Stars in the Morning Sky (Suho x OC | True Beauty)

Chapter 2

Hanbyeol felt like she was looking in the mirror.

Another girl was hiding herself with makeup, desperate to escape her ugly past. Although Jugyeong tried to pretend she was fine, Hanbyeol told her that it didn't matter to her and that everyone should be who they want, how they want.

In the yellow hallway scattered with students in maroon and grey, Hanbyeol let Jugyeong tuck herself in the wall and consult her mirror. She spent a few minutes fixing her foundation, and Hanbyeol quietly watched by her side. Luckily, none of the students passing by stopped to stare. 

Suddenly, Suho reappeared, thrusting his makeup-stained blazer at Jugyeong. The girl cried out as she caught it, dropping her foundation, which cracked on the floor. Trying to ignore Hanbyeol's glare, Suho immediately returned to their classroom next door.

"Hey! Why is he like that?" Jugyeong was flabbergasted.

As she picked up her broken foundation and checked it, the other girl pat her back, sharing her sympathy. 

"Just ignore him," Hanbyeol gently advised. 

She craned her neck to see Suho through the windows and nearly stuck her middle finger at his unknowing face.

The sound of the school bell caused the surrounding students to disperse to their classrooms. Luckily, the girls didn't have to wait long for Mr Han to come and usher them into their room.

Standing in front of all her classmates made Hanbyeol fidget with the ends of her hair. The room seemed bigger than it was. Wooden, single desks were laid out in rows and the back of the room housed their blue lockers, matching the bottom half of the walls while the top half of the walls were yellow. On the right, large windows looked out to the front of the school, a beautiful view of hedges and huge bushes lining a maze of walkways under the blue sky. 

Silence coated the room as all eyes stared up at them, excited to have two pretty girls joining them. It was like an army of meerkats waiting for them to speak. Hearing her own breathing, Hanbyeol tried to slow it down.

"These are the new transfer students in our class, Lim Jugyeong and Park Hanbyeol," the teacher announced from behind his stand. "Jugyeong, can you introduce yourself?"

The makeup-caked girl swallowed, observing the sea of seated students in the warm room.

With hardly a wave, she started, "Hi. Nice to meet you."

"You're so pretty!" a short-haired girl cried.

Other students clapped and cheered with their arms in the air. This kind of appreciation was new to the two girls, almost like being worshipped as royalty.

When it was Hanbyeol's turn, she gave out a similar introduction, including her name and that she loved playing the guitar. She was soon met with the same round of applause and whistles. The amount of happy faces aimed at them made her heart flutter, but her smile faltered when she noticed Suho's blank face from his spot next to the window. What was his problem?

"Okay! The visual average for our class went up!" a boy with glasses shouted from the back.

After some cheesy words from the teacher, he offered two seats: one next to Suho and one closer to the front, behind Sua, the short-haired girl. Jugyeong quickly claimed the closer seat, making an excuse with her bad eyesight. Hanbyeol wasn't picky, but sitting next to the boy with a bad attitude was not on her wish list.

The dark-haired girl succumbed to her fate and set up her desk as Mr Han started his lesson on poets. Thinking positively, Hanbyeol enjoyed the whole class. She was an arts person and quite liked literacy. On her left, Suho couldn't help but steal a glance or two at the girl who had been enthusiastically taking notes.