Jeonghan sighed, leaning against the frame of his window. He hated it here. He hated his new town, and he hated his father. If he could even be called that. The man had been home with him for all of 5 minutes before stating that he had business to attend to and leaving the house for the rest of the day. And so as any teenager in a new town would, Jeonghan went exploring. He learned many things that day. First, his new home was in fact in a gated community (he had spent most of the drive asleep). Secondly, there was a city only about 4 blocks outside of said gated community. He had known about the city's proximity, of course, and his father had told him that many of his classmates lived there. He had not, however, realized how close it was. He made a mental note to explore the city later, as it was so close. The last thing he learned was that his new home was nothing like his old one. Back home the houses had been small with decent sized yards. In his new neighborhood, however, the houses were huge. Ridiculously so. His neighbors were rude and snobby and had little interest in a teenage boy dressed in skinny jeans,a black t-shirt, and a leather jacket other than to assume that he was some "low class riff raff that jumped the fence." It was about 11:30 now, and Jeonghan had long since grown bored of exploring. And so he had returned "home." He had spent the past half hour staring out his window at the sky, watching the stars and dreading the start of his new life. Suddenly, he got an idea. His mother had always told him that she would wish on a star whenever she was worried about something. Even if what she wished for didn't happen, the act of making a wish made her feel better. So he knelt in front of his window and closed his eyes, repeating the chant she had taught him.

     "Star light, star bright. First star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might. Have the wish I wish tonight." He paused, biting his lip before speaking again. "I wish... I wish that I could just... have a friend. Just... someone who won't leave me or betray me. Just someone who... will help me out at school and with... with getting over mom's death and moving and just... everything. I... I wish I could have a best friend." He felt kinda silly talking to the stars but, like his mom had promised, he felt a little better now. He sighed, getting up and walking into his en suite to take a shower before bed. 

      Jeonghan woke up to the sound of his alarm clock going off. Loudly. He groaned, rolling over and rubbing at his eyes with the back of one hand. It took a few moments for him to process the fact that the time read 5:00 am, and when he did he groaned again. School. Though school had technically started a month and a half ago, Jeonghan had yet to start. His father had wanted him to start as soon as he had arrived, but he had conceeded to give him a week to get settled. But that week was up and it was time for Jeonghan to face the thing he had dreaded the most: school. He wondered briefly if his father would even notice if he didn't go, but then there was a knock on his door.

     "Jeonghan," his father called. "Are you up? You have to get ready for school."

     Jeonghan groaned again, finally dragging himself out of bed. "I'm up," he shouted back. He sighed, pushing his hair out of his face before heading into his bathroom to shower. Half an hour later found Jeonghan ready for school: he had showered, his hair had been brushed and blow dried, and he was dressed in his school uniform. He glanced at his phone with a sigh, then grabbed his backpack and headed downstairs. His father, as expected, was no where to be seen. Jeonghan rolled his eyes when saw a note with money on the counter. He read it quickly.

     'Jeonghan - here's some money so you can get breakfast at the cafe and lunch at school. Have a good day, and I'll see you when I get back from work.'

     Typical. This was how most of his mornings went. His father was always gone by the time he was up, and there was always a note on the counter just like this one, usually with $10 so he could walk down to the cafe and get breakfast (since they rarely had food in the house that could be eaten for breakfast). This time his father had left $20, and Jeonghan sighed in irritation. At least he was getting money without having to get a job. He took the money and slipped it into his pocket, tossing the note into the trash, then put on his shoes and walked out the door. It took about 5 minutes to walk to the cafe. Pushing open the door, he smiled when he saw that Minki was once again behind the counter. The teen had been the one behind the counter most times when Jeonghan had showed up, and the two had formed the start of a friendship. Minki looked up as the door opened, grinning when he saw Jeonghan.

     "Hey Jeonghan," he called out lightly. "How are you doing this morning?"

     "I'm alright, I guess," Jeonghan answered, walking over to the counter. "I'm kinda dreading school, but that's not unusual."

     Minki nodded. "I know the feeling. School's a drag. You want your usual?"

     "Yeah, " Jeonghan answered, leaning against the counter. This had become their daily routine. They were friends but Minki had already graduated, so Jeonghan was still left to face his first day of high school on his own. 

     Ten minutes later Jeonghan was walking down the street with a half full cup of coffee in his hand and a small bag of cookies and chocolates (courtesy of Minki) in his bag. He felt a little better about going to school after talking to Minki, but he still wasn't looking forward to going. Not only was he coming in part way through the year, but he was coming in part way through junior year. Everyone was already going to know each other, everyone was going to have friends that they hung out with. No one would want to be bothered with the new kid. He'd probably either be bullied or ignored. A small piece of his hair fell into his face as he walked and Jeonghan sighed. That wasn't going to help. His hair had invited more than a fair share of attention at his old school: both good and bad. Jeonghan had no doubt it would do the same here,but unlike his old school he guessed that the bad would outweigh the good. His first steps past the school's gates confirmed his fears. Everyone was standing or walking in groups or pairs, and many of them turned to stare at him as he walked past. He could hear them whispering, catching some of their words as he passed. 

     "Who the hell is that?"

     "Is that a boy or a girl?"

     "Ew he's probably some snobby rich brat from America or something."

     "Where do you think he's from?"

     "Is that a boy or girl?"

     "Who is that?"

     "Oh wow, he's pretty."

     The comments weren't unusual or unexpected. Actually, they weren't as bad as he had expected. Jeonghan sighed, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder and continuing to walk. There was no point in paying any attention to them. It's not like they would listen to a word he had to say, and the last thing he needed was for his new classmates to decide that he was conceited or pompus. So he let it be, not even looking at them as he walked through the school's front doors. Luckily for him, the main office was directly across from the front doors, and so he was able to avoid looking completely lost. He opened the door with a little bit of hesitance, and the secretary looked up as he entered.

     "Good morning," she said with a cheery smile. "How may I help you?"

     "Uh.." Jeonghan swallowed nervously before speaking. "My name is Yoon Jeonghan. I.. just transfered here.."

     "Ah," she said, nodding and smiling even wider. "You'll be needing your schedule and your student ID card, then." She typed something into her computer, then nodded several times and moved over to a filing cabinet. She searched through it for a minute then pulled out a file and opened it, removing two sheets of paper and what Jeonghan assumed was his ID card. This was confirmed when she returned to the desk and offered them to him. "Here you are. This is your schedule and a map. Your schedule also has your locker information on it, so be careful who you show it to, hun. And this is your ID card, which you will need to sign up for events or after school clubs or to leave and re-enter the building during lunch time. Have you walked the school before this?"

     Jeonghan shook his head, and the girl nodded several times again, typing something into her computer.

     "Alright," she said. "Would you like me to find someone who can show you around, walk the school with you? I know a really nice boy in your class who would be more than willing to show you around a bit if you'd like."

     "Uh... sure," Jeonghan said with a shrug. He might as well. It couldn't hurt to have someone show him around, and who knows? He could even make a friend while he was at it.

     "Great!" the secretary said, beaming at him. Jeonghan nervously returned her smile as she stood and walked out from behind the desk. "Give me just a minute now. I'm sure he's around here somewhere. He usually meets his friends just inside, so it'll be fairly easy to find him." She opened the door the the office, and stepped just outside. "Joshua," she called out, and Jeonghan could faintly hear someone answer her. The two spoke for a moment before the secretary returned, followed by a boy with styled, red hair. The boy gave him a bright smile, and Jeonghan found himself smiling in return. He looked nice enough, Jeonghan decided, so maybe this really wouldn't be so bad. 

     "Hi there," the red haired boy said, still smiling happily. "Miss Jessica tells me that you're new here, and I'm supposed to show you around. Hopefully we can become friends. I'm Joshua Hong."

A/N

Here you go! The first chapter is done! This was a little slow, but it's necessary. The second chapter will be Joshua's side of the beginning of this story (which will also be a little slow, but equally necessary for this story to make any sense), but after things will start actually moving along.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed ^^