riki.nishimura. → yours sincerely

5

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"Sit down, come on girl." Mina pat to a space where I could sit, it was between one of the guys, and beside Mina herself.

I swallowed hard, not really wanting to sit beside the guy, but regardless, I sat in the middle.

To say I felt uncomfortable was to say the least.

They all stared at me, with big smiles on their faces.

"Are you from Seoul? You have that Seoul beauty, very rare." Yoojung leant her chin on her palm, still staring at me and observing my face as if I was some sort of antique.

"Ah, no no, I'm all the way from Gwangju." I chuckled timidly, looking down at my lap. It was a little flustering receiving so many compliments.

I have always received compliments for my appearance my whole life. Even during my childhood, my mother's friends would always shower me with compliments and on the occasion, Eunmi.

Sure, it was fun, but also sometimes carried negative effects.

"Gwangju? Woaaaah, that's far. How come you moved?" Go-eun asked, and although the guys beside me weren't part of their group, I could tell they were listening to me speak.

"I just.. had family issues. So we moved to Seoul." I gave a vague summary, the only person I did tell about my family issues was Riki, and he always managed to comfort me through letters about my situation.

"Haeun right?" Jihyun asked me again, and as she said my name, the boy that previously didn't look at me, shot his head right at me.

I made a few seconds of eye contact with him, those alluring eyes of his, and those plump lips. This man was clearly the school sweetheart, evident by his whole group matter of fact.

"Yeah, Haeun." I nodded my head, looking away from the guy and back at the girls.

"Ah! You're just so cute!!!" Mina looked at me, staring at my face again with excitement.

"Can you shut up?" The same boy I made eye contact with spoke, his voice low and rather dark. He gave a glare at Go-eun as she gave him one back.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"God, Haeun, ignore those guys, they're little annoying jerks. Not worth your time." Go-eun explained as the seven boys just glared back at us.

Damn, what the hell is this?

"Annoying jerks? You're the annoying ones, screaming over a new student." He replied coldly, what the hell was with all these guys?

Or maybe what was wrong with him?

I looked back at his face, and as I looked at him, his eyes dart back to my face. I panicked, frantically looking elsewhere and then proceeding to stare at the ceiling for a good second.

He let out a chuckle, turning his head back to his friends and talking to them again.

"Seriously Haeun, don't interfere with them. They're no good, basically every girl has something for the guys here, but I don't trust them for a second." Mina gently spoke, in a quiet tone so they wouldn't be able to hear.

"But if you want an introduction, I'll give you one." Go-eun smiled at me as she looked over to the guys.

"The one with the blonde highlights in his hair, that one's Niki. Biggest asshole you'll probably meet in your life." Go-eun scoffed, and I didn't think she realised, but she spoke a little too loud.

Niki turned his head to look at us again, and I just pressed my lips together, trying to suppress my laughter.

"Go-eun." His deep voice took me aback, and completely got rid of my laughter, "I suggest you tone it down a little, unless you want me to show you how much of an asshole I can really be." Niki's eyes suddenly wandered back onto my face.

And all of the sudden, I just stared into his eyes too. Something about his face, I couldn't quite decipher it, and his words too. I found myself just making completely shameless eye contact with him as he observed my face.

"Kang.. Haeun. Correct?" Niki paused briefly before saying my name, and we literally exchanged the most intense eye contact I think I've ever had in my life.

"Yeah." I responded to him as he slowly nodded his head, a small smirk forming on his face as I looked away.

The girls looked confused, furrowing their eyebrows at him.

"Hey, Haeun, don't get sucked in. I'm telling you now - it's not a good place." Jihyun chuckled as I gave a light smile. These girls seemed better than I wanted.

"Oh? And how would you know?" I began to find myself back with my old personality, despite I was in a completely new place now, I finally managed to crack myself out of the timid shell.

I looked at her with a teasing smile as the other girls just laughed.

"Oh please, Haeun, if you were here a few months earlier, you would've seen the horror we had to experience." Mina shuddered jokingly, the table surrounded in a pile of laughter.