"Riin, where did you go?" mom asked as soon as I opened the front door and entered the house.
I placed my sweater on the rack and closed the door behind me. "I went out to buy some mangas and magazines," I replied honestly.
Mom's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? Magazines? Mangas? You're not the type of person to read such things,"
"I know. This is clearly not my type of reading material. But since I'm so curious about your theory of love, I decided to widen my studies by reading this things. I figured that relying on reference books is not enough to answer my questions,"
After that, I went upstairs, leaving my mother in the living room with her jaw dropped.
I can't believe that I actually read those kinds of things just to satisfy my curiosity. I read it whole night long until I finished it all.
********************
"Is it easy to fall for someone? But why is it that in some mangas that I've read, people who fight with each other in the beginning usually end up together? It's pathetic," I told myself while walking towards our classroom.
"But then again, some of the magazines that I've read said that your soulmate could be your true love," I continued thinking.
Feeling disturbed with all these hypothetical ideas, I looked around the classroom to see if anyone's around.
I'm the most punctual student in school, so I always arrive earlier than the others. After reassuring that I'm alone, I opened my backpack and took out the magazine that I bought the other night.
“Soulmates, huh? Is there really such a thing in this world? Will I really fall in-love if I ever find my soulmate?” I asked while reading the magazine.
I suddenly heard some footsteps approaching and so I quickly hid the magazine in my backpack. My classmates have arrived and shortly after that, the bell rang which indicated the start of class.
Our teacher went inside and stood in front of us. “Class, we have a new student today,” she said as she let a guy enter the room.
All the girls started murmuring with each other upon seeing this guy. He’s kinda pale, tall, and definitely handsome. He’s more like an aristocrat.
“I’m Kim Jaejoong, I came all the way from Japan. My parents decided to move back here to Korea, and so here I am,” he said as he introduced himself and smiled sweetly. “It’s nice to meet you all,”
I could hear the girls giggling excitedly while staring at the newbie. I have to admit, he’s cool and handsome, but that doesn’t impress me.
The teacher asked him to sit next to me since the seat beside me is available. Even though I was at the front row, I could still feel all the girls glaring at me from behind.
“Hey, I’m Jaejoong, nice to meet you,” he said while holding out his hands to me with a smile.
I smiled back and shook his hands. “I’m Jang Ri In, the pleasure’s all mine,”
That guy was actually not bad. He’s actually smart, and before I knew it, we were already competing with one another in terms of answering the questions raised by the teacher.
The bell rang and it was already time for lunch. All the students hurried to go outside, but since I still have so many books to organize, I was left alone in the classroom.
That’s what I thought. I didn’t notice Jaejoong enter the classroom until he approached me.
“Hey Riin,”
I turned to look at him. “Oh, you’re still here?”
“Yep. I just want to borrow your notes since there are a lot of things that I need to catch up with,”
“Ahh…sure, I’ll lend them to you,” I said while searching through my bag to look for my notes. “Here they are,” I gave him my notes and continued piling the books in my bag.
“Thanks a lot. I’ll return them when I’m done,” he said with a very angelic smile.
It just so happens that I saw his smile accidentally. I actually felt numb for an unknown reason. He had a very warm and sweet smile in his face
I immediately avoided his look and went back to my previous business. “I-is that all?”
“Yep, thanks!” he said as he waved goodbye at me and went outside.
After he left, I sat down and tried to catch my breath. “Aish, what was that about? What happened to me?” I sighed while closing my bag. “It’s probably due to stress, I’ll just forget about it,”
I stood up and picked up my bag. Then I walked out of the classroom and went to the cafeteria.
I went to my usual seat and took out my lunchbox. I was actually surprised that Junsu wasn’t bothering me.
While eating, my head accidentally tilted to the side and my eyes suddenly spotted Jaejoong eating with some friends.
“He’s such a sociable person. He managed to earn some friends on his first day,” I said to myself while looking at him.
He noticed that I was looking at him, and so he smiled. I got flustered again and I immediately looked away.
“Seriously, what’s wrong with me? This feeling is so disturbing,” I scolded myself while eating my lunch in a very fast manner. After eating, I picked up my things and left the cafeteria immediately.
I was on my way to the library when some girls blocked my way all of a sudden.
“What is it?” I asked coldly.
I may be a nerd, but I’m not the type of nerd who gets bullied easily. Once I get stepped on, then there’s no reason for me to hold back.
They raised their eyebrows at me and chuckled. “Don’t try to act so cool. Being smart doesn’t mean that you’re already superior,”
“I never bragged about my intelligence,” I remarked.
“I can’t believe that you have the courage to talk back to us just like that!” one of them exclaimed.
I just smiled. “Just because the 5 five of you are one of the prettiest and most popular girls in this school, it doesn’t mean that you’re already superior,” I said, trying to give them a taste of their own medicine.
They all gasped. “How dare you!”
One girl walked near me and glared at me coldly. “We just wanna warn you about Jaejoong. Stop being so close to him,”
I laughed in disbelief. “I wasn’t the one who approached him. He talked to me first,”
“Oh, dream on! As if someone as cool as him would talk to a nobody like you!”
“Whatever. I didn’t do anything to you girls, so just leave me alone,” I said coldly while trying to pass through them.
They continued to block my way. “Hey! You can’t just turn your back at us while we’re talking to you!”
“This talk is pointless, so let me go,” I stated calmly.
“You really have no manners!” One of them exclaimed as she raised her hands in the air, preparing to slap me.
Her palm was about to hit my face, when all of a sudden, a hand stopped her from doing so.
The girls gasped upon noticing that it was Jaejoong.
“You girls are the ones who have no manners at all,” he said with a glare.
“J-Jaejoong…” the girls stuttered nervously.
“Stop bullying her. Now go,” he commanded as he let go of the girl’s hand. They all scampered away out of fright.
As soon as they left, he quickly approached me with a concerned look. “Are you okay?”
I nodded calmly. “Yeah, nothing bad happened. I wasn’t really bullied. You shouldn’t have done that, I could handle myself,”
He smiled as he ruffled my hair. “Hehe, you’re just saying that. Anyways, see you at class,”
He quickly left, leaving me at the hallway, flustered and dumbfounded.
“Riin-ah!”
I got awoken from my senses upon hearing a familiar voice call out to me. Kim Junsu.
“Riin-ah! A-are you okay?” he asked as soon as he approached me while trying to catch his breath.
“What makes you think that I’m not okay?”
“But I saw it! I saw you getting cornered by those mean girls! I was about to rescue you, but then a guy suddenly arrived and took my spotlight,” he said as he pouted.
“Spotlight?”
“Yeah! I was supposed to be your knight in shining armor! Anyway, who was that guy?”
I sighed. “He’s just a classmate. He’s new, and we’re seatmates,”
He’s face saddened upon hearing that. “Such a lucky guy. He’s your classmate, and moreover, your seatmate?!? Sigh…I wish we could be classmates. Why do we have to be in different sections?!? WHY?!?”
“Quit screaming, everyone’s looking. Sheesh!” I ordered while walking towards the library. “And besides, I think it’s better that we’re in different sections. It gives me more peace and serenity,”
“Yah! Riin-ah! You’re being mean to me again!” he stated while following me.
“Do you really want to follow me to the library?”
He suddenly stopped on his tracks upon hearing the word library. “Books…thousands of books…” he said blankly. “On second thought, I’ll just see you tomorrow Riin-ah!”
I chuckled while watching him run away.
That guy might act like a dummy, but he’s actually pretty smart. The problem is, he’s really lazy and he get bored easily, especially when it comes to reading. But what’s amazing is that he can pass all of his subjects without even studying.
“Tch…such a reckless guy,” I thought to myself as I entered the library.
********************
Weeks passed by, and I’m slowly getting used to my new life.
A lot of things have changed about me. Everyday, I would get excited and at the same time nervous when I enter school. This is very rare of me.
And everytime I see Jaejoong, my heart makes this weird thumping sound.
I tried looking at the magazines for an answer. I even took a pathetic love test, and the results are always the same.
It says that I might be in-love. What kind of joke is that?
But then, I remembered that I still have a task to accomplish. I still need to know the deeper meaning of love. And the only way to figure it out is by being in-love.
This could answer all of my questions and my curiosity.
Before I knew it, I started accepting the fact that I’m already developing some feelings for that guy.
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