Hana had always considered herself more mature than the kids her age. The acts of simple mockery and disregarding others' liking for specific things weren't that humorous to her, neither was the need to mock someone for their bodies seemed reasonable to her. Perfection was abstract content in terms of humans and she was over the phase of considering anybody or anything imperfect because she believed it was. So when she saw him look around the new faces in the room with a scared look in his eyes, she understood his vulnerability because she had been there herself. She knew the fear of being exposed to so many new people at once and not knowing their judgments unless one of them of course voiced it out in form of those grotesque words and teasing phrases. "Choke me with those pretty hands," "Oh my god, no! I don't wanna end up in prison!" "Oh come on! Maybe you could roleplay as a police officer?"
Her black shoes clanked against the corridor floor, voices pouring through various rooms around her as she tip-toed to the lecture room while buttoning her shirt up properly and checking her reflection in the hand mirror. Making sure she doesn't look like someone who just had an intense makeout session. Her neon painted nails gorgeously threading through the strands of her black-brown hair, a very momentary thought of dyeing them red or blue at the ends passed her mind but then again it was a difficult task to be done by herself and asking a friend for help wasn't Hana-like to her.
She drew in a long breath before opening the door of her classroom with a smile which brightened after seeing that the professor still wasn't in class. This was the first time she was late to the class and also the first time she had been sexual with someone in quite a while.
"Oh hi, you look pretty in that skirt", Nathan compliments casually strolling to the back of the class passing by her but not before eyeing the hem of her skirt. She strolled forward ignoring his lame attempts to catch her attention and swerving her but he just wasn't the type of guy she'd fuck with. He sighed rubbing the back of his head, it was at least the hundredth time he tried.
Her lips smacked against each other as she tilted her neck to the side, a sweet smile crawling upon her lips as she noticed a brown-haired male sitting at her designated seat for the lecture while drawing a certain emoticon in his notebook. 'He seems new so maybe he didn't know', with this thought she tapped the desk with her fingers in a set rhythm. The long nail tips clicking against the old blackening wood of the table made the boy's ears perk up.
The boy was absolutely adorable, almond brown eyes rounding slightly as he looked up innocently, a seaweed green mask with a smiling flower etched on top of it covering the lower half of his face. She gestured to the seat and his brows furrowed, an expression of confusion reaching his eyes as he just blinked back slowly.
Her fingers etched just to see his whole face. Henceforth, she bent down her face nearing his as the two shaded strands of hair, swept to the side and brushing the fabric of his collar as she reached her right hand to pull the mask down. She pulled it down, his whole face now visible as she took in the details from this close. Aristocratic nose and cute lips, cupid's bow heavily visible.
"This is my seat, I can let you sit if you agree to be friends with me," His lungs felt tight and achy, her voice doing something to him due to the close proximity. A shy blush spread across his cheeks almost matching the color of her lips. He quickly looked away from her clearing his throat so she leaned back to stand upright, the rest already accustomed to her teasing antics. The boy's hands worked to quickly shove everything into his bag as he hastily got up from the metal chair, looking around twice before quickly letting his bag fall down on the chair in front of hers.
She chuckled at his flustered state before letting her body relax into the seat, one leg crossed over the other. He turned to look back at her twice only for a split second each time before getting more flustered and working on his drawing again, finishing it off by writing his name in the bottom right corner.
The teacher entered the class in a haste apologizing multiple times for getting late and setting down her books on the desk. She took a deep breath before greeting the students when her gaze fell on the new face. She clashed her brows together before it hit her.
"Oh, and we have a new student today. He just joined," she said gesturing with her hand towards the boy. Hana glanced at him sideways as he hesitantly walked to the front to introduce himself.
"Good morning everyone, I'm Jung Hyun. It's nice to meet you," he said without a single stutter but she noticed the way his thumb gnawed at the skin between it and the index finger.
Hana had always considered herself more mature than the kids her age. The acts of simple mockery and disregarding others' liking for specific things weren't that humorous to her, neither was the need to mock someone for their bodies seemed reasonable to her. Perfection was abstract content in terms of humans and she was over the phase of considering anybody or anything imperfect because she believed it was.
So when she saw him look around the new faces in the room with a scared look in his eyes, she understood his vulnerability because she had been there herself. She knew the fear of being exposed to so many new people at once and not knowing their judgments unless one of them of course voiced it out in form of those grotesque words and teasing phrases.
"Alright students, be nice to him, he's a little shy. You can go sit down darling," she said placing a soft hand on his shoulder. He nodded chewing on his lower lip as he quickly walked off to the seat in front of her. He looked around for anyone staring at him but when he saw one of the infamous 'backbenchers' talking about something to his friend and then laughing to themselves, his lips formed a sad expression. He had somehow been expecting people here to be nice to him, guess not.
She leaned towards his seat with one of her elbows on the armrest and tapped his shoulder making sure the teacher was occupied. He turned around giving her the same eyes he did before.
"They're laughing at me, not you," she said softly placing her chin on her upturned palms. He blinked twice blankly before realizing what she said.
"How do you know that?", he asks as softly as he could, hoping she didn't hear it.
"They're my friends, kinda," he awkwardly nodded before turning around. She was quick to interrupt before he could face away completely.
"I'm Hana! You can ask me for help if you want!" her enthusiastic voice made him roll his eyes to himself. To him, she was another popular girl who wanted to make fun of him by trying to befriend him. He had enough of those.
"No thanks, I'll pass," he quickly faced the whiteboard as the lecture officially began. Her smile faltered slightly but she shrugged anyway.
While the two were completely into the introductory lesson, Nathan had just witnessed the whole interaction and he knew just what would get him the attention he so desperately wanted. The whole lecture he didn't take his eyes off Hana. Only if he had a little bit more self-control, he wouldn't have lost her. It wasn't even official when one of the 'popular' girls, Elrae had clung to him in the classroom after school. He didn't even push her away, he kissed her back and he did it multiple times behind her back until one day it was all clear as water right in front of her.
Apologizing, gifts, promises, nothing worked on her anymore. Absolutely nothing. He knew he was wrong, there were no two opinions on that but the fact that broke him was that after him, she never went official with anybody. Casual hookups, he'd hear of, once in a month or so but nothing permanent. Flirting had always been one of her famous traits and even since Nathan, it had become ever more evident even if all she ever did was a wink or throw a few compliments around. Nothing more than that.
As soon as the lecture concluded, Hana got up from her seat skipping to the entrance in the excitement of her next class which was of course, Mr. Kim's class. He had been her favorite teacher since the very first day in freshman year and the fact that he was the warmest and kindest person she knew increased her respect for him. She quickly waddled to his class without turning back to look at anybody or anything. She was welcomed by his warm smile as she peeked inside the class. The pair made small talk about History itself as students slowly started filing in.
The last person to enter was Hyun who apologized for being late multiple times till Mr. Kim got agitated and told him to just settle down. He sat in the last seat, alone, and opened his book carefully opening the Seok-Mine page number as everybody else in front of him. Hana decided to help him understand after she saw him struggle with the context so when Mr. Kim passed by her seat she tugged slightly at the hem of his blazer and he hummed softly so as not to disturb the other students reading the page he had asked them too. Her hand brushed past his blazer pocket when something inside it rustled so she quickly snatched the candy out of it and he hissed at her wide eyes, trying to make sure no one saw it.
"Hana! Not here! What do you want?", he asked whispering and she pointed at Hyunwhile tossing the chocolate into her mouth. He observed him for a few seconds before turning back to her. "You want to help him?", he asked and she nodded chewing on the chocolate in her mouth.
"Mr. Jung, I believe you're having some problems? Come sit with Hana, she'll help you out," Hyun slowly nodded walking to her with his book and the most vibrantly colored pen she had ever seen, only half of it peeking out from his fist. He sat down next to her and nudged the book towards her with his finger. She quickly skimmed through the pages once before closing the book.
"How much have you read before the current topic?" she asks sweetly while tying her hair up. His eyes trace the girl's neckline for a fleeting moment before he speaks up.
"I've read till lesson three," she bit the insides of her cheeks flipping the pin in her hand before shaking her head disappointedly.
"You just need a few private lessons from me and you'll be good to go", she smiled and winked at him, living for every second of his flustered state.
"Oh, I- I d-don't think I can invite you over anytime soon," he says nervously fidgeting with his hands. Her eyes soften at his innocence, realizing that he actually was willing to learn.
"It's okay, we can study here during breaks and free time. I'll ask Mr. Kim to take it a little slow for you." She says gently leaning on the armrest of her chair. Hyun's eyes flutter from his lap to Hana's hair and hands, too shy to meet her eyes. He nods thankfully before scratching the back of his neck when she doesn't look away from him. He felt small and vulnerable from the way her well-decorated eyes were looking at him unfailingly unlike some who'd bat their eyelashes feigning innocence. Nah, she didn't seem like the type to feign innocence.
"Tell me about yourself Hyun," she suggests before they get into the whole History thing.