I glanced to my right to see Jong… Jong… Whatever in the seat beside me, grinning his good-natured smile. I couldn’t help but smile back. This guy’s cheerfulness was seemingly contagious and it was a great distraction from the butterflies in my stomach. It made me feel guilty for my response.

“Sorry, but I can’t seem to remember your name. Jong…?”

“Jonghyun,” he said, looking slightly crestfallen.

“Right, sorry,” I said, attempting to salvage the situation. His face lit up with that goofy smile again. “Can you draw well?” he asked interestedly.

“Yeah, pretty well,” I said. “I’m good with charcoal.”

“Really? “ His eyes were wide, lips parted.

“Yeah.” I laughed at his fascination. I didn’t think Kiseop had even asked me anything about myself apart from my name and nationality.

“Draw me then!” Jonghyun demanded. “And it better look good too!”

“Challenge accepted,” I muttered under my breath.

“Was that English? I was hoping I would get to hear you speak it but I thought it would be rude to ask so I just waited to see if you would.” He said all this in one breath and looked at me expectantly.

“Yes, that was English. It was just an American expression,” I explained, struggling not to laugh.

“Waauu,” he said. “What are you doing in Korea?”

“Ah. Getting ready to be an English teacher.” It didn’t hurt to be truthful there, right?

“Teacher!” he exclaimed formally and bowed. I giggled. 

“Really,” he said, leaping to another subject, “I’m just ecstatic to know someone so much shorter than I am.”

“I am not that short!” I argued.

“Really?!” he retorted and stood, gesturing for me to stand as well. I got to my feet and looked up slightly to meet his teasing gaze. “Okay fine, “I conceded and sat back down.

Before Jonghyun could do a victory dance, the teacher took her place at the front and began to explain our assignment.

“I need everyone to select a partner and face them.”

Before I could say anything, Jonghyun was moving his easel to face me. He settled back onto the stool and grinned cheekily at me. I just shook my head. Odd child…

“You will now attempt to recreate your partner’s face onto your page. You may use whatever medium suits you. You have an hour and a half, go.”

‘Why couldn’t I have had this class with Kiseop?? To be able to study his perfect face for an hour and a half without looking creepy…’ Now depressed, I went to retrieved a package of charcoal pencils while Jonghyun headed for the paints. I paused long enough to note that, despite his designer jeans, that boy had no . Laughing silently, I returned to my seat and waited for my subject to take his place in front of me. When he finally dropped the armful of paint onto the tray, I began to sketch.

First, the outline of his face. High, sharp cheekbones, masculine jawline. Next, his hair. A perfectly styled mess of brown layers. Eyes; permanently lined by the omnipresent smile. Lips; a soft, full curve… ‘Gah! What are you doing??’ This guy wasn’t my type at all and I was here for Kiseop! I needed to keep this professional. With the Korean-boy-loving creep locked in the back of my mind, I completed the sketch just as the professor said, “Time’s up, you may have time next class if you were unable to complete your projects.”

Jonghyun, his hands coated with paint, grabbed his easel and flipped it around to showcase the product of his efforts. A chibi-style boy with short, messy brown hair and olive green eyes stared out at me from the paper, a little smirk curving the thin line of its mouth (Author’s note: the description of this character is a description of ME. Yes, I actually have green eyes. Not hazel, not  bluish greenish, not kinda green, they are (to be honest) a rather unremarkable GREEN and I hate that everyone feels the need to say they have green eyes when they don’t!!!! Rant over). He laughed at my expression, torn between amusement and horror.

“Let’s see if you can top that!” he chortled.

With a mock sigh, I plucked my paper from its stand and offered it to Jonghyun. His mouth opened into a perfectly round ‘o’. Reaching towards, he gasped, “Wauu, it looks like a selca!” I deftly yanked the paper to safety, away from his rainbow-stained hands. I had sketched him with the evil grin he had worn the entire class period as he rendered my face with his hands.

“Can I keep that?” he asked, looking up at me with wide eyes.

I shrugged. “Sure, if you want.”

“You have to promise to keep mine too! If I ever visit your dorm and it isn’t on the wall, I will be very disappointed,” he threatened. I giggled.

“Really!”

“Fine, fine,” I said, reaching out to take the still-damp painting. I only permitted him to take my sketch after he had washed the inch-thick layer of paint from his hands. The bell rang and Jonghyun rushed for the door, calling over his shoulder, “See you at lunch!”

I followed more slowly, behind the rush of starving boys. I could hear Jonghyun squealing, “Keyyyy!!!” I hid my laugh behind the painting clutched in my hands. Kiseop’s sudden appearance completely destroyed all humor left in my expression along with any ovary fragments I had left. He was walking with Hoon, both of them clearly entertained by something. Hoon’s face sobered instantly when he spotted Soohyun with an arm slung around Kevin’s narrow shoulders. Leaving Kiseop in midsentence, Hoon rushed up to between the feminine boy and his hyung.

Seeing my opportunity, I sped up to walk with Kiseop.
“How was your class? Was it as bad as you thought?” I asked, eager to hear his angel’s voice again.

“Oh, hi Ki Joon! It wasn’t so bad with Hoon in the class with me. Although, I wish I could have gone to an art class instead.”

“I think they don’t want the idols mixing shows and Jonghyun was in my art class.”

Kiseop stopped. “Jonghyun? Kim Jonghyun? What is he doing here?”

“Didn’t you know? They are filming season two simultaneously; SHINee High.” Kiseop looked irritated. “Shouldn’t they be focusing all their efforts on UKISS High?”

I shrugged cautiously. “I suppose they expect UKISS High to be a big hit so they want to get ahead…”

Kiseop brightened. “Yes, I suppose since we aren’t often seen on variety shows that many people will want to watch. Still, I wonder why no one from SHINee has come to say hello.”

When we arrived at the cafeteria, a man wearing a filming crew jacket stopped Kiseop. “Sorry, Kiseop, it’s SHINee High’s lunch period right now.”

“Oh, I see.” Kiseop frowned, annoyed.

“You can go in,” the man said to me, “Extras don’t matter.”

“Ah, no thanks, I’ll just wait for the second lunch period,” I replied quickly, glancing up at Kiseop. Ignoring my meager sacrifice, he turned and strode back toward where Hoon, Soohun, and Kevin had gathered.

“Hello!” Kevin said cheerfully as I awkwardly took my place behind Kiseop.

“Hey, Kevin.”

“Join the circle!” Kevin insisted, pushing Hoon sideways to make room for me. I moved into the space, head down. I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest; I was completely surrounded by beautiful men and Kevin, it was too much!