How to Steal a Heart

Yeonghon high school

16 year old Ari stood in front of her full body mirror in her sun-lit room, examining her appearance. It was Ari's first day at a new high school. She had her wavy, luscious hair in a loose messy bun. Two dark brown strands sat astray from the untidy arrangement on top of her head, framing her round face. She had large, round, dark eyes and soft, plump lips, completed with fair, glassy skin. She was wearing an airy, button-up polo shirt, tucked into a long, high-waisted, light blue skirt. Her socks were white and knee-high with black, shiny ankle boots. Ari completed her look with light, natural makeup that complimented her glass skin.

She and her parents had just moved away from her childhood home to a different part of Korea. When Ari heard the news that she was moving, she was stunned. "What? But what about my friends?" She had said. Her parents had comforted her about the matter, telling her that she would be going to one of the best high schools in Korea, and that she could facetime her best friends any time she was feeling down.

Ari ran down the stairs, eager for food. She reached the bottom then turned into the kitchen, her path slightly blocked by heaps of boxes. "Ari! What are you having for breakfast?" Ari's mother called from the sitting room. Ari looked up in the high food cupboard, requiring her to stand on tiptoes (Ari was quite short for her age). The cabinet was very unorganised since the family had only arrived a few days ago. "Probably juk!" She called back to her mother, grabbing the box and shutting the cabinet. Juk is a Korean savoury rice porridge.

After Ari had finished her juk, she put away her dishes and packed her bag, ready to leave for her new school, Yeonghon High. She packed her new laptop, her pencil case, her lunch, her notebook, and a few other things. "Come on Ari, let's get you to school," Ari's dad said, walking up to open the door. "Just coming!" Ari said in reply. She grabbed her blazer and her bag, hastily putting them on before running to the door. Ari sped past her Dad and through the open door of his car, closing the shiny silver door behind her. Her Dad followed shortly after closing the house door. He popped into the driver's seat and put the keys into the silver Ssangyong. "You ready darling?" He asked Ari. "Yup," She responded. He nodded at her in reply and started the engine. He poked at the screen to bring up maps, leading the way to Yeonghon high school.

It was a 25 minute drive from their new house to Yeonghon. When the school came into Ari's sight, She was flabbergasted. The building was so much bigger than her old school. Her previous high school was small. So small, in fact, that the 6 classes had about 15 - 20 pupils each. "This school looks like it would fit 500 billion pupils or something like that," Ari thought to herself. She opened her door and clambered out of the car to find her Dad waiting for her, like he'd arrived hours ago. He held his hand out invitingly to his beloved daughter. She took it, slapping her palm against his. They walked up to the grand gates of Yeonghon high school. Ari took a deep breath before saying goodbye to her father. She ran off, into the school grounds, waving to her Dad as she went.