Welcome to Lesou

5

The biology lab was a lot more relaxing for someone who was just trying to fit in on their first day. Most of the materials were review for Junseo so he could just follow along and help his partner out with the illustrations for the write up. He made sure to label everything on the diagrams carefully and then became more interested in the details and the structure of the bat wing they were supposed to identify and describe.

He pulled out his design notebook and made an anatomically correct sketch and then simplified it. When he felt he had captured its essence, he made some size estimations to run through his lift and drag calculations. His lab partner managed to get Junseo's attention back on their assignment before the teacher came to check on them.

"Sorry, got a little distracted there," Junseo blushed and went back to reviewing their report. When he finished the last piece he said, "this looks pretty good to me but I don't know what this teacher is usually looking for."

"Right. You weren't here at the beginning of the year. We have this rubric." The boy handed over a grid of expectations and levels of accomplishment.

Junseo scanned it quickly and realized they had not done a point form summary so added to their report.

"What do you think?" he asked once he finished.

"I think I'd be lucky to have you as a lab partner for the rest of the term."

"That is not how it works, is it?" Junseo expected to shift partners at least every two weeks like he had in his other school.

"No but the honours students are pretty clubby so do a lot of sharing," his partner said bitterly looking over at the bench shared by six other boys.

Junseo did not want to get drawn into rivalries so offered to hand in their work.

"Glad to see you finished up in such a timely fashion." The teacher smiled kindly. "In case nobody mentioned it I have a background in design and practical mechanics so if you ever want to share some of what you have tucked away in your notebook you can find me in the staffroom in the period before lunch."

Junseo blushed and thanked the teacher for this offer. Obviously, his distractions had been spotted. He gave a brief explanation of his interests in aerodynamics from his days as a kite racer.

"Ilidan's famous races. I hope you might do a demonstration for my junior physics class. They are just starting in on the loads and lift calculations and you might be able to provide more of an incentive for them." The teacher's enthusiasm for this idea delayed Junseo's departure until the other class started arriving.

After sprinting up the hallway Junseo was completely flustered looking for his conversational Shen class. Consequently, he did not enjoy the assignment of introducing himself in the different forms of address from familial to high court. It reminded him forcefully of how Granny Min had drilled him and he felt homesick for the first time. He couldn't wait to get out of the classroom and away for a few minutes of peace.

He carefully avoided the courtyard where the senior class was gathering to go together and view the posted results. He thought there would be lots of time to go later when there weren't so many eager boys pushing on each other. He already accepted he would stay on and retake the science portion of the exams and try to look up some of the friends of his Broken Wheel friends. Junseo walked into the dorms slowly and picked up his clean cloths on his way to his room.

He heard bumps and yelling before he got to the second-floor landing and raced the rest of the way. He pushed smaller boys back into their rooms along the hall and used his well practiced racer's bellow to yell, "Coming Through."

There was a masked man in the hallway who Junseo quickly disarmed and then shoved into the trunk that had not yet been cleared. Their scuffle ended quickly but involved some loud banging so it was not long before another stranger came to investigate. Junseo stayed behind the door and jerked on it when it started to open. He quickly dodged a sword thrusted through the worn boards. Junseo banged the door shut and pulled it open fast enough to disarm the swordsman on the other side. He grabbed the blade and tossed the sword down the hallway then ordered, "Get Help, NOW!" before entering the fray.