** so just in case this causes any confusion, at the school Alice goes to, the school year starts at mid January and ends late November... sorry for how weird and random that is but yea... i just wanted it to be that way ^^

(12 January, Saturday)

“Welcome to Elite Academy,” Mr. Han, the principal of the school said. I was in his neat, well-decorated office, sitting in one of the plush chairs. I came to Korea a week ago and today, I was moving into the dorms. Winter break was ending in two days and I was beyond thrilled to begin attending school.

“We’re very pleased to have you here, Alice,” he said, his forehead slightly wrinkling as he saw my American name.

“Thank you, and you can call me Eunseol,” I said lightly. “Eunseol’s my Korean name.”

“Oh, alright,” he smiled, wrinkles forming at the end of his eyes. He was a small old man, friendly and grandfatherly looking. “Well, do you have any particular concerns about starting school? Will language be a barrier? You’re mother told me that you can speak both English and Korean fluently, which I applaud you for, but how about writing and reading? Will you be able to keep up in our core classes?”

I nodded, “I can speak, read, and write. As for the core classes, I looked over the textbooks briefly and I’m sure I’ll be able to keep up with the class.”

“That’s good to hear,” he said. “Well, everything you need will be in your dorm and here is your dorm key. Make sure to keep it safe; it’s what gets you into all the buildings and your room.”

He handed me a card that served as both my ID and key. With that, I was on my way to the dorm buildings, following the rather vague directions that Mr. Han had given me. I struggled to navigate the huge campus in the cold weather. Our campus was combined with Seoul University’s, the sponsor and creator of our high school, which made the campus so large.

“Are you lost?” came a voice from behind me. I spun around and saw a tall guy approaching me. He had a thick gray scarf wrapped around his mouth, covering half of his face, and had orangey golden hair.

“A… little,” I confessed. “Do you know how to get to Elder Hall?”

He pulled his scarf down, revealing an attractive face. He laughed lightly, “You’re on the other side of campus. Would you like me to take you there? It’s about a ten minute walk.”

“Yes please,” I breathed. I was relieved that I had found some help. I was freezing and I really wanted to get out of this cold weather. As we began walking, he unwrapped his scarf and handed it to me. When I hesitated, he said, “You need it more than me. Honestly, you look half frozen.”

Shyly but thankfully, I took the warm scarf and put it on.

“I’m Hyunseung by the way, rising first year,” he said.

“Oh, I’m Ali- I mean Eunseol,” I said quickly, rushing my words. “Going to be second year.”

“Ali-?” Hyunseung asked, tilting his head.

I blushed, “I just transferred here; studying abroad from America, so I’m still more used to introducing myself with my American name.”

“Ah, I see. What is your American name? And this might be a little rude but are you half? You don’t look full Korean.”

I nodded, “My dad’s white and my mom’s Korean. And it’s Alice. Alice Bell.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Hyunseung smiled. “Alice Bell. How long are you going to study here for?”

“I’ll be staying for the rest of high school for sure,” I said. “But I don’t know about college. Still haven’t decided.”

“So I’ll be seeing you around?” Hyunseung smiled, stopping suddenly. I halted a few steps after him, and turned around to face him. “I have to stop here. They don’t like it when I go any further into Elite’s campus. Elder Hall is right over there, the L-shaped building.”

My eyebrows pushed together in confusion. Hyunseung laughed at my expression.

“Silly, did you think I was a first year in high school?” he laughed. “I’m going to be a first year at Seoul University.”

“Oh,” I blushed, realizing my stupid mistake. Of course he didn’t look like a first year. He looked much older and obviously gave off the feeling of a college student.

“Alright, well you can give me the scarf next time you see me,” Hyunseung said, slowly turning around. “It’ll be your excuse to come see me.”

With that, he walked away, waving his hand. As I entered the building, I thought about my pleasant encounter with Hyunseung. He seemed nice and polite, and very good looking. Maybe I would go visit him sometime? Then I realized I would have to look for him; in order to return his scarf.

But before any of that, I first needed to find someone. My childhood friend, Junhong. He was the reason why I’d come to Korea in the first place. We’d been neighbors and best friends until when I was in fourth grade, him in fifth, when he had to move to Korea. Before he left, we made a promise to see each other again before we graduated high school, whether he came to visit me or I came to visit him. We obviously kept in touch and after talking about it as we got older, it became clear that he wouldn’t be able to leave Korea. He didn’t tell me specifically what he was doing but he told me he was too busy to leave. He told me he still really wanted to see me and asked me to come to Korea. After many hours of discussing and a few fights, we came to the agreement that I would try to come to Korea to study abroad. That seemed to be the best way, ignoring the problem of convincing my parents. We came to the final decision my summer into eighth grade and I finally talked to my dad about it. After many attempts to convince him, I finally succeeded in making a deal with him. If and only if I could raise enough money for my plane ticket and get into Elite Academy, one of Korea’s most famous music and arts high schools, then he would allow me to go. As for the money, it wasn’t because we’re poor, we’re pretty well off in my opinion; it was because Daddy thought I wouldn’t be able to raise enough money. All he wanted to do was keep me from leaving America. Being an only child, my parents were very attached to me. But through various jobs; swimming and guitar lessons, life guarding in the summer, and I got to work part time at a small café since I was close with the owner; and other desperate measures such as putting up videos on YouTube, which surprising, did make me a good amount of money.

So after two years of painstaking work, I finally managed to raise enough money and I passed the transfer exam into Elite. I was thrilled. My parents and I began arranging for me to study abroad. And now, I was finally here.

Disappointingly, Junhong was busy during the week but promised he would meet me Friday, six days from now. I was beyond excited to see my old friend.

I reached my dorm; 303, and I scanned my ID, unlocking the door. I pushed the door open, revealing a large dorm room with two beds, two desks, two wardrobes, and a bathroom. On the empty side of the room was my luggage. Sprawled on one of the beds was a pretty girl with long, stick straight blue-black hair and leaning against the bed was a tall, good-looking guy with wavy dark brown hair.

“Oh, are you my new roommate?” she asked, jumping off her bed. She was tall and curvy, perfectly proportioned self. I was instantly jealous, since I was short, only 5’3”, and weighed a little over 100lbs. I’ve gotten many compliments for being ‘skinny’ and ‘thin’ but she had a whole new ideal body type.

“Yeah, I’m Eunseol, second year,” I smiled, glad I actually got my name right this time.

“I’m Kyungmi,” she grinned. “Third year. And this’s my friend, Woohyun, also a third year, but he’s going to leave now so that I can bond with my new roommate, right?”

He rolled his eyes but left the room.

“I’m so glad you came,” she said. “I’ve been so lonely since my old roommate graduated when I was a first year. And I heard you were an international student? Are you half? ‘Cause you definitely look half.”

I took off Hyunseung’s scarf and hung it on the bed post, “Yeah, I’m from Chicago, and my dad’s white and my mom’s Korean.”

“Oo, you’re really pretty, like most half’s,” she mused. “Especially your eyes; they’re gorgeous.”

I laughed lightly, “Thanks.” I have light hazel eyes that sometimes look slightly green, the color of my dad’s eyes.

“Hm… your schedule should be around here somewhere,” Kyungmi said, looking around. Her eyes stopped at my desk and she exclaimed, “Aha!”

She picked up the index card and together, we looked at my schedule:

1.     Composing 3

2.     Honors Pre-Calculus

3.     Korean History

4.     Language Arts 2

5.     Lunch

6.     Chemistry

7.     Acting 3

8.     Singing 3

“Wow! How’re you in all third year classes for the arts?” Kyungmi asked, frowning.

I frowned, “I don’t really… know? Typo maybe?”

Kyungmi laughed like I had made a joke, “Oh Eunseol, Elite Academy doesn’t make mistakes, freaking OCD school…”

“Oh then… hm, I’m not too sure,” I shrugged, giving up. “Are third year classes hard?”

“Well, I haven’t taken them yet so I’m not sure but I’ve heard they are,” Kyungmi said. “Especially Singing 3, I heard that one’s impossible. No one gets above a B.”

“Oh jeez,” I sighed. Maybe Daddy had talked to Mr. Han and had gotten me into these classes… I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. “What arts classes are you taking?”

“Dancing 3, Choreography 3, and Music Interpretations,” Kyungmi said. “Oh yeah… remember Woohyun, the guy who was in the room when you came? He’s probably going to be in your acting and singing classes since there’re only two classes of each. But then again… Woohyun doesn’t attend class too often so who knows.”

“He doesn’t?” I asked.

“Nah, he’s not exactly the model student,” Kyungmi laughed. “I’m not sure how he managed to get the top scores for his finals first and second year when he missed so much during the school year.”

“Super talented?” I laughed. “But that’s nice. I wish I could ditch classes and still do well.”

“Mm same,” Kyungmi mused. I was glad I was getting along well with her. I was a bit shy so I always worried about making new friends but Kyungmi was nice and outgoing.

“Do you want help with unpacking?” Kyungmi offered. “You don’t want to be stuck here tomorrow, unpacking, when it’s the last day of break. We could go do something fun! I’ll introduce you to all of my friends.”

“Alright,” I smiled.

“Okay, let’s begin then,” Kyungmi grinned. We spent the rest of the day unpacking my stuff and chatting endlessly. Even though I’d only known her for a few hours, I knew we were going to get along well. 

YAY first chapter. hopefully it wasnt too boring, but then again, beginning chapters are all boring.. especially to write D: anyways... WOW i cant believe i actually found a picture of hyunseung with a scarf that WORKS (since aff is stupid and wont allow to post majority of pictures from google images). but still the scraf should be thicker... whatever :P new chapters coming soon~