Chapter 1 {13}
Hana always had a fascination with places anywhere other than her home. Hana's dad was from Daegu, but due to his busy schedule, they never visited his family as much as they did her mom's family in Japan. So, on Hana's 13th birthday, her dad surprised her with a year in Korea. She would live with his family for a year and participate in a foreign exchange student program at a school in Daegu. The night of her birthday, Hana started packing for Korea, and she would leave within the next week. She was ecstatic.
On the day of her flight, she couldn't stop fidgeting around, she was nervous and excited. She's been on long plane rides, but never by herself. For the next 16 hours, Hana would sit in a plane, excited for the next year of her life in Daegu. When the plane landed, Hana finally got to see her family which she was only used to seeing on a screen. She ran up to hug her grandparents for the first time. While leaving the airport, Hana placed her luggage in the trunk of the car, and while getting into the backseat her grandmother asked, "어떻게 지냈나 요?" Hana looks at her and smiles, "Oh, I've been fine! I'm so excited to be here!" Hana's grandmother smiles and they catch up back to the house.
Hana's grandparents always had an extra bedroom that was never used, and now Hana could claim it as her own. After removing her luggage from the trunk, Hana rushes into her grandparents' house and up the stairs to her new room. Her grandfather walks after her and states, "당신은 그것을 좋아합니까?" Hana beams a bright smile, "Of course! I love it!"
Some more of Hana's family came to visit and help her settle into her new room, "Now, little cousin," Hana's cousin, Soo-Jin, wrapped her arm around Hana's shoulder, "You'll be going to my school so I'll show you around." She winked at her, and Hana smiled, "Thank you, Jin-ah, I really appreciate it."
For the next few days, Hana was getting settled into her new home, and just a few minutes earlier she got her school uniform with her name tag, '이 하나', she was very excited for her first day of school. Once she finished dinner and washed up, she instantly went to bed, she didn't want to be late or tired for her first day.
Hana woke up at 5:30 to check she had everything packed so she wouldn't forget anything she needed. She checked that her uniform was clean and crisp and that her name tag was straight, she also checked her hair and her shoes. Hana felt a pit in her stomach, she'd never felt so nervous about school, so why now?
Hana reached the school by 7:30, which gave her enough time to change her shoes and find her classroom. Hana was assigned a shoe locker and while Hana was changing her shoes, she saw the guy next to her also changing his. Hana stared at him for a second and took in his features. His eyes were the most noticeable, he had very fox-like eyes and they were very sharp. He noticed her stare, "What?" He asked harshly, his eyes pierced into hers, "I-" Before she could even finish her thought, he scoffed and walked away. Rude. Hana brushed off the interaction and continued slipping on her shoes so she could find her classroom.
On her way there, she kept looking at signs above the door and wasn't looking where she was going, and bumped into someone, "You again?" Hana stared at him for a second, "What? You don't know Korean?" He scoffed at her and Hana scoffed back, "Of course I do! I am half Korean after all-!" The boy interrupted, "Half?" Hana stared before stuttering, "Yeah... Half." She said quietly, the boy just laughed and pushed her back slightly, "What are you doing here if you're not even full Korean?" Hana looked at the boy in disbelief, was he serious right now? "Well my dad wanted me to experience Korea-" He interrupted again, "You're not even from Korea?!" He laughed at her, he was mocking her, "Can you let me talk for a second?!" Hana yelled, they continued to fight until one of the boy's friends came to get him for class.
Hana took a few deep breaths, 'God, what was his problem?' Hana looked at the clock and her eyes widened, she only had 3 minutes and she still hadn't found her class. She rushes through the hallways and bumps into her homeroom teacher, "Are you my new student?" Hana nodded, "Good, can you wait out here? I'll call you inside in a moment." She smiled lightly, and Hana smiled back.
"Okay, class, today we have a new student." The teacher waves Hana in, "She came here all the way from California." The teacher smiled and stepped back for Hana to introduce herself, "My name is Hana Lee, this is my first year living in Korea, but it isn't my first time living abroad." Hana smiles, a boy raises his hand and asks, "Where else have you lived?" Hana noticed that it was the same boy who was friends with that jerk, "Japan, I lived in Tokyo when I was younger to be closer to my mother's parents." Hana smiled reluctantly, and noticed a boy from next to him leaning to the side a whispering just loud enough for her to hear, "Oh, the other half is Japanese." He smirked at her, and Hana felt her hands clench into fists. "I think I'm done." Hana said through her teeth, "Okay, well you sit in front of Min-Jun." Min-Jun...? Hana remembered that name, she already knew this wouldn't be a good idea. Hana felt a slight fear as the boy smiled sadistically at her, and pointed to the seat in front of him. Hana groaned.
Hana took her seat and got out her books, and when the teacher had her back turned, she felt something hit the back of her head. She pulled out a crumbled-up sticky note from her hair and unraveled it, 'I'm gonna make your life a living hell.', Hana crumbled up the note and put it in her bag to throw away after class. In several class periods 'Min-Jun' did little things to push Hana closer to the edge of snapping.
During lunch, Hana sat at her desk, reading a book while eating her food, suddenly, Min-Jun sat at the desk in front of her and ripped the book from her hands, "Hey-!" He flips through the pages, "Give that back!" Hana tried to grab it but he pulled it behind him and gave it to one of his friends, "So," His eyes bore into Hana's, "You lived in Japan?" Hana nodded suspiciously, "So you can speak Japanese?" Hana nodded again not knowing where this was going, "So how would you say 'You don't belong here' in Japanese?" He tilted his head and Hana pursed her lips and stared at him for a while before responding, "私を放っておいてもらえますか?" Min-Jun scoffed angrily, "Do you think I'm stupid?" Hana shook her head rapidly, "I never-" Before Hana could even finish her sentence Min-Jun threw his drink in her face. Hana sat, frozen, for a second before standing up from her desk and slapping Min-Jun across the face, "Who do you think you are?!" Min-Jun tried to speak, but Hana didn't let him, "You have absolutely no reason to treat me like this!" Hana screamed, "You have been picking on me all day, and I haven't done anything to you! So why are you doing this to me!?" Hana cried, Min-Jun stood up, "I don't have to explain anything to you."
"Min-Jun!" The boy had just closed the door to his house and his friend was already waiting outside for him, "What?" He walked up to the slightly shorter boy, "We're getting a new student today!" Min-Jun didn't really care about a new student, "And?" was all he said, "And~," The boy said playfully, "She's Soo-Jin's cousin." Min-Jun stopped dead in his tracks, "Soo-Jin?" The boy nodded, "As in.." He paused, "Yoon Soo-Jin?" The boy nodded again, "Yeah! Do you think she'll be as pretty as her?" Min-Jun smacked the boy's arm, "Shut up." He said with a bitter tone as he continued his walk to school.
Yoon Soo-Jin. She and Min-Jun used to be close, but the second she started gaining more friends and becoming popular she left him behind. She would pretend to not know him when she was with her brand new group of 'friends', then she would act as if they were still the best of friends when they were alone, so, like anybody else would, he cut her off. When he sees her his heart aches a little bit, then he remembers that she was never a good friend.
When they reached the school Min-Jun and his friend went to their lockers to change their shoes, a girl he didn't recognize started changing her shoes next to him. Her eyes.. They were just like Soo-Jin's.. There was never any real emotion in Soo-Jin's eyes, they were very dull most of the time, he never knew if she was happy, upset or anything in between, her eyes never changed. He noticed the new girl staring at him, "What?" His tone came off a lot harsher than he expected it to be, in his heart he knew this was Soo-Jin's cousin, who else would she be? "I-" He didn't want to deal with her just yet. Min-Jun walked away from the girl and he didn't want to think about her the rest of the day.
Min-Jun went with his friend to a nearby vending machine to get some drinks, one for now, and one for lunch. When they were walking away Min-Jun stopped his friend, "Listen here," It was Soo-Jin's voice, "At lunch, eat your food then come back and meet me here and I'll show you around!" She said excitedly, "Don't we only have 30 minutes for lunch?" Soo-Jin seemed confused, "No? Maybe you only have 30 minutes in America but not here." The new girl nodded, "Okay, I will." Soo-Jin places her hands on the new girls' shoulders, "Now, this is very important," Soo-Jin's voice was solid, "I need you to listen to me very carefully," Soo-Jin's eyes stared intensely into her cousins', "There is a guy, his name is Han Min-Jun," The new girl stared back, "You need to stay away from him." Soo-Jin said those words so sternly, why couldn't she meet him? "Why?" The new girl asked, "Because, he's a bully," The new girl looked shocked, "A bully?" She seemed scared.
Bully? Min-Jun wasn't a bully, but fine. If she's gonna make him one, he'll be one.
