Chapter 2:

 

 

 

 

Donghae is very, very glad that Mr. Kim was pulled away from them by some faculty members when their school guide decided to come. The girl is shy enough without some creepy old man giggling at her mere presence.

 

Their guide introduced herself Krystal Jung, or Jung Soojung but since they had her admit that she was more comfortable with Krystal[1], they call her Krystal. Apparently, she’s a 10th grader who is also secretary of Saint Lilian’s student council. A really demure kind of pretty and since her shyness so overcame the boys’s, they felt fine with her.

 

As compared to her nervous introduction, she spoke normally while she toured them around the school. It was almost as though she was following a script. The problem with that is that she stuttered whenever someone would interrupt her to ask a question. 

 

“Why aren’t there any dispensers?”

 

Unfortunately for her, Heechul decided to be the inquisitive one that day.

 

“U-Um...” Krystal stutters, desperately flipping through her clipboard for an answer which Donghae is pretty sure it didn’t have.

 

“Some people actually drink directly with their mouths, right? Don’t you people find that disgusting? It’s really disgusting since a thousand people’s saliva is probably coating that thing,” Heechul complains, eyeing the drinking fountain beside them with distaste.

 

“W-Well... I-I think it’s because—”

 

“Seriously, even we have dispensers in our school and we’re an all-boy school,” Heechul continues his rant.

 

“I-I—”

 

“Really, and you’re girls too. Aren’t you supposed to be all conscious about everything or something? Or is cleanliness an exception?” 

 

“N-No! That’s...” Krystal’s eyes were beginning to glisten at that point and Donghae is sure it was obvious to anyone that she is close to crying with Heechul’s relentless badgering. The culprit himself, however, didn’t look the least bit sorry but instead looks annoyed. Well, that Heechul’s impatience wasn’t titled “Legendary” in their school for nothing.

 

The irritated diva opens his mouth again, to continue harassing Krystal, but is yanked back by a flustered Leeteuk. Leeteuk knew just as much as Donghae, or any one of them really, did when it came to calming down crying girls, hence he made sure to prevent these occurrences from happening at all.

 

“Heechul-ah, that’s enough!” Leeteuk scolded his vice president.

 

“We are really sorry because of him, Krystal-sshi. Don’t think about him,” Hankyung tried to apologize in his awkward Korean, bowing low to the younger girl. 

 

“Yeah, just don’t mind him, Krystal-sshi,” Leeteuk said kindly.

 

“Yah! Leeteuk-ah! Hankyung-ah! Don’t apologize! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Heechul protests, yanking his arm away from Leeteuk.

 

“Shut up, Heechul-sshi.”

 

“Hey, you! Why do you speak better only when you’re cursing me?!”

 

The president made a quick shift of character to scold his vice president with a quick look before smiling at Krystal who seemed unsure of what to do.

 

“I-I’m sorry...” Krystal said. An apology probably being the only thing she could think of saying at that point.

 

“No, no! Don’t apologize!” Leetek almost panics.

 

“Heechul-sshi only knows how to say bad things so do not listen to him.”

 

“Hey you, China Man! Learn to speak Korean better before insulting me! I can’t even understand a thing you said!”

 

Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Ryeowook stands at the side, wary of the stares they were collecting from the girls and unsure of what to do, in general, so they just fidget and stare at the commotion, not wanting to be part of it. Of course, in everyone else’s eyes they are already a part of it due to their position as one of the only males in the school. Kyuhyun was more composed compared to his hyungs. He just ignored the whole scene in favor of his PSP.

 

Leeteuk, Heechul, Hankyung, and Ryeowook separated from the group at the third floor where the 12th grade classrooms were located. Needless to say, Krystal was very relieved. They then make their way to the 2nd floor for the 11th graders (Eunhyuk and Donghae). 

 

That was when it happened. Donghae thought it was something out foreign chic flick, the way those girls walked through the halls, strutting in slow motion as though they were modeling their slightly altered uniforms with that slight wind effect carrying their hair. He could almost hear the funky foreign background music. 

 

The students in the hallway welcomed them like superstars, squealing and making way. Trying to get close but not so much that their idols wouldn’t have fresh air to breath. Even Krystal was acting weird at the sight of them, sighing almost dreamily to herself. Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun, however, weren’t as amused. Besides the fact that they couldn’t really see the superstars clearly, they were being shoved around by the crowd. Donghae swears that those girls push like men.

 

“Oh!” Donghae hears Krystal cry she is pushed rough enough to make her drop her clipboard. She tries to kneel on the floor to take her clipboard back but finds that there isn’t enough space. Donghae would’ve tried to help her if he wasn’t so busy fending for his own life.

 

And all of sudden, everyone made way and there was space. Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun almost stumbles at the sudden freedom but manages to catch themselves. Krystal wasn’t as coordinated. When the crowd around them disappeared, she stumbles and falls. She squeezes her eyes shut as she awaits the impact but it never comes thanks to thin but strong arms that wrapped themselves around her in the last minute.

 

“Whoopsie daisy~” The straight haired girl giggles a bit when she caught Krystal. Donghae and Eunhyuk look and comes closer to Krystal, asking if she’s fine with their worried eyes.

 

“Are you okay, Krystal?” the orange haired girl to the right of the straight haired girl asks Krystal, her worry just as much as Donghae’s and Eunhyuk’s. It is only then that Kyuhyun decides to join them and stands beside Eunhyuk with obviously not much concern for the matter.

 

“Y-Yes, Unnie...” Krystal mumbles as the straight haired girl steadies her.

 

That was when Donghae realizes the reason for the sudden freedom of their limbs: the four school idols had made their way to them. There were four of them, apparently, and even if Donghae didn’t attend their school, he immediately felt the air of superiority that surrounded those four. It sort of reminded him of their own school’s idol, Choi Siwon.

 

Donghae studied the four girls, starting from the girl at the left end (his left), a tall girl who had her brown hair in a pixie cut. She had prominent cheekbones, Donghae noted, and was the most boyish-looking one of the group, but her face had a sort of mixture of femininity and masculinity that Donghae could only describe as “beautiful”. The girl beside her was a more classic Korean beauty with her wavy, dark brown hair that ended just before her chest started. Aside from the common features of the face (eyes, nose, etc.), she had little to no facial marks which gave her a face that was comparable to that of a porcelain doll’s. She is just a few inches shorter than the first girl and was the most serious one of the group. It was apparent to Donghae, after closer inspection, that they were slightly older than the other two girls. Their maturity, however, did not to dull their beauty.

 

The girl at the right end who is now fussing over Krystal was really pretty too, what with her light brown—almost blonde—hair that reached just below her chest. This gave her a slighty more foreign yet still distinctly Korean look. When she is finally sure that Krystal was okay, she steps back into the group and smiles. That was when Donghae noticed that she also had a very unique and young-looking smile.

 

Now, Donghae knew that due to the equality of the number, groups of four didn’t usually have a center person [2], but somehow he was able to find the “center person” of the little group. The grinning girl in between the blonde girl and the serious girl. She was the shortest one of the group, standing quite a few inches below her blonde friend but Donghae couldn’t help but notice her as the most exuberant as well. If one would only focus on her physical features—straight, black hair that is only a few inches away from her waist; average chest (small if compared to her friends); and skinny frame—she would really seem rather plain and almost out of place amidst her friends who were distinctly, physically beautiful in their own ways but then she smiles and Donghae begins to wonder if the earth actually had two suns. He almost hits himself for sounding like a lovesick fool from some random Korean drama. It was just that he felt inexplicably drawn to her smile that seems to make the rest of glow, even literally glow. She smiles as though she were laughing and it’s infectious. Donghae wonders if he could just bottle up her smile for extra sunshine in case his day doesn’t go very well.

 

“Are these the exchange students Ms. Lee had been talking about, Krystal?” the blonde girl asks Krystal, effectively breaking Donghae from his thought. The four girls then proceeded to study them. Donghae stiffens and sees Eunhyuk doing the same. Kyuhyun was as calm as ever and even returned their gazes right back at them.

 

Donghae didn’t know what was running through their minds but their different facial reaction made him nervous. The short haired girl and the blonde seemed friendly enough though the former’s smile was smaller than the latter’s. The straight haired girl grinned as she studied them and she didn’t make Donghae nervous although she did send his heart racing. The one who really bothered him was the last girl, the serious girl. From the start, she never really gave off a feeling of friendliness but Donghae didn’t really expect an almost hostile frown. She looked at them like they were disgusting pieces of chewed gum on the pavement. Needless to say, Donghae was pretty intimidated.

 

“Yeah, this is Lee Donghae, Lee Hyukjae, and Cho Kyuhyun,” Krystal introduced them and they bowed instinctively. The blonde and the straight haired girl giggled before returning their bow. The short haired girl smiled at them coolly before bowing. The serious girl just stared, unimpressed for some reason Donghae didn’t know.

 

“That’s cool! Welcome to Saint Lilian Girls’s Academy! I’m—”

 

“Haneul.”

 

It was weird, how cold the serious girl sounded. Her tone was almost chilling and so final that Donghae almost shivered from the coldness he suddenly felt around his heart. It was as though the girl was radiating cold rage.

 

A cold rage that couldn’t reach the straight haired girl, apparently.

 

“What? I could’ve introduced myself, you know?” she joked, turning to the taller girl and trying to hide her smile.

 

The serious girl frowned and the straight haired girl grinned.

 

“Haneul...” the serious girl growled. She scared Donghae, Eunhyuk, Krystal, and even her blonde friend. Even Kyuhyun looked a bit intimidated but the straight haired girl only returned her warning with a laugh.

 

“Alright, alright already!” she laughed before turning to the boys with a grin.

 

“Sorry but we’ve got to go. We’ll give proper introductions later so have a nice day~!” she tells them, her voice filled with glee before they left. The crowd around them immediately dispersed after that. The boys and Krystal could only watch as they walked off, the blonde into a classroom after bidding goodbye to the other three who headed to stairs that would take them to the third floor.

 

So they’re 12th graders?

 

“Hey Krystal,” Eunhyuk called the younger girl’s attention. “Who were they?”

 

“Oh, they’re also members of the student council,” Krystal answered with a smile.

 

“Oh, really?” Eunhyuk asked, looking at the path where the four girls once were. Krystal nodded with an almost proud smile.

 

“Yeah, the short haired one is Choi Sooyoung. Sooyoung-unni is the 12th grade representative and also the president of the council last year. The blonde is Jessica Jung, the vice president.”

 

“Oh, she’s like you then. She has an American name too,” Eunhyuk noted, slightly surprised.

 

“Yeah. Jessica is my sister, actually,” Krystal informed him shyly. Eunhyuk and Donghae let out a loud “ooooh!” while Kyuhyun hummed.

 

“That’s why she seemed so concerned earlier,” he mumbled to himself, earning a nod from Krystal.

 

“Who was the one with the straight hair?” Eunhyuk asked the question Donghae was too nervous to ask. Krystal blushes and smiles shyly at this question. Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun raised a brow at this, the younger being the more discreet one of the two.

 

“That was Moon Haneul. Haneul-unni is our really confident and really good president,” Krystal spoke as though she was remembering a very dear memory.

 

“And the really haughty one?” Kyuhyun asks with a frown, obviously taking offense from when the serious girl looked at them with disdain.

 

The dreamy smile was immediately wiped from Krystal’s face as she turned nervous again. She bowed her head and looked around, as if afraid to talk about the girl.

 

“That’s Im Yoona. She was vice president last year.” Compared to the others, Krystal’s introduction of the girl was a lot shorter. Donghae noticed this.

 

“What’s her position this year?” Donghae asked. He hadn’t really meant to push her if she didn’t want to respond but the growing frown on Krystal’s face showed that she really didn’t want to talk about the girl named Yoona. Donghae almost felt guilty when she answered despite her discomfort.

 

“Actually, she isn’t part of the student council this year. She just... hangs around them a lot?”

 

Eunhyuk, who didn’t find it very hard to notice Krystal’s discomfort, immediately changed the subject, “So what grade are they in? Will we be classmates?” 

 

Krystal looks up at this, discomfort gone and glad to talk about something else. “Sooyoung-unni and Yoona-seonbae are 12th graders while Jessica-unni and Haneul-unni are 11th graders.”

 

“Oh! So we’re the same age as those two, Donghae!” Eunhyuk tells Donghae. “I wonder if we’ll be classmates?”

 

“Maybe in some subjects. From what I know, Ms. Lee couldn’t put you in the same homeroom as them because there was no more space,” Krystal supplied helpfully.

 

“Wait, if Haneul-sshi is an 11th grader like us, why did she go up with Sooyoung-sshi and Yoona-sshi?” Donghae asked, confused. Krystal turned slightly awkward again from the mention of Yoona but answered nonetheless.

 

“She just walked Yoona-seonbae to her classroom, I think.”

 

“Why would she walk her to her classroom, is the area that dangerous?” Kyuhyun joked, although he was still obviously annoyed with Yoona.

 

“She was probably asked by Yoona-seonbae.” And the silence that followed had a “and that’s that” feel to it.

 

“What’s up with that?” Donghae mutters.

 

 

~

 

 

The next time Donghae and Eunyuk (who was luckily placed in the same class) saw Krystal, it was already afternoon and classes were already being dismissed.

 

“Donghae-oppa, Eunhyuk-oppa!” she called from the door, waving her clipboard around enthusiastically but was mindful that she didn’t hit the 11th graders who were exiting the classroom. She also had Kyuhyun with her. Donghae and Eunhyuk looked at each other and found that they were both blushing at the “oppa” Krystal had added to their named. They rise from their seats and approached the girl. 

 

“Oppas! How was your first day of school?” Krystal asked kindly. Eunhyuk and Donghae blushed again while Kyuhyun suppressed a snicker.

 

“‘Oppa’?” the boyish-looking girl to Krystal’s left laughed softly. That was when Donghae realized that the two girls beside her wasn’t just standing around but was also accompanying Krystal and Kyuhyun. That was also when Krystal realized from the two boys’s blushing that they were a little uncomfortable with their new titles.

 

“O-Oh... I’m sorry! I-I just thought it was appropriate...” Krystal murmured, looking down nervously. Donghae and Eunhyuk immediately felt bad.

 

“N-No! We don’t hate it!” Eunhyuk panicked.

 

“Yeah, we’re just... not used to being called... ‘oppa’,” Donghae explained.

 

“Oh that’s right, Saint Peter’s is an all-boy school,” the sweet-looking girl to Krystal’s right murmured. Donghae realized that she probably intended for that comment to be heard by Krystal and their boyish friend only when she blushed profusely upon gaining everyone’s attention and began hiding behind the boyish girl.

 

“Ahaha... um, this is Amber Liu. She’s half Taiwanese and half American. She’s a 10th grader like me and also the council’s treasurer,” Krystal introduced the boyish looking girl while sending worrying glances to the girl hiding behind her. Compared to Sooyoung whom Donghae had found rather boyish earlier, Amber was obviously younger and less refined, hence she didn’t carry the elegant air that the older girl did.

 

Amber gave them a small bow which they returned.

 

“She’s... the one behind Amber is Choi Jinri, the 10th grade representative. She’s... a little shy,” Krystal introduced, unsure of what to do about her hiding friend.

 

“What? Do we look that scary?” Eunhyuk joked, squatting so he was about eye-level with the hiding girl, hoping to ease the tension from her. She peeked at them from behind Amber but didn’t make a move to go further. Eunhyuk and Donghae smiled at her sweetly, like how they would smile at a child. The girl blushed at this and avoided their gazes.

 

“Sulli is fine...” she said, bowing to them with her head. The two boys smiled wider and nodded. Sulli was probably the most fragile looking girl Donghae had seen all day. The girls who had been his classmates all had some strength in them that told the boys that they weren’t going to allow themselves to be pushed over. Sulli was just... small... and sweet, even more so than Krystal whom Donghae had previously dubbed the most timid girl he had met. Now that he’s met Sulli, however, he thinks maybe he should reconsider whom he gives that title to.

 

They then began their trek to the third floor to pick up the 12th graders before heading to the conference room where Saint Lilian’s student council is to officially welcome them. The only problem in that is the awkward silence that replaced any sort of conversation in the little group. After introductions and some necessary tips, they didn’t really have much to talk about. Plus, Sulli and Krystal still seemed a bit nervous around them and while Amber wasn’t very bothered by them, she didn’t seem to find the need to interact with them very much.

 

“So, I see you picked up Kyuhyun before getting us,” Eunhyuk, who disliked awkward silences more than most people, tried to strike up a conversation.

 

“Oh no, they didn’t,” Kyuhyun sarcastically piped up, earning a laugh from Donghae, Amber, Sulli, and Krystal although the latter two tried to hide this to avoid being rude.

 

“This kid, only taking time away from his game to annoy people,” Eunhyuk complained.

 

“Actually, they were able to put Kyuhyun-sshi and I in the same class so I just led him to Krystal and Sulli once classes were over. He really surprised me too,” Amber supplied.

 

“Oh really?” Eunhyuk asked. They didn’t have any student council members in their class. They knew, the teacher checked after they introduced themselves, probably in hopes of being able to pass on the role of babysitter.

 

“I hope Kyuhyun wasn’t too rude to you,” Donghae said. Amber chuckled at this.

 

Conversation sprouted one after the other after that little bit and even when silence fell upon them again, it wasn’t as awkward as before. Although, Krystal was still a bit apprehensive around Heechul. 

 

It wasn’t very long until all of them had reached the conference room which was... well, empty. This, of course, immediately got Krystal stuttering for excuses, hoping that their council’s tardiness wouldn’t offend the boys. And before Heechul could say anything about it, he was immediately pulled back by Hankyung while Leeteuk assured Krystal that it wasn’t the case. They didn’t have to wait very long until someone came in, though.

 

The boys had just settled themselves into some cushioned seats when Sooyoung and another girl strolls in. 

 

“Oh, you’re here already?” Sooyoung observed once she spotted the boys. They immediately stood up, except Heechul who fiddled with his phone a bit before lazily rising, to greet the girls.

 

“Hello, we’re from Saint Peter’s,” Leeteuk bowed.

 

“Hey. So let’s just introduce ourselves later so we won’t have to repeat and repeat every time someone comes in, okay?” Sooyoung suggest coolly.

 

“Oh, of course, of course,” Leeteuk says, sitting down which prompts the other boys to do the same.

 

Almost immediately after they had settled back onto their chairs, a pair of giggles and racing footfalls were heard approaching. Everyone’s attention turned to the door where Moon Haneul bounded in and immediately slammed the door shut with her back. She locked the door as she caught her breath, laughing tiredly to herself.

 

“Hey Eu—” the girl who came in with Sooyoung began but was immediately cut off.

 

“YAH! MOON HANEUL! STOP BEING SO IMMATURE ALREADY!” Haneul bursts out laughing at that. She crouches to the ground as the pounding of the door continues but makes no move to open it.

 

“Alright, alright. Enough already,” Sooyoung chuckles, moving towards the door. She begins to count and turns to Haneul with a grin. Haneul, understanding the signal, immediately runs deeper into the room, looking for a place to hide. 

 

Donghae’s heart almost stops when her eyes locks onto him. It really does stop when her face break out into a full-out grin before she runs towards him. 

 

“Please let me hide here. Thanks!” Haneul says quickly as she pulled back Donghae’s chair. The boy curses to hell the fact that he chose to sit at the farthest side of the table when Haneul stuffs herself under the table, right in front of his legs. 

 

Sooyoung checks to see if Haneul has hidden herself before unlocking the door to let the pouting Jessica in.

 

“YAH! MOON HANEUL—!” And then she realizes that she couldn’t find her target any where in the room. She groans and stomps her foot.

 

“Sooyoung-unni! You’re in on this too?!” she cries in disbelief. The older girl shrugs with a small, secretive smile.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sooyoung simply replies. Jessica groans again before beginning her search. She walks around the room and eyes each of the boys carefully, knowing that the only place Haneul could’ve fit herself into was under the table. Her stops in her footsteps and zeroes in on Donghae.

 

Donghae doesn’t know what makes his heart stop at that moment. He didn’t know if it was due to Jessica knowing that he was hiding her target or if it was due to the aforementioned target who had decided to rest her chin on Donghae’s knee, hoping to know what had happened when her friend’s footsteps stop.

 

Donghae then tries to avoid Jessica’s accusing gaze but tries not to look obvious as he warned Haneul. He shakes the knee that Haneul’s chin decided to rest on. Haneul blinks at the action and when their eyes meet for a split second, she understands that Jessica is coming and proceeds stuff herself further into the table.

 

Jessica was closing in quickly but quietly and with the aid of the carpet that covered the conference room’s floor, that was fairly easy. Donghae wonders if it was weird of him to feel nervous for Haneul who was obviously in the wrong in this situation. Jessica draws closer and when she was only a few steps away, Donghae and Haneul’s eyes meet. And everything seems to be better again when she gives him a smile. 

 

“MOON HANEUL!” 

 

Donghae almost fell right out of his seat when Jessica launched herself at Haneul. 

 

The girls rolled out from under the table, laughing and wrestling all the way. Well, Haneul was the one doing most of the laughing while Jessica was the one doing most of the wrestling. Donghae looked at the other boys and was relieved to know that he wasn’t the only one who was blushing at the sight. He thanked whoever designed the girls’s uniform for making the skirt reach below the knees. He wasn’t sure what would’ve happened to them if their skirts were any shorter. 

 

“Hey, you two. Stop playing already, we have guests remember?” Sooyoung scolded the two despite the smile playing on her lips.

 

“Ah! Sica, you heard Unni! Get off me!” Haneul laughs, pushing her friend off of her. Jessica complies but hits Haneul’s arm when they stand. Haneul gasped dramatically.

 

“Unni! Jessica hit me! Did you see? She disobeyed you!” she cried, pointing at Jessica like a child.

 

“Haneul...” Sooyoung groans in warning. Haneul laughs and waves her hands in defeat.

 

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop now,” she declares. She and Jessica takes their respective seats at the head of the table and Donghae tries not to blush when he realizes that Haneul sat directly in front of him.

 

“Okay, now I’m sure some of us have met already,” Haneul begins, eyeing Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun. “But ‘some of us’ isn’t ‘all of us’ so before we do anything, we’ll do introductions. And because we’re the hosts, we will introduce ourselves first,” Haneul explains. She looks at everyone and everyone nods at the suggestion.

 

“Okay, I’ll start. My name’s Moon Haneul, 11th grade. I’m the president this year so I look forward to working with you guys!” Haneul introduced herself with a radiant smile and a bow. She nods to Jessica who returns the gesture.

 

“Hello, I’m Jung Sooyeon but I usually go by my American name, Jessica so just call me that. I’m in the 11th grade with Eullie and is also her VP. Give her a hard time but not so much that she’d get sick because if that happens I’m going to have to take over. If that happens, please go easy on me!” Jessica said sweetly although the content of her introduction was really as sweet. To Haneul, anyway.

 

The room laughs at this, even the president who gives her friend a backhand slap to the hit in revenge.

 

Jessica nods to Krystal. The younger girl’s eyes widened and she immediately went red in the face. She nervously rose from her seat.

 

“I-I’m Jung Soojung but... you guys already chose to call me Krystal so.... Um, I’m the secretary.... Oh! I’m in the 10th grade....” Donghae didn’t know why but Krystal seemed even more tense than when she introduced herself to them the first time. He thought that it didn’t make sense.

 

Krystal almost immediately checks Haneul’s reaction when she finishes her introduction, her eyes scared of disappointing her unni. Her muscles relaxes instantly when Haneul smiles at her and mouths “good job!”

 

Amber was next and, quite unlike her predecessor, she stands confidently if not a little brusquely. 

 

“The name’s Amber Liu. 10th grade and student council treasurer,” she introduces herself in a way that was just too trying-to-be-cool, in Donghae’s opinion. She looks to Haneul, but not secretly like Krystal did, and was given a grin and a thumbs up. Amber smiles and sits back down.

 

No one had to give Sooyoung any signals when she stood up to introduce herself, “Choi Sooyoung. I’m the 12th grade representative. Guess what grade I’m in?” Sooyoung smirked amicably and everyone laughed. Now she, unlike Amber, was definitely cool. She nods to the girl beside her who was also the one she came in with.

 

“My name is Song Qian but you may call me Victoria. I’m in the 11th grade and is the 11th grade’s representative,” she introduced herself formally with a bow and a friendly smile.

 

“Oh, you’re Chinese?” Heechul asked, noting the girl’s slightly off accent. Victoria nods in affirmation.

 

“That’s great! You can just translate for Hankyung!” Heechul exclaims, jabbing Hankyung’s arm with his elbow. “Hey you, don’t speak Korean anymore. It’s painful to hear.”

 

Hankyung glares at Heechul but bows his head in embarrassment. Victoria laughs at this.

 

“I’ll try my best, I suppose.”

 

After Victoria was little Sulli who looked even smaller when she drew her shoulders closer together timidly. “My name is Choi Jinri. You can call me Sulli if you want, everyone calls me that. Oh, I’m the 10th grade representative, by the way. Um... have fun in your stay here?”

 

And once again, Donghae wasn’t sure who should have the “Miss Nervous” award between Sulli and Krystal.

 

“Okay, thank you for your welcome. Now, it’s our turn to introduce ourselves,” Leeteuk stated much like a TV host would. He looked at his council expectantly and the boys’s introductions began.

 

 

 

“We’re really sorry in advance for anything bothersome we do in the future,” the ever careful Leeteuk said once the boys’s introductions were over.

 

“Oh no no! It’s our duty to help you guys adjust here anyway,” Jessica reassures him.

 

“Yeah, don’t sweat it! After all, you guys are the reason the faculty approved most of my event requests for the year,” Haneul grins.

 

“You are a real opportunist, aren’t you, Haneul-sshi?” Kyuhyun deadpans. Leeteuk stared at the maknae in shock and was about to scold him when,

 

“What?! How mean! To think I planned all those events for you!” Haneul defends herself although the glee in her voice didn’t make her sound very convincing.

 

“‘For you’, huh?” Sooyoung snickers.

 

“Hey! What’s that disbelieving tone for?!”

 

“For you, obviously,” Heechul says.

 

“Hey, do you kids really think it’s alright to disrespect your president like this in front of guests?!”

 

“‘Kids’? I’m older than you, Brat!” Heechul scolds.

 

“Oooooh, she called you a kid, Sooyoung-unni~!” Jessica snickers.

 

“Exactly who do you think you’re talking to, Moon Haneul?” Sooyoung smirks.

 

“There’s about five people who are older than you in here. Good luck,” Kyuhyun adds.

 

“WAEEEEE?!”

 

By then, everyone was laughing, even the shy and quiet ones, and it was as though the wall between the two genders was broken. Everyone was laughing so hard that nobody even noticed the door opening.

 

“Haneul.”

 

The voice stopped everyone and all the warmth in the room seems to have fled in an instant. There by the door stood a frowning Im Yoona.

 

Donghae didn’t know why it was so, but everyone seemed to become nervous at her appearance, even Heechul who almost never let himself get intimidated by anyone. That is, everyone except Sooyoung and Haneul. The former calmly regarded Yoona while the latter was still trying to recover from her laughing fit. 

 

Yoona didn’t find Haneul’s reaction amusing. 

 

“Haneul,” Yoona tried again, using a bit more force in her tone.

 

“Oh! Ha, h-hey, Yoona-sshi,” Haneul greeted in between giggles.

 

“You’re not finished with your meeting?”

 

“Yeah, we’re welcoming the new kids,” Haneul confirmed with a soft sigh to calm her giddy insides.

 

“But you’re already laughing. Doesn’t that signify the end of a serious meeting?” Yoona glared at Haneul.

 

“Well, part of welcoming them is making them feel comfortable.” Haneul remained unaffected.

 

“You were suppose to come back an hour ago.”

 

Haneul stops at this and picks her words carefully.

 

“But Yoona-sshi, we’re still—”

 

“Welcoming the new kids. I know.” And with that, Yoona storms out of the room.

 

“Yah! Yoona!” Haneul called, worry beginning to bloom in her voice.

 

“Im Yoona!” she tried again. When the footsteps didn’t stop, Haneul groans.

 

“Sica, Sooyoung-sshi, can you take over from here?” she immediately asked her two friends. Jessicaa snaps out of her trance but seemed uncertain.

 

“A-Alright.”

 

“You owe us,” Sooyoung tells her. Haneul nods before turning to the boys.

 

“I’m really sorry about this, I’ll make it up to all of you next time!” And with that Haneul was out of the door and running towards the retreating Yoona.

 

When their footsteps fade from their ears, there was silence.

 

“That was... weird,” Eunhyuk comments, earning a nod from Donghae. The boys were bewildered while the girls tried to pretend as though the Yoona event did not happen at all.

 

“Just a... little...” Jessica trailed off.

 

“They seem... pretty close,” Leeteuk observes after clearing his throat.

 

“Close?” Sooyoung chuckles. “Yeah, you can say they’re pretty close.”

 

 

~

 

Author's Notes:

 

1. She asked the boys to call her what they preferred. They asked what she preferred and, with a lot of convincing, she finally admitted that she preferred Krystal.

2. In groups of five, one person stands in the middle so much that she/her begins to look the leader.

 

 

Alright, the second chapter is up. I know it's a bit boring because it's all introductions but I hope you'll stay tuned for the next chapter. As you may have noticed, I skipped out SJ's introduction because I've already, sort of, introduced them in the first chapter. I also hope you got some idea of everyone's relationships in this chapter.

 

There is a whole lot of grammatical mistakes but please excuse them. I'll try to edit them in the future. A big thank you to ILoveMyYoong and Poedbear, the first subscribers of this story. :)

 

 

 

 

-FunkEater