A tanned boy opened his piercing, brown eyes. The moment he opened them, his hand unconsciously covered his eyes from the brilliant sunlight. Glaring at the white light, he sat up and opened the curtain. He groaned even louder when the light only got brighter.

"Curse spring," he muttered. Not only were the birds singing a tune, but the trees in front of his apartment were also growing fresh, new leaves. However, the beauty of spring wasn't the only thing that irritated him.

It was March, which meant that it was the first day of high school. Not only that, but he was in his senior year, which meant that he would be twice as busy from his junior year. The teenager ran his fingers through his messy hair, finding himself staring at the tiny park that the apartment had just outside of the building. There, two little boys were happily running to hide from a younger girl, who was counting numbers and slightly peeking to see where the boys were going to hide. Seeing this, Kai gave the three an intense glare and closed his curtains without hesitation.

Krystal is dead, the boy reminded himself. L and Minho have graduated to different colleges. I'm alone. Krystal is dead. I have to make things worth it for her and for me. I have to build the perfect society.

Kai turned away from the window, and grabbed his uniform into the bathroom. Things were different compared to the pass two years. He was different. Society was different. School was different.

Everything was different.

Namjoo smiled at herself, then brightened her expression when her eyes met the school standing in front of her. She examined the old building, which seemed to carry such a positive aurora. Her heart began to beat in excitement, and the thoughts of what she was going to do here caused her to blush.

After two years of working hard to enter this prejudice school, she finally made it. She was finally able to meet her personal role model, not to mention that he was also her crush. The fact that she was doing this was love made her feel uneasy inside. Was it worth it? Was she positive that the boy she loved was here? 

"It's time, Namjoo," she whispered. "It's finally time. Show them what you got!"

The moment she stepped into the school's gate, she paused. Now that she entered the school through the gates, the aurora of the school kind of felt intimidating. Shaking her head, she forced herself to walk deeper into the school until she got into the building.

"Hey, you know the school rules, right?" a rusty voice said behind a batch of bushes. Namjoo froze, then glanced to her side. She stared at the other students, who only continued to walk. None of them turned their heads to the direction where the voice came from. 

Must be my imagination, she thought. Putting up a smile again, she took another step. This time, she heard someone coughing and groaning at the same direction. Namjoo looked back at the bush, then jumped from her spot when she heard someone scream in pain. Her eyes widened, and she stared at the students dressed in the same uniform as her. This time, the students looked a bit pale, and they started to walk faster into the building as if they didn't hear anything.

That scream was not my imagination, Namjoo convinced herself. She found a girl with glasses literally running to the building. She chased after the girl, and stopped her by putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl flinched, but then seemed calmer when she found out that it was Namjoo.

"Excuse me, but we all heard that scream, right?" Namjoo asked.

The girl froze. "W-What? What scream?"

"I'm not sure if that scream was part of the school ceremony or anything. I'm Kim Namjoo, a new student. I'm in my second year in high school--"

"Oh. You're a new girl. No wonder," the other girl mumbled. "I'm Son Naeun, a third year." Suddenly, Naeun's eyes darkened and she took off her glasses as she leaned closer to Namjoo's ear. "If you know what's best for you, ignore that sound."

Namjoo widened her eyes, as Naeun put her glasses back on and faked a smile. Naeun ran into the building, successfully leaving Namjoo on the spot with a dumbfounded expression. 

How could she just tell me to ignore that sound? Namjoo wondered. Enraged, she glanced around her, then dashed to the bushes. Unable to see what was happening, Namjoo decided to use a little trick. She looked into her backpack, and pulled out a coin. Then, she rolled the coin to where the voices were, where she would pretend that she stumbled over to the scene by accident.

When she popped out of the bushes with a smile and acted as if she was looking for a coin, her eyes enlarged when she spotted a group of students surrounded a person on the ground.

"Trash."

"Idiot!"

"Drop out of school!"

"Kill yourself!"

"We don't want you here!"

The junior watched a poor boy with a golden brown hair crumble down to the corner. He seemed in a hysterical state, grabbing a handful of his hair and squeezing himself to the brick wall. Two girls and three guys approached him and without showing any mercy, they threw fist-sized rocks and dumped a bucket full of mud on his uniform. The senior, who was being bullied, looked up and met eyes with the unfamiliar junior. There was only one word written all over his face: Help.

Kim Namjoo looked away, and began to walk deeper into the school, forgetting about the poor senior who wanted only one thing: Help.

... What in the world was that? she asked herself, still paralyzed from the hopeless scene. All she could do now was pray for that man's safety, and pray for Kai not to get hurt.

Speechless.

Exhausted.

Hurt.

These words couldn't compare to Ilhoon's sticky situation. Not only that, but the mud that was dumped on him earlier this morning began to harden around his skin. Although he could still walk, it didn't help him when he kept stumbling over his own shoes because of his bruised ankle. He looked down, and immediately felt dizzy. His lips were not only cut from one of the sharp stones that managed to hit his face, but his forehead also had a large, red bump.

"Nurse, I need..." Ilhoon paused, and stared at the empty nurse office. He could only wonder where the woman went, but realized that she was probably at the opening speech ceremony, held by the man who could be responsible for his misery: his own father, the principal of this wealthy school.

"Where'd she put those bandages..." When Ilhoon walked over to the cabinet, he heard blankets rustling behind a few curtains. Curious, Ilhoon stopped and limped towards the sound. However, the moment he met eyes with the man on the bed, he regretted it. "Ah... Kai."

The dark-skinned third year looked up at Ilhoon with dead eyes. "And you are?"

"J-Jung... Ilhoon..." he beaten-up boy responded cautiously. 

Immediately, Kai's eyes darkened. "Oh. The Idiot."

Ouch. Ever since Ilhoon had entered this school since last year, he was entitled as "The Idiot." Why? Because he was an idiot. He could hardly keep up with his classes and often ditched them in order to avoid not only the lectures, but the teacher's question of why he seemed to be running away. It wasn't entirely his fault, though. He knew that the teachers hated him. They also had that glare in their eyes every time they tried to talk to him. Plus, even the students tried to drive him out in order to reach a perfect 100 in the class and for the school.

With him, everything had a flaw.

"We have the same class this year. Let's hope for the better!" Ilhoon exclaimed, forcing a smile. Kai stared at him in disgust.

"With you? Heck no." 

The smile faded. "W-Why not?"

"Look at you. You know, you're better off at that other school. The puny one. Oh wait, I forgot. You're not in kindergarten! You're a third year like me, in high school. So why don't you act like one, kid?" Kai mocked. "Besides, you can't even compare yourself to your father's success or to me. I'm the student council president. My job is to help the school. You're... just a piece of trash lying around and floating into space."

"Kai--"

"Don't say my name, you little trash. I've got far more things to do in this world, and I have no time dealing with you." With that, Kai hopped off the bed and stormed out of the nurse's office. Ilhoon paused, and stood still. He heard the teachers holler into their megaphones, telling all the students to proceed into the gym with caution. Tears threatened to spill from the corner of his eyes, but Ilhoon pulled them back by looking up at the single blinking light.

"R-Right. Bandages..." He weakly dragged himself to the cabinet, helping himself with ointments and bandages. 

I'm such an idiot.