Hey guys, I decided I couldn't wait until I was finished with Remembrance to start this story. I needed a break from all the stuff going on in my other story -.- Anyway, I think it'd be helpful for you to know I'm basing this off of a North American sort of school system here since I'm not so familiar with the way it goes in Korea. Just thought I'd let you all know. So this chapter is going to be more lighthearted than the rest of the story, just to set the scene I guess. So now- COMMENCING CHAPTER ONE! :)

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Wow.

High school is... big.

Enormous, really.  There were at least five times the amount of people that attended my old middle school in a small city several miles from here, but this was Seoul. I walked up the few steps in front of the building, making my way through the throngs of people hanging out on the stairs in the cool morning air.

I glanced over to see the group I had followed on my way here moving happily and not having nearly as much trouble getting through everyone as I was. But upon further inspection, people also seemed perfectly willing to move out of their way so they could pass. It was weird, they didn't seem like the type that would intimidate others to make a walk-way for them, and besides, everyone smiled at them, waving. And they smiled back.

What was with these guys, anyway? It's like everyone here adored them. But it's not like I could just hate them, so I don't know why I would expect others to, either. They walked like they owned the place, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the one that had caught my attention earlier on this morning. God, how could anyone look away from that gorgeous face with such wonderful features and-

And I'm on the floor... How did I end up on the floor??

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!"

I looked up to see a flustered boy standing above me who was apologizing profusely. I giggled a little bit at his distressed look while he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, again, I didn't mean-"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Calm down, dude, it's fine. I wasn't looking either," I assured, taking a liking to this guy already. Sure, I probably wouldn't see him again, considering the size of this school, but he seemed sweet. "I'm Jong In by the way. Just call me Kai." I held my hand out waiting for him to take it in a handshake, which he did eventually, flashing a huge but shy smile.

"I- I'm Sehun. It's nice to meet you."

"Well Sehun, as long as we're here now, do you think you might want to help me find the front office?" I asked, rather awkwardly. "I need to pick up my schedule. This is my first year here."

"Hey, I'm a first-year too! I'll take you to the office. I have friends that have been going here before me, so I know a lot about this school already. We all went to the middle school across the street- hey! Maybe you could eat lunch with us today! So-"

I tuned out after that. I mean, I was kinda listening, but I was just blown away by the fact that I had met a friend just like that. He was blabbing on to me about his life and his friends as if we'd known each other for years, and I found myself getting comfortable around Sehun. I hoped we'd have some classes together- that way, I wouldn't have to sit all alone.

"Hey, are you listening? We're here!" Sehun said, waving a hand in front of my face. He had a big smile on and he grabbed my arm to pull me into the office behind him. There were a few other first year students trickling through the office to retrieve their schedules, but there was no rush since school didn't officially start for another half-hour. Either way, Sehun and I waited in the short line for only a few moments before each being handed a couple slips of paper with their class information on it.

We stepped just outside of the office to lean against the wall and glance over our schedules. It seemed simple enough. Average classes, nothing special. Sehun was looking over my shoulder at my schedule, probably to compare with his own.

"Hey! We have almost all of our classes together!" he cheered happily.

"What's different about them?" I asked, still scanning my class list.

"English, last period. I took the introductory language course over the summer so I could move up to my friend's English class. He's a second-year."

After that, we made our way to our first class- math. God, did I hate math. I was good with words, but numbers... They were a painful gift hand-crafted by the devil himself to bring hardship to my life. Okay, maybe I was overreacting slightly, but that doesn't matter. I was never really a school person to begin with. I didn't consider myself to be smart, but I blamed that on my parents. I never really got much studying done with all their yelling.

One may see it as being a good thing that my parents finally divorced. Now I'd be able to focus on my homework without all the loud arguing going on, right? Well, if this summer has had anything to say on the matter, my mom's bitter sobs coming from behind her closed bedroom door would be taking place of the screaming every night, and that's not really much better. I was basically just preparing for another year of scraping by.

Classes weren't so bad, though. It was pretty boring, basically just receiving a syllabus for each class that I'd need to get signed by his "parent or guardian" by the next day, but we didn't really learn anything. Then came lunch time. When the bell rang, Sehun hopped up out of his seat and bounded over to mine while I was still packing up my things.

"Do you still want to eat lunch with me and my friends?" the other one asked happily, albeit still slightly shy.

"If- you know, if that's okay?" I stuttered, rubbing the back of my neck once I'd packed up my bag and we began to make our way out the door.

"Of course! Come on, you'll love them!"

I followed the eager boy through the overcrowded hallways filled with people walking casually, spending too much time at their lockers, or just standing in the middle of the hall with their group of friends, taking up more space than necessary. Highschoolers are weird. But we found our way to the cafeteria nonetheless, and I just followed willingly behind Sehun while he searched dutifully for the table where his other friends were waiting.

"Over there!" he declared happily, taking my arm and dragging me along to a table of guys all joking around with one another.

"Sehun!" one of them shouted, waving over at us.

"Hi guys," Sehun greeted happily once he'd reached the group. "This is my new friend Kai, I met him today. He's going to eat lunch with us," he stated, rather than asked. I felt a bit awkward when Sehun pulled me into a seat next to him, since everyone was just staring at me.

"Well, nice to meet you, Kai. I'm Suho, a fourth-year," the one on my other side greeted. "And this is Baekhyun, Chanyeol, both third-years, and D.O., our second-year," Suho continued, introducing each member of the group by pointing at them. D.O.? What kind of name is-

"Don't ask. It's not my real name, but it's a long story," he said with a warm smile while the others chuckled at some memory that probably wasn't even nearly as funny as they remember it being. But it's not like it really mattered- I'm making friends. 

It was then that I heard wonderful singing voices invade my ears, and I looked around the cafeteria to see a bunch of tables set up around the walls with several people standing behind them, trying to get people's attention. One of them was apparently a choir, as a group of boys and girls stood behind one of the tables, singing in perfect harmony with one another while one boy was waving as people passed by, holding up a poster.

"What's going on?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, it's kind of like a 'club fair', as the school likes to call it. It's where a bunch of different groups and clubs come advertise to try to get first years to join," Suho explained cheerily. "You might want to take a look around too; see if you want to join any," he added with a wink.

"Come on, I'll take you around!" Sehun exclaimed, sounding excited. "I wanted to look too, so let's go together!"

He took my arm again and once again, I found myself being dragged around by this boy. It made me giggle a bit at his excitement. Still, I followed willingly until we reached the first table. Debate Team. I didn't find myself to be interested, and I automatically zoned out for a while as I was pulled past countless club tables that really didn't spark any interest in me at all.

Then we got to the table for the school's chorus. They were still singing happily, and their voices sounded wonderful. I stopped for a minute, and once Sehun realized I had stopped, he did too.

"Oh my gosh, do you want to join the chorus? That's be so cool! Suho-hyung is in the chorus. He's so good!"

"O-Oh, no. No that's not it. I don't really sing..." I answered awkwardly. I didn't stop because I wanted to join their club, I had stopped because of the guy holding the poster here. It was one of the five in the group I had observed this morning. "But, who's that?" I asked Sehun quietly, so as not to draw the one in question's attention.

"Oh, that's Kim Jonghyun, a fourth-year here. He's the leader of our school's choir, and one of the most popular kids in school. He and his four friends, that is," Sehun answered as if I should have known. "They're always together. And look, there are the rest of them."

I looked to where he was pointing, but didn't have to search far. True to Sehun's word, the rest of the crew I had seen earlier were all next to Jonghyun.

"That one there next to him is Lee Onew. He's a fourth-year too, and he's the top of his class, but he's in the choir too. I heard so much about both of their voices. Oh, and that there by the sports table is Choi Minho, a third-year. He's the captain of our shool's soccer team. Doesn't really talk much, but he still seems cool in my opinion. Then there's those two with the dance team. Kim Kibum is the blond one, and he's a third-year as well. Well, everyone just calls him Key. I don't know why, but I'm not really gonna ask. He seems really feminine to me. He's not actually on the dance team, but he's always around that last one, Lee Taemin."

Lee Taemin. So that's the name of the beautiful boy. Lee Taemin. What a gorgeous name.

"Key always acts like he's Taemin's mom," Sehun laughed, not noticing my awed expression. "Taemin's a second-year, but he's already the leader of the dance team. I've never actually seen him dance before, but I heard he's amazing."

"S-So um," I stuttered, trying to make it look like I wasn't overly interested in this guy. "What's so special about these guys, anyway?"

Sehun tilted his head a bit, obviously thinking. "You know, I don't actually know. They're just really nice. I guess it just draws attention since it's so weird that they're all so different and accomplished in opposite fields but such great friends. They always stick up for people, too, especially if they're getting bullied. You know, there was this one time when Taemin was still in his last year of middle school while everyone else in the group was in high school already, and since the rest of them were gone and wouldn't know what was going on, a lot of people picked on him and bullied him. I went to the same middle school, and it was really bad. I was younger, though, so there's not much I could have done. But eventually his friends found out, and Minho and Jonghyun beat the out of the guys who were hurting him." He gave a short laugh before continuing, obviously finding humour in whatever it was that happened next in his story. "But I think the worst part was Key. Oh my god, he was pissed! I heard he yelled at and lectured those bullies until their ears practically fell off. You should have seen them for the next few days, they looked so scared- it was hilarious."

"Hm," I grunted in response. I couldn't believe people would ever be so mean to someone like Taemin, but I was glad he had friends to stick up for him. He looked really happy now though, so I don't think it bothered him as much as it was bothering me now. I really don't know why I'm so interested in this boy. Am I in love? I didn't think so, I really knew nothing about him- just that I was extremely physically attracted to him. Either way, I knew I wanted to get to know him...

"So Kai, are you going to join any clubs? I think we've seen them all."

"I- I think I might... I was thinking about trying out for the dance team..." I said awkwardly. Honestly, I would have auditioned for the dance team even if Taemin wasn't in charge of it. I'd always loved dancing, and if I wasn't being too narcissistic, I think I'm pretty good at it, too. It was just luck that I'd get a chance to spend more time with Taemin if I make it in.

"Oh, me too! That'll be so cool if we both make it!!" Sehun sounded so excited about this, and I was actually pretty relieved to find that Sehun would be trying out as well. It'd be nice to have someone I know- sort of- there with me. He smiled brightly at me and led the way towards the table where Taemin was standing.

"Hi! Are you two looking to try out for the dance team?" Taemin asked in one of the happiest voices I'd ever heard before once we'd gotten close enough.

"Um, yeah," Sehun said shyly.

"That's great!" the one behind the table exclaimed. "I'm Lee Taemin, dance captain. Auditions are going to be tomorrow after school. You don't really need to bring anything, but I really wish you both the best of luck!" he spoke as he shook both of our hands. They felt surprisingly strong, and he had really long fingers. And oh my god, finally seeing his smile up close was one of the most beautiful, bright things I've ever seen in my life.

Alright! Let's stop gawking, Kai. Get a grip. If you make it into the dance team, you're going to have to act cool around him all the time. You can't just be a squealing fangirl, obsessing over how his hands feel...

"Th-thanks," I stuttered, grabbing Sehun's elbow, and beginning to walk away. "We'll be there," I called over my shoulder once we started to disappear into the crowd once again.

"Oh my god!" Sehun whispered, leaning in to whisper excitedly into my ear. "You so have a crush on Lee Taemin!"

I realized I had been blushing ever since the moment he shook my hand, and Sehun's words made my cheeks glow brighter red. "I- I do not!" I hissed. "I don't even know the guy, how could I like him like that??"

Sehun gave me a knowing smile. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," he said with a wink, right before we got back to the lunch table with the rest of Sehun's friends.

"Hey guys," Baekhyun said. "Find anything worth joining?"

"Kai and I are going to try out for the dance team tomorrow!"

"That's so cool!" Suho exlaimed. "I heard it's a pretty small team, so good luck, you guys."

It made me a bit nervous. What if I didn't make the team? Then my plans at getting closer to Taemin would basically be shattered.

"You should probably go get something to eat now, we don't have too much time left in the lunch period," Chanyeol said, smiling at Sehun and I. I nodded my head. "Okay, thanks..." I said.

But I couldn't stop thinking about him. God, why am I acting like this? I'm a generally strong person, I'd like to think. I'm masculine. But there's something about this guy that I've never actually held a real conversation with that makes me just want to giggle like a schoolgirl meeting a hot celebrity.

Is this love at first sight? Because I couldn't think of any better explanation. I had no reason whatsoever to be feeling like this, so it must be. I didn't know about him, his personality, or his life, but yet I was ready to drop everything just for a chance to share a few words with him.

Yeah, it's got to be love.

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Author's Note:

Hey guys, I know it doesn't seem like it'll be much of an angsty story right now, but it will be, trust me. I can't really write a story without at least a little angst, and considering that is the main theme of this story, it'll definitely be there strong. I'm starting it off lightly since I needed a short break from all the stuff going on in Remembrance- my other active story. I actually wasn't planning on updating this until that one was finished, but I can handle it now that school's been out.

So anyway, comments are always appreciated. And don't hesitate to subscribe(: it'll make me a happy author :D