Dae Eun’s POV

My dorm room was on the fifth floor to the right. It had a sign “5S” on the front of it. It had a white door that was ajar, and one of the keys (which was for me) was in the keyhole, waiting for me to take it out and keep it until my stay in Seoul Arts Academy was gone and I graduated and everything.

I knew all this before I even went there. That’s because my dorm was also making the loudest noise in the whole corridor.

“COME BACK HERE!!! YOU DO NOT STEAL ANYTHING FROM ME! COME BACK HERE AND GIVE IT BACK!!!”

Laughter from inside. “It’s OKAY!!!! It’s FINE, EONNI—”

“No, it ISN’T!!!” A crash, then laughter again, but this time a little quieter.

Everyone in the hallways was looking at the door with curiosity. Some girls had even popped their heads out to see what was going on. I cringed and walked towards the door. I could see everyone’s eyes staring at me as I pushed the door open, hoping to find it's just a movie or a video recording one of the girls had inside the room.

It wasn't. Instead, I got a book slammed into my face.

“COME BACK HERE, J—” Suddenly, the voice stopped. “Oh my gosh, I’m so SORRY!”

I took the book off my face and shook my head a little, just to see if I had gone crazy by a pink, fluffy notebook. Nope. I’m perfectly fine. No brain tumor or anything like that. Good.

The girl who was apologizing to me repeatedly was taller than me, so I had to look up to see her face. Her hair was long and straight, tied up into a ponytail but with a few strands loose. It was the same color as her eyes: deep dark brown. She looked mature for her age, and I wondered how old she was. A year older than me? The same age?

“I’m really sorry …” she trailed off. Her eyes showed worry. “I was just trying to get my diary from my dorm mate. She took it from me, and I tried getting it back … I have really bad aim … I am so so so sorry …”

I said, “It’s okay, really.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I do that almost everyday.” I smiled.

Someone laughed from behind. It was the other girl who had been talking to this one. Her eyes were dark, and so was her hair, which was shorter than the other girl’s, but long enough to tie two cute pigtails. Unlike her friend’s, her hair was tidy, like she had done no work whatsoever. Looking at the cheeky smile on her face, I would bet anything she didn’t do anything at all.

“Very funny,” she said. “Now stop lying. It hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah …” No point lying.

“Then say it.” The girl wasn’t laughing anymore, but she had a small smile on her face. It reminded me a little of Saeyoon. A childish smile. A cute, innocent smile. The girl tilted her head. “You shouldn’t do that, you know. My name is Jang Jiyeon, by the way,” she said cheerfully.

“Kim Dae Eun,” I replied. I looked at them both. “Are you both in this dorm?”

“Yes!” the other girl said eagerly. It almost made me jump. She shook my hand. I could almost feel the excitement bouncing through me, and I think I was literally bouncing, since she was too. “I’m Lee Chaeyun, and I’m the umma around here. We keep things tidy, neat, squeaky clean. And, since I’m the dorm leader, we do things my way. There are rules, you know. Firstly, no touching my stuff. Second, do not dare throw anything through the window …” She started ranting off about how much cleaning and the rules our dorm had.

Jiyeon was rolling her eyes at Chaeyun, but she still had the childish smile on her face. I listened to Chaeyun attentively, well I tried to, anyway, but it was pretty hard because I was too busy looking and gaping at the dorm.

It was really big, for one. And super pretty. It had three single beds, one at the left, one at the right and one right at the middle, each having their own personal space. To my right, the bed was covered in little stuffed toys like bears and rabbits. Yeah, that one was taken. The one in the middle had magazines and posters of pop stars and actors. Was that a makeup set on the bed? I didn’t know. All I knew that one was taken too. And I was willing to bet anything it was Chaeyun’s.

So I’m going to stay at the one on the left. I had to say I actually wanted that one. It was the smallest part of the room, yeah, but I didn’t bother about size. It was nearest to the window, and the window had those lovely window seats I love to sit on. I also was nearer to the bathroom. Having the smallest space can have so many privileges …

“Hello?” A hand waved in front me and I was startled out of my thoughts. Chaeyun looked at me with an eyebrow raised, a puzzled look on her face. “Weren’t you listening to me?”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“I wasn’t listening either.” Jiyeon shrugged beside me. “Eonni should really be the teacher, or—oh I know! An assassin!”

“She’ll bore her victims to death,” I said, smiling. I got the joke. And it was funny. “That’s the worst type of dying, you know.”

"Really?" Jiyeon said sarcastically.

Unfortunately, Chaeyun got the joke. “Hey!” she huffed. “I’ll get you this time! Both of you!”

And so we started being chased by Chaeyun for the whole two hours we had to unpack our things. I didn’t care about the weird stares or whispers that were going on outside, about how our dorm was the weirdest of all. I really didn’t care. I had two friends already, two true friends. And so I was happy.

Nothing could change that.

...

Could it?

~*~

“Okay, I know that fight was stupid, but you do not mess with the diva’s hair,” said Chaeyun patiently (but she looked like she could rip out someone’s throat out). Her hair had still got the smell of her perfume on it. “Got it?”

“Got it, eonni,” Jiyeon muttered as she put in her History book back into her locker. “I got it. It wasn’t my fault, anyway. I just accidentally hit the bottle, and you just happened to be there … and so was the bottle of perfume ...”

Chaeyun gave Jiyeon her look. "Her look" is the do-you-really-think-you-can-fool-me? look.

“She was just playing,” I said, leaning against the locker beside Jiyeon’s. “She didn’t know. Plus, you were chasing her, anyway. It's not exactly all her fault ... I'm not saying it's just you two either ... it's also my fault ...”

Chaeyun looked at Jiyeon and me, and sighed. “Two against one. Well, I guess I could let you off this time. But the next time …” Chaeyun sliced her finger across . The obvious sign of getting murdered by the one and only diva. And for some reason I felt nervous, because it sounded like she really meant it. Well, like they say. No one should mess with divas ... especially this one.

The bell just rung and we rushed to our separate classes. Since I was older than them, I had to go to the upper classrooms, which meant I had to dash all the way up the stairs to get to my classroom. Chaeyun and Jiyeon weren’t in the same ones either. I was older than both of them by a year (Chaeyun) and two years (Jiyeon). They were both nervous, and I had tried to make things positive around them. They’re going to get friends, have a good time. But it kind of made me nervous that I knew no one from my class. Great. I’m stuck with myself again.

The second bell, indicating class had started, rung just as I came into the classroom. I quickly scanned the room for a seat and found one right at the back. It was right beside another nice girl with unbelievably light brown curly hair. I walked across to it nervously, since everyone was staring at me as I walked past. They had already taken their seats, looking at the door excitedly. I didn’t know why, but right now I didn’t bother with that.

All I needed right now was to get to that seat.

Of course, I did notice something as I passed along, of course. I just noticed there weren’t much people at the back, which was ironic, since in my old school students fought for the back seats so they wouldn't be near the teacher. Most of them weren't at the back of the room, just at the front, looking at either the door or the teacher’s desk. Some of the girls were squealing, while others were putting on makeup, puckering their lips in their mirrors or asking a friend whether braids went better with their hair or not. All of this in class.

What is wrong with these people? I thought.

I finally got to my seat without tripping over once. I sighed with relief. Yes! I finally got the hang of it. I admit it, usually I would trip over, because of being so nervous. I did that once right in front of class. It didn’t help me much.

The girl sitting beside me really did have light brown hair, curly at the end. Her eyes were darker than her hair, and yet it matched together quite well. She was busy throwing and catching a tiny ball—a ping pong ball? I couldn’t tell—while waiting for the teacher. She was the only one in the class who didn’t look excited at all. She looked a little ... bored.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” I asked.

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “I’m guessing you’re new here? My name is Jang Ji Eun. I’m new here too. What’s yours?”

“Kim Dae Eun,” I replied. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Dae Eun.”

I smiled at her. She was really nice, very friendly. I wondered who her circle of friends were … she could become friends with Chaeyun, Jiyeon and me. We would be a four. That would work ...

Suddenly I heard a squeal at the front. I looked up (I had been staring at my desk). The teacher had already come into the classroom.

But he wasn’t exactly teacher-like.

He had dark brown messy hair that covered a little of his eyes, which were the same dark brown, almost like melted-chocolate. He had a big smile on his face, and it made my heart thump loudly, and I was surprised no one else could hear it. I felt like I was looking at an angel. My heart raced faster than ever before, and I felt a shiver through my spine. He looked so … so handsome. An angel.

But that wasn’t the case. That wasn’t what made me even more nervous.

It's because I knew him. I recognized him from so many places. So many places.

He was Onew. The leader of SHINee. The kind, gentle, helpful dubu who loves eating chicken.

And he was also my friend.

My childhood friend.

My childhood friend.

The friend that I’d begged to fate to meet me one day.

And now he’d come back. Our paths have finally crossed. Fate had finally answered my prayers. Fate had now made Onew my new teacher.

And that was when fate had decided to make me fall back from my chair.