“Let’s go!
What are you worried about?
What are you afraid of?
If you keep measuring things out, it’ll be too late.”

– Mr.Mr, Girls’ Generation

Im Yoona finds herself staring at the dressing mirror for the final touch. She needs to look perfect in front of everyone and for the record, her goddess-like look is one of the reasons why people think she is an ideal girl. Her face needs touch-up for every one hour; her long, shiny hair needs to be done stylishly; her school uniform has to be free from a single crease or stain.

However, she does not deem herself beauty conscious. From head to toe, she ought to take care of herself to look perfect. Her aristocratic parents are expecting a lot from her.

Yoona glances sideways at her cell phone before shoving it into her pocket.

“7:15 am,” she mutters inaudibly, ruffling her hair with a tiny smile. “It’s a perfect time to go to school.”

Truth be told, that is Im Yoona, the ideal girl who is envied by everyone – the neighbors; the teachers; the girls in her school and undeniably, the boys are fawning over her. She is raised in a tight, dictator-like environment to strive for perfection. There are no words like ‘rest’, ‘shopping’, ‘boyfriend’ and et cetera in her life – she is unquestionably succumbed to studies.

Truthfully, ever since she was in elementary school, she was never woken up by her mom to attend school. That was because she had a goal what she wanted to be in her life.

Hence, before drifting to sleep, Yoona would make sure to set the alarm at 5 am in the morning and say this to herself, “Let’s put in faith and wake up early,” and “In order not to fail tomorrow’s test, I need to wake early.”

She slept with that mind and has been continuously doing the same thing until she is currently in the third year of the high school. Although the thoughts are rather different as time goes by, Yoona never fails to wake up early in the morning.

People may think she is quite an introverted, overly disciplined and lame girl, but she does not beg to differ. She does not mind what others are saying about her. As long as she does good things, that is all matters.

“Let’s get going.” She grabs her backpack at her study desk, switching the fan and lgihts off before scurrying downstairs.

///

“Yoona?”

She turns around and sees the old woman is waiting for her downstairs.

“Yes, mother?”

“I’ve prepared your favourite dishes for breakfast, shall we–”

“I’m alright,” she cuts her off. “I will have breakfast at school.”

“Oh, okay then…” Mrs. Im hums in reply, the dejected look is evidently visible across her face. “So are you going to school now?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll ask Driver Kim to–”

“I’ll go with bus today,” Yoona says with a stoic look. Although her school, St. Blossoms Private Academy is definitely a first-class, prosperous academy institution where only rich kids are attending, she is not used to having people seeing her in awe. Who knows they are actually ridiculing her silently?

Mrs. Im heaves a rather deep sigh, having no choice, but to nod in approval. Perhaps raising her sole daughter in such a tight atmosphere was not a really good choice. However, it is too little too late to turn back time. What is done cannot be done.

At the very least, if she and her husband had not been strict raising their daughter, Im Yoona could have been saved.

“By the way, you do have a lot of free time during summer break, right?”

“Kind of,” she answers plainly. “But there will be times where I’ll be studying for a whole day.”

“That’s a relief.” Mrs. Im smiles reassuringly. “I have arranged some dates for you and your fiancé to get to know each other before tying the knot after you graduated from high school.”

A groan escapes her lips upon the topic she would rather not speak up floats again. “Do you really need to do this?”

The older woman frowns. “Why are you saying, Yoona? I thought when you have given your agreement for the engagement, there will be no turning back point anymore.”

I only agreed because I had no choice. Yoona sighs again. The pressure and the feeling of being obligated start piling up in the pit of her stomach. She feels too much suffocated to the point she would rather be a pauper if she had a chance to change her destiny.

“I’ll get going.”

Mrs. Im is taken by a big surprise of her sudden withdrawal. “What about the dates, Yoona? Will you go or will you not? I am going to inform our future in-laws later!”

“Just do what you think is right,” are all she says before she hurriedly darts out of the house and slams the door shut.

///

“Look, our favourite student is here!”

“That arrogant bastard… I have no idea why teachers and students idolize him so ing much.”

“He’s smart, handsome and athletic. Of course everyone is drooling over him!”

“You two think so?”

“I was just stating what the others said. I don’t bat an eyelash at that kind of person. Just because he’s got straight A’s in every ing exam and is a member of MENSA, doesn’t mean he’s got the power to rule the whole school!”

Lu Han continues to walk to his class, although all those nasty words are too audible to be overlooked. It is not the first time he has ever been badmouthed by the majority of the school – it has been countless and he is utterly tired to pay attention to them.

“Just because he’s got straight A’s in every ing exam and is a member of MENSA, doesn’t mean he’s got the power to rule the whole school!”

Those words hit his eardrum again. He does not beg to refute nor would he attack them. It is just pointless.

He does not seek all these matchless talents to come ever since he was a small kid. He was born to strive for excellence. There is nothing that he has done in the past came in vain.

“Lu Han!” comes a cheerful voice before him.

“Hey.” He gestures a light fist-bump with his best friend, Kim Minseok, before walking to the class together.

“Are you okay?” Minseok, the man with Chinese-like face and slightly puffy cheeks, questions him concernedly. “You seem a little bit off.”

“I’m okay.” Lu Han shrugs. “I was just a little bit tired. I pulled an all-nighter until 4.”

“You need to get yourself some rest, buddy!” Minseok laughs and pats the latter’s back. “I know a lot of people are expecting a lot from you for this upcoming midterm, but I think if you didn’t study, you’d still top the chart!”

He smirks. “I’ll take that as compliment.”

“By the way, let’s go to beach this summer!” Minseok seems exhilarated. “I’ve got a couple of friends on my back and if you’re going to join, that would be perfect!”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why?” He has his eyebrow furrowed in bemusement.

“You know… about my fiancé,” he starts sighing. “My parents want me to spend time with her.”

“Eh, you agreed to that engagement?”

“I did,” he answers, nodding. “For their sake.”

Lu Han is a submissive son and every word that comes out of his parents’ lips (mostly from his father), he is compelled to abide by – no matter how difficult or absurd the tasks are.

“Who is she?” Minseok tilts his head in curiosity. “Is she pretty and comes from a rich family like you?”

“No idea.” He shakes his head. “I don’t even know her name.”

“I think that’s a good opportunity for you.”

His best friend’s remark stuns him. His eyes widen in surprise. “Why makes you think so?”

“Lu Han, I’ve known you since the first year of high school. You’ve never talked to a girl or had a girl’s number in your contact list.”

“Sometimes, I wonder why your parents put you in this school where only could be seen,” he adds with a low chuckle.

Lu Han presses his lips together into a thin line. As much as he wants to deny Minseok’s argument, he could not help but have the same opinion as his friend’s.

///

“Excuse me?”

Jongdae turns around, only to have his eyes wide at the sight of a moderately tall, beautiful female student standing before him.

“Is this yours?”

He rolls his eyes at his thumb drive at the girl’s hand. “Y-yes, that’s mine!”

“How did you find it?” Jongdae shoots her an inquisitive question.

“I was walking behind you to the cafeteria and I guess it must’ve been slipped out from your pocket.”

“I see.” The male student nods before an awkward smile graces his lips. “Thanks, by the way. I’d have gone berserk if I’d lost this thumb drive. You know, it contains a lot of my on-going work.”

She latches her gaze at the laptop in his embrace. “Does it relate to IT?”

“Yes,” answers Jongdae coyly, a bright shade of blush starts creeping upon his cheeks.

The light yet somewhat uncoordinated conversation between two acquaintances comes to an end as Jongdae opts to take a leave first before things will get more uncomfortable later.

///

“What are you doing so long in the toilet, Krystal?” The girl with slightly wavy hair, Choi Jinri, flares up into an explosive burst. “I’ve been waiting for you like, five minutes and our food has literally cooled down!”

Instead of listening to her friend’s words of discontentment, Jung Krystal finds herself staring at Kim Jongdae at the isolated table at the back of the cafeteria. Since her table is facing him, she could clearly see him working intently on something using his laptop. Unlike the other students, a glass of lemon ice tea is more than enough.

A grin is about to bloom across her features before a rather strident shriek of surprise overtakes it.

“Yah!” Krystal winces, jutting her lips out in annoyance. Her arm feels terribly sore after being abused violently by the person next to her. “Why are you slapping me!”

“Are you deaf? I was talking to you since you came back from the toilet, but you gave me no response!” Jinri harshly shoves a bite of sandwich into in disgruntled manner.

“Sorry!” Krystal mouths an apology. “I was busy looking at someone.”

“Who?” Jinri quirks an eyebrow. “You mean, that nerd, Kim Jongdae?”

“How did you know?” The Korean-American girl’s jaw drops. “Tell you what, he’s not a nerd!”

“You basically are looking at him,” her friend lets out a scoff. “And why are you defending him? He’s clearly a nerd, Krystal. No friends, scores good result in every exam and is always seen with his shabby laptop!”

“So what if he has no friends, smart and got a shabby laptop?” She is getting irrititated. “You have no right to criticize him, Jinri. You don’t even know him and he doesn’t disturb your life for once!”

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Do you like him?”

Krystal is taken aback by her words, screwing her eyes shut momentarily before she turns at the fully occupied Jongdae.

Kim Jongdae and Jung Krystal are never friends and will never be. It is not only about not being classmates or they are burnt by their social status, the latter is living in solitude. Rather than choosing to mix up with others, he prefers to stay at home and do his own thing (mostly with computer). It would not be too much to say he is a tad introverted guy, would it?

“Krystal, do you really like him?”

“I don’t.” She shakes her head convincingly.

“Then why are you staring at him so intently?” Jinri scratches her nape, wonderstruck.

“I don’t know…” she trails off, is at loss of words. “I just find him interesting.”

The same-aged girl crosses her arms over her chest. “He’s boring, Krystal,” she pauses, mumbling audibly, “uhm, though he’s kind of cute.”

She does not listen to her further and chooses to stare at him again. Much to her surprise, Jongdae happens to look at her at the same time.

He gives her a tiny smile before going back to his work.

Krystal swears her heart was beating so uncontrollably fast just now. If there was no one in the cafeteria, she would have likely to hide beneath the table out of embarrassment.

Jinri’s words jolts her back to reality. “By the way, let’s go out this weekend. I need to find new dress for my cousin’s birthday party!”

“I’m not going.” Her reply is curt.

“Why aren’t you?” She pouts. “We always go out every weekend, don’t we?”

“I can’t. My mom’s been nagging at me to study for midterm, so I have no choice but to stay at home and do some freaking revision,” she groans. “She wouldn’t let me out during summer break if I flunk Math again this time.”

Jinri gulps. She knows her friend i