Chapter Three.

Botton of the Food Chain

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Monday rolled around sooner than anticipated, and that meant only one thing.

School.

Saeyeon stared at herself in the mirror as she pressed down her uniform to flatten any visible creases. Wearing a uniform felt so foreign to her. Back in America, there was no such thing as a uniform, only a dress code. Students could wear whatever they pleased, as long as it was deemed school appropriate. So the fact that she was going to look identical to everyone else at Daewon High was something new to her. 

Nonetheless Saeyeon had a feeling she’d stick out like a sore thumb.

She was Kim Saeyeon after all, and she did have pink hair.

Tearing her gaze away from the mirror, she grabbed her backpack and headed down stairs.

“Did Hanbin already leave?” she asked, entering the kitchen.

Minju, the family maid of nearly twenty years, nodded in confirmation. “Yes, uhm, he said he would rather walk to school from now on than…” Uneasily, she glanced at Saeyeon, but the girl simply stood there and waited for her to finish her sentence. “Than to be dropped off and be seen with you,” she finished hesitantly.

Blinking, Saeyeon registered what Minju had said, and shortly after her expression darkened.

“Some things never change,” she muttered to herself.

Minju cleared and changed the subject, sensing something was wrong. “Your parents, on the other hand, are in the dining room eating breakfast. Will you care to join them? They have been waiting for you.”

Saeyeon shook her head. “I’m fine. Tell them I’m off to school.”

Alarmed, Minju’s eyes widened. “You’re walking? But you don’t know where it’s at, Saeyeon.”

“There’s a thing called Google Maps, Minju. I’ll be fine,” she assured.

“B-but you’ll be late,” she protested.

Grabbing an apple off of the counter, Saeyeon shrugged.

“I prefer the term fashionably late.”

--

Daewon High was humongous, like ridiculously humongous.

Saeyeon didn’t think the outrageous size of the school was necessary, but leave it to a school full of the elite to fund its buildings and programs to an extravagant extent. Yep, Daewon High was home to the richest, the rottenest, over-privileged, silver spoon-fed teenagers of South Korea. Sons and daughters of top-notch prosecutors, CEO’s, businessmen, politicians, practically all occupations that paid more than a six figure salary , attended here.

And Saeyeon was one of them.

Technically.

After receiving her schedule from the main office, she was led to her homeroom by the principal himself. Although he wasn’t impressed at how late she was, he spoke no further about the matter when he learned who her parents were (kiss , Saeyeon thought). Mr. Park was his name, and judging by the way he kept praising Daewon for being such a marvelous school, Saeyeon figured he was a prideful man, with apparently no sense of shame or else he would have shut up ages ago.

Tuning him out, she kept her gaze forward.

Although that didn’t stop her from noticing the stares she received as she walked past numerous classrooms.

“Here it is,” Mr. Park announced, making an abrupt stop. “I’ll go notify your homeroom teacher of your arrival. Wait here.”

Doing as told, Saeyeon waited until she was called in.

“You can come in now.”

Folding her arms, she entered the classroom, and immediately hoots and hollers followed, specifically coming from the male students in the room. Saeyeon had to hold back her urge to roll her eyes.

“Settle down, settle down,” the homeroom teacher, Mr. Lee, said.

Mr. Park clasped his hands together patiently. “Go ahead and introduce yourself.”

Pushing her hair back, Saeyeon smiled a pearly-white smile. “Annyeong. My name’s Kim Saeyeon. I used to attend Jeguk Intermediate before I moved to the states, so some of you may remember me.”

Whispers erupted once again at the realization of who she was.

Skimming the room for familiar faces, Saeyeon stopped when she saw Goo Junhoe sitting in the back corner.

What luck.

Instantly Junhoe narrowed his eyes at her.

“I hope we all get along,” she ended with a sly smile

There were several claps, more hoots and hollers, and even whistles as Saeyeon stood there in front of the classroom. Her hair was in loose waves, and her makeup was light, enhancing her eyes and radiating her cheeks. To simply put it, Saeyeon was gorgeous, and she was the new girl.

And that meant that she was going to be the talk of the school for the next few days, and to Kim Jennie who was sitting in the middle of the classroom with her arms crossed, Kim Saeyeon posed as a threat.

And threats got eliminated.

“I’ll leave her in your care, Mr. Lee. Please have someone show her around to prevent any sort of confusion. Now if you excuse me.” Mr. Park bid the class a farewell and momentarily left the classroom.

Not a moment too long after, Mr. Lee gestured Saeyeon to the only empty seat in the classroom. “Go ahead and take a seat, Saeyeon.”

Strolling over to her desk, Saeyeon glanced Junhoe’s way and sat down.

“Choi Youngjae, I’ll be placing you in charge of showing Saeyeon around for the rest of the week.”

Several wishful thinking students instantly groaned at the fact that they weren’t chosen, and Youngjae, who was originally leaning back on his chair, immediately shot forward in alarm. “Eh?! Teach, don’t you think that’s little harsh? I mean a whole week?”

Mr. Lee raised his brow. “You told me you wanted a chance to earn some extra credit. Here’s your chance.”

Slumping in his seat, Youngjae grumbled to himself but spoke no further.

Saeyeon, not really caring who exactly had to show her around, prompted her chin up with her hands and looked at Junhoe who was only seated two desks away. When the boy turned to glare at her, she simply smiled and blew him a kiss.

This was going to be fun.

Class ended way much faster than Saeyeon thought it would, but then again, she had to remind herself that she arrived later than everyone else so it wasn’t much of a surprise. Mr. Lee, who looked not a day over thirty, left the classroom, and following him out was half