She steps outside and meets her friends Willow and Kasumi.

“Hey, guess what?” Kasumi immediately says. “I had this really freaky dream last night.”

“Me too!” Willow exclaims. “I got shot in the back, and it really felt like I was dying.”

“Someone hit me from behind, on the head, really hard.” Kasumi shudders at the memory. “All I remember was that, plus I was falling, never getting a chance to cry out.”

“Wait, I had one too!” she breaks in. “I forgot it for a second, but now it’s coming back. Um…”

Her friends look on expectantly.

“So… basically, I was trying to get somewhere, I think escaping? I ran into a dead end, and the person came slowly, and I couldn’t really see their face, but they pointed a gun at me.”

“And then you died.” Willow’s voice is hushed. She nods silently. Kasumi’s eyes are cold and calculating. Even though the day is warm, she shivers.

It is far from coincidence that all three had dreams of dying, especially Kasumi, who rarely dreams.

“Kasumi, Willow, Emikochie!” A group of boys in front of the school gates wave.

Park Jungsoo, Leeteuk, the leader with an angelic complexion.

Kim Heechul, the cynical behind-the-scenes leader.

Kim Jongwoon, Yesung, the talkative face of the group.

Kim Youngwoon, Kangin, the gossiper of the entire school.

Shin Donghee, Shindong, the big friendly guy.

Lee Sungmin, the biggest flirt one will ever meet.

Lee Hyukjae, Eunhyuk, the guy who can talk with anyone.

Kim Ryeowook, the shorty with a sunshine smile.

Kim Kibum, the one whom everyone seems to forget about.

Cho Kyuhyun, the youngest and exceedingly rude.

There had also been Han Geng, Donghae, and Siwon, but for private reasons, they had all left the school.

“Guess what?” Yesung bounds up. “Everyone had really creepy dreams last night.”

Kangin then proceeds to inform about how Leeteuk, Heechul, and Yesung died together in a large chamber. Eunhyuk was shot in the head, Ryeowook fell off a cliff, and Kyuhyun was crushed.

“Sungmin and Shindong both had their throats slit. Kibum and I, we’re cool, we didn’t dream,” he finishes, throwing an arm around Kibum’s shoulders.

“I rarely dream,” Kibum says quietly. Kasumi looks at him.

“Same here, but in my dream last night, I died from a blow to the back of the head.”

“I was shot in a dead end.”

“I was shot from the back.”

Leeteuk starts. Being the leader, he was always trying to protect s in any way possible.

And, even though the three are not part of his group, they might as well have been.

Emikochie Kazuko, with waist-length black hair and wide green eyes, is easily the sweetest of them all.

Kasumi Noe has shoulder-length platinum hair and ice blue eyes and is the mastermind of the group.

Willow Hoen, with long cinnamon-colored hair and curved green eyes, prefers to stay in the background and judge silently.

There is quite a bit of confusion among the group. Is there something between Kasumi and Heechul, who always fight? What about Leeteuk, who always looks for Emikochie? Perhaps Yesung and Willow, with so many inside jokes?

Whatever it is, they get along fine without it, and somewhat better with it.

With such confidence, they walk the earth.

With such ability, they rule the school.

With such power, they could conquer the world.

But they do not.

Instead, they terrorize the staff and amuse the students with ingenious pranks.

This time, they have a beautiful plan.

It is not, however, a smart one.

The actual plan consisted of setting the roof on fire and parachuting down from the highest point. Unfortunately, it had been raining on the day of operation.

The administrators had caught them all redhanded, standing in skydiving equipment, attempting to light a fire.

Needless to say, they had all gotten expelled.

What was worse was that they would all be sent to a criminal rehabilitation center.

Yet the worst part was that the staff had thought Kibum to be the ringleader of it all, past and present.

Which he certainly was not.

Everything from planning to actually doing was carried out mostly by Heechul.

Kibum had next to nothing to do with anything.

But no one bought it.

No matter how much they pleaded, no matter how Heechul had thrown himself out, they had taken Kibum away.

Shindong and Sungmin too, had gone for interrogation.

Leaving the rest of them alone and afraid.

And even then, they are separated.

Shouting and screaming and crying.

But they are not going to be punished.

Oh no, too much of a waste of such young lives.

No, they are going to play a game.

Most of them calm down after that, save the paranoid Heechul, Leeteuk, and Kasumi.

“If you win the game, you may go free with no criminal charges. Start afresh. If you lose, there will be punishments. Only one may win.”

But they are each prepared to take that risk.

Or so they thought.