Yoon Mirae had just begun her first school year at Jeonju High School. She was a transfer student from Seoul and had recently moved in with her grandmother. She had great plans — really bright ones. Mirae had always been easygoing, with a bubbly personality. Her new life here was going to change everything. From new teachers to new friends, she’d have to adjust to it all. But she wasn’t shy — in fact, she loved talking to new people. But this school could be different from any other — and that discovery begins today.

The hallway buzzed with many voices, lots of laughter and positive energy. Mirae already had a good feeling about this school. She clenched her schedule and made her way towards her homeroom. She felt a bit uneasy — seeing everyone hanging out in their groups made her worry she’d just be ignored.

“Hopefully that doesn’t happen”, she thought to herself.

She put her negative thoughts aside and focused on getting organised. Setting a good first impression mattered more to her than anything else. As she focused on keeping her table well put, she overheard people constantly saying her name. 

“How do people already know my name?”, she muttered to herself.

A girl walked up to her, crossing her arms and zooming right into her. Mirae backed up a bit, startled by the girl’s sudden move. Then the girl pulled out the chair next to Mirae and sat right beside her.

“You must be Mirae? Yoon Mirae? Nice name by the way”, the girl tilts her head to the left a little. “My name is Kang Nari, Kang meaning ‘strong’ and Nari meaning ‘lily’. Don’t be fooled by my first name, I’m the opposite of that.”, Nari winks and looks away as the teacher walks in.

Mirae must have been so distracted that she didn’t notice the teacher walking in. The class stood up in unison greeting their teacher. The teacher invited Mirae up to introduce herself to the class. 

“Hi, everyone,” Mirae said, her voice soft but steady as she stood at the front of the classroom. “My name’s Yoon Mirae. I just transferred here from Seoul, and I’m really looking forward to getting to know all of you.” She smiled, glancing around at the curious faces while waving. “I love meeting new people, so please don’t be shy to say hi.”

The class applauds her as she goes to sit down. Nari looks at her in awe.

She whispers, “Wow, you’re pretty awesome. I’m excited to spend this new school year with you”. She smiles and looks away.

After her busy schedule, Mirae goes down to the cafeteria with her new friend, Nari. She was still shy around her, since they’ve only just met. Nari shows her around, offering her some money for the snack shop, but Mirae was prepared. As they waited in line, two boys entered in front of them, completely ignoring their existence. 

“Hey! Move out of the way. You cut ahead of the line”, Nari snaps at both of them. 

The boys chuckled quietly to themselves before turning away. Suddenly, a boy standing behind the girls stepped forward and firmly grabbed the wrist of one of the annoying duo.

“You heard her, move’. He said firmly.

Without a word, they stepped aside and shuffled to the back of the line, heads hanging low. The cold boy glanced first at Mirae, then at Nari. Mirae felt a chill run down her spine as his piercing stare locked onto her — yet, despite his cold demeanor, she was surprised by a sudden warmth of attraction toward him.

“Woah, that was so cool of you Minjae”, Nari said to him, with a playful tone but a serious reaction.

He quietly nodded and made his way back to his position in line. Mirae wondered who that boy was. Nari seemed to know him so she did the obvious thing and asked her.

“Kang Nari- I mean, Nari. Who is that?” she asked, in her whisper voice.

Nari looked at her with an expression on her face that Mirae couldn’t decipher.

“Hmm, they call him ‘Mr. Almost Perfect’ here at our school.”

**END OF CHAPTER ONE**