I think it's only normal to admire him. Everyone in the class does. Boys and girls— both are hyped up when In-ho joins in their conversation. He rarely talks with his usual stoic look, but he isn't avoidant of others. He has friends— a lot of them.

I want to make friends too. Back in my hometown, I did not have that many of them. It has always been hard to keep up with kids my age. The things that they like are mostly different from me. I tried changing my likings once, so that I can be a part of a friends group, but it became tiring to keep up a facade. I always ended up burying myself in my books once again. 

The poem that the teacher is reading sounds really pretty, despite me not knowing the meaning of most of the lines. I think that meaningful words always speak to you no matter what language they are in. You can feel the depth behind the words when they are read by someone..

"Lukas, do you want to try and read a line?"

I perk up upon my name. "Yes?" 

Mrs. Lee smiled by my desk. "Do you want to try and read a line? If you get stuck, I will help you."

Most eyes are turned to me. Ah, this is scary. I raised in my seat cautiously, timidly. 

"Yes.." 

I saw that In-ho glanced over but turned back to his book in a second. I must do this well. I picked up the book close to my face. 

You can do this. It's not hard. You have read tons of books before...except those are in German. BUT! You can still do well. You learn to write and read 'Hangul' before…though only for a month. NO! You can do this..

I don't know if this talk helps. If anything, it made me even more nervous. I cleared my throat and started reading word by word slowly. Surprisingly, I managed to read one line well, without major pauses. I breathe out in relief. Somehow, so are all the other kids.

"Oh..Good job." The teacher gave a few claps, followed by a few others from the class. I smiled awkwardly.

"Then, do you want to try and read the whole paragraph?"

My heart sinks— to the bottom of the ocean. There is obvious panic portrayed on my face and movements. "Um.." My mind is blanking out.

"Ah, it's okay if you don't want to.." Mrs. Lee tried to save the moment, seeing how anxious I looked.

I gripped my shirt hard before letting go. 

"No..I want to do it." 

Kang In-ho glances over his shoulder again. He is not usually interested in other kids reading in class, but this is an exception. Seeing the tall, foreigner boy bringing the book closer to his face repeatedly every few words, he smiled lightly.

He is brave.

There was a time when his friends got into a conversation about Lukas Rauscher, their unique, new classmate. 

"The kids from other classes got really excited to see him. My friends asked me tons of questions about him." Jung Ki-sung started.

"I know. He is tall, isn't he? I'm jealous.." Yoo Nam-il added.

"It's the first time I see someone with natural blue eyes in real life. They are really pretty, right?" Lee Chan-mi slips in her thoughts.

"Hey.. don't you go around trying to make him your boyfriend now." Oh Jin-woo warned the small girl.

"I don't know..I might do it. Lukas is good-looking." Lee Chan-mi chuckled while turning to her group of girl friends. 

Kang In-ho is processing all the input from his friends. Generally, they all like Lukas. That is a good thing. As for him, he doesn't have any problem with him. He thought that Lukas just seemed confused most of the time. He is thinking that maybe he can offer him helps if he needed any. 

###

The bell rings again. 

As my third day at the school, I can already tell the time to recess. I stood up while cleaning my desk. 

"Where are you going? Do you want to join us to cafeteria?" Jin-woo noticed my movements. 

"Ah..Thank you, but today I'm thinking of going somewhere." I have a place in mind that I have been meaning to explore since my first day. The place filled with my most favourite thing.

I took slow steps to my destination. I looked around the school. It's the first time I wandered around the hallway alone. I get the feeling that I caught a lot of attention again. I tried to not think about it too much. 

'School Library'.

I stepped curiously inside. There are not many people around. I walked by the consistently-spaced metal bookshelves. I scanned through each label and mumbles the pronunciation.

"His..tory."

"Astro..nomy."

"Bio.." 

There is a person standing by the shelf, going through a thick book. Someone I recognize almost immediately. 

"...In-ho." A small whisper slips out.