Author’s POV

 “Aish. Can’t you guys decide one already. I mean, we have gone over twenty schools already!”

“But Tae unnie, it’s not easy choosing a suitable one for our Dollie. She’s special and deserves the best.”

“I hate it when you’re right Youngie. Hey, where’s Sica?”

“Sleeping.”

“And Soon Kyu?”

“Out for grocery.”

The door opens. Sunny steps in, holds some paper bags. She’s reading a newspaper.

“Elite Top School is open for appliance. Entrance exam is on…”

“Yes! That’s it!” Seo Hyun suddenly shouts. “Don’t you see unnies? Elite Top School is a perfect choice for Dollie.”

“Oh that’s right. The Seoul branch is very close to our house. And it provides students from kindergarten to university! We don’t have to choose one again.”

“Yeah. Also, it’s the most famous school all over the world with hundreds of branches.”

“Uh huh. Oh, it allows student to dress freely. Dollie won’t have to wear ugly and uncomfortable uniforms.”

“Yeah!” “We should totally choose that school.” “It’s perfect.”

 “Wait… But I heard the school’s only for students with talents. To get in, you have to go through an entrance exam and only if you are very good at something, you can be a student there. Are you guys sure Dollie can get in?”

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“Aww… Look at her girls. All dressed up for the first day at school. Kyeopta!”

“Hey, let’s take a picture… Aw, kyeopta! Here, another pose honey… Another shot!”

“Yul unnie, I’ve gotta go to school…” It’s nice that Yu Ri unnie wants to take pictures to keep memories about your first school day. But they’re overdoing it. Honestly, a couple of pictures are fine but more than ten are too many.

Tae Yeon unnie and Jessica unnies, like usual, make sure you get everything before going to school. Kind of annoying honestly, but you know it’s because they really care for you. You patiently answer all of their questions and resurrect them you’ll be fine.

“Dollie-ah, Soon Kyu unnie will drive you to school ok? I’m sorry you have to go with her…”

“Yah! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“But somehow, she won the kai bai bo game and became the one driving you to school today. Be careful. And don’t forget to put on your seatbelt if you want to make it to school.”

“...Okay.”

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Your POV

Gosh… I really need to lie down right now, or at least a restroom. I finally understand why the unnies never let Sunny unnie drives. Honestly, I thought I really gonna die.

So this is my new school huh? The school is really for the special kids only. The school’s architecture is really something. Oh look… there are elevators. Is this a school or a 5-star hotel?

Where’s the area for elementary school?

I see two girls are walking by. One looks really cheerful and one look… sad. Somehow, the two give me the image of heaven and hell appearing at the same time, right next to each other…

Gosh Rose, it’s not the good time for this. I’ll think about this later.

“Annyeonghaseyo… Could you show me where the elementary area is?”

The cheerful looking girl beams and eagerly says. They’re heading there too so we decide to walk there together. On the way, we introduce ourselves. One of them is Byun Bae Jin and the other is Oh Mi Sun.

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“Hello, I’m Kim Jang Mi. My birthday is on January 19^th. I hope we’ll all become good friends.”

Many students seem interested in my introduction, more than the others’. Strange…

But what’s really strange is that Bae Jin and Mi Sun are my classmates and we seat very near to each other. In fact, they sit right behind me.

As soon as one of my classmate Hayoung’s introduction ends, the class starts to get noisy. Apparently, our homeroom teacher wants us to get to know each other better, so she let us talk freely.

“So Bae Jin-ssi, you and Mi Sun-ssi are friends?”

“Uh huh. We went to kindergarten together. You don’t attend kindergarten here?”

I nod. I feel like the girls are very nice, I’m sure we’ll become good friends.

“So, can we, you know, be friends?”

“Of course, it’s a wonderful idea. Even Misun thinks so, right Sun?” Baejin beams.

“Bae Jin, stop hugging me.” She scoffs. She then turns to me and smiles. “Of course. I think we’ll be very good friends.”

Wow, her smile is a faint one, a very faint one. But I can see it clearly and it’s extremely pretty. Hm… She’s actually someone’s very different behind that cold and distant look. Reminds me of Ho Won and Myung Soo.

“So, since we are friends now, call me Kitty! My family and my friends all call me that. They say I look a lot like a cat, a kitten really. And I really really love cats. Oh, I like Hello Kitty too.”

Hm… Koreans sure do love using nicknames to call others. But anyway, I do admit she looks a lot like a cat: small, cute and hyper. And did she say she like Hello Kitty? That explains her dress, her shoes, her bags, her hair clip…

“And you can her Sun! A cool name, isn’t it?”

Sun? Sounds like “Sun” in English. Honestly, her name is a bit… off from her real personality. Well, we can never judge another people. Besides, it’s really a cool name.

Author’s POV

You three happily chat away, though mainly it’s Bae Jin the one who talks the most. None of you notice someone is looking at you intensely

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It’s nearly a week since your first day at school. It’s been fun so far. The teachers favor you for your intelligence and energetic during lessons. The boys like you for your pretty look (seriously, they are only on first grade). The girls adore you for your humor and kindness. The best thing of all is your two good friends, Bae Jin and Mi Sun.

You are at the library alone, reading a story book call Poporo Penguin. Your Hangeul is not as good as others. You know Korean perfectly and can speak it without difficulty but that’s because you learned it through your old families’ conversations. But you obviously can’t write. Jessica unnie said one of her sister’s friends called Victoria use this method to learn Korean. It might work for you too.

As you are reading, three girls walk in. They dress trendily. One girl is their leader apparently, judging on her aura (you’ve learned that skill over the years). They are very cute and you know in the future, she’ll be a beauty queen with ease. That girl turns to another girl on her left, which you recognize as Park Ji Won, your classmate. Ji Won then nods with something she said. She confidently walks to your table.

“Hello, I’m Oh Hye Lin. This is Jung Ji Won, who I’m sure you knew, and this is Han Min Ah.”

“Uh… Hello… May I help you?”

“Let’s get straight to the point ok? Ji Won told me you are a friend of Oh Mi Sun and her… friend. Is that right?”

You nod hesitantly. Why did she ask that?

“Good. I want you to stop being friends with her.” Seeing my shocked face, she continues. “Look, you’ve got the look and already made good impressions on everyone. I’m sure you’ll be popular, not as much as us of course. If you want that to happen, you need to stay away from the freaks and the nerds. Oh Misun and that Baejin girl are on top of the list. I say this because we all care for you and you have potential to join us.”

“Uh… OK. Look, thank you for your… care but I’m not sure…”

“That’s ok. We give you time to decide. You’ll see soon why you must avoid them.”

“But make it quick ok? Don’t hang out with them too long.” Min Ah says.

“Yeah.” Ji Won adds. “I heard freakiness is contentious. You might get it.”

“That’s enough. Girls!”

Then they “fashionably” walk out. On their ways out, Min Ah bumps into a girl with some books in her hands, making her fall and the books dropped. None of them even apologize and keep walking away. You quickly go help her picking up the books.
Your POV

Honestly, first graders these days are like that? What happened to the “cute, naïve kids”?

These girls don’t seem very nice. I shouldn’t listen to them. I must trust my friends.

“Here you go…”

“I’m… Yu Rin, Yang Yu Rin. And… you?” She answers while looking down? The shy type I guess.

“My name’s Kim Jang Mi. Here’s the last one. Uhm… Do you need anymore help?” I politely ask her. She just silently shakes her head. “Well, I should go now. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye” She says it very quietly. But luckily I can hear it.

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Why’s there laughter coming from my class? I must find out. Hey, aren’t those the girls from before?

 “Aw… Check it out everyone, “Prince Charming and Princess Byun Bae Jin”. How nice…”

“Hey, how dare you tear Bae Jin’s drawing?”

“Oh look, it’s the freak, Oh Mi Sun. Don’t worry, I’m just waking her up from her silly dream. Look at her, there’s no way she can become a princess and no prince will ever like her.”

“Yah. Hye Lin unnie’s right.”

“So stay away, freak.”

I can’t take it anymore. Bae Jin’s crying, Mi Sun’s being called “freak”? That’s it.

“Yah, what are you guys doing?”

“Oh look Mi Sun. It’s the poor girl who was tricked into being your friend.”

“Hello Jang Mi-ssi. Perfect, you’re here. Now you can finally see why you should stay away from those freaks. They just ruin your life anyway.”

“Look. Even if they were really the losers like you said, I wouldn’t leave them. They’re my friends. I’d rather have good friends than popularities. Besides, they’re very good in fact. It’s you who made them into “freaks and nerds”. Listen, I don’t care who you are but I want you to stop messing with my friends.”

“So, you caught their freakiness? Oh look everyone, Kim Jang Mi is a freak now. She’s…”

“Enough Min Ah.” Hyelin says.

“But… Fine.”

“Listen, you may think like this for now. But you may change your mind in the future…”

“NEVER!”

“Well, who knows? But when you do, we’re willing to accept you. Let’s go Min Ah. Ji Won, remember to stay away from them.”

I glare at Hye Lin and Min Ah until they’ve disappeared. Ji Won just returns to her seat.

I turn to Mi Sun and Bae Jin.

“Are you guys fine?”

Bae Jin sniffs while Mi Sun and you try to make her stop.

“I’m… I’m OK. Jang Mi, did… did you mean it.”

“Mean what?”

“That… you will… will never leave… us?”

“Of course, that’s what friends are for! By the way, who are those girls?”

“One of the popular groups in this school.” Mi Sun calmly explains

Oh… That’s expected. I mean, they are pretty and they seem rich.

“And the leader, Hye Lin…”

“Yes?”

“Is my step-sister.”