Chapter Two

Two days flew by rather quickly, and Emily was unaware at what time she was to meet this Jaekuk, or when he was supposed to arrive, or where. The subject hadn't brought up much, other than when Ms. Darren asked Emily to help her set up the boy a space in their guest bedroom. It had white walls, a white twin-sized bed, a brown dresser, a desk that they had found on sale at Ikea, a matching chair, and a carpet. The two windows were covered by a set of white drapes.

Ms. Darren found it necessary to leave the boy space for him to decorate the area and make it more comfortable for himself. Her mother had also failed to mention how long this boy would be staying.

Emily was now, yet again, in her AP Algebra class. She was flipping through the pages of her binder, concentration building up in her expression as she eyed the given equation intensely. They were supposed to try to finish it first, and whoever was the first to give the correct answer got out of class three minutes early.

The door swung open, and shuffling could be heard. Most students turned in their seats, but Emily was far too concerned with the problem set before her . . . She was absorbed in her work. That was, until her mother called attention to the class.

"Alright, I appreciate all of your hard work, but you're going to have to look up now. We have some very exciting news."

Emily didn't pay much attention, and kept solving firmly.

"Emily," Ms. Darren repeated. Emily's head snapped upwards, and her mother nodded once.

"We have a new student; he has traveled all the way from South Korea and will be staying with us for the rest of the year - five months," Ms. Darren explained softly. The students gawked; obviously, the boy had caught their attention rather quickly. Emily looked him over, confusion filling her once-sure expression.

He had dusty pink hair and pale skin. His lips were a gradient coloring - from a light pink to a natural coloring. His cheeks had a natural flush to them, and a large, perfect smile filled his face. His eyes were a deep brown, large and round with the traditional shape that Emily had expected. His hands were fairly large, folded in front of the black and white striped, Peanut (from Charlie Brown) sweater. He wore light blue skinny jeans, and grey high-top converse. He was fairly average in height for his age - reaching about five feet and eight inches in height.

"Hello," he said. Emily blinked in surprise. His voice held only the faintest sounding of an accent, and his voice was rather deep compared to what she was used to the boys in her grade producing. "I am Kim Jaekuk."

"So your name is Jaekuk?" A short blonde with a high-pitched voice asked, her voice calling from the back of the room. Jaekuk turned in her direction, nodding once. He flashed a dimpled grin, and the girls giggled wildly. Emily sighed, turning back to her work. She picked up her pencil. Many students followed suit.

"Alright then," Ms. Darren said. She looked about the room, and pointed to the empty seat beside Emily, who was unaware. "You can sit there, by Emily. I'll get you a set of the workbook papers." Jaekuk smiled, thanking the woman. He shuffled quickly over to the seat, his face flushing lightly at the consistent stares he was receiving. He sat down quietly and opened his AP Algebra binder, which was covered in various stickers ranging from video games to events he had attended - it wasn't the neatest, to say the least.

Emily glanced over at him, looking him over quickly. Jaekuk caught her gaze, and his face burst into another one of his seemingly always-there smiles. Emily sighed quietly as Ms. Darren set the workbook in front of Jaekuk. She gave Emily a specific look, and the girl nodded once. She stood up out of her desk and walked over to the boy, opening his book. Her mother walked to the door to discuss something with their principal, the one who had brought Jaekuk to the classroom.

"We're studying nonlinear functions," she said quietly. Jaekuk seemed to understand, so she flipped through his book, opening it up to the current section. Emily reached over to her desk, picking up a purple gel pen. She used it to circle the first nine problems, and wrote down what page the lesson summary was on on the top right corner of the page.

"You're the girl whose family I'm staying with, am I correct?" Jaekuk asked. "I recognized your mother," he explained. Emily nodded, lifting her eyebrows and pursing her lips, a small roll passing in her eyes.

"Yes," she said. "But don't call her a mother, it'll make her feel old."

Jaekuk's mouth formed and 'o', and he shook his head, laughing quietly to himself. Emily raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged, mainly to herself.

"We go to electives after this. Do you know what class you're going to?" She asked, sitting back down at her desk.

"I have band," he said.

"Me too. I play the clarinet," Emily said, the ends of her lips tilting up lightly. She loved band; it was one of her favorite classes. Music was important to her.

"I play the flute," Jaekuk replied, seeming pleased.

"Alright, students. Let's take a look at problem four. Does anyone know the answer?"

Most of the students stared at the problem, the words jumbling and mixing in their eyesights as they sat with dumbfounded expressions, Emily included. Much to her surprise, Jaekuk's hand raised quickly into the air. Ms. Darren's eyes opened widely, but she called on him, despite the doubt filling her.

"Variable a equals twenty four and ninety-seven hundredths."