It's so high school at Hanil Foreign Language High School with a new addition in the middle of the semester. Baek Hyun Woo, a Year 3 transfer student in his final year of high school meets Hong Hae-in, a Year 2 student who is the future heiress of Q...
The next morning, Hae-in pushed open the classroom door, the familiar chatter of gossiping girls and boisterous boys washing over her like a wave. Ignoring their curious glances and hushed whispers, she navigated the room with practised ease, her gaze fixed stubbornly on her desk.
With a small sigh, she dropped her bag onto the floor and sank into her chair before she pulled open her table to retrieve her history textbook.
That was when she saw something that made her breath hitch.
A tense silence blanketed Hae-in for a full minute. Her hand hovered frozen above her desk, her gaze locked on the familiar brown paper bag nestled amongst her textbooks.
Then, a frown creased her brow as she carefully lifted the bag. Peeking inside, her frown morphed into a furrow as her eyes landed on another neatly rolled gimbap. A knot of suspicion tightened in her stomach, warring with a flicker of genuine curiosity. A million questions bombarded her mind.
What was going on? Who was leaving these paper bags at her desk? And why gimbap, of all things? Why her?
Pushing the thoughts aside for the moment, Hae-in set the paper bag down with a soft thud. She snatched her history textbook and closed her desk, a determined glint in her eyes. Today's lesson promised to be captivating, and she wouldn't want to waste another second on the mysterious gimbap when she should be diving into the intricacies of history.
Besides, the Goryeo period was interesting, and now that they were studying the reign of King Gongmin, Hae-in found herself even more intrigued. She was oddly drawn to the material, for she had always admired the love story of King Gongmin and Queen Noguk, a tale of unwavering devotion tragically cut short. It was a beautiful, heartbreaking narrative but to Hae-in, it was the epic love story of the Goryeo era.
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Lost in the tragic beauty of the royal romance, Hae-in barely registered the classroom settling or the shuffling of papers. The quiet whispers and textbook thumps faded into the background as she imagined stolen glances and whispered promises between the king and the queen he devoted his life to.
Hae-in wasn't a hopeless romantic. In fact, she was far from it. But something about the love story of King Gongmin and Queen Noguk was so poignant that it sparked a flicker of something deep within her. At some point, Hae-in found her thoughts wandering.
Will she ever be able to experience such a love, so fierce and consuming, even if it ends in pain?
Suddenly, a booming voice jolted her back to reality as Mr Lee, their history teacher began his lecture on the reforms implemented during the Goryeo period.
As usual, Hae-in took down notes diligently, turning her full attention to Mr Lee's lecture. The paper bag remained forgotten until lunch came around.
The lunch bell's shrill cry echoed through the schoolyard, a jarring contrast to the tranquil scene beneath the willow tree. Its weeping branches swayed gently in the afternoon breeze, the promise of solace drawing Hae-in to read under it as she usually did when she wished to be away from the crowd.
