"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Bom had never felt so fascinated in her life before. Her life always seemed so dull, so depressing. She didn't have time to be lost in the happiness the world could provide; she was always so busy.

But here she was, standing in the middle of Stanford's campus, utterly mind blown, lost for words.

"Wow," Bom repeated, for the tenth time.

"I know," Taeyeon squealed, jumping up and down in her Versace heels. "Look at the garden. Isn't it amazing?"

It was indeed. Bom's eyes were glued on to the red and white flowers that were planted in the heart of the campus. The red flowers were planted to shape the alphabet S. For Stanford.

"My dad made it happen," Taeyeon boasted, looking immensely proud. "He also helped construct the water fountian- it should be behind that building...."

Bom couldn't really pay attention to whatever Taeyeon was talking about. Her eyes were busy feasting on the buildings in the campus; her brains occupied with construction and architecture.

"By the way. I talked to my brother about helping you with the intern stuff. He's only free tomorrow, so if that's okay with- Bom!"

"Hmm?" Bom's focus snapped back on to Taeyeon.

Taeyeon chuckled. "I was just talking about your internship. It seems like you have fallen in love with Stanford."

"I uh, it's amazing," Bom agreed, looking dazed.

"Not your regular college campus, hmm?"

"No," Bom confirmed. She could guarantee that none of the colleges in Korea looked anything like this. Yes, there were nice campuses, but Stanford, filling up around 8,000 acres- the buildings looking so antique-

"Bom," Taeyeon muttered, suppressing the urge to laugh. "You're zoning off again."

"I'm sorry," Bom apologized, embarrassed. "What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Internship. Would you have time tomorrow?"

"Uh. Yes, of course." Bom nearly stuttered. She was so grateful for Taeyeon, who had already planned out the date for her internship.

"Awesome." Taeyeon took out her golden pen from her Roberto Cavalli handbag, and scribbled down some numbers on the back of Bom's hand.

Bom looked at her, dumbstruck.

"My brother's number," Taeyeon laughed openly.

"Right, right." Bom was feeling incredibly stupid, and well- not her usual self. Maybe the aura of Stanford had that kind of effect on her.

"Alright. It's about time, so go." Taeyeon lightly pushed Bom to the entrance.

Bom couldn't help but ask. "What?"

"To your first class! We're at Stanford for a reason, you know." Taeyeon smiled.

"Right, right."

Bom quickly turned around, and tried to walk confidently inside the building.

There was nothing to worry about. She had been waiting for this moment to come for years, and she was psyched.

What could possibly grow wrong?

Everything.

Everything could go wrong.

Bom felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment and anger as she hung her head down, walking as fast as she can.

She had been so sure, so confident. She had been the pride and representive of Junpyo Highschool. She had been the valedictorian of Junpyo Highschool for three years- a record.

But reality had come crashing down on her so unexpectedly, so suddenly. And she didn't know how to overcome the cruelty of it all.

It was all because of him, she thought angrily, stomping down the main hallway. She willed herself to forget, but...

  "As you all know, I am your Literacy and Language professor. I introduce myself as Professor Juel. Welcome to Stanford."

Bom inspected Professor Juel closely. She seemed nice enough, with her black knitted sweater, and her maroon colored scarf wrapped around her neck. She looked nothing like some of the other professors she passed by earlier; they were all dressed in their expensive, appropiate professor attire. They meant business, Bom could tell.

Professor Juel, however, wasn't your ordinary elderly, either.

She had no warmth or laughter in her eyes. Her dark circles stretched to the tip of her nose, and lines of exhaustion and weariness stretched across her forehead and around her eyes.

Professor Juel's left eye started twitching, and snickers echoed throughout the room. And Bom immediately felt sorry for her.  

"Laugh at me now, but remind yourselves that the old hag you idiots are snickering at is the one in charge of your grades," Professor Juel said smugly, smiling nastily as she made eye contact with the victims.   

"And I don't care how rich you idiots are," Professor Juel continued, batting her eyelashes. "There were wealthier people here before, and I don't give a damn about it. Your final grades are your final grades. Your parents won't be able to do anything about it. I've been teaching in Stanford since- I don't know, only God knows for how long- and I have my ways."

"I don't know if you guys are worth teaching or not, because most of you probably came here with the help of your parents, anyways," Professor Juel muttered, obviously irritated.

Bom felt a swell of pride rise up to her chest. She'd gotten into Stanford with a full scholarship. She was different. She deserved to be here, in Stanford, and she deserved to be taught by Professor Juel.

"And just to test your intelligence," Professor Juel said, looking bored, "I've decided to give you an assignment, now. Speech and debate. Promt will be passed out- it's about the intellects and thoughts of the greatest leaders of world history. I am a psychology professor, after all."

Bom looked over to the paper that was passed out to her, and groaned to herself. In order to give a satisfying presentation, not only did she have to come up with perfect counter arguments and reasoning, but she had to be fluent with speech, fast to thinking, and had to know the events and history of these ancient leaders in order to disect their actions to focus on their reasonings.

If there was one thing they didn't teach in Junpyo Highschool, it was history, besides Korean history.

World history? Bom didn't have a clue.

She at last decided to choose Alexander of Macedon. He was the only one on the list she had the slightest knowledge about. She remembered reading a book about him a couple of years ago, and remembered being mesmerized by his ability to gain so much power.

Thankfully, Bom had a memory close to being photographic. She remembered bits of information from the text book, but... It wasn't enough for her to have complete knowledge on his thoughts and reasonings.

"You're time is up," Professor Juel said, lazily. "Alright. Whoever chose Julius Caesar, stand up, and start expressing your opinions."

Bom cursed silently, and hoped that the class would end before her turn. Knowing her luck, the people who chose Alexander of Mecedon would know everything there is to know about him.

Bom started relaxing as time started passing by. She also felt more at ease when she realized that many of the students were just as confused at the sudden assignment like herself.

Professor Juel looked at her watch, and decided, "Okay. One more, and you idiots are done for the day. Look at how many fools are in my class. Three fourth of you fools don't even know what you're talking about."

Relax, Bom, Relax. What are the odds?

"Alexander the Great, or Alexander of Macedon."

Bom bit her lips, and stood up. Two other people stood up with her, and a collective sigh from the women were heard.

 They were two men, one person incredibly short, with dark framed glasses and a hankerchief in his pocket. And the other... incredibly well dressed- all dressed in Gucci, with a Rolex watch around his wrist.

Bom started feeling her blood boil at the confident, smug look on the wealthy man's face. Bom unknowingly scowled.

The man looked at her, and winked.

Whimpers of adoration and jealously could be heard in Bom's ears. And Bom felt disgusted.

"Who is that lucky bit*h? Choi Seung Hyun winked at her."

"She's not so lucky; Choi Seung Hyun's about to whip her as*, he's the king of speech and debate, remember?"

"He was the representative of MUN every year. He was valedictorian every year."

"He's so handsome and rich.."

"Obviously! He's the heir of the owner of ChoiGogeub, remember?"

The boiling blood froze.

Bom felt a wave of chill dancing from the top of her head to the back of her heels.

Bom looked up at Choi Seung Hyun, and forgetting where she was, that everyone- including the professor- was watching, she asked, "Choi Seunghyun, from Choi Gogeub?"

Choi Seung Hyun was clearly agitated. "I prefer you don't mention that."

Bom felt her cheeks flush- whether it was from embarassment or anger, she did not know.

She would've kept shut if it wasn't for him commenting, first. He didn't seem to care that there were fifty other people listening to their suffocating conversation at the moment.

"But clearly, you would know, wouldn't you? Everyone did," Choi Seung Hyun smirked arrogantly.

"I wouldn't have cared less. I hate people like you." Honestly, at the moment, Bom didn't care, either.

"People like me?" Seung Hyun raised his eyebrow.

"You wouldn't know. You only had to reach out your hands, and everything was given to you. Yes, I loathe people like you; people who don't have to give a damn about anything, because they think they're so mighty and rich. And you're not any different- you probably came because your dad paid for your tuition fee, the donations, and uh, your life, I guess." Bom felt her heart expand until it popped, and a refreshing feeling swept over her.

Choi Seung Hyun's handsome, arrogant features disappeared from his face. His dark eyebrows were scrunched up together, and his perfectly shaped eyes were glaring at her, as if they were trying to bore holes through her face.

"I deserve to be here. Yeah, I'm filthy rich, my dad paid for everything. But I deserve to be here, because I worked my as* off to be here- I joined as many clubs and sports activities as I can, scored perfect scores for the SATs, the admission essays, and every other tests there are. I don't know what you have against people in the higher class, but you need to get your head out of your sh*t."

"Excuse me?" Bom asked, half horrified, half enraged.

"You heard me. Now why don't you start on your speech and quit stalling time?" Seung Hyun asked, firmly but calmly.

Bom bit her tongue, trying to control her temper. She didn't think she could even focus on her speech; her mind was already occupied with Choi Seung Hyun and his surprisingly fast comments.

The blonde chic who sat in the row behind her let out a not-so-sympathetic sigh.

"That bit*h must've lost her mind."

Hello, viewers!

Haha, long time no update.... I'm really sorry.

I beg you for your mercy and forgiveness... I've been really busy...

Okay, I'll stop.

Thanks for sticking up with my procrastination and laziness, I'll update faster for next chapter, I promise.

Geez. Writing about all this college stuff is hard.

The next chapter will tell you why Bom was so embarrassed, and yes, it had something to do about their debate.

Yay? Top came out on this chapter.

Sorry for the not so PG language, but.... adults do curse, trying to make this as realistic as possible.

Thanks again, guys...