The first minutes of class involve the shuffling of feet as students quickly settle into their desk to wait for the arrival of their homeroom teacher. Today was a little different. Entering the small classroom was your homeroom teacher, along with a new face. The boy standing in front of your class was fairly tall, about a head taller than you, with fair skin and dark hair. He was scanning around the classroom, most likely to find a seat or a potential friend, and when he locked eyes with you, he quickly looked away.
It wasn’t long before your teacher made him introduce himself to the class as Lai Guanlin, a transfer student from Taiwan.
“Please take a seat next to Seonho, who’ll raise his hand,” your teacher instructs. Guanlin walks into your aisle and takes the seat in the two-seater table behind you. You overheard a quick exchange of greetings before the teacher spoke up again. “And don’t let Seonho distract with his explanations of why he needs to have a post-breakfast pre-lunch snack in this class.”
“But I do! I even have a petition for you to let me eat in this class and it has three signatures so far!” Seonho says as a matter of fact.
“Yeah, him, his mom, his dad,” Jihoon snorts. The class erupts into a series of laughter before the teacher begins his lesson plan.
11:20 - lunch
“If you keep stuffing your face like that, you’ll choke,” you scold at Seonho who was inhaling the pizza for lunch.
“This is why I need a post-breakfast pre-lunch snack! Sign my petition, Y/N!” Seonho complains whilst stuffing his face with another slice of pizza. You roll your eyes and catch eyes with a lonely face looking for a place to sit in the cafeteria. You motion him over and he looks at you with relieved eyes.
“Hey, Guanlin!” Seonho greets when Guanlin puts down his lunch tray and takes a seat next to you.
“Hey Seonho, hey y/n,” he replies.
“So, Guanlin,” Seonho puts an arm around the older boy’s should, “do you want to sign my petition to allow us to get a post-breakfast pre-lunch snack?”
You roll your eyes as Guanlin sighs before saying, “Sure.”
You have never seen Seonho more excited as he fumbles around to look for a pen.
3:00 pm – end of school
Seonho hurriedly packs up his bag as he leads you and Guanlin out of the school.
“So Guanlin, ever had Korean custard bread before?” Seonho asks as he walks in the front. Guanlin shakes his head. “Well, it’s your lucky day!”
You three enter the local bakery, greeting the old lady working there before sitting at a table.
“Who’s the new kid?” the old lady asks, bringing out the bread and iced tea.
“His name is Lai Guanlin–”
“And he’s from Taiwan!” Seonho interrupts with a mouth full of bread. The old lady greets Guanlin before heading back to the counter to greet another customer.
“Seonho really likes this place,” you whisper to Guanlin, who took a bite of the bread.
“I can tell,” Guanlin whispers back. “How long are we going to stay here for? My mom’s picking me up today.”
“I guess we can leave Seonho here, can we Seonho?” The younger boy nods while stuffing his face with bread, shooing you both away. “I guess so.”
“So how do you like this school?” you ask as you two walk back to the school, where his mom was waiting for him.
“It seems fun. I mean, I’m glad I made some friends,” he replies as you two enter the school gates.
“Are you going to join any sports? Or maybe a club?” Guanlin contemplates your question for a moment before answering.
“I think I’ll try out for basketball.”
“Oh, Seonho’s the captain of the basketball team!”
“Really?” Now he was clearly shocked, but you nod anyway. “I didn’t expect him to be a basketball player.”
“No one expected him to have such a big appetite either, but, it is how it is,” you laugh. You see a small car in front of your eyes, most likely Guanlin’s car. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” He shoots you a gummy smile before running over to the car while running backwards and waved at you.
8:10 am – social studies
“How’s the captain’s jacket looking, Guanlin?” you hollered when you see him enter with the captain’s varsity jacket. It was a few weeks after he came to your school and you had already felt comfortable with him. Seonho pouted when he saw Guanlin, a regular varsity jacket sitting on his desk. The coach decided to make Guanlin the captain after seeing him trying out but still made Seonho a co-captain.
“I’m a better forward, though,” he huffs and crosses his arms. You ruffle his hair to get him in a better mood.
“You sure are, Seonho and don’t let anyone tell you something else,” you smile. Guanlin takes his seat next to Seonho, who was still in a fit.
“Wanna go get some bread after school?” Guanlin suggests, which immediately makes the younger smile and nod excitedly. The easiest way to get Seonho in a better mood was to bribe him with food.
2:30 pm – rainy afternoon
“Did you bring an umbrella?” Seonho asks, holding his varsity jacket over his head as you shake your head.
“We’ll share,” a voice speaks up behind you as Guanlin holds his jacket above the both of you. “My jacket’s big enough for the both of us.”
“Alright.” You three start running into the pouring rain, a giggle escaping your mouth as you feel your shoes getting soaked from stepping in the puddles. You make it to the bakery, in which the warm air greets the three of you.
“Your hair’s wet,” you say as you part the hair away from Guanlin’s eyes. He shakes his head, sending droplets of water onto you, making you exclaim.
“You guys should just date already,” Seonho whines, biting off a piece of his bread. You and Guanlin freeze, a blush forming on his cheeks as he goes,
“Aye, you’re crazy.”
“Yeah, the bread must be getting into your head,” you say, pinching Seonho’s cheeks. You grab your bag, Guanlin doing the same, and stand up. “See you tomorrow.”
Seonho mutters a goodbye as you two exit the cafe, muttering something else about Guanlin taking you away from him.
“The first game starts in two weeks, are you going to be able to come?” Guanlin asks. The rain had cleared up, leaving the fresh smell of grass in the air.
“Most likely,” you reply, entering the school gates.
“Great!” he exclaims, his face lighting up. “You better sit in the front row and cheer me on!”
You nudge his shoulder. “Of course! I’m your number one fan.”
A blush tints his face. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye, y/n!”
He gets into his car and opens the window, waving at you. You wave until you couldn’t see the car and then realized that you had Guanlin’s jacket draped over you.
8:08 am – first period
A small cake pop welcomes you when you reach your desk, along with a small post-it note next to it.
Let me confess to you, please?
You read the note with an amused smile on your face. Guanlin enters, questioning your smiling face when you show him the note.
“How lame,” he remarks. “He should just confess already.”
You lightly punched his shoulder. “Shut up.”
“Oh, I guess y/n got a secret admirer! How many have you gotten this year already?” Seonho asks when he sits down at his desk. “Why haven’t I gotten one yet?”
“Because you’re already in a relationship with food,” Guanlin remarks, earning a gasp from the younger boy.
8:01 am – the next day
Are you wondering who I am?
“I wonder if they’re going to ask you to go to the dance,” Guanlin says when he reads the note. You shrug.
“I mean, that’s in a few weeks,” Seonho says before the teacher tells you guys to take out your books. A pad of post-it notes drops from Guanlin’s bag before he quickly picks it up, throwing it back into his bag.
3:00 pm
“Oh! I forgot!” you say as you reach into your bag, pulling out Guanlin’s jacket. “Your jacket.”
He waves off your hand. “It’s fine, you can keep it if you like it.”
“Are you sure? What if you get cold in class?” you ask. He shoots you a gummy smile.
“I’ll be alright.” He starts to walk in the direction of his car. “Plus, you look better in it than me.”
7:59 am
I will tell you who I am at the basketball game next week.
8:05 am
Go sit in the front row when you’re at the game
“Maybe if you head to class earlier tomorrow you’ll find out who they are,” your friend, Jihoon, suggests.
“Maybe.”
7:50 am – ten minutes before class starts
You walk along the corridor to your class, putting your hand on the handle of the door.
“y/n!” someone shouts before you could open the door. You see Seonho running in your direction. “I need your help with the homework! Help me before the bell rings!”
He pulls on your arm, loosening your grip on the handle and leading you the opposite way of the classroom. You turn your head back and notice a tall figure stepping out of the classroom, but that was all you saw before Seonho turns.
U will see a surprise at the game
8:04 am – the next day
Are you still wondering who I am?
You remembered the boy you saw the day before, so your secret admirer was tall. Maybe he was on the basketball team.
“Who else do you know is tall?” you ask Seonho, whose eyes widened at your question. “Other than Guanlin.”
“Jinyoung’s pretty tall, but he’s really shy,” Seonho replies, just as Guanlin enters the room.
“What are you guys talking about?” he asks.
“Nothing!” you say before turning around as the teacher enters. Seonho glance at Guanlin, who then shrugs his shoulders.
7:56 am
Seonho was already sitting in his seat when you enter the room, begging you to give him the cake pop.
“Take it,” you say and he brighten’s up immediately. You remove the post-it from your desk to read it.
Now there are only three more days before you find out who I am
Guanlin enters the room late and takes his regular seat. You then wonder why he is always late despite seeing him in school before you.
7:50 am
When you entered the courtyard, you looked for Guanlin, who was sitting next to Seonho on the bench.
“We should walk to class together today,” you suggest, taking a seat next to Guanlin. He widens his eyes and glances at Seonho, who does the same. He calls over Justin, who was also on the basketball team.
“Didn’t you need the notes for math?” Guanlin asks, taking out a folder. Justin stares at him confused before Guanlin whispers into his ear.
“Can I also get a pencil, too?” Justin asks as he takes the folder. Guanlin reaches into his backpack and pulls out his pencil pouch, giving all of it to Justin.
“Make sure to give it back to me before class starts!” Justin gestures ‘ok’ before heading into the school.
When class starts, you see a slightly crushed up cake pop along with the usual post-it note stuck on your desk.
Last time, you almost caught me, are you that excited to see me?
“Switch papers with the person behind you,” the teacher announces as he pulls up the homework answers. You turn around the Guanlin, who hands you his homework.
When you take a look at his paper, you notice his writing looks familiar, as if you’ve seen it a lot before, but you couldn’t remember.
8:03 am – game day
Seonho’s desk was piled with food when you enter the room. “Pre-game meal,” he says as he inhales the bread.
Guanlin was in class before you, something that hasn’t happened in a while. “Are you coming to the game tonight, y/n?” he asks.
“Of course,” you reply, taking a seat at your desk, seeing the usual post-it in front of you.
I will tell you who I am tonight and remember to bring all the post-its I’ve written to you!
6:30 pm – basketball court
You came early to watch the boys practice. It wasn’t the first time you’ve seen Guanlin play basketball, you would usually tag along with the two when they have practice, often buying them snacks and drinks.
“y/n, I’m counting on you to cheer for me!” Seonho exclaims when he makes a 3-pointer.
“She’s going to cheer me on,” Guanlin shouts back, shooting you a gummy smile.
When the game time starts to get closer, the boys head back to the locker room and the benches begin to fill up. Your friends had taken a seat next to you, holding drinks and snacks.
“I can’t believe how close we are the court,” Woojin remarks. The announcer begins to call out the players and the game eventually starts.
“y/n, let’s go get more popcorn,” Woojin suggests around the fourth quarter. Your school’s team was leading by 20 points, mainly due to Seonho’s 3-pointers and Guanlin’s dunks.
“Sure.” You two maneuver past the crowd and head to the stand. When you get back, you see a cake pop and post-it on your seat.
“Did you see who left this here?” you ask Jinyoung, who was sitting next to you. He shakes his head.
“I was watching the game,” he replies.
Confused, you take the post-it from the bench and read it.
Now you have all the notes, if you arrange the first letter of each note from first note to this note, you’ll find out who I am
You take out the post-it’s from your back pocket and arrange them on your lap. While you were arranging them, the buzzer sounds, announcing your school’s victory.
“L...A...I...G...U...A...N...L...I...N,” you read before it clicked in your head. Guanlin.
When you looked up, you saw the boys changed from their basketball jerseys into plain white shirts, spelling out the word “PROM?”
Guanlin emerges from behind shyly, holding a bouquet of roses. “Will you go to prom with me, y/n?”
You remove the post-its from your lap, stepping into the court to give Guanlin a hug. “Yes!” you exclaim. The boys holler as Guanlin spins you around before leaning down to press a kiss on your lips, resulting in louder cheers.
“Seonho! You didn’t tell me you were in on this! You too, Justin and Jihoon!” you shout at the boys when Guanlin puts you back down on the floor. You lightly smack Seonho’s shoulder before returning to Guanlin.
10:00 pm – after the game
“You know, even if you didn’t do the secret admirer thing, I would’ve still said yes,” you say as you walk out of the school gates. A cold blast of wind comes over the both of you, resulting in you shivering slightly.
“Here,” Guanlin says, draping his jacket over you before leaning down to button it. You grab his wrist and lean towards him, giving him a soft peck on the lips.
“Thank you.” A soft blush tints his cheeks as he smiles gummily before he initiates another kiss.
