Back To School

The early morning sun had already started on its gracious journey to the west but kicked off on a bad note for Neo Kyung– Soo; given the big argument during breakfast over the issue of her mother remarrying.

He detests with all odds the sight of his stepfather and the fact of they moving in with him. He had for long wished for her parents to reunite after their 5years of being divorce and live together once again as one family but then Hwang In– Yeop came into the picture; sabotaging all his long term dream.

He couldn't stand him for even a second despite Hwang In– Yeop's effort to make him see him as someone he could trust.

Storming out of the house in quite a rage, he scampered off through the quiet alley with his bag hanging loosely over his shoulders to the bus stop. There was quite a ruckus at the stop when he got there given the precise number of students around. Instinctively, he masked his anger as he neared the waiting area.

It was Neo Kyung –Soo's first time of using the public bus transport due to his family status but fortunately enough, he got a bus card from Shin– Woo the other day. After a few seconds of waiting, the bus pulled up in front of them. All the students hurried in; settling in their seats. Neo shuffled over to the back seat–settling in the corner as he glanced through the glass window.

Just when the bus was about to take off, a girl swiftly brought her hand in between the door which was about closing – making the bus stop abruptly; slightly jerking the passengers forward.

Neo stared expectantly at the entrance as the familiar young lady staggered in and his brows creased.

" Joe-song-ham-ni-da (I'm sorry) ," Irianda muttered hastily with a slight bow as she stepped into the bus– passing her card on the verification machine while she scampered to the empty seat just before the backseat where Neo sat.

He watched as she settled in– plugging her earphones into her ears. From her uniform, Neo could tell she was a student from his school but had never seen her on campus before –except the day he went on an expedition with her friends; probably a transfer student. He guessed.

Few seconds after Irianda had settled in, the bus sped off. She instinctively stared through the glass window and sighed; listening on her music while she tried to masked her anxiety.

Neo on the other hand couldn't help stealing glances at her as the bus rode through the busy streets. Half way through the drive, the bus instantly came on an abrupt halt in the middle of the three dimensional road with zebra crossing for pedestrians and traffic lights regulating the movements between the cars as well as the pedestrians.

Passengers spontaneously broke into ruckus as everyone stood up to see what had opted the sudden pause and Neo was no different from the others. Irianda who initially had no idea what was going on due to the earpins and the fact that she was staring through the window all along– with a sceptical gaze slowly unplug her earphones noticing almost everyone up on their feet. She deftly stood to her full length as the rumpus of the commotion met her ears.

Abruptly, there seemed be a fatal accident where two cars had ran into each other with one laying upside down. Currently, there was an ambulance available and the injured victims were been carried in.

Almost everyone in the bus was by now trying to have a good view of the incident. Just then, Irianda noticed a strange person standing on the pavement not far from the incident. He was in a black trousers and a black hoodie with it's cap covering his head– bringing bare just his face. To her outmost surprise, his eyes were like blazing fire– the iris were red and had narrowed pupils like that of hers when she turns to her true form. To top it all, he had nine invisible flaming tails unlike hers– floating behind him.

Irianda could tell he was staring directly at her but when he noticed Irianda had her gaze on him, he scampered off as if on an impulse.

Quickly, she snatched her bag from the seat and darted off. "Hey, you're going to be late ." Neo muttered on noticing her but she was already gone. Allowing his gaze to travel back to where Irianda sat earlier on, he saw something which belonged to her on the floor.

He spontaneously took it, stared at it for a while and shove it into his bag– planning to give it back whenever he sees her. Moreover, their first meeting had left nagging questions on his mind which needed to be cleared up.

********

SAMBERK HIGH SCHOOL

8:15 AM

It had already been 15mins since classes started and Mrs Cheon Min– Jeong was all up– talking about their previous lesson on Arithmetics which was actually not a fun deal for most of the students but that didn't stop her from what she had to do.

Irianda on the other hand had just arrived at school. She stared at the huge three story building before her eyes and sighed. "Let's do well Irianda. " She grumbled to herself and staggered in.

Back in class, Mrs Cheon wasn't giving ear to any of the students who kept growling about their interest not in the lesson. After a few recap, she wrote a question on the board and called Neo to the board to solve it.

Neo hesitated a bit but gave in anyway; due to the persistence of his colleagues who feared they might be called to solve it if he doesn't.

Without another word, he shrugged from his desk and shuffled over to the board. Mrs Cheon spontaneously stepped aside for him– giving the others a clear view of the board.

Just when he was about solving the question, Irianda sauntered in which caused everyone's gaze to travel to the door. Neo on seeing her scoffed, "I told you you will be late." He grumbled to himself.

"New student? " Mrs Cheon uttered as Irianda shuffled in slow steps towards her.

"Ah yeah." The latter answered, taking her stand beside the teacher. Mrs Cheon's lips instinctively curved into a smile as she gestured Irianda to introduce herself.

After the introduction, the teacher gestured her to an empty seat beside Lee Ji–Soo which was directly opposite Neo's.

At that instant, the sound of the bell rang through the entire school for change of lessons. Mrs Cheon took her book and the class captain stood announcing to his colleagues to show their appreciation to the teacher which they did.

"I will wait for the assignents. " She informed and trod out of the class.