~Hyukjae~

I was actually enjoying myself here. This school was impressive to say the least. But my mind was not entirely convinced about its reputation of being one of the best in South Korea. There’s still a lot I didn’t know about SM Academy, so it made me look forward to the exposure of the various opportunities this school still had to offer. But at the moment, I wanted to settle in and make a few friends.  

To be honest, I had no idea how I got into the school. It had caught me off guard when they asked me if I auditioned when I had no recollection of ever doing so. Heechul was the one who filled out the paper work and was most likely the one responsible for the ‘audition’, but it didn’t really bother me too much. As long as I was in this school I had no complaints. But it made me wonder as to what he did to get me in. He could’ve just told me, but did he do something else? Money? Did he really bribe the district or whatever to let me enroll? No. Definitely not. Heechul was intimidating, cruel, sassy, and weird, but he’d never snoop so low as to involving money if it weren’t already involved. He believed in true talent and I likewise did, too.

Back to the subject of wanting to make friends – Jessica is a really nice girl. We talked a lot during lunch and I guess her possessive boyfriend, Donghae, got over-protective and separated us. He shot venomous glares at me, but sadly, he was in the dark that I’m not attracted to her – scratch that – he doesn’t know I’m not attracted to females. Not sure if I made a good impression on him, most likely not, but I had no plans on telling him that I was gay until it felt right. It wasn’t easy coming out, and it’s not exactly supposed to be, but if he seemed to return even the slightest bit of attraction, I might consider telling him. What was the fun of that anyway? Why assure him not to worry about his girlfriend being taken away by me when I could make him even more jealous and insecure? I found it funny how he tries to play ‘boyfriend’ with her when they obviously don’t look like they’re madly in love. I know it’s wrong to toy with their relationship like that, but I just wanted to see how long he can keep acting until he realizes it himself that they don’t have that couple vibe. I will admit that I’m a bit sadistic, but I am related to Heechul so it shouldn’t be too surprising, unless you’ve never met him before.

Donghae’s friend, Kibum, always looked at me with the same cold eyes of his. I really don’t get him. If he were acting, I’d say his skills were superb, but I don’t think he is. He’s silent for the most part, but his presence is strong. I have an odd feeling that Heechul would like him.

“Need help finding drama class?” Donghae said.

I turned around and saw Donghae and Kibum, standing side by side. Shoving my ruined schedule down into my pocket, I nodded and we began to walk to our last period class together. I noticed Donghae glancing towards me and I glanced back.

“What?” I said.

“Nothing. Just stay away from Jessica.”

I snickered.

“Something wrong?” I could hear a sign of annoyance in his voice, but that didn’t bother me.

“Of course there’s nothing wrong.” I smirked. “I’ll keep my distance, but you better tell that princess of yours to keep her distance, too. I am handsome and I can’t control who falls in love with me and who doesn’t.” I bragged.

His fist clenched and his gaze threatened me not to push it any further, but I ignored it. “Whatever, just don’t lay a single finger on her. She’s my girlfriend.” He warned.

Aw, how sweet. I thought in my mind. He’s so protective.

“Alright, but if she suddenly touches me or comes near me or shouts ‘I love you, Hyukjae! Go out with me!’ Remember that I didn’t do anything it was probably just my wild pheromones.”

Donghae didn’t look convinced that I was telling the truth. I sighed at him and rolled my eyes. I was being completely truthful, but he didn’t accept my answer. What does he take me for? A liar? Maybe…We’ve only knew each other since today.

“Dude, chill. I’m not stealing anybody’s girlfriend or boyfriend. I’m not that type of guy.” I assured him, at least for the time being.

“Boyfriend?” Kibum asked. I smiled at them wickedly.

“Yes, boyfriend.” I said. “So if Jessica keeps her distance, it would probably be wise to keep yours, too” I said, referring towards Donghae. I draped my arm around his shoulder and he slapped it off with a scowl.

“Like hell I’d fall for you.” He said in a deep growl. He was now angry and I was satisfied. I decided that it was enough playing around for me and spotted what looked like could be the drama class up ahead. I excused myself and walked a little faster to get to class. Right when I departed from them, I heard Kibum tell Donghae, “Don’t let him get to you. He’s just joking.” I chuckled under my breath.

No. Please do. I thought devilishly.

Let me get to you.

Let me drive you insane.

Let me show you my good and bad qualities.

Let me get closer to you.

Love is no joke, and I wasn’t joking, Lee Donghae.

You better keep your distance, or else…

As I entered class, my eyes found a seating chart which was being projected onto a screen at the front of the class. I quickly found mine and I looked around to see where everyone else was sitting. I also tried to memorize and match names with faces together while I still could before the projection was taken down. There were 5 rows. I was in the third one and I guess the seating chart was in alphabetical order because to my left I was seated next to Donghae and Donghae was seated next to Kibum and to my right was Lee Sungmin. I looked at the student who sat in front of me and found that his name was Choi Siwon. His named sounded familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on where I’ve heard it from before. Not just his name was familiar, but his face. Where have I seen him before?

“Class! Please have a seat. Final period of the day will begin soon.”

Bam! I felt nervous, just like how I was in singing class. My acting was average in my opinion, and I disliked the fact that I couldn’t be completely confident in it.

“Welcome! I am Mrs. Young, and I will be your drama teacher for this first semester.” She was a small framed woman, but her voice very passionate, giving her a powerful presence. Her eyes shot at me like arrows and she smiled. Something about that smile told me that she wasn’t someone I should anger and her eyes were almost as intimidating as Heechul’s. Leaning back on her desk, she opened her arms wide.

“I believe that acting is an art form itself. The beauty of expressing words, creating personas, portraying characters, and setting an atmosphere for the audience, it is something I’ve always admired and here I am today to share this wonderful art with you all.” Her genuine smile said a lot. I could really tell that she loved what she did for a living. She continued on. “I started acting when I was 10 years old and I am now 27, so if you do the math correctly, I have been an actress for 17 years now. My husband also teaches acting and we have two wonderful children. But that’s enough about me. I see some new faces this year so I’d like to learn everyone’s names.”

Mrs. Young grabbed a hat from behind her desk and she put her hand in it. I heard the rustling sound of paper. “In this hat are pieces of paper with different emotions written down on them. If you can already guess, I want each of you to draw from this hat and introduce yourself by vividly acting out in that certain emotion at the front of the class. Everyone understand the instructions so far?”

“Yeeees.” The class said in synced.

“Fantastic, let’s start with the front row. Say your name and something interesting about yourself that you would like to share.”

It started with a stout girl whose voice did not match her image at all. Her voice was super high pitched, but her body was big and tall. It seemed like she could easily pick me up and throw me around like a stuffed animal if she wanted to, but her voice gave her the effect of as if you were being carried by a huge baby. She looked interesting enough, but I wondered what type of roles she could play.

She drew a folded paper from the hat and the teacher read it out loud. “Angry”.

The girl took a deep breath and walked to the front of the room. When she exhaled, her eyes suddenly change. She definitely looked like her was in a state of anger and she slammed her fist on one of the desks in the front row. I jumped a bit in my seat. “My name is Ae Jenny! I was born in America and I have two annoying little brothers. If you ever see me grumpy, don’t mess with me.” The end sounded almost like a threat and I think I just pissed a little in my pants, too. Mrs. Young looked pleased and moved on to the next student. When she got to Choi Siwon, the class looked even more attentive, like he was going to vanish or do a magic trick.

Siwon drew a card and the teacher read it out loud. “Sad”.

Siwon got up and his height caught my eye. Jenny was still taller, but this guy was really tall, too. He stood with his hands tucked into his pockets and looked up with a depressing expression. “My name is Choi Siwon and I love to drink coke.” It was just a simple sentence, but he made it sound like it was the saddest thing in the world. He looked lost as he spoke, like he didn’t know what else to do. His mouth remained open like he wanted to say more, but he choked those words down. A tear was even forming as he continued to give off the feeling of sadness. Looking at him made me feel dejected.

Wow, this guy’s good.

It was soon Kibum’s turn and it looked like there was a lot of anticipation from the students, too. Just like how they were with Siwon. He quickly pulled a card out and the teacher read it to the class. “Energetic”.

Like everyone else, Kibum stood at the front of the class. He smiled and then suddenly there was a burst of energy that came from him. He jumped and exaggerated his movements. “Hi everybody! I’m Kim Kibum, the guy with the killer smile! I really like to box, so if you ever want to challenge me, give me a call and we can knock each other out!” He did some upper cuts and direct punches towards the class and even winked. I’ve got to say, it was amusing. In a heartbeat, he went back to his frown and silent image. And next was what the person I had been waiting for. Donghae.

Donghae shuffled around the cards and pulled one out. Mrs. Young said, “Shy”.

Donghae started with an unconfident posture. He stood with his head down and spoke with an almost inaudible voice. “He-Hello, I-I’m Lee-”

“Speak up, please.” Mrs. Young ordered. “And look at the class when you speak.”

Donghae flinched. He slowly looked at the class with his innocent, round eyes and trembled slightly. He looked like he wanted to crawl to the corner and hide, but managed to gather enough will power to stand there and speak. “H-He-Hello, my na-name is Lee D-Dong H-ae. I-I have a fa-fa-fascination with f-fishes.” His face blushed as he said the last part and he fidgeted around. God, he was cute. He bit his bottom lip and looked like he was about to cry. I had an urge to get up and give him a hug, but I was stuck glued to my seat because I knew what was coming next. Donghae sat back down and the hat was now held in front of me.

I stared at the hat, stalling. “Draw a card.” Mrs. Young commanded. My hand hesitantly obeyed and picked out the first card it touched. My card was read out loud and I heard some students giggle. “y” she said.

I gulped. What kind of emotion is that? Can I really act y in front of them? It shouldn’t be too hard, right? I practically am y on a daily basis. So should I just act natural or try to be y?

I realized that I was taking too long and got up. My mind wanted myself to stay seated, but my body wanted to get it over with. Oh well, I’m going to have to at least try.

I scanned the class and did whatever felt right with my body. I leaned backwards on Mrs. Young's desk and bit my bottom lip seductively. I tilted my head diagonally and looked specifically at Donghae. Letting out a somewhat y sigh and started my introduction. “I’m Lee Hyukjae and I love strawberries, especially strawberry milk” Unconsciously, I my lips at the thought of my favorite beverage and saw Donghae’s eyes widen. There was a look of satisfaction on the teacher’s face, not to mention the jaw drops of my classmates. I just smiled with relief.

This is actually really fun.

So Hyukjae is a bit of a narcissist and attention seeker if you guys haven't noticed yet, haha. There's a touch of sadist in him too, but I think it makes him a fun character to work with. I don't know, but I feel like if there are sadists there should be masochists, too. xD The idea of that sounds really fun to me, but I don't think the masochists are going to be intense, just hints of it from here and there. Anyway, thank you~