'Unbelievable. Why is he here out of all the places?' She thought to herself. He looked at her and flashed a charming smile.

'Crap. I think he saw me staring. Quick. Act natural.' She urged herself. To her horror, she extended out her hand and ruffled his soft fluffy hair.

'What?! How is that natural?! She cursed herself. Choi Minho of SHINee was sitting right next to her in her classroom and she was ruffling his hair. He didn't seem to mind it. Just chuckled as though it tickled. 'God, I'm gonna melt.'

She didn't know how long she sat there, just staring at him smile. She knew she could do it all day. He kept saying something to her but she simply could not hear it. She strained her ears to listen more and she was pretty sure she heard the word 'move'. She leaned in closer to hear it again properly and that's when the loud horn of a vehicle cut through the background, jostling her out of her seat.

With a gasp, she opened her eyes and looked around in worry. She was in the passenger seat of their fairly new model of Hyundai and her mom drove with her eyebrows scrunched down. She looked out the window and saw the dim lights of a vast parking lot.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to startle you. The driver in front of me was testing my patience. We're here anyway."

She nodded and tried to rub the sleep off of her eyes. The engine hummed to an end and the SHINee song on the stereo died along with it.

It was the summer of 2011 and admittedly, Yun Jia had been awaiting this particular day for last couple of months. As soon as she got out of the car and into the parking lot of the airport, she was wide awake with excitement. In fact, it was the same excitement that had kept her awake the night before as well. She latched herself onto her mother's elbows and smiled widely looking up at her. She was certain that her mother was equally excited, but she happened to be good at hiding it.

They sat by the waiting room for almost thirty minutes until the passengers of the recently landed flight swarmed towards the exit. They got up, hurrying to spot that one familiar face they hadn't seen in a year. When they finally did, he was already speed walking towards them. His smile reflected hers and Jia was so happy she wanted to cry. In no time, she was hugging the life out of her dad.

After one long year, he had finally returned. And this time, he was here to stay.

Yun Jia was proud to admit that her father was the most precious person to her in the whole world. It probably had something to do with the fact that she got to see him only once a year. He was an IT professional who worked abroad in London. Moving to London, not being able to see his wife and daughter for a whole year was challenging. The position was appealing and the pay was good. He had insisted that they needn't move because each year, he hoped to get a transfer back. He badly wanted her to experience life in their homeland for he was sure that once they'd settled in London, it'd be harder to move back. Besides, he was an only child to her grandparents and the thought of having Jia see them only once a year bugged him. And that's how he ended up spending almost ten years apart from his family.

But this year was different. He had decided that it was time he returned back home, even at the cost of leaving his stable job. Thankfully enough, an old friend of his had called in a few favours, securing him a couple of interviews at their local MNCs. With his level of experience and skills, he was quite confident that he'd be able to make it work here as well. They were back in the car and she shifted to the back seat while her dad now occupied the passenger's. The stereo now played a smooth jazz, replacing the previous one. Their shared favourite.

"I'm not going to school tomorrow." She declared out loud.

"We've already discussed this through, Jia. Just one more day and you can have the whole weekend with dad." Her mom replied.

"No." She whined. "It's a Friday tomorrow, isn't that all the more reason not to go?"

Her dad turned back to look at her. "Do you want me to drop you to school tomorrow?"

"You'll do that?" Jia asked wide-eyed. She suddenly shooed the offer off. "No. No. You just got here. You'll be jet-lagged tomorrow morning. I don't want you to miss your sleep."

"That's okay. I don't mind." He shrugged.

"Why can't I just not go instead? I want to be home with you. If mom can get a day off, so can I." Jia sulked.

"You'll get back home in the evening. It's only a matter of few hours." He countered. "I'll take you out for ice cream."

Jia perked up at that.

"So, you'll be a good girl and go to school tomorrow, right?"

"Aye aye, Captain." She mumbled.

***

"We didn't get time to unpack much last night. But I managed to get us a few Lindor packets." Jia said, handing them to Mina.

"Yay!" she exclaimed as she admired them. Choi Mina was her best friend in school and a fellow chocolate hoarder. She had an angular face with a rather sharp nose which was further accentuated by her thick lock of wavy brown hair. Mina had been in the school since their lower primary years but it was only recently that they had become friends. Jia has never really had a consistent friend. They'd either change schools, find new friends or simply drift apart and for some reason, it never really bothered her too much. She was content with her books, activities and her own little world. Or maybe it was because, when one friend left, she always found herself in the company of another.

"He's really going to stay this time, huh?" Mina asked, already tearing open a packet.

"Yes. No going back."

"Do you think things will change? Is he as strict as your mom?"

"Things will definitely change." Jia answered. For instance, he was the one who dropped me off today morning. But dad is actually more outgoing than mom. He is more liberal. Mom is controlling because she had to take care of me all by herself."

"Hmm I shee" Mina replied with chocolate stuffed in her mouth.

"It's not like I'm a party animal either. If anything, I have a feeling dad will push me to go out more." Jia pointed out.

They were both quiet for a while as they sat entranced by the sweetness of the chocolate. They overheard as their not-so-subtle classmates engaged in a serious discussion.

"Do you think I have a shot with her?" asked one. "Who? Arden? No way." Replied another.

Mina and Jia looked at each other.

"Wow. She dumps someone and already has people lining up to date her." Jia mused.

"I get that she's pretty but is no one gonna consider the fact that she absolutely crushed a guy's heart?" Mina wondered.

"Meh. As long as she flashes that gorgeous smile and lets down those caramel brown hair, even I'd line up to date her and consider myself lucky that she took the time to break my heart." Said Jia.

Arden Kim their high school version of the typical popular girl. Pretty and rich, she was the automatic eye-catcher to anyone. She was born and brought up in the States until her family shifted to their city around five years ago. Jia was not sure exactly how rich the girl was but she was rich enough to stand out in their largely middle-class school.

The number of children entering their class had slimmed down as most of their classmates were already seated in place. When a certain someone entered the class, a few conversations went silent. Especially those of Jia's and their fellow neighbouring gossipers. For this person was intricately involved with the subject they were discussing about.

Jeon Jungkook, the guy who had the honour of getting his heart broken by the ever-popular Arden Kim. Jungkook was...weird, needless to say. He was quiet for the most part, was pretty good at sports and was a member of their athletics team, he created enough trouble for people to notice him but not enough to gain the whole school's attention. He wasn't quiet the esteemed trouble maker, the handsome playboy or the reputed nerd. He was just there; a mixture and combination of few. He had dark hair which was styled into a plain bowl-cut, his innocent bunny-like smile went perfectly with his wide doe-eyes to give him the typical innocent boyish look. His used-to-be scrawny body was slowly changing (perks of being an athlete), creating a sharp contrast to his baby-face. Overall, he was your average high-schooler who blended in with the crowd. Which was why it turned out to be a surprise to the entire school when Arden officially announced that she was dating him. Their relationship hiked up his position from just 'that kid Jungkook' to 'OMG, Arden's new boyfriend Jungkook.' Their relationship was constantly put on bet and surprisingly outlived all expectation for a whooping six months until she inevitably dumped him. His new-found popularity diminished just as fast as it had begun. Now, he was just 'that kid Jungkook who got dumped'.

Jia and Mina had every reason to believe that unlike Arden, he was completely invested in the relationship. He was definitely in love with her. The now gloomy Jungkook dejectedly walked over to his seat and set his bag down. He shot an upward at glance at the ones who were staring at him and they instinctively snapped their heads back. He simply sighed and rested his head on his table.

"Wow." Mouthed Mina. "Do you think he's ever going to be happy again?"

"I really don't care as long as he doesn't start irritating me again." Jia said flatly.

"Wow." Repeated Mina. "That's cold. Even for you."

"Shut up." Said Jia as their teacher for first hour entered the class and ushered them all to settle down.

***

Jia took her tray of food and settled by their usual table.

"Any good?" Asked Mina.

Jia poked at her food with her chopstick and shook her head miserably. They were half-way through their meal when Mina gasped in shock. Jia looked up from her meal only to see Mina looking behind her wide-eyed.

"What's wrong?" Asked Jia confused.

Mina took a few seconds too long to answer and curiosity got the best of Jia. "Whatever you do. Don't turn back." She heard Mina whisper. But it was too late. She had already turned around in one swift motion only to come face to face with the devil. Jungkook stood behind her, smirking sinisterly. His coconut head seemed much too closer to her own and he no longer looked like the sad boy from first hour. Before she could process the whole situation, something jumped out at her; something dark and furry. 

For a second, her only instinct was to scream. And just like that, her vision blacked out. 

A/N: I had major starting trouble and the first few chapters may seem a little meh. I apologize for that. But I assure you, they'll get better as they progress. :)