I Know I Love You

Rose


Kai


Emily


Beomgyu

Rose offered Emily an excited smile as she held her binder to her chest, already prepared for their time in South Korea; attending one of the finest universities. “Okay, so we know very little Korean, this can’t go wrong.” She joked, thumbing through the booklet of the school and the programmes it had to offer, humming happily. The girls had been accepted to become international students, and Rose hadn’t realised, until now, just how little they’d prepared themselves.

Beomgyu nearly lost his footing as he was shoved to the side by an upperclassman, and he rolled his eyes, already having prepared himself to go through all of this again. He knew his demure attitude caused him to be an easy target, but he didn’t feel the need to change, to fit into any mould that wouldn’t work outside of education. “Well, maybe it won’t be so bad this time.” He reassured Kai, his friend of years. “Maybe we can just… hide out somewhere quiet - like the library!”

@ mikrokosmos.

Emily offered Rose a smile, as she nodded her head slightly. “I just hope...people know a little bit of English so we can understand them.” She said softly, tucking a copper strand of hair behind her ear. As the bus pulled up to the university, the two girls got off and Emily stood there in shock, looking at the place. “Rose...I don’t know if I can do this...you know how bad my anxiety is in new surroundings..” she finally snapped back in reality a moment later.

Kai smiled as he nodded. “I suppose we could, it would be better than hanging out in the cafeteria or one of the home rooms, I don’t want a repeat of last year,” he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “There’s Soobin hyung.” He smiled as he spotted Soobin, along with Yeonjun & Taehyun. “Wow, the school let Yeonjun hyung and Taehyun back this year? Did you know about this?” He asked Beomgyu.

Rose moved over to stand in front of Emily, placing her free hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “Hey, listen to me. We can do this. You can do this. If we struggle, we can ask for a translator, or maybe some Korean lessons to get us by. We didn’t come all this way to back out now.” Rose offered an empathetic smile then, ignoring the stares they were already getting from arriving students. “Come on, let’s go and find home room.”

Beomgyu pouted a little with the thought. “Being in the cafeteria always makes me so hungry…” He hummed, but snorting a little when he heard Kai’s words, he shook his head. “We’re destined for a repeat of last year, Kai. We don’t fit into popular.” At the mention of their hyung though, Beomgyu’s eyes followed Kai’s gaze and he smiled; offering a wave to his friends as he approached. “Honestly, I’m surprised they weren’t permanently expelled… unless Taehyun’s Mom paid some money to get them back in.” Beomgyu grinned. “Annyeong,” He greeted his friends, eyeing up Taehyun and Yeonjun. “Didn’t you two get expelled?”

Taehyun laughed with Beomgyu’s words, nodding. “We did. We were let back in on the grounds that we behave ourselves this year. Fat chance, right?”

@ mikrokosmos.

Emily smiled and nodded. “Okay,” she took a deep breath in and then exhaled slowly, “I can do this, let’s go.” She said. They headed inside the huge building and Emily was in awe again of how gorgeous everything looked. There were huge sculptures and even a water fountain with working water right in the middle of the room as you stepped through the doors.

“This is nothing like the universities back home.” She said to Rose as they stood there.

Yeonjun snickered, “depends on if the asshole jocks leave you two alone or not.” He said, ruffling both Kai and Beomgyu’s hair before giving f each of them a hug.

“No, no fighting this year, you two promised me.” Soobin said, looking at Yeonjun and then Taehyun. “And you know how much promises mean to people.” He said, clicking his tongue in the process as he looked from each boy.

Rose looked around the building as they walked, completely in awe - there were artistic sculptures and everthing was so clean. "This is... definitely different." Rose replied in amusement. "I think we're going to have a great time here." She smiled then, walking alongside Emily in a comfortable stride, looking down at the timetable that was mailed to them before the semester began. "So we're in home room 204." She sighed then. "If we're late, at least we have a good reason, this place is massive."

Beomgyu laughed as Yeonjun ruffled his hair, ducking under the older boy's arm to avoid his teasing. "Yah, hyung, if you teased Soobinnie-hyung then you can't back out of that." Beomgyu defended, tucking a strand of his long hair behind his ear, wanting to keep his tidy appearance. "And besides, Kai and I have a good feeling about this year, don't we?" Beomgyu put on a brave front then, looking at the younger boy behind him.

Taehyun grinned as he watched the scene in front of him, shaking his head in amusement. "Soobin-hyung, I can't say I'll keep to my promise if anyone wants to bully these two dweebs." Taehyun nodded towards Beomgyu and Kai. "Besides, we look like bodyguards, we might as well play the part and walk them to home room!"

Soobin exhaled heavily, shaking his head, half amused and half annoyed. "You all give me a headache."

@ mikrokosmos.

Emily nodded as she walked with her best friend. People were still staring at them as they walked and Emily tried not to make eye contact with anyone. “People are staring.” She whispered to Rose as she moved closer to her friend.

Soon they found their home room and Emily took a deep breath before Rose opened the door. All the students looked at them as they walked in.

“Oh, you two must be the new transfer students!” The teacher said, in broken English, but at least Emily could understand her.

“Let’s get them to home room and then get ourselves to home room.” Yeonjun chuckled as they walked towards Beomgyu and Kai’s home room.

“I guess the professor forgot to close the door.” Yeonjun said as they arrived. “Oh, I think you guys have new students in your home room.” Soobin said, seeing the two girls standing at the front of class.

Rose moved a little closer to Emily as she felt the eyes of various students on them, and exhaling nervously, Rose walked into the classroom first, every student turning to look, clearly in awe when they heard that they were transfer students - it was certainly a scary moment. Clearing her throat, Rose spoke, in Korean that was as equally broken as the teacher's English. "Annyeong, miss." Rose offered a polite bow. "We are - I'm Rose, and this is Emily. I apologise, our Korean isn't that great..."

Beomgyu rolled his eyes playfully at Yeonjun's words. "Since when have you, the great Choi Yeonjun, worried about being on time?" He challenged, straightening out his bag on his shoulder, silently hoping all the meanest students had disappeared, but he knew that luck probably wouldn't be on his side - Jake and his group of friends loved to look around for weakness. They could practically smell it. "Ah, new students?" Beomgyu asked, peering in, his eyes falling to the girl with red hair, smiling with how nervous she looked - the poor thing must of ben terrified. "I think we're okay from here."

Taehyun nodded with Beomgyu's words. "As long as you're sure." He said. "We'll meet up at morning break, okay? Stay safe. Soobin, you should probably head to your home room too, rich boy." Taehyun grinned then. "Don't want Mama to take away your fancy iPhone."

Soobin rolled his eyes, playfully shoving Taehyun. "Yeah, yeah. See you all at morning break!"

@ mikrokosmos.

(Oh! Maybe the popular kids can be Enhypen, and maybe it’s Jake & Heeseung that are particularly attracted to the girls!)

“That is okay, we can get you two someone to teach you Korean. But for now, please have a seat, there.” The professor point to two empty seats in the back.

Emily quietly walked back there and sat down, Rose sitting next to her. There were two empty seats in front of each of them and Emily looked up as two boys walked in, taking the empty seats in front of her and Rose.

Kai sat down in front of one of the new students and turned slightly to pop his back. He smiled, “Annyeong.” He gave her a small smile whenever she looked up at him.

(great minds think alike!!)

Rose looked at Emily as the two boys sat down, raising her eyebrows. She'd never been in a situation where she was considered the new kid, and it was definitely enough to cause anxiety. "Are you okay, Em?" Rose asked quietly, wanting to avoid being told off on their first day. Hearing a voice in front of her though, Rose blinked, looking to the adorable boy sat in front of her, his eyes soft and smile sweet. "Annyeong." Rose smiled in return, offering a small wave to make up for her terrible language skills.

Beomgyu sat down in front of the girl with copper coloured hair, finding her fascinating already, because he'd never really seen anyone with different coloured hair. Turning around with curiosity, Beomgyu offered a gentle smile to the girl, because she seemed nervous - and understandably so, she was clearly in a new place, thrown into the deep end. "Annyeong." Beomgyu's smile widened as she looked up, paying attention to him. Pointing to himself, Beomgyu cleared his throat. "Beomgyu."

@ mikrokosmos.

Emily looked at him, with a small smile. “Annyeong.” She said and then nodded whenever he introduced himself. “I’m Emily.” She said softly.

Kai smiled. “I’m Kai.” He said, he knew a little bit of English, since he was born in Hawaii, but he wasn’t sure if he was pronouncing things correctly since he didn’t really use English to communicate with his friends.

Beomgyu nodded as the pretty girl introduced herself. "Emily..." He repeated to himself, trying to get his pronunciation just right, wanting to impress her. Not knowing how to tell her it was nice to meet her, Beomgyu offered her a thumbs up, before pointing at her hair and offering another thumbs up, trying to indicate that he liked it, liked the colour and liked how it looked on her. "Nice!" He smiled, rolling his eyes as Jake approached, not even acknowledging Beomgyu's existence.

"Hi there," Jake offered a grin, his English fluent enough to get by with confidence. "I'm Jake. A transfer student, hm? How's Korea treating you so far?" He asked, standing in between Beomgyu and Emily's desk, not noticing Beomgyu behind him rolling his eyes again, sticking his tongue out.

Rose smiled as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "It's nice to meet you, Kai." Rose felt a blush creep onto her cheeks but she did her best to ignore it. "I'm Rose." She introduced, grateful that he seemed to know English to an extent that could be used in a quick conversation - it brought Rose some comfort, at least.

@ mikrokosmos.

Emily smiled. “You like my hair? Thank you.” She blushed slightly before looking up at the other boy who seemed to have an Australian accent. “I just got here a couple of days ago, but it’s nice. I’m Emily.” She introduced herself to Jake.

She noticed Beomgyu making faces at Jake behind his back and immediately sensed that they didn’t like each other.

Kai smiled. “You like Korea so far?” He asked. “Sorry, I was born in the States, but my English is limited.” He chuckled nervously. He looked up as Heeseung made his way over to them.

“Ah, a new student. I’m Heeseung.” He smiled, completely blocking Kai’s view of the pretty girl.

Beomgyu turned back around and sighed, placing his chin in his hand and feeling miserable at the fact that he couldn't do a damn thing to take Jake away from Emily, wanting to get to know her more but knowing he was limited, because in Jake's eyes, he was considered the lowest of the low, not worth knowing and not worth worrying about. Frowning with the thought, Beomgyu took out his notepad to distract himself.

Jake smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Emily. I'm Jake, you've probably heard the twang in my voice." He winked playfully. "Australian, but fluent in Korean too. Are you enjoying being here so far? We're glad to have you at our school." Jake bowed then. "Maybe you can join us for dinner, if you and your friend are up to it."

Rose smiled and perked up a little as Kai continued to speak to her, able to admit to herself that this sweet boy caught her attention so easily. "It's beautiful here, that's for sure." Rose nodded. "Where were you born?" Pausing as someone came over though, Rose offered him a polite smile, even if she did find it quite rude that he blocked Kai from her vision. "Hi, Heeseung. I'm Rose." She introduced calmly.

@ mikrokosmos.

Emily smiled. “That’s very sweet of you, Jake and I would like that, I’m sure Rose would too.” She said as Jake sat down at the desk next to hers. “How is Australia? I’ve always wanted to visit.” She smiled before looking at Beomgyu. She did find it a bit rude that Jake interrupted them, but she could always talk to Beomgyu another time.

“Hawaii.” Kai managed to say before being completely blocked by Heeseung. He sighed and turned back around, eyeing Beomgyu. He pulled his phone out to text him. These fucking assholes.. he sent the text to Beomgyu.

Heeseung smiled. “Nice to meet you. I must say, you and your friend have caught everyone’s attention.” He grinned as he sat down.

Jake turned to look at Emily, facing her and ensuring he had her attention, because she certainly had his. "It's beautiful there," Jake nodded, grinning. "You should visit one day, maybe I'll join you. But Emily, the talk of the school is you two. People saw you both come off the bus this morning and since then, it's been all about the pretty American girls." Jake leaned forward with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you avoid a bad crowd..." His eyes went to Beomgyu then.

Beomgyu pulled his phone from the pocket of his jacket as he felt it vibrate and reading the text, he smiled a little. I know... it seems so unfair that they're already snapping them up like a prize. Beomgyu frowned then, clearly thinking. Maybe we should volunteer to Miss Woo to teach them Korean? Before Jake and Heeseung get the chance.

Rose smiled back at Heeseung, although her mind was on Kai, and how he explained he'd been born in the states. Making a mental note to ask him about that later, Rose laughed with Heeseung's words. "Oh, that's the last thing we wanted to do..." Rose explained with a small smile. "But we could really use some friends around here, being away from home is definitely a new experience for the both of us."

@ mikrokosmos.

Emily smiled. “That sounds amazing, I would love to accompany you to Australia one day.” She said and then blushed some, “really? Everyone is talking about us? Do you guys not get a lot of foreigners here?” She asked.

Kai smiled at Beomgyu’s text before sending a thumbs up emoji in response. He slipped his phone back in his pocket as the professor got everyone’s attention for class to begin.

Heeseung smiled. “Don’t worry, you have a friend in me and pal Jake.” He pointed towards Jake, who was still talking to Emily. “We can introduce you to the rest of our friends at morning break.” He smiled as he turned around before the professor caught him talking.

Jake grinned, shaking his head. "We don't get a lot of foreigners, if any at all." He leaned back in his seat. "So you're going to be the talk of the hallways for a while," Jake heard the teacher ask for everyone's attention and he smiled. "I'll introduce you to our friends at morning break so you're in the right mix, no one will bother you when we're around, I promise." And shooting a wink at Emily, Jake straightened out before he got into trouble for talking.

Beomgyu heard Jake's words to Emily and couldn't help but to roll his eyes again, pulling faces before paying attention to their teacher, being respectful.

Rose smiled softly. "Well, thank you so much, Heeseung. I look forward to it." Rose blushed then, straightening out as the teacher began to speak, remaining polite and respectful throughout, wanting to make a lasting impression on their first day as students, remembering that they were upholding their school's reputation.

@ mikrokosmos.

Once class was over, Emily was packing her things up whenever Jake approached her again to tell he would see her after their next class at morning break. “Okay, it was nice meeting you!” She smiled as he walked out with his friend.

Emily looked at Beomgyu, who was still packing his things up. “Is he always like that?” She asked, referring to Jake.

Heeseung smiled at Rose. “We have one more class until morning break, so, Jake and I will wait for you and Emily by the entrance of the cafeteria afterwards.” He smiled, before grabbing his bag and following Jake out.

Kai rolled his eyes as Heeseung’s comment before packing his things up. He turned to pick up a pencil that fell before looking at Rose, giving her a smile once more.

Beomgyu looked to Emily, looking over his shoulder to check that she wasn't talking to anyone else, before offering her a small smile. "It depends what you mean by that." Beomgyu spoke, clearly struggling with his English, but trying his hardest to succeed so he could carry on a conversation with Emily. "He is..." Beomgyu paused, looking for the right word. "Mean." Beomgyu picked up his bag then, hauling it over his shoulder.

Rose smiled at Heeseung. "Okay, see you later." She waved, before looking to Kai and smiling softly in return. "I'm sorry he was so rude to you earlier, Kai." Rose pulled a face of disgust then. "You were saying you were born in Hawaii?" Rose did a little hula motion with her arms, giggling softly.