The smell of wet soil lingered in the classroom. Gusts of wind carried it along with damp leaves, slapping them against the half-open windows. Its whistling was strangely calming, but since when had I started noticing these things?
An overly friendly voice beamed at me, then shot his eyes toward the guy sitting to my right, eagerly chatting as if every second of the time period the teacher was late for was shrinking. These were my two best friends. We've been hanging out since the start of the school year, and despite my many attempts at shaking them off, they stuck around me.
"-I heard that there would be a transfer student today!" His name was Park Taehyun, a bit of an obnoxious figure, always being called out by the teacher for trying to act as the class clown. But he had his endearing qualities, too.
"How would you already know that? This isn't some sort of webnovel." And secondly, this was Jung Minho, "The Prodigy" is what he was known as in the class, from his grades, to his looks, to his athletic streak. He was every girl's fantasy in the class. Or better said, in the year. However, I knew of his dark secret...that damn otaku.
"How about you two stop focusing on the transfer student and actually pay attention to the important thing?" Both of their heads flicked to me, waiting for my follow-up. I was tempted to leave them like that as a joke, but I knew Taehyun would slap me for it.
"Have you guys read the latest chapter of "The Legend Reborn from The Forbidden Tundras"?"
Taehyun nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Actually, it was crazy when Jimin-"
"NO-! NOT ANOTHER WORD!!" Jung jumped from his seat, and all eyes were plastered on him from his sudden outburst. But there wasn't a single shred of embarrassment in his heart. Anything was better than hearing a spoiler on his favourite series.
I gripped his sweater, pulling it back down before the girls would flock to his side and ask him what was wrong. That...would leave a bad taste in my mouth... I also want girls to talk to me.
Just before Taehyun opened his mouth with that monkey grin on his face, the doors slid open. A tall figure breezed through the class and set down her book on the pedestal. Her red-rimmed glasses matched her auburn hair, her blue shirt was a little tighter than it should have been, and that knee-length pencil skirt really pulled the look together. It really reeked of 'I want to look young again'. Ms Kang Soyeon. It wasn't as if she were old; from her public profiles, you could quickly find out she was only 27 years old. But, teaching students all day likely would make even someone who is 20 feel as if they were 40.
"Alright, class, today we have a student transferring in." Her red rims turned toward the door where a figure crept in. She stood rather small in the centre of the class, and a few empty moments passed before Ms Kang nudged her.
"Ah. H-Hello. My name is Han Yejeong, please call me Yejeong...or I guess it would be better if you didn't talk to me at all."
'What-?' Tumbleweeds passed through the classroom, and even the usual chatty students were quiet.
"W-well, that is certainly a unique way to introduce yourself...uhm, you can sit behind...Ah! Please sit behind Kim Sihun." She pointed and nudged her. I even stood up to pull the seat for her, which seemed to be a little peeved by.
But something about her felt...strange. Aside from the odd introduction, her face looked strangely familiar. And that name, it brought back some mismatched memories.
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A handful of classes breezed by, I couldn't focus on a single one. The gusts were simply too loud, and the smashing sound of the rain broke any rhythm the lesson had. But above all of those, the nagging desire to turn around and talk to the new girl.
"-Hey so-"
"I don't really care." I hadn't even managed to mutter three words to her before being shut down. There wasn't a single drop of emotion in those listless eyes, but I could see that her notes had already piled up despite only having been here for a few classes. The studious type, just like...
Yejeong stood up abruptly and left the classroom. I couldn't exactly see where she had gone, but I still wanted to figure it out.
"Finally, Kim is showing some interest in a girl~ Go get her tiger!" Taehyun will come to regret not keeping his mouth shut.
The corridor was bustling with students, and it didn't help that her hair was rather generic.
I swam through the ocean of students before running up the stairs. There was only one place that students who were outcasts would gravitate to.
My feet slashed against the stairs, panting as I let my unathletic lungs work hard at pushing me forward. As I soared higher, there were fewer students in sight, and even the usual number of nerds and weebs dwindled down to near zero.
"-why is he here?!" A quiet sob, interrupted by soft chuckles, peeked from around the corner.
A girl with pink hair and pinkish eyes sheepishly looked down the stairs at me. In that split second, she grew taller, eyes white and strained with hair paler than snow.
"Wha-?!" Her appearance had changed in the blink of an eye. But...something pulled at my chest...this was, Yejeong...right?
"Ye-Yejeong? That is you, right? And...my childhood friend." Her gaze shifted uncomfortably again, this time her chest halving a size while maintaining the same height. Her hair grew down to her ankles with a deep purple hue painting itself across her figure.
"P-Please! Stay away from me...you'll think I am a freak too..." Despite her words, she seemed to open herself up a little more, as if waiting to be embraced, like when they had been younger.
"I think...you are...the same as you've always been. My dear friend. Yejeong."