3 The new student

Stepping into the classroom, Jinhee took in the familiar view of the room she once studied at. Many memories had started to become vivid, and nostalgia hit Jinhee. Her chest felt stuffed, as Jinhee stepped into the classroom.

Jinhee shared happiness, regret, melancholy, excitement, and victory all in this classroom. Multiple times she skipped classes and fell asleep on that distant seat during the lessons.

Some stared at contempt at her whilst others showed indifference to Jinhee. Among them were those who took the chance to put Jinhee down and bully her.

Inaudibly sighing, Jinhee took her seat beside Taehee, as that was the only place remaining. Jinhee recalled how she jumped like an excited cat when she got to sit beside Taehee for the entire term, but now, Jinhee felt a dull ache at the corner of her heart.

Jinhee ignored those who snickered at her and paid no attention to them. Since she naturally didn't possess high intelligence, she had to work hard if she wanted to stay in top ten, and moreover, she missed a week worth of lesson.

Fortunately, Taehee taught her meticulously in her previous life, and therefore, she held some knowledge of the studies. She could use those to her benefit this time around.

Taking out her mathematics book, she put in the earphones into her ears and started going through the problems plus the formulas with her utmost concentration.

She tried to remember all this from the previous life and with her pen, attempted to work them out on an empty page. Her lips protruded forwards when there was something she was unable to figure out, and if she was able to solve something, her eyes lit up visibly.

Unbeknownst to her, couple of eyes were watching her. Numerous of those eyes were staring at her in shock for Jinhee was known for being unintelligent and didn't pay any heed when it came to studies. Some eyes scoffed at her for being pretentious.

Among all these eyes, there was a pair looking at Jinhee attentively with an undecipherable gaze, and Taehee's lip were slightly slanted upwards at the end. Pushing back the piece of hair that fell down of Jinhee's eyes, Taehee captured Jinhee's attention.

Jinhee glanced at Taehee blankly for a second before going back to her work whilst Taehee's eyes turned despondent for a second.

The door to the class opened, and Jinhee finally removed the earbuds from her ears. Placing down her pen, Jinhee stood up, following the other students and greeted the teacher.

"Sit down, everyone," Min Jaesook spoke out.

Min Jaesook was young teacher in his mid 20's, and he was talked about in fancy among many female students. Like the previous time, he was their homeroom teacher for first year.

His dark brown hair was styled neatly, and glasses sat above his black eyes. Jinhee had no impression of him since he remained detached most of the times, but he was good at delivering lessons.

"There's a new boy joining us today," Jaesook stated.

Knowing this was to come next, Jinhee tightly clenched her hand into a grip, and the veins in her hand became more visible. Her eyes showed a mixture of pain and hatred at the same time. Jinhee's action wasn't missed by Taehee.

"Come in, Kim Jaehyun."

As Jaesook enunciated out those words, the door to the class opened and a young, handsome male elegantly walked in. The sight of the young male tightly clenched Jinhee's heart, and Jinhee had to hold back her tears.

His blond hair was parted at the centre, and an indifferent expression was present in his face. The brown eyes of his stared at everything with nonchalance.

Squeals and flirtatious gazes were given by many girls in their classes. Since Jaehyun was a top idol in the nation and heir to one of the biggest conglomerate in South Korea, no one here failed to recognise him.

In her previous life, Jinhee was included in the group who were head over heels for Jaehyun and was willing to do everything for him. However, although Jinhee fancied Jaehyun to some extent now, she no longer dreamt of them being together.

The reason Jinhee fell for Jaehyun had to do with what happened back when they were in first year of middle school.

When parties were held, Jinhee was the one disregarded by others, and everyone tried to curry favour with Jinkyung, her twin. No one attached any importance to Jinhee, and Jinkyung usually took the chance to mock Jinhee with her friends.

However, in the dark corner of the room, Jaehyun was the one who approached her and handed her a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. Although he spoke very few words, Jinhee found the solace in the silence and Jaehyun's presence. He stayed the entire time with her while she shed her tears and commented nothing about it.

This caused Jinhee's heart to flutter. For all the upcoming parties, they were beside each other even though barely words were exchanged between both of them. However, for Jinhee, this was a comfort on its own.

Jinhee removed her attention from Jaehyun and picked up her pen, getting back at her work. The longer she stares at Jaehyun, the more hurt she'll be attaining, so it's better to ignore his presence.