“Kim Hyunjoo?" The teacher called, doing attendance.

"Here." She lazily raised her hand up.

It was the beginning of the semester and she was one of the new students that year in Juyang High. It was located somewhere close to the city. That explains why there aren’t a lot of students in the school and because there aren’t a lot of students, the student fee is cheap.

The school thought there would be no need for excessive sport teams and clubs, so they kept the student fee as low as possible. The only thing that students need to spend a lot of money on is their uniform. The school isn’t really a delinquent school, nor is it a prestigious school. It’s in the middle with an equal number of good and bad students.

When he finished reading the names on the attendance list, he called the new students up to the front so they could do introductions.

Hyunjoo scowled. *Really?*

A couple chairs scraped on the floor and the chattering in the class got louder. "Calm down class," the teacher said. Once the chattering got quiet he said, "First person, introduce yourself." She looked at the person from her seat. She didn't bother standing up in front of the class. She just eyed the boys with different coloured hair. *What is wrong with their hair colour?*

One boy dyed his hair light brown. He looked like a kid, with baby fat still present on his cheeks, though his jaw line was showing. "Hello, my name is Jung Ilhoon. Nice to meet you." He gave a little wave and the girls squealed.

"He looks just like Junhyung from B2ST!" A girl commented. “But cuter!” Another one exclaimed.

Hyunjoo blinked at the high-pitched voice girl. *...who?* She caught Hyunjoo staring and gave her a weird look but Hyunjoo didn't flinch so the girl awkardly cleared and turned back to the front.

"Hi, my name is Lee Minhyuk. Nice to meet you." The other one winked. He also had his hair dyed brown but in a darker shade. He was a bit shorter than the other student, but not by much and he had small face.  The girls squealed again. "He's so cute!"

Hyunjoo rolled her eyes. *These girls need a life*

"Kim Hyunjoo? Where are you?" the teacher asked.

"Here." she raised her hand. He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

"You already pointed me out to the class. There’s no need for introductions." She said, cooly.

"Oh...kay. You guys can sit down. I also expect you to do something to your hair, you stand out too much.” He said, referring to the attention the girls were giving them. “For your information, you can call me Mr. Bae. I'll be your home room and math teacher. I hope you all do well in my class." With that, he started his math lesson.

Like usual, Hyunjoo didn't pay attention in class. She put her headphones on and pretended to listen. She can never sleep in class. Not anymore. Not after the incident at her previous school. She stared out the window, not caring or listening to a word the teacher was saying.

Is she a delinquiet? No, not really. She is a smart girl who only wants to concentrate in school. Though she is a good student, maybe one of the best students, she knows how to fight. She can defend herself and she won’t take any bs thrown at her, just because she’s smart.

While she was spacing out, Mr. Bae quickly caught her daydreaming when he finished explaining the math question."Hyunjoo! Are you listening to music on your first day?"

She took off her earphones. "Yeah, is there a problem?" she asked, like it was the stupidest question ever asked.

He was thrown back by her response. He never had a student give him that kind of attitude in his 8 years of teaching. Sure, he came across troublemakers, but they would never admit they weren’t listening. "You're supposed to be listening to my lesson. This is a new lesson, so I want you to listen in class."

“I never listen in math class.” She replied.

He crossed his arms. “And how do you expect to pass my class? If you don’t listen, you’ll never graduate.”

She shrugged with a smile. “That’s my problem, not yours. Plus, I can pass your class with flying colours.”

“You think you’re so smart? You think you can pass my class without listening to a word I say?” He challenged. She nodded. "I’ll pass with a perfect score." She confidently said, making an “OK” sign with her fingers.

Some students snickered thinking, how could she pass this class without listening to a single lesson? Some were enjoying the conversation between the two and some thought she was crazy. What they didn't know was, Hyunjoo was a math whizz. Ever since she was little, she was always in the top of her math class.

Mr. Bae got angry. He didn’t like it when students were cocky. "Fine, come up here and do this question. Let’s see how you can do without listening to a single thing I said."

She stood up, walked to the front and took the chalk from the ledge, even though he was holding it out for her. She looked at the example next to her question. She was analyzing it.

"You can't do it after all, huh?" Mr. Bae smirked.

"Don't underestimate me, teach." She started to write on the board.

He sighed, "It's Mr. Bae."

"Sure..." In a couple of seconds, she finished the question. She walked back to her table without even double checking or waiting for his approval. He looked at the question. He was clearly surprised. "It... it's correct." The class went, "Oooh."

"Did you fail a year? No one is able to answer a question without listening to a single lesson." Mr. Bae suspected. “Unless you were listening the whole time and pretended to be smart.”

She shook her head with a scoff. "How can you pretend to be smart?" She asked. “You’re either smart or stupid.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A lot of people act like they know a lot of things, but in reality they’re nothing. Some people out there even pay money to get a diploma to appear smart in front of others.”

 “So… are you saying I paid someone to give me the answer to that question you just gave me?”

He sighed, “I didn’t mea