THE TRANSFER STUDENT

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. Please put your hands together to welcome Lee Jieun!"

Mr Kim Namjoon, the form teacher of Class 12B, walked into the class that day, looking chirpier than usual. Though he was their form teacher, he was still also their philosophy teacher and boy, he was indeed philosophical. It was a rare occasion that he did not add any philosophical quotes into his introduction of the new student. The students secretly heaved a sigh of relief and craned their heads to peek out of the door in utter anticipation.

The class door creaked open and a petite-sized girl walked into the class. She had a small face, a pair of big eyes and a warm smile. Her long silky black hair flew behind her as she walked up to the front of the class. The class let out a collective gasp. She was breath-takingly beautiful. Jieun looked at Mr Kim with her pair of soft brown eyes, waiting for him to nod his head in approval, before addressing the class with ease.

"Everyone," she said with a huge grin. Her hands were clasped together, her shoulders shrugged in, but yet she still radiated confidence. "Annyeonghaseyo. I am Lee Jieun, a transfer student from Seoul National High School."

"SNHS? Daebak, she must be a genius!" Hoseok jumped to his feet and yelled from the back of the class.

"Wait, isn't that the school that regularly appears on the newspaper for their academic achievements?" Seokjin piped in.

"But if she was from SNHS, why would she even wanna degrade to our school?" Yoongi half-muttered under his breath, but everyone, including his deskmate, Yoojung, evidently heard him.

Yoojung glanced tentatively behind her at Jungkook, who, as usual, had his head resting on his table and his eyes closed. But from the way he twitched when he heard the four words "Seoul National High School", Yoojung knew, for sure, that he was awake, and listening.

"Ya! What's wrong with Gangnam High School!" Yoojung smacked Yoongi in the head, still stealing glances at Jungkook, despite him not moving an inch. "Be grateful you even have education, dude!"

The class burst into laughter. Ever since day one, Yoojung was the only one who could do such a thing to Yoongi. Everyone else in the class, including the guys, was afraid of him, but for some odd reason, even with her small size, Yoojung was not one bit afraid. Then again, it wasn't surprising for someone like Yoojung. She was literally buddies with almost everyone in class, regardless of gender, everyone seemed to like her. It was almost as if she was impossible to be disliked.

Nevertheless, was odd enough to see Yoojung going around lecturing and smacking Yoongi on the head. But what was even odder was that Yoongi never seemed to retaliate to anything Yoojung did to him. He would often snarl at people if they borrowed his things without permission, stood in a 1 metre radius from him and the list goes on, but somehow, regardless of what Yoojung did, he never seemed to mind. Everyone felt, or rather, knew that Yoongi had a soft spot for Yoojung, but no one dared to approach him and ask why.

Anyway, today was no exception. After Yoojung had given Yoongi a hard resounding whack on the back of his head, Yoongi leaned back in his chair, rubbing his head, before turning his attention towards the floor.

Mr Kim cleared his throat with a pleased grin on his face, as the class quietened down. "You are right, Choi Yoojung. No wonder I always liked you, you have wisdom beyond your years..."

Yoojung smirked, winking at Taehyung who was seated in the row next to hers and Taehyung giggled in response. She glanced behind at Jungkook to see if he had a response, but was greeted by the utter lack of one.

"...so we need to respect our school alright? Even if it may not be the top high school, we should take pride in who we are! Education is a privilege, not a right! You got me?" Mr Kim finally finished his long philosophical speech, signalling for the students at the front who had dozed off long ago to snap back awake.

"Yes, Mr Kim," The students groaned, just like in their usual daily routine.

"Alright, very good. Now, where were we? Oh, yes. Our friend, Jieun, over here has not completed her introductory speech yet. Please continue." Mr Kim smiled warmly at Jieun, who was patiently waiting beside him with a polite smile on her face.

She laughed. "Thank you, Mr Kim. Anyway, I shall keep my speech short. I have my own personal reasons for moving here and... well, I'm looking forward to getting along with you guys!"

The class erupted into an applause, signifying that they approved of this new classmate of theirs. In Korea, the introductory speech on the first day if school was always a big "ceremonious" thing for transfer students. Transfer students usually prepared lengthy essay-like introductions, so that they could leave a good impression on their peers, but Jieun had none. Nevertheless, as compared to some other transfer students that had received no applause, it was evident from the cheers she received that she had given the class a great first impression.

Jieun let out a grin. Despite putting up a false front, she was always a self-conscious one. She had social anxiety, she always feared judgement and hated being the centre of attention. But she had that one friend who stuck with her throughout her entire schooling life, her name was... It was hard for Jieun to even think of her name without feeling a pang of intense guilt and agony in her heart. After the incident, she had developed a major bout of depression. Only after a year of treatment, she was almost fully recovered and back in school. Jieun shook away her surfacing thoughts with much effort. She wasn't going to ruin her progress like that.

Mr Kim smiled. "Thank you for being so welcoming to your new classmate, class. I hope you keep up this spirit." He took a quick glance around the classroom and finally, his eyes landed on the only empty seat in the classroom, at the back of the class and he smiled. He turned to Jieun and gestured in the general direction of the class. "Go take a seat at the empty seat there at the back of the class."

Jieun followed the direction of his hand and her eyes landed on an empty seat at the back of the class. There was someone already seated next to the empty seat, but his head was lowered, so she could not really see his face. Mr Kim smiled.

"Your deskmate is Jeon Jungkook."