on the day the mirror broke . kth

02 | THE BOY

Time to play tour-guide.

She makes her way to the three of them and Ms Bang leads them to just outside the gym. The yelling from inside can still be heard through the gym doors, but it's muted by the walls.

"I'm sure you remember me telling you this morning that we have a new classmate?" Ms Bang smiles warmly at her, holding Mr Bang's hand. Despite the PDA rules, they were the most openly touchy couple in school. It was cute, Seonhi always said that she wanted a relationship like theirs.

"Yes, I remember Ms Bang."

"Good." Ms Bang went on to explain what Sumin had to do — take him on a tour now while everyone was in class, drop him off at his classes until he knew the way himself, and answer any questions he had. Then she's gone, Sumin doing a silly little wave that only she and the stranger see before finally turning to him.

Damn papi, this a whole meal right here.

Newbie's just taller than her and utterly gorgeous. Soft black locks hang over strong brows, eyelashes long enough to graze his sharp cheeks every time he blinks. His school uniform is a smidge too big, but he had rolled up the edge of his pants so they would fit better. He looked like he was supposed to be an actor or a model, not a schoolboy.

The boy himself was staring at Sumin. When he came into the gym, he had seen what seemed like a wild thing, flying across the gym like the golden snitch. He saw the slouch she had, the lazy, easy way she walked and the slightly cocky way she held her chin high and so he thought she was a boy.

"Take a picture dude, it'll last longer." Sumin's words shake him out of his daze, and he blinks at her with a weird look on his face.

"Uh." He shuffles awkwardly, not meeting her eyes. "Maybe later."

"Haha. Okay then." She closes her eyes for a second, thinking of the route she would take him on. "Tell me your name, Newbie."

"Kim Taehyung," he says, giving her a weak smile. It was blindingly fake.

"Nice to meet you Taehyung." A pretty name for a pretty boy. "I'm Sumin, co-vice-president of your new homeroom, 2B. Show me your time table."

Taehyung pulls out a piece of paper, unfolding it carefully. He passes it to her, wary about touching her, but then flinches back when their hands brush. Sumin gives him a worried glance but ignores it to look at the paper. She doesn't see him fervently rubbing his fingers, trying to get rid of her touch.

Music, photography, art, drama, plus Korean, English, maths and PE which everyone has to do, she thinks, which means he'll always have one of us with him. It's good he's doing music, he can meet the others.

"Who're the others?" Taehyung asks softly. He stops rubbing his hands against each other and tries to look her in the eye. Emphasis on 'try', he gets shy and looks down at his feet again. "You must have been thinking out loud."

Sumin chuckles awkwardly, embarrassed. "You'll find out soon enough I suppose, we have music later. Let's go."

She's a bit awkward, the last person she had shown around the school was a girl who asked tonnes of questions, so it was easier to know what to show her. This time though, she had to figure it out herself, but she managed, taking him to each of the buildings by focusing on the classrooms he would be using.

Taehyung was very quiet, only ever nodding his head to show that he was paying any attention at all. She tried to make conversation with him, but he was not having any of that. From the little he did say, she found out he came from Daegu.