Sophie’s POV

I open my eyes to another day. It has already been like a week since the funeral and now it’s my first day of school here in Korea. I knew it was coming; I just don’t want to think that it’s actually here.

Every day as I get dressed, I look at the letter that Daehyun gave me in an attempt to figure out what it is, but I don’t know. It looks like it’s written in Chinese, which makes no sense. Why would I be given something in Chinese when I don’t even know Chinese, that’s just like completely absurd. Totally strange.

I get dressed in my school uniform, which is a new experience for me, and make my way downstairs. I guess I’ll have to get used to this wearing a uniform thing. I sigh as I make my way downstairs. I’ve gotten used to making my own way downstairs in the house. Even if I can’t make it anywhere else, I can go downstairs and come back up to my room without any hassle.

“Ready?” Daehyun asks holding out a bag for me.

“What’s that?” I ask pointing at it.

“That’s your school bag. It has everything you’ll need,” he explains.

“Great, first I have to wear this uniform and now we all have the same bag?” I ask as I sling the bag over my shoulder.

“Well duh,” he says rolling his eyes. “Youngjae’s already waiting in the car for us.”

“Okay,” I say as I follow him out. Like always, Youngjae is sitting in the car playing video games or doing something with his electronics. “You really like that stuff, don’t you.”

“Slightly,” he says without even looking up from it.

“Ah, that reminds me,” Daehyun says as he closes the car door and the car begins to move. “Um…how do I say this…here in Korea, Youngjae and I have nicknames.”

“Nicknames?” I ask.

“Yeah, nicknames,” Daehyun says as he looks at Youngjae. “You could say that we have completely different personalities when we’re at school than at home, so that’s why we have different names, like superheroes.”

“That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard,” I tell him.”How is that possible?”

“It just is,” Daehyun continues. “So, you’ll call us by those names?”

“I guess,” I say shrugging my shoulders. “It’s not like I have a choice.” It really makes no sense this whole nickname and double identity thing. I don’t get what they’re trying to do with it, but maybe because it’s a new school they’re going to try to reinvent themselves. Yeah, that’s probably what they’re going to do.

“So, I’m Daejae, or DJ,” Daehyun says pointing to himself. “And Youngjae will be known as Hyunsoo, but only when there are other people around, other schoolmates around.”

“It’s like you guys are reinventing yourselves?” I ask.

“Exactly,” Daehyun says clapping his hands together. “I knew that you would get it.”

“Um…yeah,” I say acting as though I get it when in reality I don’t.

“We’re here,” Youngjae says looking out the window. Quickly, we all get out and immediately we earn the stares of everyone around. I guess they saw the car that we arrived in. It’s probably not normal for that type of thing to happen, students arriving in a car with a driver. Is this why Daehyun and Youngjae wanted to reinvent themselves? They’re doing a crappy job at it so far.

Daehyun’s POV

Youngjae, Sophie, and I walk into the school to find the teacher’s offices. So far, no one has said anything to us. I personally arranged with the school everything that we would need and I told them to keep the secret about me being the prince or else I would use my power on them. I don’t even really have a power, it all was a lie.

“Hello,” I say in Korean to all of the teachers in the room. “My name is Jung Daejae and this is my cousin Jung Hyunsoo along with our friend Sophie Karp. We are new transfer students here.”

“Yes,” one of the teachers says coming over as she looks at our nametags before handing us some of the papers that we’ll need. Along with the agreement with the school, we also had them make the nametags in our new names.

“Dae…jae,” Sophie whispers to me. “Why does your nametag say Daejae and mine says Sophie?” I guess it took her this long to be able to read it.

“Um…just because,” I say as I look at the papers and back at her.

“So, I will you guys to your homerooms,” the teacher says as she starts walking in the hallways. I beckon for Sophie to follow since she doesn’t know what she’s saying.

“How am I going to understand?” she asks as we walk through the hallways where students are now going to their homerooms.

“I’ll take awesome notes and I can translate them,” I tell her.

“But what about tests? We can’t do that for tests,” she says worrying about it.

“Don’t worry,” I say attempting to relax her. “We’ll figure it out as we come. First we have to see who our seating partners are.”

“Seating partners?” she asks nervously.

“Yeah, we have to sit next to someone. More than likely we aren’t going to be able to sit next to each other.”

“This is Hyunsoo’s room,” the teacher says. Youngjae enters the room, but not before a wave to us. “And now Daejae and Sophie, you guys will be going into this room down the hall.”

“Thank you,” I say bowing with Sophie following suit. The teacher leaves and I grab Sophie’s arm by dragging her inside of the room.

The inside of the room is full with students who are just talking and doing whatever. The homeroom teacher must notice us because he gets them to quiet down. “Students, our new students are here,” he announces to everyone. “Why don’t you guys introduce yourselves?”  I nod my head as I go over to the board.

At the board, I write down Jung Daejae like how it is on my nametag. “My name is Jung Daejae,” I say turning around to face them. “Nice to meet you.” I motion for Sophie to do the same thing and she writes her name in English on the board.

“Hello,” she says in English, “I’m Sophie Karp."

“Well, as you can see,” the teacher says, “one of our students is from America and only speaks English. Who is a good English speaker?” I would offer myself, but I guess it would be too suspicious and Sophie wouldn’t know anyone else and would become too dependent on me. I wait for someone to raise their hand so I can see who it is. However, no one raises their hands. Instead, all hands point to one person. “Ah yes. Sophie, sit there,” he says in broken English as he points to the empty seat where the person that everyone is pointing at is sitting.

“Sit there, where everyone’s pointing,” I whisper to her. Sophie nods her head and goes to her seat. She probably doesn’t even know why she’s sitting there in the first place.

“And Daejae,” the teacher says turning his attention to me, “you can sit right over there.” I follow to where he’s pointing. It’s on the other side of the room from Sophie and sitting next to some girl. Slowly, I take my seat and sit down next to her.

“Hello,” she says with a bright smile.

“Hello,” I say smiling back at her. “I’m Daejae, or DJ for short.”

“I’m Jieun, or IU. Looks like we both like having two letter nicknames.”

“Right,” I say as I take out my notebooks. Maybe this isn’t as bad as I thought.

Sophie’s POV

I take my seat that everyone directed me to. I don’t know how I’m going to understand any of the lessons since I don’t speak Korean. “Hello,” the guy next to me says in English. it’s probably the only English he knows though.

“Um…hello,” I say back.

“My name is L.Joe,” he says as he extends his hand.

Hesitantly, I shake it. “You know how to speak English?”

“A little, I spent about five years in Oregon,” he shyly says. “Why else do you think you were sat here?”

“I don’t know,” I say shrugging my shoulders. “I can’t understand Korean and you’re from Oregon?”

“Ah, so I should teach you some Korean,” he says nodding his head like he’s talking to himself. “But I’ll help you understand the lesson first, okay?”

“Okay,” I say nodding my head.

“Your name is Sophie, right?”

“Yeah and your name is L.Joe,” I say looking at him. He just nods his head.

“How do you know the other new kid?” he asks as he flips through the textbook.

I remember the story that I was told this morning before I speak. They have nicknames, but they’re still cousins. I don’t know why they’re making up all of these crazy stories. Why can’t they just tell everyone who they are? Are they afraid that no one’s going to like them because they have a lot of money?

“We’re friends,” I explain. “And I guess that you could say we live in the same house?”

“Is it like an exchange program?”

“A little,” I say hesitantly. “His cousin also came here.”

“His cousin?” L.Joe asks a little shocked. “He and his cousin are in the same grade, huh.”

“I guess, it appears to be that way.” L.Joe nods his head without asking too many questions. He points me to where we are in the book, but I’m unable to really follow along. I guess I’ll just have to rely on Daehyun later.

I look over to where Daehyun is sitting and it looks like he’s having a good tie with his seating partner. Maybe this partner idea isn’t so bad after all. I have the chance to make new friends and so can Daehyun. Maybe I won’t have to rely on Daehyun all of the time for everything.

“Sophie?” L.Joe asks waving his hand in front of me.

“Yeah?” I ask as I’m knocked out of my thoughts.

“It’s lunchtime,” he coolly replies.

“Already?” I ask as I look at my watch.

“Were you daydreaming the whole lesson?” he chuckles.

“Maybe,” I say scratching my head. “Where is everyone?” I ask looking around the now empty classroom. I don’t even see Daehyun around. Did he go with his seating partner?

“They all left. Let’s go to the cafeteria. You can meet some more of my friends.”

“Okay,” I say as I get up and follow him to the cafeteria.

L.Joe helps me get some food and helps me pay for it with the money that Daehyun gave me this morning, although I didn’t tell him that Daehyun gave me money. If I were to mention Daehyun, he wouldn’t even know who he is because he’s going as Daejae, not Daehyun. I have to remember that when we’re in school, I have to call him as Daejae, or DJ. DJ might be easier.

“Right here,” L.Joe says as he puts down his tray. I look around and just see a table full of guys that are goofing off with one another. He turns to them and they all talk with one another in Korean. I guess it would be helpful for me to learn some so I can understand what they’re talking about. Right now it just seems like they’re blabbering on in jibberish. “Sophie, do you want to introduce yourself?” L.Joe asks me.

“Um…hello, I’m Sophie,” I say trying to use as simple English as possible that they should understand.

“Sit here,” he gestures to the seat across from him and next to one of his friends. “Sophie, that’s Changjo,” he says pointing to the boy next to me.

“Hello,” he says with a light smile. I smile back at him without saying anything. I guess the first day isn’t that bad so far.

Daehyun’s POV

I wanted to wait for Sophie for lunch, but Jieun had me follow her because she wanted me to sit with her. I would’ve said no, but I don’t want to make an enemy on the first day, especially one that has to sit next to me for the rest of the year, even if it’s not that much longer.

“Over here,” she says pointing.

As I sat down, I attempted to find where Sophie went with that guy she sits next to. I don’t know his name, but Jieun has told me that everyone likes him and that he’s one major playboy. I have to keep my eyes open so Sophie doesn’t get hurt. It’s not that I necessarily want them to be in a relationship with each other, but I mean, I never know either.

“Guys, this guy just transferred here, his name is Daejae,” Jieun says as she introduces me.

“Um, hello,” I say to all of the people that were sitting there. Thankfully, it wasn’t only girls.

As they were talking about who knows what, I kept attempting to look around to find Sophie or at least Youngjae, but I can’t find any of them. I wonder what Sophie thinks of her first morning here. There’s only a little more time until we’re able to go home and I’ll be able to see her again, well, I’ll see her again when we get back to the class, but I wouldn’t be able to ask her much.

"Are you looking for someone?” Jieun asks.

“You could say,” I say.

“Are you looking for…what is her name…Sophie?”

“Yeah. Do you see her?” I ask.

Jieun looks around for a little bit before she shakes her head. “No, I don’t see her at all. So, how do you know Sophie?”

“She’s my friend,” I say as I finish eating my food. “We’ve known each other for a while.”

“So you just enrolled at the same time? Or I guess you transferred?”

“Um…both?” I ask. “And my cousin, Hyunsoo. He’s in the same grade and transferred here, too.”

“Why did you guys transfer here?” Well, Jieun likes to ask a lot of questions.

“We just moved back into the country.”

“You lived overseas?” she asks. Her eyes get wider by the second upon this revelation. I just nod my head. “So you know how to speak English?”

“How else am I supposed to talk with Sophie?” I chuckle. “She only speaks English.”

“But you know Korean,” she says trying to figure out how I would know the language.

“I lived here before I moved and I moved back,” I say making things easier for her.

“Then you’re like L.Joe.”

“L.Joe?” I ask. “What kind of name is that?”

“It’s his nickname, like DJ is yours and IU is mine,” she says. If she just would’ve stopped at nickname I would’ve known what she was talking about. “He’s the one sitting with Sophie, the one that knows English.”

“Oh,” I say nodding my head. I finally have a name on the strange boy that sits next to Sophie. The bell then rings and it’s time for us to get back to class. “We should go,” I say getting up from the table before Jieun can say another word. I just want this day to end already. The first day is going alright. At least no one’s noticed me, that’s good. I wonder how Youngjae is doing.

Sophie’s POV

“Are you just going to zone out in all of the lessons?” L.Joe whispers to me.

I shrug my shoulders. “I guess…maybe. It’s not like I can understand anything anyway.”

“Well then how about I help you?” he suggests.

“Help me? I have Daehyun to do it.”

“Are you really going to stick by your friend all of the time? Why don’t you just let me help you. I’m smart.”

“I don’t know,” I say as I rest my head on the desk and look at the teacher in an attempt to understand something, but it’s hard to learn in a language I don’t understand. Why didn’t I get enrolled in a school that speaks English? Daehyun could’ve at least done that for me. Instead, I’m stuck here in a school where I don’t speak their language and not many speak mine.

“I’m sure that Daejae wouldn’t mind, right?” L.Joe asks.

“That’s something that you would have to ask him.”

“Do you let him control you?” he whispers, but it’s a pretty loud whisper that causes the teacher to look back at us. We sit there quietly and act like good students before he turns back around to the board.

“No, I don’t let him control me,” I refute back.

“Then at least meet me after school,” he pleads.

“Meet you after school? For what?” I curiously ask.

“For some hanging out time. You’re my new seating partner and I’d like to know some more about you. Plus, wouldn’t you want to know some Korean to at least be able to understand what these darn lessons are about?” he asks leaning over and flipping the textbook to the right page. “I think you need some help.”

I roll my eyes as I attempt to stay awake and look at the front board. Thankfully, the class ends and it’s time for English, which I understand with a breeze since it’s the only language that I know. Before I realize it, the class ends, which means that the end of school ends.

“So, are we hanging out with each other?” L.Joe asks as I put my textbooks into my bag.

“Let me just tell Dae…jae first,” I say catching myself before I said Daehyun.

“Sure,” L.Joe says.

I leave my bag on the table as I walk over to where Daehyun is packing his bag. “Hey,” I say as I go up to him.

“Hey, I didn’t get to talk to you all day. Where were you at lunch?” he suddenly asks.

“I was sitting with L.Joe and his friends,” I explain. “Speaking of that, I’m going to hang out with L.Joe, is that alright?”

“S-sure,” he stutters a little bit.

“Is something wrong?” I ask.

“Nope, just…that’s good, making friends already,” he says with a smile, but it seems like he doesn’t want to smile. Is it just an act?

“If you’re against me going, I can tell him that.”

“No, you should go,” Daehyun says nodding his head. “I have some things that I need to do, too.”

“Okay,” I say. “Should I just have L.Joe take me home then?”

Daehyun’s POV

Crap, I forgot that everyone here knows about the Korean Palace actually being the home of the King and Queen, which could only mean trouble. “How about you call me when you’re done?” I suggest.

“Sure,” Sophie says with a smile before I watch her go over to L.Joe.

I begin to walk home alone when I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around and see Youngjae coming towards me. “Hey, this hair dying is awesome,” he exclaims.

“Huh?” I ask unable to really catch what he’s saying because he’s too excited.

“No one recognized me as you-know-who,” he whispers.

“That’s good,” I say pretending to smile.

“Did anyone recognize you?” he asks. I shake my head. “See, we should’ve thought about this a while ago.”

“Um…okay?” I ask not really knowing what to say to that.

“Hey, where’s Sophie?” he asks finally sensing her presence.

“She made a friend. She’s hanging out with him right now.”

“Him?” Youngjae asks quick to catch up on it. “Who is it? is it someone that I know?”

“We just transferred here,” I tell him. “How in the world could it be someone that you know?”

“Doesn’t matter, so who is it?” he asks again.

“A person by the name of L.Joe,” I say. “They’re seating partners.”

“Does he speak English?”

“Yeah,” I say. “How else would they be able to hang out? Sign language?”

“You never know,” Youngjae says. “She could know and so could he.”

“Yeah,” I say, “but they don’t.”

“Are you bitter about her hanging out with L.Joe instead of you?” Youngjae suddenly asks.

“That’s absurd,” I reply.

“You know what,” he says as he gets closer to my face. “I think you are bitter. You have feelings for her.”

I just look at Youngjae. These aren’t feelings for Sophie; they’re feelings of being a best friend and looking out for her. Right?

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How is school going to go for them? What is going to happen with Daehyun and Jieun (IU)? What is going to happen with Sophie and L.Joe? What does the letter that Sophie was given say? Why is the letter in Chinese?

Here is Chapter 9. Hope you enjoyed :D