Jiyeon shrieked the moment the lunch bell rang, tugging on her long, curly locks and ruffling them unceremoniously, before bumping her forehead on her desk; it garnered attention inside the class that even some of the boys who had been suffocated with the unfamiliar presence of the girls stopped midway to what they were doing.

"I hate my life!" she muttered angrily and was about to pound her fists on the wooden desk if it weren't for Eunji and Taeyeon catching one of them.

Looking around the room and glaring at some of the boys who were ogling the scene, the older of the two beside Jiyeon dragged her up to her feet. "Don't throw your tantrum yet. Let's go grab some food first, alright?" Taeyeon quipped, leading the hyperventilating girl out of the door and a little grateful that they boys scattered off from their way.

Jiyeon could only mumble an 'okay', letting her two friends drag her submissively whilst hearing her female classmates in tow behind them.

"So, tell me," Sulli asked once they're inside the now bustling cafeteria (thanks to the male population; the place now reeked of perspiration that it made Krystal gag), waiting in line beside Jiyeon, "what's wrong with you? I didn't see you raise your hand in class or participate at all— that's so unlike you, Ji."

There were a couple of nods from the girls close to earshot and the questionee sighed before advancing forward. "Mum grilled on me yesterday on set," she told them, frowning, "and I was so tired and sleepy and ugh— I'm just really exhausted! I didn't get to do my assignments or review my notes."

Mina, the girl in front of the depressed student-idol, bit her lip and gave Jiyeon a pat on her back gently. "You should rest, Ji," she suggested, "I mean, you have work outside of school and in here. Why don't you tell your Mum to have a break from showbiz for now?"

Hyomin, who's behind Sulli and Jiyeon's second cousin, scoffed in disdain and informed, "I doubt so— that woman is hard as steel, you know? She'd do her best to keep her name— even if risking and using her daughter to the job for her— just to stay on her throne as an elite. In the near future, I can imagine Ji looking like fifty at the age of twenty-five."

Hearing all this and seeing the poor idol's face turn into an expression of horror, Taeyeon sighed. "She's already stressed guys. Last thing she would want to worry about is her future wrinkles. You all well know how she gets cranky about it," she informed them with an evident smirk, making Jiyeon look at her with widened eyes, before taking her by the shoulders away from the girls and into the front of the line.

There came a series of jovial laughter from their classmates at their departure and Taeyeon chortled, grabbing a clean, empty tray on the front of the vendor and (legally cutting in line— one of the privilege of being the Council President) began picking the dishes that they're going to share. (Being associated with Jiyeon's mother taught her the do-s and don't-s when it comes to her daughter and— being the older of their bunch— by that, she stood as Jiyeon's guardian.)

Hell would break loose if something bad happens to the darling of the school.

&ii&

I T ' S  J U S T — U G H !

&ii&

Taemin was smiling when he sat down between Baekhyun and Myungsoo, almost scaring the frick out of his mates because he was practically... glowing.

"You're not on drugs, right?" Kai asked with a chuckle across the table, sipping his tentra pack of orange juice.

The bushy, brunette threw him a scandalized look and chucked a piece of pickle in his direction, successfully hitting him between his brows and making the whole table laugh. "Anyways," he interrupted once the noise died down before nodding towards the table two rows ahead of them, "you see that girl with the fringe and the eye-smile e?"

Hoya turned around (since he's beside Kai) to look at what his pointing at, the others following his gaze. "You mean Sulli?" he asked after turning his attention back to Taemin; when the other nodded, he questioned with a brow raised, "What of her?"

"I don't know," he replied and was answered by the others with a roll of their eyes.

"Seriously, Taem?" Woohyun questioned before chuckling. "If I knew better, I'm going to start thinking that you're smitten of her."

Awarded of the banter and teasing from those who are in the table (also swatting Jiyong's finger from poking his ribs), Taemin held his hands up to quiet them down and successfully doing so in mere seconds. "I wouldn't say that I'm smitten with her—" he threw a glare at Woohyun's direction "— but I think that she's really nice and friendly."

"You mean girly-girl?" Baekhyun asked. "Because a few of them are if you looked into it. Then again, you're probably putting your attention to Sulli only."

"I don't think so," Sehun interjected, making all of them turn to his spot beside Minhyuk . "If there's a girly-girl between everyone on their clique, it's 'call-me-Krys-to-the-tal'."

As if on cue, the whole table grinned simultaneously as they recall the Introduction Part of their class that morning before the actual lesson began. Both Chaewon and Joongki thought of making each student come up to the front of the room to introduce themselves, earning a couple of groans from the corners of the vicinity.

Once it was done, almost all of them realized that the students of Changji Academy aren't actually that bad; for example, Hyomin was actually pretty cool, Taeyeon was silent, Mina was pre