second lead. | 정원

chapter 53.

liii.

Forty minutes had passed since morning assembly started and Mira was starting to feel bored. Her ass was sore from sitting, and her legs felt numb. She wanted to stand up to ease the pain, but the tingling feeling she would get afterward would be far worse.

She slightly straightened yet bent her knees, positioning both feet on the same side of her body, and let her cheek rest against Yunseo's back, which the latter didn't mind. She shut her eyes and heaved a sigh, listening to the teacher's speech.

Yang Jungwon shifted his gaze to the girl, looking at her peaceful state. The way her chest was moving up and down from her patterned breathing, the way her lips were slightly puckered from having it rest against someone's back, the way her eyelashes softly stroked her upper cheek, and the way her outgrown bangs tickled a part of her nose.

Jungwon's eyes remained on her face, and he hummed, quietly admiring the human being beside him for a moment. He examined her facial features once more, specifically the light freckles on her cheeks. His hand folded her hair behind her ear until Mira blinked her eyes open.

"Don't fall asleep," He spoke.

Mira closed her eyes again, dismissing his words, and dismissing the tingling feeling that started to arise on her foot. "I'm not asleep, my mind is alive."

Jungwon rolled his eyes, slipping his hand away from her face.

Sitting in the front row a few meters away from him, a former pink-haired boy and his childhood friend conversed, joyful smiles on display. Jungwon knew being classmates with them meant enduring lots of flirting. Although Kim Sunoo was someone who rarely does physical contact, it won't stop him from sending loving gazes to Park Aerin now and then.

The double doors of the gymnasium opened as Jungwon turned around to be met with Yu Cheram quietly sauntering her way towards them as she placed herself behind Mira. The girl cautiously looked behind and in front of her before sighing in relief.

"Phew, no one suspected me," Cheram muttered, placing a hand on her chest. She overslept and was almost an hour late for school, but her incredible mind thought of pretending to have an upset stomach so she stayed in the restroom for the past fifteen minutes.

Cheram looked at the boy sitting next to her, eyes widening upon seeing Shim Jaeyun, "Jake? You're back from Australia?" And the boy responded with a happy nod, representing a puppy.

Jake's popularity never failed to amuse Jungwon.

-

A repeat.

This time, the students of class one swarmed the whiteboard that had information regarding the sitting arrangement for the first semester. Jeon Mira calmly stood behind the crowd as she held onto her bag strap, knowing it would falter sooner or later. Patience is key.

A few students had left to go to their respective tables after knowing their places, allowing Mira to finally study the paper that was taped to the board.

Her name was situated at the center of the class, unlike her previous sitting arrangement where she sat next to the window in her second year. The girl looked at the name that could potentially be her new seatmate — Hanni Pham. A name she had never heard of before.

"Mi...ra?" A soft voice murmured. The owner of the voice belonged to a cute average-heightened female who was wearing square-rimmed glasses as she read the paper. The girl clutched onto her bag strap as she nodded to herself, looking behind her to find her table.

"Hanni?" Mira softly called and the said girl froze in her place. Hanni looked at her confusedly as she pointed at herself. "Hanni Pham, right? I'm Jeon Mira. Your seatmate," She continued, pointing at the paper on the board before extending a hand. "You're the new transfer student?"

Hanni nodded her head shyly as her eyes were pinned to the ground. She glanced at Mira's face, a striking similarity crossed her mind as she tried to remember where she saw the girl before. It was not too long ago, she remembered.

"I'll help you adjust here, don't worry," Mira kindly smiled, pulling Hanni to their table in the middle row. She set her bag down on the floor before sitting on the chair, motioning the new girl to do the same. "So, which school are you from?"

In conclusion, Mira befriended another student. She learned that Hanni Pham was Vietnamese but was born in Melbourne, Australia and that she recently moved to Korea a few months ago. It reminded her of her friend, Jake, who was Korean but was raised in Brisbane. Year three, class one had two Australians now. How exciting.

Something about the way Australians spoke in English was very fascinating for Jeon Mira. She always had a thing for their accents, and as much as Mira was fluent in American English, she wanted to learn the Australian accent too.

Hanni Pham looked around as she studied her classmates' faces. Hopefully, not coming off as creepy and weird but everyone appeared to be occupied with their own thing. The teacher wasn't here yet too, so they had extra time to chill. It wasn't surprising that the class was as noisy as ever from the multiple chatters overlapping each other.

Hanni's eyes stopped at a dark-haired boy talking to his seatmate. She squinted her eyes at him, the editors would add a loading symbol above her head if this was a movie. He was sitting on the third row next to the wall, two tables away from the classroom door. "Uh, do you mind if I ask who that boy is? The dimpled one?" Hanni asked, pointing at the male student.

"Hm? That's Jungwon, why?" Mira questioned back skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know him?"

Hanni Pham shook her head in response. "I don't, but he's your partner, right? I think I saw you with him the other day," She explained, blinking her eyes before continuing. "I couldn't help myself from not ignoring it. Jungwon and that other girl were talking pretty loudly too, haha."

Mira went silent for a moment, "Oh.. yeah."

She wasn't even bothered about the fact that another person had come to know about her so-called relationship. It was beginning to happen more frequently, and Mira felt like she was slowly getting used to it— or was it because she liked the sound of it?