Hae Young’s POV

I am an aspiring writer. I am sure you’ve heard this line before. And my reason is not so different from all the other lonely souls that find their emotions in between letters.

I really don’t get involved with other people’s lives. So I write the stories that I wished would happen in my composition book.

But I’m a little different than most authors.

When I saw WooHyun walk across campus as the new kingka, chased by all these girls, I thought of another story.

He was quite an ugly boy. Only clothing could make him beautiful. But as soon as he put on that arrogant smile and expensive clothing, he became king of the entire world.

You see, my stories are always the opposite of what I feel.

Yes, I like WooHyun.

But I really can’t see myself with anyone so devastatingly handsome.

And honestly, did I really know him?

No.

He was just a visual prince, something to dream about. He wasn’t even a someone.

So I stayed out of his way.

And quietly lived my own life.

WooHyun’s POV

I believe that life can change in one night.

Overnight millionaire?

You’d better believe it.

Yesterday, Myungsoo arrived at my doorstep, scowling, as usual.

“What is it?”, I asked him as I let him in.

He courteously greeted both my parents and then we went upstairs to my room.

“What’s up?”, I asked him again.

Myungsoo simply sat there, scowling.

He was starting to push the wrong buttons.

“Myungsoo, why do you always sit and scowl? What have you got to be so damn unhappy about?”, I asked him, irritated.

Myungsoo looked at me for the first time since entering my house.

“You think my life is pretty great, right?”, he asked me.

I hesitated, thinking about his family life, but I said, “Well, it’s not terrible, is it?”

“Other than my being disowned, I mean”, Myungsoo clarified, seeing the hesitation on my face.

“Yeah, sure”, I answered; unable to see where he was going with this.

 “We’ve got five months left of high school. How would you like to be kingka?”, Myungsoo asked me.

I laughed, “Myungsoo, it’d take me five months to top you.”

“No, it wouldn’t All we need is two hours and a credit card”, Myungsoo replied.

My laughter faded when I saw he was perfectly serious.

“Myungsoo… what are you up to?”

“I was just thinking of how unfair life is, and how I want to change some things around”, Myungsoo answered, as careful as ever with his answers.

“And why would you want to?”, I asked him, not believing a single word.

“To clear my conscience”, he responded.

“To clear-ohhh”, I said, finally getting it. “Because you stole So Eun. I get it.”

Myungsoo paused, as if debating whether or not to say something, but all he said was, “Right.”

I got it. Myungsoo wanted to give me a fair chance to get So Eun. He felt like he stole her from me so he was doing the noble thing and giving me the same opportunity, as a kingka, to get her.

“All right, how do we do this?”, I asked.

“Well, first we need to brush up on your wardrobe”, Myungsoo said, skeptically looking at my scanty pile of clothes. He picked up my Spiderman boxers.

“This”, he pointed to it, “cannot exist.”

“But I like them”, I protested.

“Then wear them at home and only at home”, Myungsoo instructed.

“I don’t have money to spend, Myungsoo”, I muttered.

“Well, I do”, Myungsoo said, flippantly.

“How do you have money to spend when you live by yourself?”, I asked. Actually, it was something I’d wondered about for years but never asked about. It had never been the right time to ask.

Until now.

“Stocks”, Myungsoo answered, “I didn’t study for nothing, hyung.”

0_0 Stocks?

“Let’s go”, he said, and left. I followed after him, speechless.

Two hours later, we were back, piled with new clothing as well as some of Myungsoo’s clothing. In return, Myungsoo borrowed some of mine- including my school uniform.

“What? Dude, you’ve been attending high school for over three years and you’re telling me you never bought a school uniform?”, I gaped at him.

“Yup”, he said, and slung it over his shoulder.

“You know what to do”, he said to me, and exited my room.

Shortly after Myungsoo left, my mother came into my room.

I jumped and quickly stashed the new clothes under my bed. She would freak out if she knew I’d gotten new clothes. And probably freak out more if she knew Myungsoo had bought them all for me.

My mother slowly sat on the edge of my bed.

“Umma?”, I asked, suddenly worried.

She was never this reserved.

“WooHyun…”, my mother spoke softly, “your uncle has passed away.”

“Good”, I responded automatically.

That emotionless stone should have died yesterday.

He left my mom and dad when they needed him most.

When Mom was in labor and Dad got fired. They lived like homeless people for an entire year, with Mom carrying me. They spent all their money on organic food and Mom’s hospital fees so that I would be born healthy…

And all the while, the fat pig of an uncle sat on his billions and billions of dollars…not doing a thing.

“WooHyun…he had $74 billion…”

“Wonder what he’s going to do with his precious money now-!”, I started to yell bitterly, but my mom cut me off.

“In his will, he gave it to you.”

“What?”, I said, completely knocked away.

“He gave it to you. Everything. His money, his business, his name.”

“What do you mean, his name?”, I asked.

“He alerted the press. They know you’re the heir.”

“I don’t want anything of his”, I snarled, getting furious.

“It’s your choice, but your father and I would urge you to take what he offers to you”, my mother said.

“What? Why?” Was my mother out of her mind? Did she have no sense of pride?

My mother sighed.

“Woohyun, it’s hard to understand right now, I know. But this isn’t just about your uncle and us. His company… billions of people’s lives depend on his corporation. If you deny it, a billion people will go homeless in the next year. So think about it before you rashly act”, my mother said. She took my hand.  

 “I’m sorry to make this so difficult for you… but I don’t want you to regret anything later. But it’s because of corporation owners that billions of people survive each year…”

She hugged me tight, before she left me.

I sat there, stunned.

What…had…just…happened?

The next morning I very nearly forgot to slick back my hair and sling Myungsoo’s jacket over my shoulders…

I’d been so intensely shocked by the whole “uncle” affair…

“Uncle”, my …

I met up with the guys on the usual corner, Ashbury Lane and Ninth Avenue (American Streets in Korea? XD).

Sunggyu, Sungjong, and Hoya were already there.

As soon as they noticed me, they all gaped.

“WooHyun…”, Sunggyu questioned…

“Myungsoo! Are you really serious!?”, Sungyeol’s voice could be heard down the Avenue.

“I really think you might regret this…”, Dongwoo was saying.

All four of us on the corner turned to look- Epic. Just epic. Myungsoo really was King.

But Myungsoo ignored the others and looked me over.

“Looking good”, he said, and patted me on the back.

 “So, follow WooHyun from now, yeah? He’s the new, fantastic kingka.”, Myungsoo told the others.

“Hyung…”, Sungjong said, looking at Myungsoo.

“See you all at school!”, Myungsoo said, and ran down the street without further ado.

The other five stared weirdly at me.

I cleared my throat.

“Is it that weird?”, I asked them.

Five voices came back automatically, all chorusing, “Yes.”

“Right”, I said, feeling my self-esteem lower down to zero.

“Right.”

We plodded to school, just as awkward as a carriage of houses without a driver. ‘

We arrived just in time to see Myungsoo pulling So Eun into the schoolyard, yelling something exuberantly.

I felt my heart squeeze for a little moment.

“Wait, hyung, can you at least explain why you and Myungsoo hyung did this?”, Hoya asked, grabbing my elbow.

“Yeah, I will. But school is not the place of time for it. Sorry, guys”, I said.

“He didn’t, by any chance, ditch us because of that girl, right?”, Dongwoo asked.

“Like I said, I’ll explain later. So don’t just assume things”, I told them.

“It’s almost time for school to start. Let’s just discuss it later”, Sunggyu said, pushing us along.

We entered the schoolyard with myself in the lead, and I have to say, it felt nice when all the girls crowded around us. I heard a few of them yell, “WooHyun oppa!”

At one point, I spotted Myungsoo and So Eun leaning next to a tree together. Myungsoo hyung had his arms around her waist. I had to grit my teeth for a second.

Myungsoo and I made eye contact, and I saw Myungsoo nod towards me. So Eun spun around and saw me right away.

I felt myself starting to blush, but I swear I saw a hint of something in her eyes as she looked at me…

What was it…?

And then everything turned to scarlet as I witnessed Myungsoo bear hug her in a tight, close hug.

I looked away immediately, took a deep breath, and strutted my way to first period English.

Yeah, like I could really delve into Shakespeare in this mental condition.