The only way Kai’s butler could tell he was present and alive was the rising and falling of Kai’s chest as he inhaled and exhaled. Kai’s body (including his head) was hidden completely by the duvet on top of him. “Ahem.” The butler’s voice did not awaken Kai from his deep sleep. “Ahem.” He tried again, this time breaking through the wall of dreams that Kai had built up around him. A head peeked over the top of the duvet, a cutely sleepy yet annoyed expression etched on its face. Kai glared at his butler who was standing at the foot of the bed. “Good morning, Master Kim. You have one hour to get ready for school. Here is your uniform. I had it washed and dried earlier this morning.” He placed the uniform that had been slung over one of his arms on the bed.

Kai sat up and nodded politely. “Thank you, Mr Lee. That will be all.” He watched the butler leave the room. Once he was gone, he leaned over to inspect the uniform. The blazer was dark purple and the academy’s logo had been sewn onto it; the tie was silver and beside it laid a white dress shirt and plain black trousers. It was a typical school uniform, much to Kai’s disappointment. He groaned, standing up and getting dressed without much hesitation.

He made his way down the stairs to the breakfast room, where a bowl of fresh fruit was waiting for him on the table. Next to the bowl was a plate, the contents of which – buttered toast, to be exact – hiding underneath a cloche. And next to that was a glass of pure orange juice. He ate alone, and once he had finished he gathered everything he needed and put them in his messenger bag, which he slung over his shoulder and – without bothering to say goodbye to his parents – left the house.

A jet black limousine arrived outside the academy building twenty minutes later. One of the windows rolled down to reveal Kai’s handsome face. Kai climbed out of the unnecessarily posh vehicle and headed towards the building. He had to push passed masses of students crowding round him, trying to get a good look at ‘the new kid’, before he could reach building.

When Kai entered his homeroom class ten minutes later, timetable in hand, all eyes were on him. In all honesty, that was what he’d expected. He stood at the front of the class next to who he presumed was the teacher. “I’m Mr Shin.” The man told him before addressing the rest of the class. “This is Kim Jongin. He’ll be joining us from now on. Jongin, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Hello everyone. Please call me Kai. I hope we can all get along well.” He bowed respectfully before walking over to his assigned seat, which happened to be between two rough looking boys that seemed like they were ready to attack him at any moment; he knew he was going to have some trouble with these people – it was inevitable – but for the meantime he was going to ignore them.

He immediately disliked Mr Shin. Firstly, he called him Jongin, not Kai as he had had his butler request. Secondly, his eyes were too close together and he looked shifty. In addition, he had assigned him to a seat directly in between two gangsters. Mr Shin was not going to get a good reference next time he wanted to apply for a job.

Mr Shin disliked Jongin equally as much. The smirk that was permanently engraved on his face, the way he walked with too much confidence, the way he requested to be called ‘Kai’ – everything about him screamed arrogance.

Lunchtime was horrendous. The odours of cheap, heavily processed food stuffs mixed together and filled the air. It was torture for Kai. In the end, he had to sprint out of the dining hall and into the bathroom so he could vomit for the first time in years. Great. This is the best day of school ever, Kai thought sarcastically as he washed his mouth out with water, face contorting into a look of pure disgust. He decided it was best to skip lunch that day. He would have the cook prepare a meal for him to take in future.  

Thankfully, Kai remained undisturbed by students and teachers alike for the remainder of the day. When he returned home both his parents were out at a business meeting, so it was just him and the servants. After grabbing a drink and a snack from the minibar in his room, he made his way to the library. Strangely, he felt like reading.

He had settled down in an armchair, reading ‘I Have the Right to Destroy Myself’ by Kim Youngha when he heard it. He heard it. Tap. Tap. Tap. The mysterious tapping from the previous day resumed, getting closer to Kai with every second. It sounded almost like footsteps. Tap. Tap. Tap. It sounded exactly like footsteps.

Kai put the book down on the table in front of him and listened carefully, trembling with fright. Tap. Tap. Tap. It was close, too close. Then, it stopped.

Books began flying of the shelves of the bookcase to the right of Kai, one by one. He stared, frozen, in shock and disbelief. Three shelves had been cleared of their contents by the time the books stopped flying off. Then, as if by magic – maybe it was – the books began to place themselves neatly back on the shelves, in exactly the same order.

Only one book was left on the floor. Unable to move, Kai waited for several minutes, before he picked up the black book from the floor. He was planning to put it back on the shelf, but something compelled him to do the opposite. He shuffled out of the library and up to his room below the attic, clutching the book tightly against his chest.

He sat on his circular bed and, just as he was about to open the book, he heard a knock on his door. “Dinner is about to be served, Master.” Kai shoved the book under his pillow and hurriedly changed out of uniform. He rushed down the stairs and into the dining room, momentarily forgetting about the book. However, the image of the books lying on the stone floor of the library was perpetually imprinted on his mind.