People look happier than the day

Everyone else knows where they're supposed to be

But only I walk without purpose

But still, blending in with them is more comfortable

- BTS' 'Reflection' (Translated)

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Noelle had lived in Seoul all her life.

Since she liked the mundaneness of familiarity, she couldn't bring herself to fully loathe the city. Since she had no dreams of her own, she couldn't disregard the expectations others had from her.

Well, the expectations that her family had, to be more precise.

She didn't really mind it that much living for someone else's dream though. Why would she, when she didn't really want to do anything else? Might as well listen well to her mom and dad like she had done throughout the nineteen years of her life.

Born into a family of over-achievers, she knew that she would blend right in as long as she maintained her perfect GPA and spotless school record. She knew that she had to get into SNU Law, the top university of the country where her parents met each other.

She also knew that there was a lot riding on her small shoulders for she had to live up to their name.

She had convinced herself that those goals that they had set for her were set by her own self and not her family. She didn't begrudge her successful parents, on the contrary, she was thankful that due to them she has a set goal to achieve.

So she worked hard for it.

Why? Because she wanted to blend in. She hated anything out of the ordinary, and working hard to fulfill her parents' wishes and dreams was ordinary life for her, it was her 'normal'.

Noelle didn't like change. She liked stability in her life. She also liked the fact that she was an impeccable daughter who made her parents proud and a stellar student at her high school.

But she was afraid that that fact wouldn't be true for much longer.

For she was late.

No, not the trendy type of 'fashionably late' meant for parties- She was late for school. And she was sure that this would put a huge blemish in her otherwise immaculate student record.

Sure, she would only get a couple of demerits and a warning for it was her first misdemeanor but she didn't want that. She wasn't a perfectionist per se but she had been brought up by a woman who was known for being just that.

Cursing under her breath, she ran as fast as her non-athletic legs could carry her, her bag which was loaded with textbooks, swinging from her shoulders and continuously hitting her back as she ran.

Not that Noelle liked to blame others for her mistakes, but today her tardiness was due to the fact that her mom who usually dropped her off before heading to her law firm had to leave for work early and she forgot her bus card.

As her luck would have it, her phone was dead and Noelle had her suspicions that her snoopy and irritating younger sister must've unplugged the charger last night out of spite as Noelle had eaten the last strawberry yogurt from the fridge the day before.

Left with no choice but to run like a gazelle, she did just that but Noelle knew that she was no Usain Bolt. She was over twenty minutes late when even being five minutes late was considered as a serious crime in her high school.

Seobeom High was a school which was very strict with disciplining it's students. While Noelle knew that she was someone her teachers adored, she didn't want to be later than even the so-called rebellious teens of Seobeom; something she was sure was bound to happen that day for even they didn't dare to be later than fifteen minutes.

"Oh shit!" she cursed under her breath as she skidded to a halt just a few hundred meters away from the tall and imposing wrought iron school gates.

Her P.E. teacher, a stout man in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair and a beer potbelly clad in a loud orange tracksuit was scolding a bunch of late-comers, his booming voice making Noelle flinch from where she stood.

Mr. Choi was a scary man despite his small stature, notorious among the staff and students of Seobeom High for his draconian punishments. He didn't even discriminate among male and female students like the other teachers- he claimed he wasn't someone who gave special treatment to anyone.

"Fuck, I'm screwed today for sure!" Noelle slapped a hand on her forehead. If her mom heard her cursing like this, she would surely disown Noelle. That thought made her stifle a chuckle, when she imagined the expression of shock, horror and disappointment on her mom's face and the scowl-cum-glare which Noelle would surely receive if she ever cursed in front of her dear mother.

She contemplated climbing over the ivy-clad school wall, but her five-something inches small frame would make it really difficult to achieve the feat, almost impossible even.

Still, Noelle tried to jump on her feet, fervently wishing that somehow her soles would sport spring magically.

Alas, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Dejected at the terrible fortune of having inherited her mother's short height unlike her lucky younger sibling, Noelle sighed out loud in frustration and kicked the stupid school wall with her foot, only to end up with stubbing her toes with the unbudgeable wall.

The day was turning more terrible with each passing second for her.

"Oh my f-" Noelle stopped herself mid-curse when she noticed a figure lurking nearby from the corner of her eyes.

On closer inspection, the said tall figure stood only a few steps away, casually leaning against the very wall she was trying to kick and vent out her anger on.

It was a young man, no, a boy who looked almost her age but she wasn't really sure for he wasn't wearing a school uniform. Instead, he wore black ripped jeans and a dark hoodie and Noelle thought she saw a silver chain peeking out from under it. His shoes, a pair of grey converse, looked worn and were covered with dirt.

Noelle hadn't noticed him before so she didn't know since how long was he standing there but she was sure he must've seen her frustrated rant and heard her curse; a side of hers no one had ever encountered for she liked to keep it that way.

Blending in with the persona others had established for her was her mission in life.

But now this boy had had a glimpse of that part of hers which she liked to keep hidden away.

She hadn't noticed the boy before as she was preoccupied with her own thoughts but now that she had, she somehow couldn't stop staring.

Even though he was leaning against the wall, he looked tall. He had a blank and unreadable expression on his face, his brown orbs hiding behind the dark shaggy bangs which fell over his eyes and forehead. His hair looked way too long than acceptable for a high schooler. Silver loops dangled from his ears, reflecting the sunlight occasionally.

Noelle wondered for a fleeting second about how he could even see properly when those strands were obviously obstructing his vision. 

There was no way he could be a Seobeom High student, Noelle was sure about it. She had never even seen him in the school premises before. She wouldn't have pegged him for a student if not for the fact that he had a dark blue school bag slung over his left shoulder.

"Um, hi there. Are you a student here?" She hated how her voice broke in the middle when she said those words which almost came out as a squeak, but then again, Noelle had always been a bit of an introvert at heart no matter what the others thought.

Her classmates all assumed she was a natural social butterfly but it wasn't true. Noelle found strangers very uncomfortable, and trying to strike up a conversation with others even more so. It was her sheer luck that usually others approached her and not the other way round.

The boy didn't answer her. He didn't even look in her direction, just simply continued to stare ahead. This made irritation flare inside her.

Uncomfortable with strangers or not, Lee Noelle did not tolerate rude people. At all.

Still, she decided to excuse the boy's rudeness. But when she saw him fish out something from his pockets just a few seconds later, her temper riled up again when she saw what it was.

"Hey! What the actual-" Her curse was stopped mid-sentence when finally the boy spared her a glance and looked in her direction as if just noticing her presence when she knew that that wasn't the case.

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes with a nonchalant blank stare which increased her rising vexation with the boy.

"You can't smoke, especially not here! Scratch that, you can't smoke at all! What is wrong with you? Aren't you a student?! " she whisper-yelled at him, stepping closer to him for the fear of them being heard by Mr. Choi. He had lazily fished out a metal lighter and a pack of cigarettes and was lighting one up.

Her outburst didn't faze him in the slightest. He paid her no heed and proceeded to light the aforementioned white roll of cancerous tobacco.

"Hey did you not hear what I just said?!"

Noelle had had enough. She absolutely abhorred smoking, underage smoking even more so. She was a goody-two shoes alright and wasn't the least bit ashamed of being one.

So she decided to take matters into her own hands. Her small hands which snatched the cigarette in the unsuspecting boy's hands before he could take a puff. She threw it onto the ground and stubbed it with her foot vigorously, a satisfied smug expression slowly spreading on her face.

The boy was taken aback by her actions, that much she could tell for he froze for a moment, his startled chocolate brown eyes landing on her. Their doe shape would've been almost innocent if not for the fact that he looked like a teen from the wrong side of the tracks.

Apparently, the boy now found his ability to talk for a low growl emitted from his throat followed by an audible "Fuck!" which was clearly directed at Noelle. His unreadable eyes were suddenly ablaze with what she deciphered was rage, his soft-looking lips downturned in a glower at her, his jaw clenched with fury.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing!" he roared and Noelle thought his voice would've been pleasant and warm under other circumstances, if not for him shouting and cursing at her. She fervently wished that her P.E. coach was busy punishing the late-comers for the boy's loud bellow would surely not go unnoticed by Mr. Choi if that wasn't the case.

Noelle did not reply, wanting to give him a taste of his own medicine. She simply bit her lip to control the urge to grin mockingly at him and merely shrugged.

"Two can play at the rude game mister." she thought.

"I asked what the fuck did you do?!" he stepped closer to her, getting into her personal space.

He smelled like cigarettes and oranges and strangely that scent of his which invaded her nostrils didn't make her retch even though she absolutely loathed the scent of cigarettes. If anything, he smelled good, really good but Noelle wasn't going to admit that fact even to herself. She shook her head to rid it from thoughts of the boy smelling good.

"First of all," Noelle took a step back and returned his glare by locking her own hazel eyes with his, "you can't smoke-"

"Why not?" he cut her in the middle, "It's a free country and I can do whatever the fuck I want to do."

"Still this is an educational institution and-"

"Are we inside the fucking school? Are you a fucking teacher?" he argued, once again cutting her off.

Noelle hated being cut off while talking more than anything but she didn't have anything to retort with. She wasn't a teacher and technically, he wasn't really inside the high school, but Noelle had simply stopped him because she personally hated it when people smoked. She didn't even know him or the fact that he was even a student or not.

Deep down Noelle knew she was being prejudiced and blinded by her bias but she didn't want to admit it out loud. Still, a student should not smoke right?

She knew many sneaked around and did stuff even worse for she wasn't naïve, but it had unsettled her when she saw it happening in front of her eyes so she had reacted.

"I...but..." she furrowed her eyebrows, racking her brains to come up with a strong comeback but failing terribly.

"Mind your own goddamn business." the boy snapped at her. Noelle didn't reply for she found herself agreeing with him; something which surprised even her.

He wasn't really wrong when he said that. She had her own problems to deal with, her own little dilemma on how to sneak inside the school without being caught by Mr. Choi. Noelle was already very late, she couldn't really afford debating and arguing with an arrogant asshole she hadn't even met before.

She was going to swallow her pride and try her level best to ignore the boy leaning on the wall she was trying to climb over, was going to not over-think about the fact that he would witness her clumsy attempts and was going to wish that he gets lung cancer so that he would realise the dangers of smoking the hardest way possible.

Noelle tried to climb over the wall again, once, twice, thrice but failed all those attempts. She almost gave up when she embarrassingly fell down on her butt on the fourth try.

A very audible sigh was heard when this happened. Noelle had all but willed herself to forget the rude boy's existence when she heard his frustrated sigh and a "So irritating." mumbled under his breath.

What happened next surprised her to say the least.

A tattooed hand was extended for her to take, and when her eyes followed the arm she met his brown orbs. His almost-kind action astonished her so much that it took her a full minute to understand what it meant.

By then, it was evident that his patience had run thin for he bent down and grabbed her upper arms to lift her. His touch was surprisingly warm and gentle, even though it was fleeting. It made electricity bolt through Noelle's veins but she shook the feeling off.

"I don't even know him." she reminded herself.

"By this rate you will not be able to climb over even after a century. Such an amateur. " he clucked his tongue and muttered loud enough for her to hear.

"So you are a pro at this? Pray, teach me how then." she sarcastically ground out, tugging her bag's straps to tighten them. He didn't bother with a reply, simply rolled his eyes and bent down a little by folding his knees.

Noelle's frown deepened when he beckoned her towards him but she complied. He cupped his hands in front of him and pointed his chin at them while looking at her, confusing her even more.

"What are you-" Noelle began but was once again cut off. She was beginning to suspect that this was a habit of his.

"Step on my hands and shoulders and go up. Give me your bag, I will throw it later." he sighed as he said the words, as if sighing at the fact that she was stupid to have not deduced it from his actions.

"But..." she trailed off, questioning whether to do this or not when he was a complete stranger.

She wasn't expecting him to help after the way the two had butted heads only a couple of minutes ago and this gesture made her heart skip a beat and an unfamiliar feeling arise inside her. Although she didn't ponder much over this and she didn't want to.

"Okay." she found herself agreeing.

It wouldn't harm her in any way to accept this stranger who thought smoking near school premises was acceptable, would it? She couldn't afford demerits and he was willing to help even if Noelle couldn't fathom why, especially after outright cursing her a moment ago.

She shrugged those thoughts off, concentrating on how to minimize the pressure and weight she was going to put on his hands and shoulders which now was her makeshift ladder.

A low grunt escaped his lips as she put on foot on his hands and the other on his shoulder but he was otherwise unfazed by her weight. For a split second Noelle's heart dropped down to her stomach when she lost her balance as she tried to plant both her feet on his shoulders but he quickly steadied her with his hand.

That action of his made a blush spread over her milky skin but not for long for she had to concentrate at the task at hand. She stood on her tiptoes on his broad shoulders as reached for the edge of the brick wall with her hands.

Once she grabbed it and propelled her body towards it successfully, she breathed a sigh of relief. After she established a proper grip and swung her bod upwards, she was finally able to sit on the top of the wall she was trying so hard to climb.

"Hey! Can you pass me my bag?" She asked the boy who was dusting himself as he got up. He had an irritable scowl on his face when he looked up at her but he threw it to her wordlessly.

A "Thank you." was at the tip of her tongue, a sweet grin just itching to upturn her lips and express her gratitude towards him but his previous behavior made her rethink it.

He didn't spare her another glance after throwing her the bag. He just walked away, to god-knows-where.

Noelle decided to not think about the strange boy anymore too and jump down and rush to class. When she reached her classroom, panting and out of breath, she was relieved to see that her homeroom teacher had not yet arrived.

It was common for homeroom teachers to arrive late and grace the students with their presence before the first period. 

Relief filled her veins when she walked up towards her desk housed right in the front of the class; relief at the fact that she wouldn't get any demerits for being late. 

 It had been a close call that's for sure because the moment Noelle settled into her seat and started arranging her books by taking them out of her bag, her teacher entered the class.

But what instigated the slack-jawed expression on her face was the fact that the teacher wasn't alone. A tall boy followed her into the classroom, inciting whispers from her fellow classmates who quickly scrambled to their own seats.

It was a familiar face she had just encountered only a few minutes ago.

It was the boy who helped her climb over the school wall.

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A/N

Ha, so the OTP have met in the first chapter itself. Is it rushed? I dunno  but please do comment your feedback and opinion regarding the introduction of the protagonists.

P.S. - What's your favorite BTS song? I love all but I think mine is Love Maze.

Borahae,

Milli