Tao walked through the hallways of his new school and took note of everything around him. The rooms were huge and filled with more desks than normal public schools, the ceilings were much higher and painted with old Greek paintings, and the place was filled with rich kids... He was obviously the misfit in this school. 

 

As he examined his surroundings, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, bumping into someone along the way. Both fell, Tao grunting as he made contact with the ground while the other, screaming.

 

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Tao bowed, lending the girl he bumped into, a hand. She slapped his hand away and growled.

 

"How dare you!" She yelled, attracting as much attention as possible,"Do you know how much this uniform cost?!" She screamed as she got up, showing him the huge stain of coffee that saturated her shirt. A small crowd began to surround them and cold sweat began forming on Tao's forehead.

 

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention and-"

 

"Don't make up stupid excuses. Obviously you don't know how much these uniforms cost, you poor, uncivilized, homeless freak of nature." She snickered,"You're not even wearing one. U-ee!" She called. A girl with oversized glasses, clothing way too big for her, and a brown clipboard, came quickly to her aide. Her hair was all tangled and she kept her head down, looking like she had a serious social anxiety disorder.

 

"Y-you called, J-Jessica-nim?" She said in a barely audible voice. Tao noted the strange behavior from that girl, U-ee. It was obvious this Jessica was exploiting the poor girl, probably making her do everything for her. 

 

"Did I ever say you could call me that, Assistant?" She snapped. U-ee quickly apologized and bowed. Jessica puffed out some air and glared at Tao. "U-ee, make sure this kid is at the bottom of the fish tank." With that said, Jessica angrily sashayed away, the crowd dispersed with her, giving Tao nasty looks as they did.

 

Tao raised an eyebrow and looked at her 'assistant', U-ee. She flashed Tao with an apologetic expression, then ran after Jessica.

 

"Way to make a good impression on your first day," A voice said to the boy. Tao looked over and saw a boy with lots of eyeliner. "I'm Byun Baekhyun, the freshman, but you can just call me Baekie." He smiled as he held out a hand.

 

After deciding Baekhyun didn't seem like a bad guy, Tao reached out and shook it. "I'm Tao.. So who was that just now?" Tao asked.

 

"Oh that's Jessica Jung. She's the evil and wicked 'Ice Queen'." Baekhyun said as he attempted a scary voice. Tao nodded as he imagined the scene from "Let It Go" when Elsa strutted her way onto the balcany of her castle.

 

"Why is she the evil Ice Queen?"

 

"Well do you think she was a nice Ice Queen? She controls the whole student body because she's the principal's daughter and her expression and attitude is as cold as ice."

 

Tao nodded finally understanding why she thought she was all that,"Oh... And what's the fish tank?"

 

"Oh yeah she said you're going to be at the bottom? Dude that ." Baekhyun said as he patted the taller's back."The fish tank is the ranking system in our school. There's the bottom feeders- you, the delinquints, the misfits and the nerds. The school- everyone who is pretty much the followers. And then there's the sharks. That's where all the popular and extremely rich swim. If you ever mess with a shark... ANG," Baekhyun stepped forward, demonstrating a biting motion withhis hands, causing Tao to flinch."

 

"Then where are you?" Tao asked.

 

"Oh, I'm part of the school, but after being seen with you I might end up at the bottom feeders... again" Baekhyun sighed. Tao quietly apologized and Baekhyun smiled at him.

 

"It's fine, but you need to know who the main sharks are." The smaller said as he pulled out a few pictures and slung his arm around Tao's neck, pulling the taller down to match their heights,"There's Park Chanyeol, Kim Joonmyun, Oh Sehun, and Kim Jongin. Chanyeol's the nice, happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but they say he's really cold hearted when you first meet him. Kim Joonmyun is super nice, but he won't care about you unless you're a shark. Oh Sehun, he's the youngest, the scariest, and the richest, and he's as cold as Jessica. Lastly Kim Jongin.. don't associate yourself with him. There's a rumor that he's just a player who s anybody..."

 

"Oh.." Tao said, facing the smaller,"What do we do if we run into them?"

 

"Either ignore them or act like you're in love with-"

 

"Who?"

 

Baekhyun's eyes widened,"Them..." Tao turned his head and jumped back in surprise. It was the four they previously discussed. Almost paradise~ ♪ taeyangboda deo ttaseuhan~ ♫

 

It was his first day and he already encountered the main sharks. His heart raced with a terrifying excitement and he froze, unable to process what was happening.

 

"Tell me, what're you going to do? Ignore me or act like you're in love with me?" Jongin asked as he pulled the sides of Tao's chin closer to his face, smirking as he did so. Tao's eyes widened and out of natural wushu instinct, he slapped him.

 

Everything stopped and time felt like it was slowing down. Everyone froze and stared at the two. From the people in the hallways to the people involved. 

 

Seconds seemed like hours and hours seemed to go on forever. Tao slowly turned his head towards Baekhyun and Baekhyun nodded.

 

"RUN AWAYYYY!!!" They screamed as they flailed their arms in the air, running as fast as they could. They didn't have a clear path they were headng to, but luckily wound up in the abandoned part of the school which was a building that was filled with empty classrooms. The school was going to tear down that isolated area in a few months, since it was vacant.

 

They panted and tried to catch their breath. "Tao.. why the .. did you slap him?!"

 

"I just.. I don't know! Wu.. shu instincts?" Tao panted. The warning bell rang and they cursed themselves. They were so far away from their classes, they knew they'd be late.

 

The door to the classroom near them slammed opened and they screamed out of sheer terror, hugging each other as they jumped away from the door. A figure walked as far as the doorway as the boys cowered and screamed, telling it not to hurt them.

 

"Please, Mr. Ghost, we didn't mean to disturb your peace! Go back to your slumber, please!" They chanted.

 

They heard the person step into the hallway and in a low raspy voice saying,"What're you two doing here?"

 

Tao took the initiative to look up and saw a handsome blonde delinquint, with a sharp chisled face and eyes that could kill. They stared at each other for a while then the blonde shrugged it off and walked to class.

 

Baekhyun took a quick peak and once he saw the delinquint, he hugged Tao's sleeve. "That's Wu Yifan! They say his dad's a tyranical leader of a Chinese mafia gang.. you better stay clear of him, he's bad news. Once, he beat up 10 people with just his pinkie!"

 

Tao looked at Baekhyun with a questionable expression, then burst into laughter. "C'mon, let's just go to class and we'll talk later."

 

They sprinted off to their different classes, and as Tao entered, the last bell rang. Whew made it in time, he thought to himself. Everyone stared at him in silence. Within minutes of the 'Jongin slapping' incident, the whole school knew and they took a mental note of how they should make the boy's life miserable.

 

Tao took the seat next to a boy with a dark aura around him. The boy had headphones on and the music was crazy loud, he wore a black sweatshirt with a graphic under his uniform and his legs were crossed on his desk. The boy's eyes were closed and Tao wondered how he was able to sleep with that loud music playing. Tao leaned over a little and read the name tag. Do Kyungsoo... interesting. He began to study the boy's face and noticed the large bags under his eyes and his plump lips. His hair wasn't as dark as Tao's but it was still a close color to it.

 

"What're you doing?" Kyungsoo spoke, his headphones already off. Tao jumped at the sudden voice and awkwardly chuckled, hoping Kyungsoo would forget him examining his face.

 

"Haha, I'm Tao.. um I guess I'll be sitting here for the rest of the day." Tao smiled, trying to change the subject and hoping he wouldn't screw this intro up.

 

Kyungsoo clicked the roof of his mouth with his tongue,"I asked, what were you doing?"

 

"Oh, I was um.. just.. seeing what my seat partner looks like.. that's all." Tao nervously laughed,"Don't worry I won't bother you, so you can continue doing what you were doing."

 

"Don't tell me what to do." Kyungsoo glared, putting his headphones on.

 

"Listen up!" The teacher walked in and Tao immediately looked forward, as did everyone else except Kyungsoo. "We have a new student.. Tao would you like to introduce yourself?"

 

Tao beamed, ready for the big impression he prepared the night before and as he got up, a student spoke.

 

"Mr. Kim... you already introduced him, so he doesn't need to." 

 

"Well, it wasn't a proper introduction, so zip it. Tao, ignore him and continue your intro." The teacher said. 

 

"Um.. I'm Tao.." He said awkwardly. He decided to give up on the amazing introduction because he sensed that everyone didn't like him that much. He awkwardly sat back down in his seat and students began to whisper about him.

 

Mr. Kim slammed his yard stick onto the table. "Everyone stop talking and pay attention, tomorrow we will be having a show off."

 

The whole class began to buzz around with excitement. Mr. Kim hit the yard stick a few times,"Hey! I'm not finished. This time it's going to be a 2 vs. 2 so be prepared." He sat down in his chair, opened up a magazine and checked his watch,"you have a to find a partner in the same grade. You have ten minutes. Good luck." 

 

Everyone got out of their seats and ran into the other classrooms with 9th graders. The whole 9th grade got the news and immediately found their partners.

 

Well... Everyone except Tao. "Um..." He stood in front of the teacher,"What's a show off?" 

 

Mr. Kim slammed his magazine on his desk,"You don't know?! It's a competition where everyone in the entire school participates, showing off their best talents to the entire student body and staff. There are thousands of children in this school and many apply each month. To save space, we kick out 100 kids who do the worst, and they are known as the 100 category. Since you're new here you'll have the most trouble finding a partner. No one knows what's your strong points.. But good luck and hurry! You only have 5 minutes left."

 

"Thank you!" Tao said, already half way out the door. He decided his best bet was to find Baekhyun and he did exactly that. Luckily the boy's class was next to his so the "search" didn't take as long.

 

"Baekhyun, wanna be partners?" Tao asked with excitement.

 

Baekhyun sighed,"Sorry, I already have a partner. Maybe you should try a person from the bottom feeders? There's a couple that are pretty good."

 

"Such as?"

 

"Hmmm..." Baekhyun thought about who would partner up with Tao and rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "Sorry Tao.. But I can't think of any right now."

 

"Oh.. That's fine!" Tao beamed, trying not to worry the other,"I'm sure I'll figure something out." With that said Tao ran back to his class with a slight disappointment, but kept his spirits high.

 

Everyone had returned to their classes and the students began telling their teachers who their partners were.

 

Meanwhile, Tao was going through a major mental breakdown.

 

"What do I do?!" Tao thought to himself, his hands holding onto his head that hung low,"I don't have a partner and it's almost my turn to say who it is. What if I say I don't have one?! Will I be expelled?" 

 

"Tao." Mr. Kim called.

 

"Yes?" Tao said, bringing his head up to look at the teacher.

 

"Who's your partner?" 

 

"Um.." 

 

"Ha!" The same student from before taunted,"Looks like the new kid can't find a partner. that you have to be in the 100 category."

 

Tao had lost all rationality at this point; he spat back at the student,"Sadly, I have a partner." He looked to his right,"Do Kyungsoo."

 

Everyone, including Do Kyungsoo, stared at Tao with shocked expressions.

 

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A/n: wow... I'm sorry it took such a long time to update the first chap >< hope you like the chapter and stay for more?