Since the very first time he set foot in middle school, Hyukjae knew his life wasn’t going to be normal. He was what people would categorize as a geek, nerd, or probably a nuisance too. He was a genius, a transfer student from a prestigious school in New York. 

While most people would probably be thrilled to be back in their hometown after spending years in a foreign country, he had a totally different thought. People avoided him. He was all alone. His bad social skills weren’t helping either, not to mention his appearance that clearly defined ‘the weird nerdy boy who has books in his hand everytime.'

He got used to it though. He wasn’t hated by anyone, but he wasn’t anyone’s friend either. Deciding not to care about what other people thought about him, he isolated himself and began a lonely teenage life.

One thing he felt glad about, was that he was never bullied, not even once. He’d sometimes receive mocking jokes from a few people, but that was it. Well, at least humanity still exists in this world.

“How was school today?”

It was the exact same question he’d get for almost every single day from Kyungmi, his loyal housekeeper.

“Fine,” and he’d reply with the same answer each time he was asked.

He indeed thought he was fine the way he was, until the day he first entered high school and met the popular dancer turned idol, Jung Yunho, who happened to attend the same high school he goes to. It was like a dream come true.

Despite his image as a geek, Hyukjae had always loved dancing; it was his passion. He admired Yunho a lot, and it was probably an opportunity sent down from heaven to meet the latter in the flesh.

He thought of him as a dancing god, well, he thought he was, until that one gloomy day he’d never be able to forget.

“I really admire you, Yunho-sii,” he braced himself up and bravely came up to Yunho, ignoring the eyes that were secretly trying to take a peek into their conversation. “Can you please be my dancing teacher? I would like to be a dancer like you too.”

He didn’t know where he got the confidence to open up his usually silent mouth and approach the most popular student in the school. But he did it. Gathering every bit of his little courage, he told Yunho the one thing he had been keeping since the first day of school.

“Really,” Yunho smiled at him, the kind of smile that instantly put him at ease. “You want to be a dancer?”

Hyukjae nodded. This is it, he thought. He’d finally achieve his dream, alongside his idol, Jung Yunho. He heard whispers and murmurs mocking him, but he couldn’t care less. Yunho was the only one he could see right now.

“Are you kidding me?” Yunho let out a sarcastic laugh, his judging eyes staring at him up and down. “Do you really think an ugly piece of like you could be a dancer like me? Dream on, geek.”

Those words left a big impact on him, more than he thought they’d be. He could only stand there looking blankly at the walls, still in the middle of processing each of the word Yunho had told him.

Piece of .

Ugly.

Dream on.

His face reddened, never once had he thought the gentle and nice Jung Yunho he had seen on TV would say something like that. He didn’t expect this outcome, he didn’t see this coming.

He could hear people laughing, he saw the scornful look they were giving him, but he couldn’t walk away. His pride was shattered to pieces, and then he felt it, the raging anger that slowly emerged deep within his heart.

He was humiliated right in front of the crowd.

And he wasn’t going to forget this.

*****

“You should eat something.”

Hyukjae didn’t look up when Kyungmi entered his room, putting down a glass of his favourite strawberry milk on the table. He had been locking himself up in his room for two days straight, isolating himself from the outside world.

It wasn’t like he was well accepted out there anyway.

“What happened?” Kyungmi asked again, but as stubborn as he was, Hyukjae still refused to say a word. “You don’t want to talk about it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You’ve been sulking for two days and it’s nothing?”

“Noona,” Hyukjae sighed. He didn’t want to be rude, but he preferred to be alone right now. “I’m just tired. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Did something happen at school?”

“No.”

“You’ve always been bad at lying, you know that,” Kyungmi said, but she didn’t ask further and eventually left the room after forcing Hyukjae to finish his drink.

As soon as she was out, Hyukjae slowly climbed down his bed and stood in front of the mirror, studying every inch of his face.

Messy long hair, big round spectacles, skinny frame and outdated fashion style. That was the image he cou