Not So Different, Are We?

1~Jihoon

Pulling open the large doors to the school, and stepping inside, Jihoon felt more intimidated than he originally had thought he would. He ran a hand through his hair and proceeded to walk further inside, avoiding as many people as he could. He clutched the laminated page in his hand and looked between that and whatever was in front of him, making sure not to run into anyone or fall flat on his face to give himself a bad reputation on his first day. He found his locker, number 327. Were there really that many people in this school? And even more lockers stretched down each and every hallway. There was even a second floor to the school, and from the way the school was designed, he saw more lockers up there without even having gone up there yet. He turned his combination on the lock on his locker, opening it.

He had gotten one of those full-sized lockers that were about as tall as him, making it slightly unsettling he could probably fit in his own locker. However much that scared him, he wasn't going to think about it, letting it dwell in his mind could increase the chances of him getting shoved into a locker. He didn't want to risk it. He analyzed where his locker was located in reference to all his classes on the map, figuring out how often he could stop there between classes. He figured out he could only stop there before school, before lunch, and after school.

He put all the things he didn't need into his locker and began walking to the library to get his books. He needed three textbooks; history, math, and science. He only needed two for the beginning of the day, glad that one wasn't his history book because that was the heaviest.

He walked back to his locker to put the history book away, then began walking around, searching for his first-period class, which he found a little after the bell rang. He stumbled into the room, almost dropping his textbooks as he desperately tried not to fall. There were a couple chuckles from the class, which caused his cheeks to darken and his gaze to drop to the floor.

The teacher approached him and patted his head. He looked up and pouted slightly at the fact she was taller than him. She gently grabbed his arm and turned him to face the class. "Class," she spoke. Her voice was different than Jihoon had expected. He expected a cheery voice, but hers was very soft, almost soothing. He had met her once before with his father, but he didn't remember her voice. He was taken from his thoughts by hearing her speak again. "This is our new student, Lee Jihoon!" She had a hint of excitement in her voice as her face lifted up to a cheerful expression.

There were a couple waves and soft greetings from the class, along with a couple smiles, all of which Jihoon ignored. "You may take that empty desk right there." The teacher pointed to an empty desk and patted Jihoon's backpack as he began walking towards the desk in the back of the classroom. He placed his things on the side of the desk and sat down. He looked around the class while the teacher wrote some things on the board and prepared her things. It was a decent sized class, with about 25 students, all appearing to be in the same grade as him. The classroom was arranged so that there were two desks next to each other facing two more desks, so they made a pod. He continued looking around, ignoring the stares people sent to him. He looked at the person sitting across from him, it was a girl, she was looking at him. She smiled and waved, and was about to say something when Jihoon looked away. He looked back to the front as he heard the teacher begin speaking.

"So, class. Since we have a new student, and I haven't quite gotten around to it, I think we'll spend today rearranging seating!" She smiled. A combination of cheers and groans came from the class. "Okay, everyone, please come with me into the hallway." She walked into the hallway and the class followed, Jihoon being the last out. "Please line up into two lines. There are 26 of you today, so everybody will have a partner." Everyone lined up and waited for the next instruction. "Everybody face whoever is across from you, reach out, shake hands, and introduce yourself. This will be one of your partners."