the tea?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Of course,” he said as if it was obvious. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I’m not here to insult you nor am I here because of a dare. I am here to enjoy tea with a classmate,” He said answering my unspoken thoughts.

Gongchan chuckled at the fact my face shows everything. I grumbled slightly.

“Why should I trust you?” I said with suspicion.

“Why not?” he answered back with this innocent look on his face. I just gaped at his stupid answer.

“Maybe because I barely know you!? Some strange class mate comes over to just have tea, I highly doubt that,” I folded my arms across my chest.

“But how do you know I’m lying? Like you said, you barely know me,” Luhan looked up with a smirk on his face.

“And besides, the people you trust now, you probably didn’t know them before you learned to trust them, right?” He gently stirred his tea waiting for my non existent reply.

I didn’t even roll my eyes at him. “You’re strange…” was all I said to him.

“Well I’m not like everyone else,” he replied with a smile.