The halls of the university were crowded and hard to navigate. Mai slipped in between the other students, while trying not to drop any books and eat her lunch at the same time. A long sigh escaped her. First day of the semester, and she already wished she’d stayed in bed.“Mai! Mai! Over here!!” Mai turned her head in confusion, trying to make out where the other voice was coming from. “Here, Airhead!” Finally, she thought. A familiar face. She made her way over to the girl. “Hey, Shadira! Ohh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you, this place is crazy!” Shadira nodded. “Tell me about it, I think I’ve spent an hour just getting here from class… It’s so exciting though, don’t you think? So many new faces! I can’t wait to make new friends!” She poked Mai’s shoulder, teasing. “Who knows, maybe even something more this year!” The redhead laughed and blushed a bit. “Don’t you ever think of anything else? There’s more to the world than boys you know!”. “Oh I know that! But you do seem to know it much too well, and as your Unnie, it’s my job to make sure you get yourself a hottie as soon as possible!” Shadira winked at her and Mai rolled her eyes. “One would think you’d make sure to have your own love life under control before you started going on about mine!” “Oh no, mine is way too complicated, yours is much more fun! Besides… mine is going to take a while to fix whether I focus on it or not.” Shadira’s gaze became distant as she started worrying again, and Mai regretted bringing it up. She knew her friend was struggling to forget her former boyfriend, Yunho at the same time as worrying about opening up to the new opportunities. “Ahh, come on! Let’s get you out of here, missy! The lack of fresh air must have gone to your head already!” Mai said in an attempt to relieve the tension, and the two girls laughed as they made their way between the other students crowding the halls, towards the sunlit doors hinting at another warm late summer day in Seoul. Just as they were stepping out, Mai crashed into someone and dropped all her books. “Oh, no! I... I’m really so sorry, I should have seen... Oh when will I learn to see where I'm going?" Mai started rambling while crouching down to pick up all her books and different schedules for the new semester. The person she’d crashed into leaned down and helped her pick everything up. He seemed completely ignorant of her excuses though, and she glanced at him in between her fretting. He was a young man, probably an elder student, but she’d never seen him before. His hair was dark and he had cut bangs that fell forward and hid his eyes when he leaned down to help her. His skin was pale and even. Standing up, he handed the blushing girl the last of her books. Dark brown, smirking eyes met her blue ones with a spark, and she unconsciously moved back a step. Mai tried to think of something to say, but suddenly; “Hey, Saengie! Are you coming or what, we’ll be late!” He shot a glance behind her and stepped past, mumbling something that sounded like “See you around then”. Mai turned, and watched him join a group of four boys. They seemed close and were joking amongst themselves while walking through the hall. One of the others turned to look at her and flashed a wide grin, as he lifted a hand and waved two fingers in greeting. And then… he winked? Mai stared at him, but he’d already turned to join the others. She shook her head and turned away again. From the way they’d been acting those guys were nothing more than another gang of bad boys and players to the core. Mai had had enough of those, thank you very much! But still, she paused. There had been something strangely charismatic about that smile that had sent chills down her spine. “Mai, are you planning on staying here all day, or do you want to head back to the apartment? I’ve talked to Evie and the others; we’re meeting up at the club for some serious celebrating tonight! You haven’t got class tomorrow, right?” Shadira flung her arm around her dongsaeng’s shoulders and practically dragged her down the stairs while she continued talking. “No, I don’t. Only here to get my schedules and all today, tomorrow they told us to look over them and make a plan for our working methods or something, and then I’m---” “GREAT!” Shadira interrupted. “Then going out today should be NO problem at all, you’re in!” Mai giggled, “Fine, fiine! I’m coming!” Partying with the gang would help her get her mind off things for a bit!

In another apartment, not far from the two girls, Mimi flung herself on the bed. She felt like burying herself beneath the covers for the rest of the school year. Evie poked her head out from the bathroom, talking about her classes and teachers. “I got Alex this year, I was so thrilled! He’s totally the best teacher, everyone thinks so. He’s already started talking about a trip we’re going on, some of the other classes are gonna join too! Have you heard anything? It would be so cool if you guys are coming!” Mimi was about to answer when the doorbell suddenly rang, and she got up to see who it was. “It’s probably Lynne” Evie said from the bathroom. “I noticed she left her keys this morning… again!” As Mimi opened the door, she stretched and yawned. Ugh, the last thing she wanted tonight was to go out. She was already exhausted from school, and a warm bath with a good book seemed more tempting. But she knew better than to argue Shadira. When the older girl wanted to have fun, they were having fun, those were the rules.

“Lynne! Forgot your keys again?” “Miimiii! I seriously don’t know what to do, it won’t stop, every time I open my locker there’s a new one, it’s driving me nuts! I have no idea who’s sending them either, even Kangin can’t help me out, and he knows like... EVERYTHING that’s going on at school! He even knew about you and Si Won before I did” Mimi stepped back and let the hysterical girl into the small apartment. She smiled a bit as her friend continued rambling. Lynne had been getting continuous notes and letters from what seemed to be a secret admirer. She’d been trying to figure out who was sending them, but so far no luck and she was becoming more and more frustrated. Mimi herself could come up with only one person who could possibly be responsible for posting the notes, but every time she’d tried even hinting at that suggestion, Lynne would shoot it down like a flying duck. “It’s NOT Kangin.” Lynne’s best friend had been crushing on her for as long as Mimi could remember, and he didn’t even try to hide it very well anymore. But Lynne had proven difficult to seduce, and refused to admit to his obvious adoration. Mimi felt sad for him, but Lynne’s mind was set, and there was nothing she could do really. “So what did it say this time?” Lynne flung her arms out and with a dramatic sigh she fell into a chair. Mimi handed her a glass of water, which she grabbed before pulling a sheet out of her pocket. “Sweetie, if u become mine I will make you happier than anyone else. I will sing for you whenever you want, and spend every minute of every day by your side.” Mimi barely managed to suppress a laugh. “So he’s become poetic too now, huh?” Lynne sent her a glare designed to kill and stuffed the note back into her pocket. “What should I doooooo…”