The Me I've Forgotten

Chapter I

"Here's our princess," some guys shout.

Here we go again, the same shi**y life. I'm just starting to get sick of it. Is my face the problem? Sometimes, I wish I had a manlier expression so I could avoid being noticed, or that I were just a little taller. Though I'm really nice to everyone, it doesn't help at all. Maybe it's because the majority of boys are bad, so I'm perceived as the "cute guy."

Society... You always have to act a certain way to avoid embarrassing remarks, which is literally ruining me. It's slowly consuming my mind, unraveling me. Since I was little, I lived with my mother and two little sisters. As for my father... he's gone. He and my little brother died in an accident on their way to school. So, yeah... sorry for being emotional. This means that I grew up in a feminine environment, so I ended up making a lot of female friends.

No one cared about it in primary school, but in middle and high school, it didn't go quite the same way. It caused me a lot of problems. Getting bullied every second by these dumb*** is exhausting. I don't understand who the hell they think they are, or what kind of people they even are. It makes me want to shout at the top of my lungs. One day, some guy told me,"Why are you wearing baggy jeans? Isn't that for girls?" I was speechless. How dare he? He has no sense of fashion. But at the time, I was really affected by these remarks, so I started wearing "manlier clothes," which didn't suit me at all, but it helped me avoid being noticed so much.

"Su-Jin, have you seen Mrs. Minji? She dyed her hair BLONDE!" Hana says excitedly.

Hana is my best friend since primary school. She's half Korean, half American, and she loves gossiping about people. To be honest, so do I. The destiny that brought us together is truly something... Who else could I trust with all the secrets and stories of our little world?

"Oh my lord, you must be joking?! She's gonna look so pretty!"

"Yes, she is! No one will be able to take their eyes off of her. She's so angelic. I think I might change my hair color too, you know, just to change things up. I'm thinking of going ginger. It would suit me like hell!"

"Wow, you're right. You're gonna be a goddess! But you're always stunning, even with your messy hair," I add.

"I would like to express my heartfelt thanks."

"Pff, you actually thought I meant that seriously?" I scoff.

And there we go again, fighting like we used to when we were kids. We're really silly. We should probably get some help with this, even at 17. We're still trying to keep things the way they were before.

Suddenly, the door opens, and Mrs. Minji appears in the classroom. She talks to us about our plans after high school. As for me, I'm thinking about applying to an architecture university. Architecture has always inspired me—it's been my dream since I was 13. After her speech, the door opens again, and a girl walks in. Mrs. Minji asks her to introduce herself since she seems to be a transfer student.

The girl stands up with a quiet confidence. Her long, straight black hair falls neatly over her shoulders. With her warm brown skin and glasses framing her eyes, she surveys the class for a moment before speaking.

"Hi, I'm Jiwon. I'm from Canada," she says, her voice calm and clear. "I like reading, photography, and spending time outdoors."  She gives a small smile, her gaze steady but not overbearing. "Looking forward to getting to know everyone this year."

"Thank you, Jiwon, for your presentation. It was interesting. You can sit now," Mrs. Minji declares.

Then we started the day with History. The lesson on the French Revolution was really entertaining—I actually quite enjoyed it. Mrs. Minji made it feel so much more interesting than I expected. She went into detail about the storming of the Bastille, and the way she described it made the event feel almost dramatic—like something straight out of a movie. It was easy to get caught up in her energy, and for a moment, I actually felt like I was there, among the revolutionaries.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the session. As everyone packed up, I glanced over at Jiwon again. She was sitting by the window, flipping through her notebook, still quiet. There was something different about her... but it didn't really matter. I grabbed my things and headed out with Hana, the thoughts of the lesson already fading...

 "I hope you'll enjoy my story ✨! This is the first chapter of "Silent Affection". I promise you plenty of surprises ahead... By the way, do any of the characters remind you of yourself??

New chapters every Saturday!"