Choo Bae.
As soon as my eyes lock onto hers, all air is sucked out of my lungs.
In this class of nearly 30 teenagers, she clearly stands out.
She is not from this world!
The female homeroom teacher unaware of my current act of reverence, is visibly growing irritated with the level of commotion.
"Settle down kids, if you disturb the other classes, everyone of you will be punished got it."
Her threat works like a charm as they rest instantly turn silent.
"Dylan, do you have any trouble with your sight?"
"No, ma'am"
"It's settled then"
"huh?"
Ignoring my confusion she just continues to give out her orders with military precision.
"Student President!"
"Yes?" A soft spoken voice answers
I turn towards the sound and time seems to have slown down once again.
That was Hora speaking?
She's the class monitor? I don't think I've heard about this before.
I recall her once mentioning that she used to be a really smart student on a variety show before but I've never heard her mention being the Student President.
If you think about it logically, then it isn't that much of a stretch.
I mean, High School is basically a popularity contest.
The more popular you are- the better your school life is. It's directly proportional.
For those of you who want any tips on how to survive High school.
If experience has taught me one thing, it's that there are two types of standing out .
1) The Main Cast, who are either athletic, smart, funny or good-looking and
2) The Outcasts, a loner, weirdo or different.
If you can't be a Main Cast member, you're not entirely screwed but you are going to have to learn a skill. I mean , extra's exist for a reason.
If you want to survive without falling into the Outcast, you will need to learn how to pretend.
Start by reading books and learning as much about various topics, so that you can assist the lead as much as possible
Learn your role. You need to become the crowd. Bruce lee, once said 'be like water', that pretty much sums it up. You must be shapeless, formless, like water.
Anyway, that's enough life advice for now as, the stern looking homeroom teacher continues
"Choo, Dylan will be your new desk-mate, show him around school during break, I'll be trusting you to take care of him."
"Yes, Mrs Han"
Mrs Han then proceeds to nod, sending some telepathically signal to Choo Bae. Who proceeds to lead the procession.
"Greetings"
"Stand up"
"Bow"
As Mrs Han shuts the door. The commotion once again returns. This time less about my introduction but more the typical rowdy teenage noise.
I then move down the isle towards the last row , just in-front of the in-class lockers.
I put my shoulder bag on the floor and turn to towards the girl next to me.
I must admit, truthfully.
She's even more gorgeous than I expected.
She's not wearing any makeup. Yet her skin is practically flawless.
Her pitch black hair is tied up into a pony tail, which added to her charm.
Her full cherry like lips in full contrast to her fair skin.
She looks like the prettiest girl in a college department. Which I'm pretty sure she would be no matter the location.
Gathering all my courage, I introduce myself
"Hi. I'm Dylan Park, nice to meet you"
"I know, you just said your name"
*brrrr* *brrrr*
The temperature in the room just drops by 10 degrees.
The Universe responds to the Ice princesses wishes.
I gather what is left of my pride and proceed forward valiantly
"And you are?"
"Choo Bae" She answers barely paying any attention to me. Her Busan accent comes through.
For those that do not know their is a major difference between regions in Korean dialect, tones. It's quite easy to pick up were a person is from because of that.
While the Busan tone, often gets misunderstood as being angry due to the intonation when compared to the clean standard accent of Seoul. It was still pleasing to the ear.
"That's a pretty name... And a pretty accent."
She just ignores my compliment and focuses on her book once more.
*ding-a-ling*
And with that bell, lunch break is upon us.
As I get ready stand up and stretch for a bit. I immediately get surrounded some girls in my class who start bombarding me with questions.
"Where are you from?"
"Seoul"
"Why did you transfer to this school"
"Forced to"
"What's your number?"
"I don't know"
"Do you have a girlfriend"
"No"
Just as the girls were really getting into their Q&A session. Choo Bae shuts them down.
"Dylan, follow me" Is all she says as she starts walking out of the classroom, not even waiting for me.
I quickly bow towards the girls and excuse myself as I start running after her.
She really wastes no time.
Over the next 10 minutes, she provides me with a succinct yet detailed introduction of the various buildings. The gym, cafeteria, library , computer and science labs etc.
Our last stop is the football stand, where we are able to see the daily activities of the kids quite clearly. Some are playing football, others are sitting on the lawn talking, some are flirting and some are catching up on sleep.
As Choo Bae watches it all unfold, a small smile forms on her face as she enjoys the heat of the day, and the comfort of the breeze.
I take a seat next to her, close enough that her intoxicating scent is carried by the wind but still far enough to give her space.
She turns to me and for a moment contemplates something.
I just wait for her patiently as she eventually manages to utter something
"Did you mean it?"
Not quite knowing what Choo is speaking about, I tilt my head in confusion as I await for her clarification.
"Mean what?"
"My accent, do you really like it?"
"Yeah, uhm ...I .... find it really cute"
Staring straight at me her doe like eyes, pierce through my soul as she tries to read whether what I am saying is in fact genuine or not.
"Thanks"
"No problem"
So she's insecure about her accent.
What teenager wouldn't be? Especially if they want to appear on Television in the future.
I wonder how many more months it is before she passes the M.S audition.
"You care to listen to something I have to say"
A little surprised at myself I continue without waiting for her answer.
" There was once a duck that finds an egg after a storm. Though it was not hers, she took care of it until a smaller duck hatched from it. However, this little duck didn't look like the other little ducklings. It was a pale white color where the other babies were a puffy yellow. It was a lot taller than the other babies, too. And, it had a long narrow bill.
Though the mother duck loved her baby just the same, the other ducks were not as kind. They didn't like the way the baby looked because he was different. Through his whole life, he was picked on and called ugly just because he didn't look the same as the other ducks. Finally, one day, the duck told his mom good-bye and decided to leave so that he would be no longer picked on. He felt that a life alone was better than a life tormented.
One rainy night, he sat at the base of a tree to try and stay dry. He was alone until a beautiful bird that we know as a swan came walking down the path. The swan stopped to talk to the duck, but he turned her away. "You're too beautiful to talk to someone as ugly as me."
She stared at him, puzzle for a moment. Then, she said, "But, we are the same." And gestured for him to look at his reflection in the puddle. So, he did just to see that all this time, he was a swan, too.
Choo recognizes the story. I mean which kid has never heard of the Ugly Duckling by Hans Anderson. But she doesn't interrupt and lets me finish.
"That story, you have probably heard it before. I mean..... Everyone knows it. And for good reasons ..... It teaches us to ....
"Never be mean to others just because they are different."
Or,
"If you're picked on, don't worry because you will grow to be better than the people that are picking on you."
But what I always think is. Imagine if the baby swan would have never been lost away from the other swans. Imagine if the storm wouldn't have rolled the egg away for the duck to find it. Imagine if he would have been raised as a swan his entire life.
The story would have been, "Once Upon a Time, in a forest far far away, there was a baby swan that lived a normal swan life. The end."
There wouldn't be a story to tell. There wouldn't be any lessons to learn.
The things you go through in life that you wish you could go back and change are part of you. That's why you can't change them. And it's not a bad thing. You would not be you if you didn't have the struggles and bad things that happened."
In the coolest of voices I can muster, I look towards the sunset and say
"You aren't meant to be ordinary.... You are meant to be extraordinary."
Turning to her, I see her stoic face reflecting back at me.
*Silence*
After what seems like hours she repeats my last word softly to herself like a mantra
"Extra....ordinary?"
"Yeah." I put on my brightest smile, as I stand up and pat myself down before looking at her shy face once more, " Extraordinary you."
She looks at me with her bambi like eyes.
Her eyelashes fluttering. As a small blush begins to grow when.
*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*
The bell rings once more signalling the end of our time together as we head back to class together. This time a little closer and slower than we had walked before.