unlabelled

There was only one thing Lee Ahri realised the second she stepped through the doors of her highschool.

Royal Princeton High is like a real kingdom, with real rulers who ruled over real peasants. She'd devised a list that concisely summarised what never needed to be spoken out.

The label of a peasant would be administered accordingly to a simple concept:

- said peasant defies or objects against a noble

Common things such as not relenting to the 'noble's' demands for lunch money or maybe even a mere wrong look could condemn one to misery for the rest of high school.

Not like the queen of Lucky High had much to complain about. Right?

They were all judgemental and Ahri hated it. In fact, she is one of them. Except she didn't want to be. She wanted to be one of those commoners, that nobody looked up to or were expectant of. Not the one spat on and called names defined as lower than dirt, nor the seemingly flawless royalty. Just, the middleman.

"Ahri-ssi, let me get that for you."

Ahri looked up in well masked confusion to see her desk mate bending down to pick something up. Her pencil. She must've been too enveloped in her thoughts to realise.

"Ah, thank you." She managed a tight smile, the other not detecting her discomfort.

Her peers, despite already being with her for two full years, still hid behind the unspoken barrier, afraid that they would anger her with their unworthiness. 

She knew her biggest imperfection was her need for perfection. School work, her career, and clean reputation were all that mattered to her, it seemed. But unlike a lot of those strict parents who whipped their daughters into demure shape with threats of disappointment or disownment on their tongue, her parents loved her. They just weren't around much. They had meetings and conferences around the globe to attend day and night, and it only incited Ahri to strive harder for them. Because they worked so hard and she thought in return, she should give them an easy job of raising her. But it was also on her own accord that she naturally like to read and was interested in science and mathematics and the performing arts.

She usually walked around in a tight circle of her friends with nothing to do, parting seas of students in hallways. She actually wanted to read a novel she'd gotten hooked on after one chapter. She loved those types of books. After a taste, you just had to finish the whole thing. Like a good pint of sorbet. A few times already, she had tried to slip out and escape to the library where they would never find her. But like a sixth sense, they'd detected it and noted to each other to squeeze her in tighter. She almost wanted to stamp her feet and yell in frustration. But the queen could never do that. 

"Do you want to eat lunch now, Ahri?" Hyojung asked her with a smile. Out of all her friends, Ahri thought Hyojung was the most real. She had five bodyguards friends around her; Hyojung, Sunmi, Jihyun, Taemi and Mirae.

Hyojung had made friends with her first. She was a transfer student from Canada although she knew how to speak Korean, as she had a Korean mother and Canadian father. She had the courage to befriend Ahri, and despite the latter's initial rudeness and sharp words, she slowly gained her trust. She was her best friend. 

"Yeah. Let's sit over there?" Ahri grinned back and squeezed out of the circle to sit down, but Taemi beat her there, pulling out the chair she was going to sit on with a nervous smile. This was what she hated. This kind of treatment. The rest of her 'friends' didn't treat her like a friend. But like a queen, someone they were lower than and were always overly respectful. 

Ahri suppressed a sigh and Hyojung gave her a knowing look, as if telling her to keep it in until they left. Instead she tried as best she could to keep her smile from looking dull and empty, giving a soft "Thanks."

Taemi beamed at the attention and signalled to the three others to go line up at the canteen. Ahri let out the deep sigh and leaned on Hyojung's shoulder tiredly. Hyojung pet her head like a mother hen, and Ahri nuzzled deeper into her neck. It was comforting. 

She turned her head at the sound of an audible gasp. She was very familiar with that sound. The sound of punishment. Taemin had upturned some poor kid's lunch over his head, soiling his uniform. It was obvious that the kid didn't bring his pocket money today. It disgusted her, how as rich as Taemin was, he still liked to prey on those who weren't as rich for more money. Just at the time when he felt her looking, he faced her and sent her a wink to which she ignored. His minions whistled and cat-called shamelessly, and Hyojung gave them the one finger salute. They booed and snickered at her feistiness, not being able to do anything else. They couldn't touch her. She, after all being the queen's best friend, pretty much placed her several levels higher than them on the social ladder. 

School was over in a breeze and Ahri was relieved to be greeted by the friendly face of Mr Park. He was her family's trusted chauffeur and like Hyojung, had snuck through Ahri's fierce defences. He smiled warmly at her and ruffled her hair. She squirmed out from under his hand and glowered at him.

"Why must you always do this?" She groaned and that only spurred Mr Park on to laugh harder.

"You never objected when you were younger. I remember you were like a cat, purring when I ruffled your hair."

She grunted minimally, accepting her defeat.

"I have good news." Mr Park focused back on the road, but still with a smile plastered on his face.

"Hm?" Ahri prompted him to continue.

"The masters are back home from their China conference and-" Mr Park was cut off by Ahri's squeal of excitement. She hadn't seen her parents for 3 months with only weekly calls and skyping to compensate for their absence. 

Mr Park eye smiled, knowing she would be more than happy to see her parents again. But he wasn't sure if she would still be smiling at the next part of the information. "And they brought home a boy and their parents. The parents have been best friends with the masters for a very long time and are moving from China. They're currently building their house but are going to be staying at the mansion for the time being." He paused, waiting for her to process the info and when she perked up in mild interest, he continued.

"The boy is your age and will be attending your school." Ahri winced inwardly at the news. He would have to somehow fit in. As someone unlabelled was very vulnerable and especially targeted by the nobles. Then, she had a thought.

"Is this...Lu's so