The streets were swarming with students of various levels and uniforms. I smiled and smoothed out pleats on my skirt. SSM, despite being a Music-centric school, was known for its stylish uniform. The uniform was the same for all programs and the only thing that would set people of different courses apart was through the colors of their ties or ribbons. Mine was red, my favorite color.

Mum said that for me to tell who the seniors were, I have to look at the number of pinstripes on their shirts. My blouse had a pair of pinstripes on both ribcage ends and I guess those that have more are my seniors. I wondered if people would be easy to get along to.

I wondered if my Korean would be understandable. I had been in the States since I was 5 and my parents don’t really talk to me in Korean a lot. Good thing my grandma is such a patriot. She always made sure my family was still in touch with our Korean values.

Thinking of every possible embarrassing thing that could happen during my first day that I should avoid made me forget I was walking on a busy sidewalk. I looked up and saw that I bumped into a man. “I’m sorry!” I immediately bowed and saw his uniform was SSM’s and had three pinstripes on it. A sunbae. Oops.

“It’s okay; just watch where you’re going next time, okay?” He said with a smile. I smiled back and nodded, watched him turn around and walked away.

I stood there and let myself breathe for awhile. In front of me was the gate to where I would be spending three years (hopefully) of my life – Seoul School of Music looks even bigger from where I am standing compared to what my mum had told me about.

My mum has always been a big fan of SSM as it produced a lot of famous Korean musicians. She said she hoped so hard that her parents would let her choose music as her career path. Her parents didn’t though. They forced her into medical school. She didn’t like it but… She met dad there. So I guess it’s a win-win for everyone.

I giggled and walked in as I held onto the strap of my bag.

“Okay, I think I need to find out where I should go before I walk any further.”

I walked over to the guard and asked for directions to the Central Oval. He pointed me to where it is and off I went. Since it was the first day of school, the first hour of our first day will be dedicated to an orientation of some sort.

I don’t like orientations. They mostly make you stand in the heat while all the people that mattered were sitting under a shade in front with the fans directed at them.

And unfortunately, SSM’s welcome ceremony is just like that. Definitely wasn’t a good impression.

Since I’m small – not something I am proud of but I know I have to admit it – it’s the only reason why I am almost always placed in front. Luckily, I’m not the smallest in this sea of freshmen.

I didn’t understand anything about the orientation. It all went like a blur to me. But I did remember they said there would be free food at the welcome party this Friday.

I think I am going to love this school.

After the ceremony, the sunbaes escorted each class to their respective homerooms. I went inside and sat in front by the window. I looked around and saw that the room resembled normal classrooms.

“Does this mean we actually have to write down stuff and take exams??” I muttered to myself. How can a music school have whiteboards?

The last guy who went inside the room walked towards the seat beside  me. I guess not a lot of people were fond of seats in front especially those that are directly in front of the teacher’s table as I saw that it was the only vacant seat left. He smiled to me as he sat. I guess he was trying to be friendly. After all, we’re all in a new environment with probably no one we’re familiar with.

“Hi,” he said with a smile. “I’m Joon.” he continued with a small bow.

I bowed back and said, “I’m Minyoung. Nice to meet you~”.

He nodded and didn’t say anything else but continued smiling. It felt really awkward… I didn’t know what else to say. I wondered if I told him the right words. I wondered if I made sense.

I noticed that his tie was black and wondered if he entered the wrong class. But then I saw the girl sitting behind him wearing a black ribbon.

Am I in the wrong class?? Ugh… But the board in front of the line said ‘1C’ and my registration card says I’m in that class!

I immediately looked for my registration card inside my bag when a tall man with a red tie and five pinstripes on his shirt came in holding a thick folder. Everyone stood up and bowed. He bowed back and gestured for us to sit. He placed himself in the middle and opened his folder.

“When I call your name, please stand up.” He said with authority. He flipped a page and scanned it. “Go Woori.” A slim and tall girl with a yellow ribbon stood up from the back of the class.

Ah, I guess he’s looking for students who went to the wrong classes! Saved.

The sunbae flipped more pages and said, “Lee Howon.” A guy with a perfectly chiseled face and black tie stood up.

Wait… But he’s wearing a black tie…

I looked around and saw that probably only a dozen students were wearing black ties and ribbons and that the rest of the class was wearing other colors. I was so confused I didn’t even know what to think of anymore.

“…And Lee Minyoung.”

I stood up cautiously, not knowing why I was feeling nervous.

“Please get your belongings and follow me.” The sunbae smiled and closed his folder before heading out of the door. The other two students picked their stuff up and walked towards the door as well.

As I was putting my bag’s strap on, Joon poked my arm and said, “Hey~ It was nice meeting you, too.” He flashed his teeth and I smiled back weakly. I headed to the door and wondered what was happening.

What I saw in the hallway made me more baffled than what just happened inside the room. Twenty-two students with various tie and ribbon colors were filed up. Woori, Howon and I were guided by the sunbae to the end of the line. He told us to follow him to the next class quietly.

He went in to the next room and came out with a boy who had skin that was the perfect shade of honey. His tie was navy blue and his body looked too slim. He was gestured by the sunbae to go to the end of the line.

The sunbae then asked us to follow him once more. He led us across the second floor and to the ground floor. Once there, we made our way to the end of the hall that led to a door. He opened it and went inside as he gestured for us to come in and take a sit according to how we were filed. I loathed the fact that I didn’t know what was happening but the fact that I was sitting at the back of the class, where the tall ones covered my view of the board, made me despise everything more.

What the hell is happening…

Once we were seated, a girl with a long hair that had purple or gray tints on it raised her hand.

“Yes?” the sunbae asked.

“Sorry… But why are we here?” she asked with confidence, earning some nods from everyone in class except the one beside me, the last guy who was ‘abducted’.

The sunbae smiled and checked his watch. “I’m afraid I’m not in the position to tell you anything but rest assured that all of you shall soon find out.” And then he walked out of the door despite other students raising their hands.