Don't think he wanted this, because he certaintly didn't want this. Who would? As an experienced 17 year old in high school Zitao knew just what to expect in situations like these, ever since he'd moved to Korea from his happy home in China he'd known what to expect. It's not like he believed he would make friends. He was the new guy, an automatic social outcast. Friends had already been made and cliques already formed. He would just kind of... be there. Of course, life doesn't always go along with your expectations.

For example, he'd expected his girlfriend of two years to stay loyal to him and not dump him for piece of she'd apparently met off the internet. He'd expected to see his father, a person he'd idolized as a child, grow old into a wise man, and not die of stomach cancer when Tao was only 12 years old. Yes, he'd expected a lot of things in life. But, you know. God needed someone to laugh at, he supposed.

It's not like it mattered anymore. He was here, there was no going back and he decided it would be easier on everyone if he just learned to accept this ty twist life had thrown at him. 

There were upsides to this situation. Believe it or not, Tao was an exceptional student and obtained increasingly good grades. According to his mother he had actually recieved a student scholarship to this academy, Eros Academy as it was called. And, as spoken in her words, all expenses of his intuition were pre-paid, which meant his being here was practically free. Including his stay in the dormitory, which was another upside to this. His mother and he weren't exactly the wealthiest family around, he couldn't even afford a cellphone. He figured that him not being at home would take a lot of stress, both physical and financial, away from his mother, who he knew was struggling with a lot of money problems at the present moment. It was worth it, he thought, if his mother benefited from him being in this hell hole, then he would live.

With these thoughts in mind, Tao drew in a deep, relaxing breath, and made his way through the unusually large -- and fairly tripped out -- doors that led into the school. He had to admit, the place wasn't bad to look at. In fact, it was gorgeous. The roof reached at least 20, maybe even 30 feet above his head. A large, double-sided staircase rested in the far back of the main entrance room, and the rest of the place was a mindbending collage of hallways and doors leading to other areas of the academy. The first thought that couldn't help but pop into his head was the fact that this place was on one scale or another the iest place he'd ever seen. How the hell had his mother even found out about this place, anyway?

As his enamoured mind vigiliantly processed the beautiful detail of this building that oddly enough reminded him of every Gucci store he had ever been to, he didn't notice the well-dressed figure that approached him with a look of, well, what you would call 'distaste.'

"Excuse me, sir, we have a policy against loitering so if you're not a student, teacher, or otherwise required to be here then I'm afraid you'll have to leave." The man's strict and unamused tone immediately snapped Tao out of his daze. Suddenly feeling very insecure, he brushes himself off and straighens the blazer he'd chosen to wear. With a straight face he holds his enrollment form out to the other, quickly drawing back his outstretched hand once the man had taken it. 

Tao watches as the elder's eyes scan over the now unfolded document with a hard gaze. Taking advantage of the moment of distraction, he takes another good look at his surroundings and finally notices an enclosed glass case of what looked like an array of awards proudly stacked on shelves against the wall. Glancing at the man who now appeared to be mumbling to himself in some kind of private argument, Tao struts over to the case.

As he thought, the inside was decorated with an array of medals and trophies, surprisngly all first place. His curiousity peeked, he looks at the engravement on one of the largest trophies and feels his stomach flip when he sees it's an award for first place in a singing competition. Well, that was definitely interesting.

What was even more interesting was the photo that stood at the center of the top shelf, a boy, whom he assumed was the owner of these golden goodies. Before he was able to get a good look at the mystery person's face, the sound of someone angrily clearing their throat captured his attention. Tao bowed his head in a quick apology and rushed back over to him, a pout resting on his face.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Tao said. 

Sighing, the man folds the paper in his hands and places it in a pocket inside his blazer. "First of all, please don't stray off too far without an or other personal at your side. This Academy is over 50 acres in size, and that only includes the buildings themselves. The last thing I need is you getting yourself lost. My name is Park Sunho, and I'm responsible for seeing to all new and transfer students here. I have a very strong social reputation in this school and I'm not about to let some foreign exhange student tarnish that." Here we go. "Now, if you're done gawking, please come with me so I can get you settled into your dorm room and you can prepare for your first day of school, tomorrow." Without another word, he turns and heads out the large entrance doors.

Tao resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This guy was going to be a pain in the , he could practically taste it. "I guess it's just another thing to add to the list of this, "perfect," day." He said aloud to himself. "If I find out he has a soft side I might piss myself." 

"Language!" Ugh.

- - - - - - -

Sunho wasn't exaggerating, the chinese boy quickly realized. Eros Acadamy was a mammoth institute of over 5,000 students, going from kindergarten to high school. It was more of a castle, Tao mused. The school itself was divided by grades, and each grade was divided into classes depending on their test scores. The smartest kids in the A classes, K-12, and so on and so forth. It was a little bizarre to him, but it was one of those things that didn't really matter. Besides, it's not like he had to worry about bad test scores. He was here on a scholarship, wasn't he?

After a walk that seemed to last hours, they'd finally made it to the Boys Dormitory, stopping just inside the main entrance. The Dorm Building was beautiful as well, and almost as big as the school itself, although the overall appearance was far more... homey.

"This is where you'll be living while attending this academy." Sunho shoves a key into Tao's hands along with a schedule, nearly knocking the boy over. "Your room number is 612. You'd better feel lucky, you're the odd one out this semester, so you won't be getting a roommate. Good for you." This time, Tao did roll his eyes. "You'll be expected to watch over and take care of all personal possesions including but not limited to clothing, school property and electronic devices. We are not responsible for replacing any item if in the event it is stolen. You are to be up and ready to attend your classes at 5:30 AM, sharp, every day from monday to friday. If you are even a minute late you will be immediately sent to my office and given detention. Any and all information you may or may not need can otherwise be found in the student manual given to you by your homeroom instructor. Any questions?"

"Uh... No, nope, you've pretty much covered it." Tao replied, eyes still roaming over the area.

"Good. Enjoy your stay at Eros." Sunho gives Zitao a rough pat on the back before making his way out.

The latter gave a loud sigh. "Lord help me." He was about to make his way to the stairs before a thought occurred to him. "Aw, damn. I forgot to ask him about that trophy case." Heaving another sigh, he shrugs and begins up the stairs, "Oh well, it doesn't really matter, anyway."

- - - - - - -

At this point in his day, Tao was getting a little tired of this place being absolute to the eyes. His dorm room would have to be as big as the apartment he shared with his mother, and five times as grand. There was a desk, probably for studying, a large dresser that took up most of the wall, a king sized bed and not to mention he-ing-llo to that flat screen television on the opposite side of the room. Oh, yes, he could get used to this.

His luggage momentarily forgotten, Tao leaps onto the bed with a childish grin, already feeling at home in this foreign place. And ugh, the pillows and the sheets were so ing comfortable. How the hell was he supposed to get out of bed at five in the morning when it felt like he was sleeping on a cloud?

Unfortunetly, every gem has some kind of scratch or dent, and he quickly learned that the walls of these dorm rooms were paper thin. From his place on the bed he could hear voices shouting at eachother from the room next door. One of them sounded male while the other was clearly female, and it was obvious that they were arguing. And to make it even more awkward, the walls were thin enough and their voices were loud enough that Tao could hear every word crystal clear.

"I can't believe it. I just seriously can't believe it." The female voice exclaimed, clearly distressed. Tao furrowed his eyebrows. Wait, what was a girl even doing in the Boy's Dormitory? Wasn't there a rule about that, or something?

"Soojung, please, calm down, you're going to attract attention. Is that what you want? To make a scene?" The male voice stated, in a much calmer voice than before. There was something about his tone, though, as if he was almost pleading for the girl -- Soojung -- to stop. He felt bad about eavesdropping, since he was always going on about one's privacy, but he was curious to know what the situation was between these two.

"Calm down. Calm down? You expect me to calm down? Why are you doing this? Have these four years meant nothing? Nothing at all? How can you just let me go, so easily? I knew you were acting strange these past few days but I never thought it was because you stopped loving me." Ouch.

"I never stopped loving you, please don't take it that way..."

"Then how, Kris? How am I supposed to take it? You're dumping me! What is that supposed to mean? About me? About us?"

"It's not that I've stopped caring about you, I just, stopped caring for you in that way. Besides, I know about Yixing..."

"Don't."

"Don't what, Soojung?" Tao flinched at the sudden rise of voice. "Don't admit the truth? I know you were cheating on me with him. Don't you dare try and make this about yourself, don't you ing dare." Oh my. "You have some nerve. These four years meant everything to me, you were my everything, and you were the one who sacrificed all of it because you couldn't keep your mouth off someone's for more than a day." Well . "You don't have the right to tell me not to end this relationship when it was over to begin with. Now, I'd like you to leave. This discussion is over." Discussion? It sounded like you were ready to shoot one another.

"..." Tao pressed his ear against the wall, trying to hear more. It became eerily silent, and it was slightly unnerving. Then, suddenly, a load slap broke the silence, along with the slamming of a door and angry footsteps sounding down the hall outside. Yikes, that didn't end well. 

Scampering over to the door to his own room, Tao cracked it open an inch and peeked outside, sighing with relief when it became apparent the girl had gone.

The sound of yet more footsteps drawing closer nearly made Zitao piss himself. Instead of closing the door and minding his own business like anyone else would, he opened it ever so slightly wider and his gaze immediately darted to a figure wearing their school uniform. Another student, obviously the man who had been arguing with Soojung next door. What was his name? Kris? Tao's eyes scanned the back of said man, eager to see his face, and disappointed when Kris simply let out a sigh and turned away, walking off.

Finally remembering his manners, Tao closes his door with a slam and goes back to sit on his bed, this time heaving his luggage with him to unpack his belongings. The drama was entertaining for the moment, but now it was time to get back to reality and out of other's personal lives. He had his own to worry about. The last thing he needed was to be branded as a stalker before he was even properly introduced to the rest of the student body. I mean, it would to have people already against you before they even knew who you were. Besides, he preferred not to socialize. 

Of course, fate decided otherwise.

A knock at the door interrupted Tao's musings, and suddenly made him nervous for reasons he didn't even know.

Nearly falling off of the bed, the chinese boy quickly makes his way to the door and opens it with a curious expression, eyes flying wide open at who he saw.

It was Kris.

Well, he hadn't expected that.

T B C

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