Changmin scowled at the mud that had gotten on his new loafers he purchased in Italy a few weeks ago. It had only been four hours into the first day, and he was already irritated. It was a typical mood for him at school.

If it wasn’t for Yunho and Junsu, he would’ve transferred to a different school within a year of enrolling at Whimoon. He was indeed a smart boy, and a stellar student, in fact. He was a prodigy in his own right, mastering the piano by the time he was eight. His parents made sure he went to the most prestigious schools in all of South Korea throughout his childhood; Whimoon wasn’t an exception.

He often complained to his parents when he was younger that the curriculum was too easy for him. He wasn’t trying to brag to them that he was doing that well in class, he was simply bored in his classes. Whimoon provided challenging material, even for Changmin, and it was another reason why he never left.

Changmin was a very irritable person, however. It could be due to the pampered, spoiled lifestyle he was used to, but even the littlest things annoyed the hell out of him. He wanted to change out of these loafers and fling them at the closest girl that came up to him.

How could he forget the girls at Whimoon? Some were nice to look at and had ample features, but for the most part, they made Changmin want to shoot himself. All of them were the same. Oppa this, oppa that. Oppa, will you go on a date with me? Oppa, you’re so amazing! Oppa, I love you! Oppa, oppa, oppa!

That word alone gave him a migraine. It wasn’t like he was gay, but his good looks attracted too many annoying little girls. He hated their immaturity and shamelessness. He fooled around with a few, but only because they shut up when he wanted them to shut up.

Changmin’s stomach growled. If anything, food was the most dear thing to him at the moment. The Whimoon senior lair, as the seniors liked to call their area, was bustling with hungry students hurrying to their cars to take advantage of their new off-campus privilege. Changmin rolled his eyes at this, he’d rather eat on campus. Yunho, Tiffany, Junsu, and Taeyeon were waiting for him by his locker. Sooyoung was nowhere to be found.

There were three girls he could tolerate in the entire student body—Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Sooyoung. He always liked Taeyeon because he thought she was wise beyond her age and she was Junsu’s girl. She made Junsu happier than anyone else, so for this he was grateful.

Tiffany was probably Changmin’s closest female friend. They went way back, as they met in middle school. She understood him as well as Yunho did. He considered Tiffany the sister he never had. The fact that she never viewed him as anything more than a best friend and brother gave him hope that perhaps women outside of Whimoon could look at Changmin and not be attracted.

Then there was Sooyoung… Changmin pondered his relationship with her for a moment. It was surely complicated. He liked her the least out of all of his friends. He only hung around her because he Tiffany and Yunhos’ best friend. Yunho would kill him if he let him know how he felt about her.

Changmin wrinkled his nose in disgust. The fact that she doesn’t try in her appearance makes her look shabby and unkempt. Besides, she wasn’t different from the rest of the annoying girls. He was fully aware of Sooyoung’s borderline obsession with him. Therefore, he kept his distance from her.

“Choikang, let’s eat someplace off-campus! Please? Everyone else wants to!” Junsu pleaded with him, rubbing his stomach. Taeyeon pouted next to him. Tiffany and Yunho were too busy talking about her adventures in California to even pay attention to us.

“Hyung, I really don’t feel like driving anywhere, even if it’s close.” Changmin plopped down on a bench and laid down, massaging his temples. “I feel sick, to be honest.”

The four looked at each other and sighed. “Well I suppose we can stay… I wouldn’t wanna leave poor Changmin alone.” Tiffany said. Changmin gave her a thankful smile.

Sooyoung rushed to Tiffany’s side, right on time. “Stupid sophomores kept me in the quad. Don’t they know I’m on the top of the food chain now? They can’t just cut me in line.” Sooyoung looked frustrated, her shoulders tense.

Changmin stiffened at the sight of her, since she was glancing at him. He raised a brow, she was probably checking him out. He quietly snorted to himself.

Taeyeon placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “It’s okay, Sooyoung. Sophomores are pathetic anyways. Don’t worry about it.”

She finally relaxed and yelled loudly, “I’m starving! Can we quit the talking and eat already?” Sooyoung eagerly looked at her five friends. Changmin frowned. He found her antics to be unladylike. Especially how she was always drooling in his presence. He couldn’t stand it.

Meanwhile, Yunho was watching Changmin’s reactions to Sooyoung. He promised Sooyoung he would try to make this work. He nudged Changmin, and he leaned in to hear. “What?”

“It’s our last year…” Yunho nodded his head towards Sooyoung, who was laughing at one of Junsu’s jokes.

Changmin was exasperated. He knew exactly what Yunho was talking about.

“No, Hyung. You’ve been trying to set us up since we were freshman. I can’t see her as anything more than a friend. I’m sorry, but can you stop it? It gets old.” Changmin snapped.

Yunho was taken aback at his response. Usually, Changmin was calm about it, but today he was aggressive and moody. “Wow, okay. No need to get all pissy about it. I’ll stop now.” He turned his back to Changmin, ignoring whatever Changmin had to say after that.

“I’m gonna go to 5^th period early. See you guys.” Changmin said tersely. Everyone looked at him, and Sooyoung met his gaze with big eyes. She had the courage to say something to him.

“What’s wrong?” Sooyoung said softly, as if she was scared of his response.

He was so tempted to go off on her, but he managed to hold back and utter coldly, “Nothing.”

Sooyoung wanted to comfort him, to confide in him. But she couldn’t do anything, she felt helpless. She knew just what to do though. She looked at Tiffany with determination. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Junsu and Taeyeon looked uneasy. “Sooyoung, I don’t think that’s the best idea right now. He’s just in one of his little bratty moods. Leave him be.” Tiffany advised her.

Sooyoung backed off a little bit. “Are you sure? I just want to help, I’d hate to upset him.”

“Trust me, just let him be for now. You can probably talk to him tomorrow.”

Sooyoung knew she could’ve helped him, but she let her timidness take over. It was another trait of hers that she resented. Why couldn’t she just change? She wanted to transform into somebody different, someone others could respect.

Sooyoung wanted to break free from the inhibitions holding her back. She realized she wasn’t in control of her life a while ago, but she never stopped it.

“Are you okay?” Yunho asked with concern.

“I’m fine. Actually, could I talk to you after school Yunho?” Sooyoung asked, a clever idea forming in her mind.

“Sure, what’s it about?” Yunho was curious.

Sooyoung smiled. “You’ll see.”