𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲

chapter 3

You place all the groceries you bought into the kitchen once you arrive back at home, before heading to your mother's bedroom where she's resting. You see that she's sitting up in bed and watching something on her laptop.

Since she spends pretty much all of her time either in her bedroom or the living room, you'd saved up for a while - a few months back - through part-time jobs so you could buy her a laptop. That way, she has the television in the living room or her laptop when she's in a different area of the apartment. It's not much, but at least it's something to keep her entertained whenever you aren't home.

She smiles at you as you walk into her room, smiling when you lay down with a content sigh. You sit in a comfortable silence for a while, your head on her lap facing the ceiling as you glance at the show on her laptop every so often.

"I think I'm really going to like it here Mum," you say quietly, and she smiles down at you in relief before reaching a hand out to stroke your hair. She can tell you're already much more comfortable here, but notices that there is still some underlying nervousness in your voice - your mind is definitely elsewhere.

"You're nervous about school, aren't you?" You don't respond, so she knows her guess is correct. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asks softly, her fingers still running through your locks soothingly.

"I think it'll be good for me, I need the new start," you respond after a moment of thought, looking up to see her smiling proudly at your optimism.
"Just be yourself, I have a feeling you're going to be a lot happier here." Her words make you smile, and you sit up before bringing her into a hug.

"Thank you so much for letting me do this, I love you," you whisper into her shoulder, and she returns the hug happily.
"I love you too baby." You fall asleep in her arms shortly after, cuddling into her side contently.

You stand at the gate when you arrive at school the following day, gripping the strap of your bag tightly as you stare up at the school building. You watch the students enter before taking a deep breath, smoothing down your skirt nervously and walking through the gate yourself.

You walk in the same direction everybody else is going in, not really knowing where you're supposed to be but just following the other students towards the school. You look around and take in your surroundings as you head to the entrance, hearing a few whispers as you walk. They make you slightly nervous, but you try your best to ignore it as you enter the building.

You try to look around for the teacher's office on your own for a few minutes, but give up eventually and decide to just ask someone for some help instead. You approach the first person you see and tap their shoulder nervously, and when she turns around you're met with a huge smile.

The girl is really beautiful and has short black hair, just a little shorter than yourself. She's standing beside a boy with a smile on his face that's equally as kind. You return the smile with a timid one of your own before you speak.

"I'm really sorry to bother you, but I'm new here and I'm a little lost," you tell them sheepishly, "would you mind telling me where I can find the teacher's office?" Her smile widens before she nods enthusiastically, immediately pointing and explaining where you're supposed to go.

You thank her before following her directions, managing to find the teacher's office within a few minutes. You approach the first teacher you see once you enter the office.
"Hello, I'm a new student here," you bow politely. She asks for your name before pointing towards a teacher on the other side of the office, telling you that you should go over to him.

You thank her before walking over to the other teacher, and he smiles when he notices you. You introduce yourself, and he immediately begins checking your details and looking for your schedule. You just stand there, fidgeting with your hands and shifting your weight between your feet out of nervousness, waiting for him to complete the necessary checks.

"Welcome to Saebom High," he says as he slides your ID badge over to you once he's finished, and when he looks up at you he realises how anxious you seem to be.
"Don't worry, the students here are really kind," he says, sending you a warm smile that helps ease your nerves slightly, "I'm sure they're all going to love you." You smile at him and bow once more in gratitude.

"And it seems like I now have another top student in my class," he says when he sees the grades you achieved in your previous school, "so I'm sure studying won't be a problem for you." You appreciate his attempt at reassuring you, feeling yourself relax slightly at the fact that you have such a kind homeroom teacher. You just hope your classmates will be the same.

He gets up a few moments later and walks towards the door of the office, motioning for you to follow him to your new homeroom class. You enter the classroom right after him, the noise and chatter in the room halting immediately as everybody looks at you in awe.

You stand beside him at the front of the class awkwardly, eyes downcast while you wait for him to finish his morning announcements, but nobody seems to be listening to what he's saying. They're all just curious about the pretty new girl who's standing beside their homeroom teacher.

When he finishes speaking, he laughs at the way everybody is staring at you intently before turning to you, motioning for you to introduce yourself.
"Hello, I'm Y/F/N Y/L/N. Nice to meet you all, please take care of me," you say as you lift your hand up in a little wave, still not looking up from the ground.

There's silence for a few moments, but you look up in shock when you suddenly hear cheering.
"Yay, we have another pretty girl in our class!" someone shouts, everyone erupting into more cheers at those words. You look at your homeroom teacher with wide eyes, and he chuckles before sending you a knowing smile.

"See? You had nothing to worry about," he mumbles, the other students so engrossed in their excitement that they don't hear him speaking to you. Once everyone quietens down a little, he looks around for a place to seat you.
"You can go and sit over there in front of Suho," he points towards a vacant seat by the window, and said boy raises his hand.

You bow politely to him once more before making your way towards the designated seat, hearing whispers of other students saying "wow" or "she's so pretty" as you walk over to your desk. Just before you sit down you make eye contact with Suho, so you throw him a kind smile before sitting down and immediately getting your things out to begin the lesson.

When the lesson is over you just remain in your seat for a while, not really knowing what to do. Between each lesson there's always a short break while you wait for your next teacher to arrive, and while everybody else jumps out of their seats to chat with their friends you just stay where you are and read through your notes to keep yourself busy.

You look up after a few moments when you see someone standing by your desk, and you make eye contact with the same girl who helped you find the teacher's office earlier. Your eyes widen in recognition before you break into a smile. You were so nervous when you entered that you hadn't even looked around at the students, not realising she's in your class.

"Hi, I'm Sua. It's Y/N right?" she asks, smiling at you as she reaches a hand out for you to shake. You place your hand in hers and give it a little shake, nodding happily. She grabs the seat from the desk in front of yours, turning it around and sitting down facing you. She continues talking to you for a while, before calling a few people over.

"This is my boyfriend, Taehoon," she introduces you to the boy you saw her with earlier, and you throw him a friendly wave in greeting, "and this is Soojin," she points at another girl who approaches the three of you seconds later.
"Wow you're so pretty," she says, looking at you in awe, and you quickly wave your hands in disagreement. They laugh at your shyness, and you smile when they all start chatting happily with you.

You notice the other students in the class walking over too, joining in on the conversation and wanting to get to know you better. They all befriend you almost instantly, and the realisation makes you smile. Yes, this place will definitely be good for me.