[CONTENTID1]

six: breakfast with (practically) a flower boy[/CONTENTID1][CONTENTID2]

["You are handsome and I admit that, but you are in no way a knight or a prince from a drama."] [/CONTENTID2][CONTENTID3]

Miyoung had to shake Juyeon awake the next morning.

"You're usually the one waking me up," Miyoung said with a slight frown. "Are you okay, Juyeon?"

Juyeon gave her a shaky smile. "I'm just not feeling well."

Miyoung didn't look convinced. Juyeon took a look in the bathroom mirror and saw why. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and she looked extremely pale. It was her expression that was the worst. It was pinched, haunted, the face of someone who looked death in the eye.

Or at least crazy possibly inhuman High Class teenagers in the eye.

When Juyeon had woken up, she thought it was just a dream. A terrible, horrible dream.

Until she saw the mud and grass stains on her legs and blankets. And the small dark brown bruises on the back of her neck that looked a lot like fingerprints.

And a pin lying on her nighttable.

When her roommates left for the dining hall for breakfast, Juyeon pulled it out of her jacket pocket and examined it.

The metal was indeed unidentifiable, but it might have been silver if it had more of a shine. And the pin indeed took the shape of an animal. The metal twisted and looped in amazing detail until it formed an owl. Two incredibly tiny round rubies were set as eyes, and it made the owl look wise, fierce, cunning, beautiful, and overall terrifying.

Whose pin was it? And how did they get into her room? Juyeon tried to imagine one of those monsters entering the room while she was sleeping and felt bile rise up in .

Juyeon fought back the shaking and shoved the pin back into her pocket. She had to eat and regain her strength, then make a visit to the principal's office. She needed some answers

The dining hall was one of the biggest rooms in the Academia, after the assembly hall, gymnasium, and swimming pool area. It was close to the center of the school by the West Wing, so both North and South students could reach it easily. It was a place for all three Wings to mingle and chat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The noisiness, for once, calmed Juyeon down. She grabbed some breakfast and wandered around for a place to sit.

"Juyeon, are you alright?" One of her Class 12 classmates saw her and came running over. "You look awful! Are you sick?"

Some of her other classmates came over too. Even some of the slackers who were usually antagonistic towards her.

"It's not your family is it? Did something happen to them?"

"If you have to take a break off school, I can lend you copies of my notes."

"Your notes? Your handwriting is practically illegible!"

"Yah, shut up!"

"Maybe you should go back to sleep. I'll cover for you if need be."

Juyeon couldn't help but smile. She never expected her classmates to care for her this much. It wasn't like they hated each other, but with Juyeon losing her temper and acting like a smartass every once in a while, she didn't think she gave them a reason to show concern.

It made her … happy.

Which of course was immediately ruined when a hand placed itself on her shoulder.

"Sorry, everyone," A very familiar, playful voice said. A shiver went up Juyeon's spine, all the way from her tailbone to her skull, and she looked up to see Kai's blinding smile. "The little darling is eating with me today."

With a firm hand, Kai pulled Juyeon away and steered her towards a table in the back. Juyeon turned and shot a panicked SOS look at her classmates, but they were too shocked (and possibly bedazzled by his good looks) to react.

"May we have this spot?" Kai asked charmingly to the students sitting at the table. Well, it would have been charming, if