In A Beautiful Way

Detention

Haein sighed heavily as she stuffed her books into her bag. Today was not her day. This morning, they'd drawn lots during their weekly student council meeting and she had the ridiculous misfortune of picking the one piece of paper out of thirty to be in charge of detention for the month.

If there was one part of being in the student council that she absolutely despised, it was running the risk of having to supervise the detention room. She'd done it once last year and it was absolute torture. Not only was she unable to go home and study in the serenity of her expansive home, she was forced to put up with a bunch of baboons who didn't have the self discipline to sit in a chair for three hours. As someone who greatly valued peace and quiet, it was an absolute nightmare.

"Cheer up, maybe if you pray hard enough, no one will decide to get into trouble this month. At least it's not April, the detention room is always the most crowded then." Yoon Seri, her best friend, chuckled at her displeased expression.

"With my luck, it will be overflowing with troublemakers." Haein rolled her eyes, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Seri and Haein had been friends for almost as long as they could remember. Both hailing from chaebol families, they'd been introduced from a young age and became close friends after realising that they could relate a lot to each other. Now, they attended the same prestigious school together and were heavily involved in the student council.

"I wish you all the best then. Unlike your unfortunate soul, I'll be enjoying my classical music at home this afternoon." Seri smirked.

Haein threw a ball of scrap paper at her. "Shut up. I'll be praying for your downfall next month. You've never had to supervise the detention room once but I've already gotten it twice!"

"It's not my fault that bad luck follows you wherever you go." She teased. "Maybe you're a bad luck magnet, that's why I've been so lucky since I hang around you all the time."

"In that case, I'll expect a special part of your speech reserved for me when you become chairwoman next time. You better award me credit where it's due."

Reluctantly, Haein parted ways with her best friend before trudging to the detention room. Maybe if she blasted her mp3 player loud enough, it would drown out all the noise and she could actually get work done. Otherwise, she was going to have an excruciatingly long and unproductive afternoon.

The stipulated time for detention was three to six in the afternoon. As the punctual person she was, Haein always made sure she was at least fifteen minutes early for duty, but to her surprise, she wasn't the first person in the classroom for once. There was a boy already sitting inside, his face hidden by his shaggy hair as he hunched over his book.

She stopped in the doorway of the classroom dumbfounded. Who in the right mind would arrive early for detention? Most people skipped it entirely, let alone be punctual. Whoever this was must be some psychopathic maniac. Ew, what if he was one of those creepy nerds? The thought of being stuck in the same room for three hours was already making her skin crawl.

She shuddered.

It's okay, just square up and do what you do best. You don't have the reputation of being an unfazed ice queen for nothing!

It was fine. She would just ignore him and do her own thing. If he started getting creepy, she was going to beat his sorry ass up. No one was going to mess with Hong Haein.

With a deep breath, she strode confidently into the room, dumping her bag on the table with a loud thump. The noise drew the attention of the only other occupant in the room who looked up curiously.

The air rushed out of her lungs instantly.

Oh wow, he's kinda cute.

His face had been the complete opposite of what she was expecting. Sitting before her was a boy who looked about her age, looking every bit like the main character of a teenage romance movie. With soft fluffy hair that obscured half his vision and soft brown eyes that sparked a desire for her to start a conversation with him, he was the epitome of the cute boy next door. He was slightly tanned which she assumed was from sports since she could make out the faint tan line from his watch on his wrist and his uniform was slightly tight around his arms, showing off his large biceps.