When the lunch bell rang, Eunji immediately ran to my side. Her glistening eyes filled my vision.

“He is so attractive.”

I looked down while cleaning up my desk. “Who? Mr. Joo?”

She nodded. “Of course! Did you see the way he taught the class? His muscular arms when he rolled up his sleeves? The deep, mysterious look in his eyes behind those narrow glasses?”

She clapped her hands together in joy. “He’s beautiful.”

This was no surprising behavior from Eunji. If there was a cute boy in the proximity she’d always be the first one to notice. It was a part of her personality. 

The only good-looking person she was immune to was Yoon. After all, everything among the three of us was purely platonic.

“I am going to love school.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really?”

As talented as Eunji was, school wasn’t her forte. She wasn’t the type to stay cramped in one space, studying her ass off. Her marks were also always in the lower spectrum of the school ranking.  She always complained about how she wanted to drop out. This was why the fact that she was saying she loved school was weird.

“Yup! Student Eunji at your service. I’m going to work really hard from now on and make him fall in love with me.”

"Isn't he a little too old? And illegal?"

Eunji gasped. "What do you mean too old? He's probably in his mid-twenties." The corners of her lips curled up. "Besides, the illegal aspect of it is what makes the love so exciting and romantic! The thrill of being caught. Plus, I've always had a thing for teacher x student movies. This is fate."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes again. She still wasn't convincing me but since it would never happen, I brushed it off. Mr. Joo didn't seem like the type to fiddle around with students - or I hoped not anyways. 

I laughed. “Well, I think you’re going to have quite the competition… The rest of the girls seem to have the same idea.”

She flipped her hair. “They don’t hold a finger to me.”

“Plus,” she whispered as she leaned in. “The talent show is coming up and I always have a stage up on my sleeve.”

The high school talent show was a yearly event, held near the middle of the year. It made sense that Eunji would use it to her advantage since she was the most talented kid at school. Her singing and dancing talent was, in fact, better than most idols on the screen.

“Good idea,” I replied. “I wish you luck.”

Yoon, who had been playing on his phone, swerved into our conversation. “What’s a good idea?” he asked.

“Eunji’s teacher seduction plan,” I answered.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “She wants to seduce Mr. Joo?” He sighed slightly while shaking his head. “Typical Eunji behaviour.”

“Hello?” Eunji said while waving her hand in front of Yoon’s face. “I’m here too, and listening to you insult me.”

I laughed. “He didn’t necessarily insult you. He just stated that he expected it.”

Once my words registered in her brain, Eunji giggled. “Oops? Well, that’s my fault. Sorry Yoonie. It’s just that you insult me so much that I’m now used to believing every word coming out of your mouth is a rude remark. In fact, i'm sure what you said had a negative connotation.”

Though it was Eunji’s fault for making assumptions, I could see where she was coming from. Yoon wasn’t necessarily the most positive person out there. From our years of friendship, I knew he was a nice guy, one of the best people I’ve known in my life, but unlike Eunji who was upfront with with her words, Yoon showed his appreciation differently. Not by words but by action.

In other words, Yoon had no filter.

“Whatever,” he mumbled. “As if he’d fall for a girl like you.”

“Hey!” 

Before the small jumble could turn into a verbal fight, I grabbed the two by the shoulders. Eunji’s fuming expression calmed down slightly from my touch while Yoon stayed nonchalant with his hands in his pockets. “Calm down, how about we hurry and eat. I’m hungry.”

Eunji nodded. “Alright, good idea.”

We locked arms, walked down out of the classroom, and into the hallways with Yoon by our side. The sunlight rained down on us as we made our way into the crowd of buzzing students. Once they noticed my presence, they parted as if I was Moses to the Red Sea. 

This was bizarre.

Usually, I’d be fighting the other students to get down. Yet, today was a new experience. I was being treated like a VIP customer.

“Well what do you know,” Eunji commented. “I guess our class aren’t the only ones that noticed how pretty you are. If I didn't know better, I would assume that you were a celebrity by their reactions.”

Their gazes prickled my skin and I couldn’t help but grimace. “Fantastic…”

Eunji playfully nudged me. “Oh cheer up! You’re getting attention for something great. I’m jealous!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But it’s still unsettling,” I replied. “I’m not used to this.”

Eunji thought for a moment. “Yeah this situation is really weird. Why are you only getting attention now? You looked the same before…”

She furrowed her eyebrows, and begin to enter deep thought.

Maybe it’s not a good idea to get her involved, I thought. After all, if there was a deeper meaning to this, the less people knowing was better. Plus, who knows how dangerous this secret actually was! The ability to become beautiful overnight would cause a total ruckus in the scientific world and the upper class.

I chuckled nervously. “The reasons not that important... Hey - let’s hurry up, I smell something good from the cafeteria.”

Eunji instantly brightened. “Alright! Let’s go!”

“Don’t walk too fast,” Yoon said from my side. 

“You're the athlete here. You shouldn’t be complaining,” I teased. A wink was sent his way. “Catch up.”

As if my words was a signal, Eunji and I instantly picked up pace, skipping as we went. The sound of Yoon chuckling filled my ears, and when I turned my head back, I noticed him jogging after us. On his face was a rare smile.