The Hidden Treasure

Prologue

It was hot. Very hot. The humidity must be at least ninety percent or more.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

She looked up at the fan located in the corner of the ceiling and frowned at it. It was grating on her already raw nerves. A steady stream of sweat trickled down her spine. She felt disgustingly and sticky.

She glanced out the window and watched the heat waves dance across the asphalt of the school parking lot.

I hate summer.

It didn't help that the school air conditioners had been broken for the whole first week of the new semester. That alone had put everyone on edge. She sighed softly and pulled her white shirt away from her back. She grimaced at the feeling of it leaving her clammy skin. So gross.

The teacher, Ms. Kim, was standing at the front of the class. At least she was a good and nice teacher. She pushed her students but always helped them learn instead of always giving away the solution to every problem.

"Miss Lee, Mr. Kim, please come to the front of the class." The teacher smiled warmly as she gave her instructions. All heads turned to face the two students she had called forward.

The boy and girl immediately rose from their seats and walked to the front of the room, turning to face the class.

"Class, I would like you to meet your new class representatives for the semester. Our previous representatives both transferred out at the end of last semester. I'm sure you already know their names, Miss Lee Hyejin and Mr. Kim Namjoon. If you have any questions that you can't reach me for, please, ask these two students. Alright, back to your seats."

Hyejin made her way back to her seat and slid in behind her desk. She cast a side glance at her co-representative. He wasn't really anything special, to her anyway. He had always been her competitor in the grades department. She studied long hours just to keep up with him. Somehow though, her grades always fell a few points short of his every term. She eyed him cautiously. He was her competitor and now she had to cooperate with him on a daily basis.

He looked up from his book and met her gaze. He raised his hand a little and waved, wiggling a few fingers slightly, a soft smile spreading across his face.

She quickly looked away and felt her face get hot from embarrassment. When did he get dimples? Why hadn't she noticed them before? He never seemed to genuinely smile much so maybe that's why she hadn't noticed. She glanced back over to him and saw he had turned his complete focus to the book on his desk again. She couldn't tell what it was, but it wasn't abnormal to see Namjoon with his nose stuck in some philosophy or language book. There was a reason he was at the top of his classes.

She sighed and peeled her shirt away from her back for the hundredth time today. She glanced around the room. Girls were fanning themselves, boys were just sweating, and the teacher was trying to catch a breeze from the fans. She looked back over to Namjoon and marveled at the fact he didn't even look bothered. His focus was trained on the book.

Hyejin envied that type of focus because she didn't have it. Which probably explained why she always fell one step behind Mr. Genius. Well, that, and she also hated to read.

Her life motto was read only what is necessary, not one page more, not one page less.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Free period.  It was best used for independent study, but no one really followed that suggestion.  Hyejin was one of those people.  Free period meant nap time.  Today was no exception.  She was snoozing quite peacefully when someone tapped her shoulder.