It was Monday and today was the day that the second years and third years would be paired off in the co-ed dance sequence. Ms. Fei had assigned you to partner up with Jr. while E-Young was partnered up with JB and Mark was paired up with Seolhyun, one of the prettiest, most popular girls in second year. 

"Oooh Mark..lucky you bro! You got one of the prettiest girls at J.Y. as your partner! I'm so jealous~" teased JB

"Shut up! You should consider yourself lucky to be partnered up with me.." replied E-Young who lightly punched JB on the arm, pretending to be mad. 

Seolhyun was nicknamed the "angel at J.Y." not only for her attractive visuals but also her graceful personality that could rival Sera's. She came from a wealthy family and was the only child of one of the top executives at FNC Corporation, one of the major investors in the school. She was an arts student from the theatre department and a part-time model, endorsing many of the products from FNC Corporation and its subsidiaries making her a school idol. She was the apple of everyone's eye but you've had some less than fabulous encounters with her in the past. You, Sera, and Seolhyun went to the same primary school and your father worked at the same company as the Chief Accountant for the firm which meant you often saw her in and outside of the school environment. You, Sera and Seolhyun used to be close friends but it had been years since you had last seen her as she went to Sera's middle school. 

"Hello everyone, it's nice to meet you, I'm Seolhyun, second year theatre student" she said, bowing to Mark and the group. 

"Oh, Kwon Aerin, I didn't know you were in this class! It's been such a long time since I've seen you properly~" said Seolhyun as she walked over to hug you. 

"YYeah...it's been a while hasn't it?" you said stuttering, surprised by her sudden and exaggerated movements. 

You knew she was putting on a show in front of everyone. You had been in the same dance class as her since September and she clearly saw you but never acknowledged your presence. You were used to it, it has been like this since you two were kids. As children, you, Sera and Seolhyun used to be playmates in primary school however, it always seemed like Seolhyun would only treat Sera as a friend and you as the girl in the background. You secretly hated her as a child because you saw through her bullsh*t and felt like she was taking Sera away from you. She only paid attention to Sera, offering her toys, clothes, and invitations to birthday parties, the amusement park or movie tickets. She was an only child and was used to having everything she wanted, even if she had to use some obscene courses of action to obtain it.   

"Oh you two knew each other?" asked E-Young looking suspiciously at you and Seolhyun. 

"Of course! Aerin is a good childhood friend of mine" Seolhyun said a little too enthusiastically. 

The whole group looked at you in disbelief. You gave a small smile, unsure of what to say. 

Dance class started and you and Jr. were slowly becoming closer, synchonizing your dance moves and becoming more comfortble with each other. The class went through the routine three times before Ms. Kahi gave the class a short 10 minute break. 

"Good job Aerin!" said Jr giving you a high-five 

"You too" you responded with a smile 

"Do you want anything to drink? JB hyung and I are going to the vending machine" asked Jr 

"Nope, I'm fine with water thanks" you responded with a smile. 

"You sure? I'll be right back~" he said as he exited the studio with JB and a few of their other friends. 

You sat on the floor with E-Young who was lightly stretching and made some small talk about midterms and the winter break coming up. You looked around to see where Mark and Seolhyun were since they didn't sit with you guys. You spotted them on the other side of the studio alone in a corner, talking and Seolhyun was clearly flirting with him. She giggled and played with her hair and you could tell that she was acting coy. *WHAT IS SHE DOING?* you thought to yourself, slightly angered. You didn't know why the sight of the two of them together drew such a reaction from you but it made you uncomfortable. You got up from the floor and started to walk towards them. You had no idea why you were being so forward as you were never like this. 

"Where are you going?" asked E-Young as she followed behind you. 

"Hey guys, how was practice?" you asked to the both of them. 

Mark saw you coming and gave you a smile and a friendly wave. 

"Oh hey! Not bad, but it's totally different dancing this piece together as a whole group instead of doing it individually like the way we learned in class." he said 

Seolhyun slowly turned her head towards you, giving you a questioning look but resumed to her bubbly personality in a matter of seconds. 

"Hey Aerin~ it's going great! I haven't seen you dance since we took dance class together back in our middle school years. You're still pretty good, I'm so jealous" she said in her high-pitched whiny voice. 

*Yes you have..we were in the same class since the start of the school year* you thought to yourself. You could tell she was clearly displeased having been interrupted by you during her conversation with Mark. You didn't know what triggered you to be so spontaneous but you found it slightly amusing to see her conceal her anger. Just then, JB and Jr returned to the studio with their drinks in hand. 

"Over here~!" yelled E-Young waving them over. 

"Here's your cream soda" JB said, handing E-Young her drink. 

The boys stayed in the corner talking and joking around while you and E-Young chatted. Seolhyun was still sitting unsure at what had just happened and not happy with the sudden intrusion by you and the boys. She walked over and sat down beside you and linked her arm into yours, resting her head on your shoulder. You looked at her unsure as to why she was acting so intimate towards you but it turned you off to see her being so foxy. She had something up her sleeve, you were sure of it. 

"So when did you two become friends?" said Seolhyun, gesturing to you and E-Young. 

"Since the start of the school year" E-Young replied. 

"Oh how nice! You must not know very many people in the arts stream since you're an academic student. You should be more open and outgoing~" she said 

"I guess so.." you trailed off not knowing what to say. 

Class ended and you all headed towards your respective changerooms. As you were leaving, you felt someone tap on your shoulder. You turned around to see Mark giving you a smile and waved goodbye to you. Your cheeks flushed bright red and your heart rate quickened. *I feel weird* you thought to yourself but inside you were very happy. Seolhyun saw this and shot you a piercing look-she did not like what she saw. 

"Ohh Aerin!" she called from behind. You turned around, recognizing the overly sweet voice to be Seolhyun. 

"Hmm?" you looked at her wondering what she wanted. 

"Hey I saw you talking with Mark, sooo how do you know him?" she asked, trying to hide her ulterior motives through her innocent look 

"We met in class" you simply replied sensing that she wanted to find out more but you were too proud to give in to what she wanted

"Oh so you met just recently. Good. So are you close to him?" she continued

"We're friends" you said, sticking with your short answers

"I see. So let me ask you this, does he have a girlfriend?" Something about her tone changed and the air around you two suddenly felt tense.

"I'm not sure about that. You can try asking that yourself" you responded rather bluntly. You walked away towards your history class with an uneasy feeling. You had a strange premonition that something bad was going to happen. Seolhyun was up to something.

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You were running late since the teachers' meeting after school went overtime. You were busy filing papers in the office and running errands: photocopying, stapling, and recording marks. You quickly jogged to your locker to retrieve your backpack and your umbrella. It was raining today and if not for Sera, you would've been stranded at school or soaked from the rain. You sent Sera a text earlier telling her that you would be late and that she should go home without you but she insisted on waiting for you. She said she had to check out a few things in the library anyways and that it was no fun to walk home alone. 

SERA POV: 

You were waiting at the school gate under a small roof for Aerin to come. It was a gloomy cold day but you liked the sound of rain, it was calming and soothing to hear the sounds of nature. You had brought your umbrella to school however, a young freshman forgot hers and she was late for her after-school activities. Since you and Aerin walked together anyways, you figured you two could share one and so you lent your umbrella to the young girl. 

Mark sees you standing at the school gate, gazing into the foreground. 

"It's raining pretty hard today isn't it?" an unfamiliar male voice said. 

You looked around curious to see where it came from and you spotted a tall, red-haired male walking towards you. He was handsome and had a perfect smile. 

"Yeah, but I don't mind, I love the rain. It gives everything you're used to seeing a mysterious vibe with grey skies and stormy weather. Change is good, it's refreshing" you responded with a smile

"Even if you loved the rain so much, don't you think you should've at least brought an umbrella to school?" "I don't think most people would like being soaked from head to toe in rain water in this kinda weather would they?" he asked with a smile on his face 

"I'm Mark Tuan by the way, 3rd year dance student. What's your name?" 

"Kwon Sera, 3rd year arts and music student" you replied "Nice to meet you" 

"What are you doing out here alone?" Mark asked. 

"I'm waiting for my sister so we could walk home together" 

Just then you felt your phone vibrate in your coat pocket and checked to see who it was. It was Aerin and she said she still had things to do and so you could go on ahead of her and that you two would meet at home. 

MARK POV: 

You were making your way down the hall and you saw a girl standing at the school entrance. She looked beautiful from behind, with a slim figure and long wavy brown hair cascading down her shoulders. She looked like a goddess under the grey skies. 

YOUR POV: 

As you were making your way down the hall and out the entrance, you suddenly remembered that you had promised to deliver E-Young her homework to her house since she has been sick for the last few days. The change of weather left her bed-ridden but with midterms around the corner, she wanted to catch up as soon as possible. You sent Sera another text letting her know and went back inside the school to gather E-Young's books. 

SERA POV: 

*buzzz buzz buzz* you felt your phone vibrate again. Aerin had to drop off a friend's books and told you to leave first. But since you had no umbrella, you were unsure of what to do. You thought about going back into the school to see if there were any spares available. 

"Ohh that was my sister, I guess she still has some errands to run" "Well what should I do now, I guess I will really be one of those people soaked in the rain with no umbrella" you chuckled 

"If you don't mind, I can walk you home" Mark said, gesturing to his umbrella at hand 

"Are you sure that's ok? If you have somewhere to be, you can go on ahead. I'm sure there are some spare umbrellas left at school that I can borrow.." you trailed off, fidgeting at your coat. 

"It's no problem! I've nothing to do this afternoon anyways" he assured you 

"Well if you say so..uhm..sorry about all this. I'm inconveniencing you" you responded with a half-smile.

"So should be get going? Where do you live?" he asked as he opened the umbrella 

"I live 30 mins away from here by walking but in this weather, I'm better off taking the subway. It's about 2 subways stops away from here" "How about you?"

"Well I'm on my way to the subway station anyways, I live 5 stops away" "Please don't think of this as an inconvenience, it's no big deal really" he said, ruffling the back of his head. 

He was cute and you could tell he was slightly embarassed to be under the same umbrella as you. He tried to maintain some distance between you to avoid contact but his shoulder was starting to get wet. You pulled his arm closer to you and let out a small laugh at his stiff posture. You two made your way into the underground subway station arm in arm. 

"Thanks a lot for today" you said as you bowed. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't been stuck at school" 

"I.It's not a big deal" he stuttered as his face turned red 

"No really, I owe you. I'll treat you to something in exchange for getting your uniform wet because of me" "What's your number? We can meet up on the weekend if you want, I don't like owing people~" you said with a smile 

You two exchanged phone numbers and arranged to meet up tomorrow at Moonbeam Cafe at noon, one of Aerin's favourites.

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SIDENOTE: Hey everyone! Things are starting to pick up in the story line now~ Sorry for the slow start, I really wanted to establish the characters properly before the "drama" starts. I hope you guys like the story so far, and leave any comments or feedback that you may have :) THANK YOU

P.S. Yes this is Seolhyun from AOA and not Seohyun from SNSD :)