“I’ll see you at home dad.” You said as you adjusted the straps of your new backpack after getting out of the car.

“No, I’ll be here to pick you up after school,” he said suddenly.

You looked at him in surprise, “Really?” you smiled at him through the open car window.

He nodded, “I’ll leave work as soon as I can.”

You frowned, “Dad, you don’t have to do that.”

“No, I want to hear how your first day at school turns out first before you run to tell your brother,” he pouted to you and you smiled at him apologetically. That was how you usually were whenever Hyuntae was around. He was always your go to person for everything regarding you much to the chagrin of your parents, especially your dad.

“Okay, okay old man,” your smile turned sweeter and he waved to you as he switched the car from parking to drive. You took a step back on the sidewalk and waved at the back of the car as your dad drove away. The car headed down the crowded road and a new vehicle took its place which was your cue to leave. You started heading up the steps with your hands clenched. Now you could freely worry about how today will go because you didn’t want to let your dad see your nerves.

You looked away each time you accidentally met someone’s eyes and you quickly passed through the front entrance. There were some students in the hallway as friends or classmates were reunited with one another and you started to feel lonely. A sad song came into your mind before it drifted away when someone stood in front of you.

“Hey Jejudo,” it was one of the girls from yesterday and you bowed to her as you greeted her.

“Good morning.” You tried to recall her name but nothing popped up.

“So you’re one of those old fashioned people?” she teased you and you bashfully smiled at her still trying to remember her name.

“I guess you could say that,” she bumped into your shoulder playfully as you two walked down the hallway. Now you felt happy you didn’t feel so out of place but you felt a little bad because you couldn’t remember her name.

“So what classes do you have this morning?” she started the conversation and you pulled out your class schedule and perused it.

“I have my introductory dance class first,” she looked at you incredulously.

Her face looked envious for a second, “You’re in the dancing program?” She controlled her expression again as she waited for you to reply.

“Yes, I practice traditional dancing though.” You awkwardly ran your hands through your hair, a little taken back after seeing her response.

She didn’t seem to notice as she continued to talk, “I tried getting into the dancing program but they placed me in the production program instead.”

“Ah, really?” you didn’t know how you should respond.

Her head snapped to you, “But don’t feel sorry for me,” she faced forward. “I’m happy I even got into this school. It would if I got sent to a private school.” She grimaced.

You slowly nodded thinking that private schools weren’t bad at all especially since you had been attending one since your early education. But she took your nod as agreement.

“See? My parents are crazy to even suggest that.” She shook her head in disdain. Her eyes brightened up as she pointed to a wall ahead of you guys now excited about something, “Look over there!” You looked at her with wide eyes, shocked at her sudden change in mood as you followed her line of gaze. She quickly walked over to the group of students who stood in front of a wall that had pictures on it. You followed after her to get a closer look, feeling curious now about what had everyone’s attention. It wasn’t long before you got the gist of what was going on as you caught what many of them were saying.

“Look at Sehun oppa’s picture!”

“Kai oppa is so handsome!”

“Suzy unnie is so pretty!”

“I think Sulli unnie is prettier!”

“Waaa Suzy-ah.”

You stood on the outskirts of the crowd of girls and boys who were pressed up against one another just to look at pictures. Above the pictures were the words, “Seoul School of Performing Arts Alumni,” in big flashy letters.

“If only I was here when Exo oppas went to school!” you winced at the volume the girls were squealing and shouting.  You tried to look for your new friend, wanting to move on but she was nowhere to be seen. You felt a presence beside you and you snuck a peek to find out who they were.

It was a pair of boys and they were f