━━THE EARLY MORNING trees bristled with the soft breeze, hitting daiyu's skin as she stepped out of the house.
"yes, dad, i promise i'll be safe. don't worry. okay, i love you—bye." she spoke into the phone for what felt like the millionth time before hanging up and sticking the device in her blazer pocket.
"was that your dad?" seyeon asked as he closed the door behind him, bounding down the steps of his house.
"mhm. i told him i was staying with you guys and explained the whole situation, and he's chill with it as long as i'm not in danger." daiyu hummed, giving seyeon a thumbs up, and they began walking.
"that's a relief. i was worried he might not agree because our grandparents were mom's parents, but i guess your dad was okay with it." the brown haired boy smiled.
it was a smile that made his nose scrunch up slightly. a smile that made daiyu want to smile.
"dad said he always thought they were good people; your—our grandparents." the word our felt foreign on daiyu's tongue. she had never really had any grandparents before coming here.
"they are. grandma and grandpa moved in and took care of me after my parents passed away, so i owe them a lot." seyeon nodded.
his smile faltered slightly. the chinese-korean girl took notice of the sudden change, but chose to overlook it.
daiyu didn't answer, instead adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. she had left all the clothes she'd brought at seyeon's house and only brought the money. no matter how kind he was, she didn't trust keeping around valuables with anybody but herself. her bag was now filled with some borrowed pencils and considerably emptier.
"so, where is your school? honestly never though i'd say this, but i'm pretty excited. i've never been to a school in korea." daiyu looked over at seyeon.
"it's not so bad. you just have to avoid certain people. we're almost there, just 5 more minutes." the boy replied, and he too became excited.
"why avoid when you can get your hands dirty?" a devilish grin made its way onto daiyu's face, making seyeon uneasy.
"hey, seriously... there are some pretty persistent people at this school... it's better to just stay unnoticed and not make a scene." he whined, tugging at her uniform jacket.
"i thought you had to get noticed to be an idol?" daiyu smiled, ruffling seyeon's hair. over the course of last night, the two stayed up and learned more about each other. if anyone were to look at them, they wouldn't know they'd just met a few days ago, "okay, okay. i won't make a scene. but only because you asked so nicely"
he breathed a sigh of relief, blowing his bangs out of his eyes jokingly. "thanks."
"oh! here we are!" seyeon pointed to the building, making daiyu turn her head to follow his arm.
it wasn't much, yet daiyu felt her heart swell; something told her she'd make great memories here. everything from the moss covered brick to the rusty gate was so intriguing for a girl who'd never actually bothered to attend her own school. her arm was tugged, and she was dragged behind her half-brother who was walking towards the school.
"come on, you have to meet my friends!" he urged, a smile painting his cheeks.
the older teen presumed it was just a seyeon thing, to be kind to a fault.
"alright, alright." daiyu muttered, her eyes fixed on the school. whispers coursed through the halls as she stood shoulders up above most students.
daily always hated standing out; that's why she liked her friend group back in china. she was never the one who captured everyone's attention, and she liked it that way. here, however, she seemed to be catching the eyes of the entire school. that was something she didn't quite like.
