Distance(d) | Sung Hanbin ZB1

Ch.1 Start of Something New

"Okay, class. I'm giving back your science papers today." Mr. Kim, the class teacher of Class 3-3 at Haneul Middle School, announced to his class.

"Oh no!" One of the students immediately whimpered at the news. "Ssaem, please don't do this to us."

"You'll have to face it eventually. If you didn't do well this time, just work harder next time. As always, we will start from the top of the class."

"It's going to be either Hanbin or Eunbyeol again." Ricky made a remark to Hao, who was sitting next to him.

"Eunbyeol is slightly better at science. It's likely Eunbyeol."

"Park Eunbyeol, well done. You ranked first across the whole year again for this test." Mr. Kim proved Hao's prediction correct.

"Good job, Byeol-ah." Hanbin immediately congratulated his best friend and seatmate.

"Thanks." Eunbyeol then went to the front of the class to retrieve her paper.

"Next up, with just a one-mark difference, Sung Hanbin." Mr. Kim continued giving out papers. "Hanbin, keep up the good work."

"As expected, it's always the duo." Their classmates exclaimed, while Hanbin went to retrieve his paper from Mr. Kim.

As Hanbin returned to his seat, he reached out his palm to give Eunbyeol a low five.

"You did great too, Binnie."

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Hanbin and Eunbyeol had been in the same class since the first year of middle school, and they were always top two of the year. Other students would always bet on who between the two would rank first, but the two didn't really care about that. They would be happy if they came first, and would be equally happy if the other person came first. Having said that, they still gave it their best every time. Their 'rivalry' became one of their biggest motivations to continue to strive for academic excellence.

They had very different personalities though. Some would even say they were polar opposites. Hanbin was the outgoing, popular, reliable, and affectionate class president who was basically friends with almost everyone. Eunbyeol, on the other hand, was the shy, nerdy girl who was always studying quietly in the back corner of the classroom. Her classmates used to think she was really hard to approach, but that was before Hanbin befriended her in seventh grade.

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Flashback to Year 1 in Middle School

"Annyeong, your name is Park Eunbyeol, right?" Hanbin amiably greeted his new seatmate as he followed the seating plan to his desk in the new classroom.

"Yes." The girl nodded shyly at the boy.

"I am Sung Hanbin, your seatmate for the year. Nice to meet you." Hanbin continued to introduce himself with excitement and spirit.

"Nice to meet you." But the energy wasn't reciprocated by the girl. Eunbyeol kept her responses brief and did not show any intention of keeping the conversation going. She quickly lowered her head and carried on working on her homework.

"It would be nice if we could get to know each other better. Do you want to join me and my friends for lunch?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

Eunbyeol didn't mind at all being a loner in school, and even if she wanted to make friends, she didn't want to be friends with the most popular boy in the year. She just wasn't the type that particularly enjoyed attention, so she kept her distance from Hanbin despite his constant effort to reach out to her. Hanbin, however, did not stop trying. There was something about the girl that made him want to be close to her. And he was just doing what he does best after all, that was being nice to people.

"Eunbyeol-ah, I got some chocolate from Gyuvin. Do you want some?"

"Eunbyeol-ah, let's go to PE together."

"Eunbyeol-ah, how was your weekend?"

"Eunbyeol-ah, have you seen the cherry blossoms yet? They are so beautiful."

"Eunbyeol-ah, how are you so good at English? Can you please teach me?"

"Eunbyeol-ah, do you wanna hang out after school? Me and my friends are going to get dessert."

"Eunbyeol-ah, I saw a really funny video on Youtube yesterday. Do you wanna see it?"

"Eunbyeol-ah, let's do well in our exams. Fighting!"

Eunbyeol would always give him short answers to end the conversation, but Hanbin always had stuff to talk about. He would tell her about his family, about his dancing lessons, and about the funny little things that happened during lunch with his friends. Eunbyeol might not have seemed like she cared, but she did listen to all his stories. And over time, she could feel that she was slowly opening up to him; her responses to him became longer and longer, and she would even walk to other classrooms for classes with Hanbin. On her way to school, she would randomly think of Hanbin and end up buying him a drink to return his kindness towards her.

One morning, Hanbin went into the classroom and saw his favourite drink on his desk. He knew it was Eunbyeol right away and smiled like a kid who got praised by the teacher.

"Thank you for the drink, Eunbyeol-ah." He turned to look at Eunbyeol. "By the way, are you free this weekend? I was thinking we could go study together and maybe do something fun afterwards."

"I..." Eunbyeol pondered before responding with care. "I should be free. I will ask my parents and get back to you."

"Really?" Hanbin wasn't expecting a positive response from Eunbyeol since being rejected had become the norm for him. The smile on his face became so wide. He couldn't hide his excitement at all. In his head, he was already planning out in detail what to do with Eunbyeol.

.

That was the start of their friendship. Hanbin then introduced Eunbyeol to his friends who were in the same class: Gyuvin, Taerae, Matthew, and Chaeyeon. Eunbyeol then also met Yuna, who was in another class. She had been best friends with Gyuvin since childhood, so she often hung out with the group too. All his friends were really welcoming and nice to her. And just like that, she got herself a group of new friends. Hao and Ricky then joined the group the next year after Hanbin befriended them when they entered the school as transfer students.

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They were now in their last year of middle school. Not much had changed within the group; they always spent time together and remained very close-knit. Taerae started dating Chaeyeon in eighth grade. Then, to no one's surprise, Gyuvin and Yuna started dating shortly after. Matthew also started dating Bora, who he met in his class in eighth grade.

As for Hanbin and Eunbyeol, they became inseparable best friends, to the point where their families became really close too. Not long ago, Hanbin and Eunbyeol started cross-tutoring their brothers every week. Hanbin tutored Eunbyeol's brother, Gunwook, while Eunbyeol tutored Hanbin's brother, Yujin. Although both Hanbin and Eunbyeol had really good grades, they had their weaknesses. Eunbyeol hated math; she still did well in her exams, but she couldn't manage to explain everything as well as Hanbin does. Hanbin was an ace in math as well as humanities, which was exactly the help that Gunwook needed. Hanbin's biggest weakness was English, and the same was true for Yujin. Eunbyeol's greatest strength lied in English and science, making her the perfect tutor for Yujin. Every Friday, the four of them would meet up alternately at each other's home for tutoring, which was then usually followed by a game night.

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"The world looks so much brighter with you by my side"

Start of Something New - High School Musical