She Was Happy - NCT Dream's Jisung

Week 2 - I'm Happy By The Way

It was a new week and a new Saturday. I was ready for round 2 of this weekend madness.

I was still working through the troubles I had encountered last week but my mom was helping me through it well. She tried to spend more time with me when she was off from work and she started to cook more often to make sure I was eating well. Not that I actually was.

School still sucked and being alone all the time didn't help too much. The only thing surprisingly going okay was my studying for Anatomy and Physio. I enjoyed learning about the human body and it's functions. Call me a nerd. At least it's not lame stuff like coding or math.

I arrived at school about five minutes before class time. So I was still able to secure my corner in the left back of the room. This time, Professor K started class right at 8:00.

I figured today was going to be a repeat of last week's--same boring lecture, same lonely lunch period, and same boring worksheets from TA Mark. But I was wrong.

Right when Professor K was finishing up with taking attendance, a girl I hadn't seen last week walked into class. She appeared out of breath and red from the cold winter air outside. Yet, she was only dressed in shorts and a large knit-sweater. This was odd to me, but something about her was intriguing.

Once she checked in at Mr. K's desk, she scanned the room for a seat. No one seemed to pay attention to her as she walked around to grab an open desk, but I saw her. I noticed her.

My palms started to sweat once I realized she was walking in my direction. My eyes followed her as she stopped at the desk on the row right next to me and settled her things down.

"Hi," she smiled at me, then took her seat.

I nodded back awkwardly then quickly faced the front of the room again, trying not to snag glances at her every now and then as Professor K concluded attendance and started morning announcements. He was talking on and on again but I couldn't hear a thing the guy was saying, because I was too interested in the new girl beside me.

For the first time in my life, I built up the courage to speak. To make a new friend.

"Uhh...I--I didn't see you here last week," I whispered in her direction.

She immediately smiled at me when she heard me. This was new. This was a friendly encounter. Something I'd never experienced before. Is this how it feels to talk to a stranger and...be okay at it?

"Yeah, they didn't let me start the program until I paid the dues, so...had to miss the first week," she uttered back, with pretty hand gestures. Pretty. Her hands were pretty.

"Uh--I'm Happy by the way," she said, holding her hand out for me to shake.

Do people still do things like this? Again, this was odd. Not just the formal handshake, but even her name was so odd. 'Happy.' But maybe that's what drew me to her so vividly. She was pleasantly odd. Maybe like me. But in a different way of course.

I took her hand lightly and shook it carefully. Her palm felt delicate in mine and it made me smile inside. "Jisung."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jisung," she grinned pulling her hand back, and setting it down in her lap.

"Likewise," I said.

"Let's keep the talking to a minimum please, Mr. Park," Professor K called out from the front of the room, giving me an awkward glance.

This Happy giggled at me and I pursed my lips in embarrassment.

I pondered at the thought that this could be my first real friend.