Oh

To say that Park Jihoon is famous among high school students is an understatement. Stories have been told, rumours have been spread, and boys and girls of all ages have been linked to Jihoon. He can’t really explain it, but ever since he was a child, love and attention from the people around him just flowed naturally. It was as if he was born to be a main character of an anime, complete with slow-motion moments and cringy montages.

His fame sparked a new inextinguishable flame after people shared that one video of him doing the “jeojang” to a senior who, rumour has it, was so stunned of the glorious aegyo that she started the Park Jihoon religion, which garnered thousands of followers in one night.

Though the celebrity life definitely had its perks, like free breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks from loyal jeojang believers and VIP tickets to every event imaginable, the well-loved winkboy never liked the attention. Jihoon is what most might consider a shy potato, except gifted with outstanding good looks and the inability to say no to dares because he is 19 and ready to fight anyone.

Jihoon never really had the chance to have close friends, because everyone just hanged out with him to be in his league. He also discovered that not many people enjoyed puns the same way he did. That was the last straw.

So, to escape the misery of waking up everyday to never-ending love letters and gifts, Jihoon decided to move from the loud city of Seoul to a quiet neighbourhood in Busan, and transferred to the relatively normal YMC high school.

And today, on his first day in his new school, Jihoon will start restart his life. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything, Jihoon thought. Everything can definitely go wrong.

Two hours into trying to become a normal student, Jihoon is already a part of the most famous squad.

He couldn’t remember the exact details of how it happened, but the minute he stepped into the entrance of the school, flower petals started to fall down miraculously around him, and somehow, a slow ballad song started playing. Jihoon sighed.

“Why is this happening again?”

He briefly entertained the idea of just going home for the day when Jihoon heard someone clapping. He turned his head to one side and was faced with the bright smile of a male student.

“It looks like the gods of main characters chose another member.”

“Excuse me, what?”

The weird student just smiled brightly, annoying the other male.

Jihoon narrowed his eyes at him. “What the , man.”

“We have a new member!!!”

“I swear to god, you cat-obsessed freak, if you scream one more time, I will end you.”

“What the hell did you say you --”

Jihoon sighed once again. He raised his hand. “Excuse me but can I please go?”

Everyone’s attention was instantly focused on him the moment he spoke.

“Oh my, new meat!” a tall and handsome student seated on the edge of a window commented. He closed the book he was holding and waved at him. “Hi, I’m Minhyun.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m Jihoon. Can I please go?”

“What? No, you can’t!” The weird student from earlier announced. He put his hands on Jihoon’s shoulders and shaked the latter lightly. “Can’t you understand? You’re part of the elite group now.”

“Stop scaring him, Daniel.” Minhyun spoke again. Ah, so this weird kid’s name is Daniel

“He’s always like that.” Another tall male, who was starting a fight with Daniel seconds ago, said. He’s standing gloomily at the dark side of the room, staring at Jihoon. “I’m Seongwoo. Welcome to the club. We’re the Teen Royalty.”

Jihoon shaked his head. “Nope, nope, not this again.”

He broke away from Daniel’s hold and proceeded to the door. “Adios, motherers!”

Then, Jihoon left, leaving the three males dumbfounded.

Seongwoo was the first one to react. “Did... did we just get rejected?”

Jihoon managed to survive some of his classes before being roped into some kind of mess. This time, it’s during lunch time. He was just eating his lunch quietly when three males slid to the seats in front of him.

“So, a newbie, huh?” one of them asked.

“I guess.” Jihoon replied in a boring tone, wishing for them to just leave. But good things cannot happen to good people.

“We’re from the school’s vocal group. You wanna join us?” another one asked. He looked old, like a senior, and probably everyone’s mother.

Jihoo raised an eyebrow. “Why? You don’t even know me or if my voice is good.”

The third one was the one to respond this time. “That’s okay. We just need a handsome face, because god knows we don’t have it three.”

“Hey, that’s offensive!” the first one retaliated.

“Shut up, Jaehwan. Wake up to the truth!” the third one striked back.

“Why don’t YOU shut up, Sungwoon?”

“Kids, kids, please.”

The two looked at their senior-looking friend. “We’re not kids, Jisung!”

Jihoon rolled his eyes and stood up. He looked around the cafeteria and tried to find a seat where he can have a normal company. He decided to sit next to one skinny kid who looked pretty normal.

“Hi, I’m Jihoon!” He said as he sat next to him.

“Oh, hi! My name’s Guanlin.”

His deep voice surprised Jihoon, but he smiled nonetheless. This might be his first and only shot at getting a friend in this school. “I’m glad to meet you.”

Guanlin smiled back, looking cute. “Yeah, same here.”

Finally, things might be going well for Jihoon.

The rest of the day went by like a blur, and soon Jihoon found himself walking along the hallway with Guanlin, who was friendly and kind and generally nice to be with. Jihoon might even convince himself into thinking he can survive the school year peacefully with his new friend.

“I have something to say.” Guanlin said out of nowhere. “I’m part of a group of friends. Would you like to meet them?”

Jihoon stopped on his tracks. Oh

“A group? Which one? I’ve already met the famous kids, and some crazy students. What is your group supposed to be? The nerds?”

Gunlin laughed. “No, it’s not like that. Where do you think we’re in, Jihoon? In some stereotypical anime?”

“Kinda.”

Guanlin hit him on the shoulder playfully, still laughing. “You’re weird. I only have three other friends. There’s Daewhi, who’s like the smartest kid you’ll ever meet I swear, and Jinyoung, Daehwi’s boyfriend and the dumbest kid I know, I’m not sure what Daehwi saw in him, and there’s Woojin, who’s walking towards us now.”

“What?”

Jihoon looked at where Guanlin was looking, and for a moment, he felt his world stop.

Even with the fame and people’s love, Jihoon was sure he had never once felt romantically attracted to someone. However, one look into Guanlin’s friend, Woojin’s eyes made him feel like he was drowning.

Jihoon clutched his chest. , he thought.

I’m in a romance anime.