WooHyun’s POV

After school, the boys gathered around me, and demanded for an explanation.

I sighed, not knowing what to tell them… I’d forgotten to think of an explanation in the midst of thinking about everything else…

God damn it. Two days ago, I was nobody, with no responsibility, and nothing to care about.

So what the heck was happening now?

“Look…”, I said, “this is between me and Myungsoo. I’m sorry about not telling you guys, it was wrong of us. But Myungsoo felt indebted to me because he asked So Eun out right after I said I liked her…”

“So it’s about the girl?”, Hoya asked, his eyebrow raised.

“No”, I answered, not sure if I was lying or not… , “It’s about me and Myungsoo… and who’s a better kingka.”

The second those words left my lips, I knew I’d made a mistake.

“So the girl is nothing but something to compete over, and we’re nothing but a group of followers, is that it?”, Sungjong asked, huffing.

“No!”, I replied, but the damage was already down.

“You’re both cold-hearted bastards. The both of you”, Hoya said.

“Yeah, hyung, we never thought of ourselves that way… we were just a group of friends. It was never about the popularity”, Dongwoo said.

“I’m not going to be used by the likes of you and Myungsoo”, Sungyeol said.

“C’mon, let’s go”, Sungjong said, and he and Sungyeol and Hoya left, angry.

“You probably should have phrased that better”, Sunggyu said.

He and Dongwoo were the only ones that had stayed.

“Hyung… what’s going on?”, Dongwoo asked me.

“Didn’t I just tell you?”, I asked him, exhausted.

“I get why you’re kingka now… but I don’t get why Myungsoo left”, Dongwoo answered, “If it’s really a competition, Myungsoo wouldn’t leave his spot. So… I get the feeling that the whole kingka competition is just because you see at that way. But what’s the real problem?”

“The real problem?”, I repeated, tired.

“Bro, you don’t look good. C’mon, I’ll take you home”, Sunggyu said.

“I can go by myself”, I answered.

“No”, Sunggyu said, firm. He turned to Dongwoo, “We’ll talk later, okay?”

Dongwoo nodded, “All right. See you both.”  

He left towards his house down by the corner and Sunggyu and I made our way towards where I lived.

“Sunggyu…”, I muttered, “go home…”

“What the hell is wrong with you, dude? You’re acting so weird today.”

“I don’t know...”, I replied, “everything’s happening so… quickly…”   

“What is that?”, Sunggyu said, suddenly stopping in his tracks.

I stopped too, and looked towards where he was pointing with a startled expression.

What the-?

A crowd of people with cameras seemed to be yelling at my house!

Who-?

And then it hit me.

“He left you his name.”

Damn it, they were reporters.

And I was screwed if they saw me.

And just as that thought occurred, I heard someone cry, “There he is!”, and the mass started moving towards me.

“WooHyun-“, Sunggyu started to say…

“Run!”, I shouted at him, and the both of us went sprinting down the street.

We sprinted down the alley where I grabbed his arm and pulled him to turn right.

We were basically taking a back road to get to my house.

We hoisted each other over my fence and then dropped against the fence, panting.

“WooHyun”, Sunggyu said, panting, “What was that all about?”

I shook my head, trying to catch my breath.

We stayed against the fence for a few minutes, until our heart rates calmed down.

And then I turned to Sunggyu and asked, “Sunggyu, money or pride? Family or self?”

Sunggyu had the blanket look but he steadily replied, “Pride. Family.”

I shoved my fist against the wall and yelled, “But it doesn’t ing work that way!”

How am I supposed to hold my pride when my parents are begging me to do the opposite? How am I supposed to bow down to the worst bastard in the world and feel like I’m helping my family? How am I supposed to accept billions of dollars when billions of lives come with it? How am I supposed to drop everything I know about myself and force myself to act for only other people? For people I don’t know or possibly hate…?

Sunggyu didn’t move, didn’t say anything. Just watched.

“People never care about others. They only care about what they can get from them”, I found myself saying.

“What’s wrong with giving?”, Sunggyu asked me.

I looked up at him, “They don’t realize that you’re giving”, I explained.

“Well, what makes you think you’re any different?”, Sunggyu asked me. It wasn’t a direct insult, but it still hurt to hear.

“I know how to feel guilt and gratitude”, I answered.

“Well, I don’t see the gratitude”, Sunggyu said.

He pushed himself off the wall and knelt next to me and said, “WooHyun, you don’t have to take the world as it’s given. You can change things.”

“I know that”, I answered, thinking of everything that had changed in the past few days.

 “Then why are you cowering?”, he asked me.

~

The doors of the house slammed open.

The reporters all held their breath, waiting. They’d been here since dawn.

A boy stepped out, a tall, dark-haired, teenage boy.

He looked incredibly classic, with a dark jacket and slicked back hair.

“Are you Nam WooHyun-sshi?”, a reporter called out.

“That’s right”, the boy said, with an arrogant smirk, “I’m Nam WooHyun. The new leader of Nam Corporations.”

Flash. Flash. Flash.