What is the opposite of meeting?
"You are here."
"Oh, why am I in the same class as you again? This is annoying."
"Do you think I'll be okay? My ice cream is all melted."
This scene depicts two 18-year-old high school students who have known each other for about ten years. The boy is Kim Taehyung. It's a bit embarrassing for me to say, but he's handsome. He also tried being an idol trainee, but he says his company treated him too harshly and he left.
Although we seem to dislike each other, there seems to be an invisible thread connecting us. We growl at each other, but if someone insults the other, we all pounce on them like mad dogs.
That doesn't mean we have romantic feelings for each other. We're just friends. If we hadn't cried and cried when he moved away and said, "We're going to be together forever!", we wouldn't have stayed together this long. It was a trap to cry like that and then move into the apartment right next door.
Still, he's a good friend. I once had an ex-boyfriend come to visit me. He was so obsessive that we broke up. One day, he suddenly claimed he couldn't forget me and stalked me, a crazy bastard. But Kim Taehyung saw me crying, so he went all the way to my house and beat me until I was a mess. If you get to know him, he's actually a really nice guy.
"Why do I have to see your face so early in the morning?"
"I'm off to a bad start from the first day. It looks like my studies this semester are going to be a disaster."
"It's not like you're just bad at studying, is it?"
"Don't make me fight from the first day of the semester."
"Wow, how can you hit a girl?"
"How can you be a woman? Just by looking at what you eat, you can tell you're a man."
I'll take back what I just said about his good personality. He really has no words. He has no luck and no talent. But why is he so popular? The image I have of Kim Taehyung and the image others have of him are probably 180 degrees different.
***
"Wow, your homeroom teacher is Korean? I'm really lucky this semester."
Everyone must be surprised. Is it a good thing to have a Korean teacher as your homeroom teacher? But our school is truly wonderful. Our teacher is cheerful and sometimes tells us to go to sleep when we're sleepy. He's exactly the kind of teacher everyone wants. And to have someone like him as your homeroom teacher? This semester, I won't have to worry about my student records.
I can see the corners of Kim Taehyung's mouth quirking up in the seat in front of me. He probably likes it because his teacher doesn't wake him up if he's sleeping. I think he's mistaken. He just doesn't care if you sleep, and the test difficulty doesn't decrease. So, my school's Korean teacher was the one who forced us to attend class.
There's one more thing. Surprisingly, the Korean teacher is reportedly out of school for a few months due to personal reasons. So the student teacher next to him is filling in for the time being. He's really handsome. I'm sure he'll be a feast for the eyes.
Strangely enough, when they found out that the teacher and the pretty Korean teacher were their homeroom teachers, all the students, regardless of gender, headed to the front seats. Then, the window seat at the very back, which seemed like it would attract the least attention, became empty, and I was lucky enough to sit by the window.
I sat quietly and noticed there was no student sitting next to me. What the heck, did they accidentally leave an extra seat? Unable to contain my curiosity, I told my Korean teacher there was one extra seat left. But she said that couldn't be true. It couldn't be true.
I pushed aside my lingering questions and focused on first period. To be precise, I was trying to concentrate. Suddenly, in the middle of class, there was a loud bang, and someone opened the back door and came in, gasping for breath. That child was the one who occupied the remaining seat.
"Sorry I'm late. I got the class wrong."
Ah, he's handsome. That was my first impression of him.
***
"..."
The boy sitting next to you is Park Jimin. He said this was his first time at school after living abroad. He said he arrived yesterday on a flight to Korea.
He says he knows some Korean because his father is Korean. However, he says that even that is only to a certain extent, so there may be times when he doesn't understand.
That's all the information the teacher gave me. This kid is handsome. I think he'll be popular with the girls. I've been quietly staring at him for a while now.
"...?"
My child handed me a note. What was it? Did he write something telling me to stop looking at him because he found it too burdensome? Or did he think my staring at him meant I liked him? All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind. But the contents of the note were unexpected, defying everything I'd thought.
What is your name?
Min Yoon-ah.
What do you like?
Sweet dessert.
What do you dislike?
The boy in front of you.
Surprisingly, this is what the note said. Maybe he wanted to ask something trivial. Hey, maybe he's cuter than I thought...?
About five minutes before class ended, I saw the kid rustling around, diligently writing something down. As expected, I casually asked him a question via note. The question was,
Are you afraid of anything?
Ghost. If a ghost appears, I might faint.
After writing down the answer to the question, he returned the note. After reading the contents, he suddenly lowered his head. It was obvious he was holding back laughter. Seriously, me. Is being afraid of ghosts really something to laugh about?
***
"It's finally break time."
After the bell rang for recess, the students went out to see their classmates in their respective classes. The student teacher briefly went to the staff room to get the next lesson materials, and a few female students followed him.
I finally felt quiet, and as I lay face down on the desk, I felt someone watching me. For a moment, I thought it was Kim Taehyung, and I wanted to get up and punch him, but I held back. However, as time passed, I opened my eyes, feeling his gaze still on me.
"..."
"..."
My eyes met with the boy next to me. After a moment of silence, I turned my head away, embarrassed, when he called my name.
"Min Yoon-ah..."
"So cute. Min Yoon-ah."
Did I hear that wrong?