𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐑 | 𝖫𝖧𝖲

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫: encounter

school wasn't that bad.

the boys kept me distracted from my thoughts and the stress school gave me was bearable. we got along with our classmates, too. some were new faces i have never seen before, others were already familiar to me since we attended the same middle school.

the thoughts i had about jieun slowly vanished at some point. i tried not to think of her that often anymore and it worked. maybe i was finally willing to let go of her, it was for the best. perhaps.

i think the first week passed already, because monday morning was displayed on my watch. waking up wasn't my strength, i always had those first five minutes where i whined and just couldn't think properly. i'm surprised my mother hasn't been sick of that behaviour yet.

usually i'd get to school with riki and his cousin by car, but today was different. it seemed like kazuha, who also happened to be in our class, desperately wanted the car by herself because the driver would pick up her friend as well. as far as i can remember, shuhua and her got along pretty well.

"sorry, my driver is sick. and it's a rainy day again, i don't want to be soaking wet once i arrive at school.", i told the younger one. sunghoon luckily offered us to have a ride in his car.

  
"i don't understand. kazuha is actually a reserved one who doesn't ask for things.", riki groaned and stared out of the window. "maybe it's a special occasion for her today. or she's sick of us.", i said before earning a chuckle from sunghoon.

"just let her be. after all, she didn't quite ask to be in korea. why exactly is she living in your house again, riki?"

"don't ask me, i guess it's just a business move my uncle pulled. and since my parents are settled here already, auntie probably didn't want to spend money on kazuha's own residence."

"poor her. forced to move overseas, for whatever reason."

   
a few minutes later, i could see the gates of our school. the car eventually came to a halt before we got out and fixed our backpacks. shortly after, jay arrived with jungwon and sunoo. now we were complete... i think.

"heeseung, watch out!" jungwon dragged me to the side as a car came speeding to the entrance of our school. "what kind of maniac driver is that?", i exhaled and widened my eyes in shock.

did i almost get hit? my life already flashed in front of my eyes.

"i don't want anyone of us dead here. god, i'll go teach the driver a lesson!" jay was ready to throw fists, but riki stopped him from going any further. i don't think we wanted to pick fights with anyone, we were newbies. a bad reputation should be avoided.

   
the student lazily got out of the car. a boy, quite taller than me and broad shoulders. he had good body proportions if you asked me. and a better look made me realise that he was definitely familiar.

i was able to get a quick look at his name tag, but since my eyesight was worse than anything, i could only read the "jun" at the end.

"first you almost want to be ran over by that car and now you're observing strangers. heeseung, what's wrong with you today? let's go." sunghoon dragged me along by the strap of my backpack.

"but-"

"no buts. let's get to class already."

———

"as you may know, some of your friends decided to go abroad and continue their studies in korea.", my father said as he observed the three of us. it was so quiet i could hear jake's gulp next to me, which was actually terrifying.

"i know it's kyungjun's and jake's last year, but the three of you will return to korea with me and finish your education there."

"what?", my brother yelled. "you can't do that. i'm almost finished and i have a huge reputation here! what will the students think when the face of the school suddenly leaves?"

"they'll get over it. bid your fans goodbye and you're done."

i silently chuckled to myself. "which school are we going to, dad?"

he handed me over the flyer and pictures of the school. "no way, we're going to that prestigious one?"

kyungjun turned to us as he heard jake's question and almost ripped the papers out of my hand. "forget being popular here, let's get back to korea."

   
kyungjun didn't even bother to help me out of the car, but luckily jake did. "try to be a gentleman, jun. you're a walking red flag.", i complained, making my brother put his hands in his pockets: "you're having your little jakey there, i don't need to do anything."

the third one just laughed it off. we then proceeded to find the teachers's room. since we arrived a week later than the others, we had no idea in which class we were. i definitely know i was a newbie again while the other two were able to skip a class. meaning, they'll still graduate this year. jerks.

"the architecture is so pretty, i feel like royalty here." jake looked around and already smiled at some of the students. since i was walking behind the boys, i could see how happy some of the girls were. hallway crushes developed, i suppose.

———

kazuha and shuhua were more hyped than usual and the class was very much confused by their behaviour.

"has she texted you anything yet? wasn't she supposed to arrive ?", shuhua whined and checked her phone every ten seconds. kazuha just shook her head.

"man, they're annoying today.", riki sighed, "she didn't even tell me what was going on. simply pushed me out of the car and left."

"i'll never be able to read a girl's mind." jungwon showed his bread cheeks before pulling out his phone.

   
not even a second after the bell rang, the teacher already walked in. but this time, he wasn't alone.

a girl was following him into the classroom, making the audience go quiet. well, not really. shuhua was squeaking and waving like crazy at our new classmate, seems like they might knew each other already.

only when that girl took off her mask, my eyes widened.

there was no chance i was wrong. she just looked a bit different than i remembered.

back in middle school, she'd always wear a high ponytail and thick glasses, go out barefaced and have a rather tomboyish look.

now she was standing there with a straight back, hair down and literal glass skin. her hair softly waved, her light makeup done prettily and her glasses were silver and thin.

but the eyes. i would always be able to find those eyes in a huge crowd, they were simply mesmerising to the point you'd lose yourself in them. she looked so charming, my heart could burst.

for the first time in forever i felt my heart pounding like crazy again. i was sitting there speechless.

just then, her name tag confirmed every single theory in my head.

"우지은"

the girl bowed down to a whole 90° and smiled at our class:

"hello everyone! my name is woo jieun."