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It was winter when Hyungwon transferred to our class. Outside, the frost glided over the windows, dancing intricate patterns, like carvings in crystals. The snow fell steadily, blanketing the rooftops in white. Inside, it was cozy. My woolen sweater was itchy, but it was warm.

Hyungwon stood before the third grade homeroom class in a poised manner, like he knew everything would ensue in perfection. He smiled prettily, introduced himself, and bowed. He took a seat at the far end of the classroom, near the picture windows. We made eye-contact. It was bried and unremarkable. I did not feel the intense hatred with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, and I did not want to strangle him

But that would all change.

Throughout the rest of the school year, his popularity shot up like a rocket. Everybody knew Chae Hyungwon, and everybody loved him. He was ebullient and hilarious and gifted in all aspects

It was no surprise that we never really spoke. He was the kid who could execute complex monkey bar tricks, enough to astonish the whole of the third grade. I was the hot-tempered girl with the awkward pigtails, who screamed at people for no reason and had a proficiency for academics. I was second only to Hyungwon

Of course he irked me. He was always a little bit better. He managed to be academically adept, maintained his popularity.

We became acquainted when I accidentally bumped into him in the cafeteria, spilling fruit punch all over his stark white uniform. The environment around us was in a state of total pandemonium, so nobody had time to notice Hyungwon dragging a small girl out through the back door. It led to the sports field, where Hyungwon completely lost it

he roared. With every demeaning adjective, his voice grew louder

I was in a state of stupefaction. My jaw had dropped a fraction of an inch. Chae Hyungwon never lost his composure. Here he was, screaming insults at me like he was go through menopause.

It wasn't long before I, too, lost it. Nobody disrespected me

I countered. My ears burned and I felt a foreign type of rage coursing through my veins. The mild dislike at the beginning of the year had turned to intense hatred

We didn't speak for the rest of the year, but occasionally sent scathing glares at each other in the hallway.

When we were assigned to complete a project about botany together, I was ready to kill. We were to prepare a slide presentation about our choice of plant, and provide a live sample of the specimen

Hyungwon had raised his hand and insisted that we be separated. To our dismay, we were refused by the teacher. She was firm with her choices of partners

I wanted to research hydrangeas. I argued that my mother grew a bunch, so we could just take a pot to school they would be our live specimen. Hyungwon disagreed, calling me a butthead. He wanted to research something cool, like poison berried. I don't recall with that method, but somehow, Hyungwon successfully persuaded me to go out to the woods at the rear of his house to scavenge for toxic florae

It was ludicrous, mainly because it was so well formulated yet bound to fail. Hyungwon packed a whole backpack of provisions, snacks, drinks, some form of map, a flashlight, insect repellent, bandages. It were as if we were embarking on a high-stakes hiking trip. We arranged it so that our parents thought we were at each other houses, because we both knew they wouldn't permit us to so something as vacuous and parlous as this.

We met in front of the woods early in the morning, because Hyungwon rationalized that we would need the whole day. Armed with breakfast granola bars, we marched into the small forest

Around midday, I spotted a mosquito. Just one, and it was very small. Hyungwon fumbled for the repellent, and coated himself in several layers of noxious smile, virulent to the mosquito. This was when I realized that Hyungwon had mild entomophobia.

he mumbled angrily. He fiddled with his compass

I got close to his face

Hyungwon stumbled away from me, furiously shaking his head. His shiny hair bounced

I mocked,

He was vexed, I could tell, but he was also uneasy

I rolled my eyes

I was disinclined to follow Hyungwon's orders, but I did, so he would shut up. As I wandered farther and farther away from him, I heard a screech. High-pitched.

I called. I ran back to him, and there he was, right where I left him

Chae Hyungwon, golden boy, was having a panic attack over a tiny mosquito. The notion of it was rather comical, but in actuality. I was inundated with what to do

He tried to stand up, bu he was shaking and hyperventilating

he shouted, trying once again to stand

I tried to be calm and rational

He closes his eyes and attempted to breathe deeply. After a little while, it began to take affect. As we started back home, we exchanged few words

For our botany project we researched blue hydrangeas. We got 97%.