Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
#01 | first day "thanks for uh...helping me out there"
car's outside • james arthur "oh, darling, all of the lights, never shines as bright as your eyes..."
──────
"Rina, hurry up — we're going to be late!" Sakura exclaimed to her younger sister who was barely awake. Yunjin chuckled from the bathroom, toothbrush in her mouth, while Eunchae, Kazuha, and Chaewon were either engrossed in their phones or getting ready for school.
"I'm so glad you guys moved to Seoul again," Eunchae grinned. She and the others had met Sakura and Rina when the sisters first moved to Korea for their mom's new job two years ago from Japan. The girls had taken it upon themselves to teach Sakura and Rina how to speak Korean fluently, and soon they all became the great friends they are now.
Unfortunately, the Miyawaki sisters had to move back to Japan as their mom had received a better job offer. However, things took a turn for the worse when their mom got scammed and almost lost access to her bank account. Now, she had decided to permanently move back to Seoul and continue working in the same company where she had formed great connections.
"Rina! How long does it take you to shower?", Yunjin exclaimed to the younger friend who was taking quite a while in the washroom. "A minimum of thirty minutes," Rina's older sister answered for her, sighing in disapproval, "If you don't get out in the next five minutes, we're going to leave without you!" Sakura threatened.
"Okay, okay! Jeez!", A muffled sound came from the washroom as Miyawaki Rina struggled to fix her hair before stepping out of the washroom. "Took you long enough", Kazuha sighed, turning off her phone, "You two are going to like the school we go to", she told the Miyawaki sisters with a smile. "Let's leave now?", Eunchae asked and got a nod of approval from the others.
The six girls made their way to the bus stop which was a two-minute walk from their shared apartment. Rina was just minding her business, zoning out and mindlessly kicking stones until the bus arrived. She and her friends boarded it, searching for free seats. The Japanese girl settled near the window and plugged in her AirPods, shuffling her Spotify playlist, and sighing in contentment as one of her favorite songs played — Nonsense by Sabrina Carpenter. Rina slowly hummed the lyrics, hoping no one would hear her and thankfully ─ everyone was either engrossed in their phones or minding their own business.
Thirty minutes later, the bus arrived at school and all the kids deboarded the bus. "Excited for your first day?", Chaewon asked the Miyawaki sisters. "Not really, I'm not that good at interacting with new people", Sakura muttered, keeping her body language closed off. "You don't have to — you can just stay with us", Yunjin reassured with a smile, "Besides, most of the kids in our grade are pretty chill...except a chosen few", she added with a bitter expression.
As soon as Yunjin dropped those last four words, everyone's expressions shifted, some looking annoyed or just plain ticked off. The Miyawaki sisters noticed but decided to let it slide without any comment. "Anyway, how do you feel about going to a new school, guys?" Eunchae swiftly changed the topic and diverted her attention to Rina and Sakura. "Pretty excited, actually. Especially since I signed up for the after-school dance course. I heard some students are gearing up to perform for the school's tenth anniversary," Rina said with a grin.
"They sure are," Kazuha confirmed, "And if you get selected as one of few dancers for the event, you'll even perform in front of the CEO of the school!". "You're auditioning, Zuha?", Rina asked. "Of course, I am!", The latter beamed, "Dance is my world as much as it is yours" The younger nodded as the bell rang, "Well, we all have our separate classes to attend. It kind of sucks having the first class in a new school without any of you guys", Rina sighed, "See you all at lunch?".
As Rina entered the classroom, she noticed that everyone was in class except for the teacher. Her new classmates told her all about that teacher and how he was always late even when they were freshmen. "Psst, new girl," someone whispered from behind. "I like your hair. Wanna be friends?" It was a girl who looked around Rina's age. She smiled and nodded. "Thanks, and of course. What's your name?"
"Hyunseo, but I'm just used to everyone calling me Leeseo." "Leeseo. I like the sound of that," Rina smiled. "I'm Rina, Miyawaki Rina." "You're Japanese?" Leeseo raised a brow, and Rina smiled and nodded, "I swear, almost half the kids in the school are either Japanese or from foreign countries," Leeseo sighed, "But I'm not complaining!", she added quickly, "One of my best friends, Rei, is Japanese, and she's really funny" she babbled. "Oh, that's uh great," Rina chuckled, unsure of how to respond. She could tell that Leeseo was someone who could be filled with enthusiasm and calmness at the same time.
"I've got five other friends and I'm sure they'd love to meet you!", Leeseo smiled as they continued chatting. Soon enough, the teacher entered and introduced Rina to the entire class since she was a new student. It felt weird but the girl was used to having all the attention on her since she had changed schools quite a few times. Thankfully, Rina was assigned to sit next to Leeseo — who grinned as the Japanese girl approached, "Everyone's staring at you — I even heard a few boys talking about you", she smiled teasingly, "I mean, I don't blame them. You are really pretty".
Rina chuckled, "Oh, shut up". "I'm just speaking facts, sunshine", Leeseo said and raised her hands in surrender. Rina just smiled and shook her head at the younger girl before turning her head to focus on class as the teacher began speaking. Throughout the class, Rina kept zoning out and was snapped back to reality as the teacher called her name, "Rina, could you tell me the answer to this question?". Shit. She was doomed on the first day.
"197," a deep voice whispered from behind. "Uh...197?", Rina said, unsure if the answer was correct. The teacher smiled, "That's right. Now, everyone, I want you to turn to page 209 and...". As the teacher's words faded into the background, Rina turned slightly to see who had helped her out with the question. Whoa, he was handsome.
"Thanks... for uh helping me out there," was all Rina could manage with a polite smile. "My pleasure," the boy returned her smile before refocusing on the class. Rina felt her cheeks heating up as she quickly looked in front again. Leeseo grinned at her with a teasing look, and the latter simply avoided her eyes, biting down on her lower lip to hide the smile forming on her face.
──────
author's note ᯓ★
alright, i know i'm not too committed to any of my books, but i promise i'll try to update this daily 'cause even i'm invested in this 😭😭✊✊ i procrastinate quite often + i'm currently a bit caught up with studies/personal life so i'm not completely sure if i'll be able to update this book daily, but i'll try my best since i love you all vv much 💞💞
