It wasn’t the first day of school, it was the sixth. Seoul High School student, including freshmen like Lee Chan, had been attending class for a week before going on an abrupt holiday because the school caught on fire.

“Hey Chan! What class are you?” Kim Yeri, Chan’s close friend in junior high school, asked.

“1-7” Chan answered.

“No, the new one”

“New?”

“You didn’t know? We’re moving again!”

“Ah, damn! I’ve been struggling to fit in and now that I start to feel comfortable, we have to change class?”

“I know that feel. Phew… There’s nothing we can do about it… By the way, let’s check te list”

They both walked to an announcement board. A large crowd with faces Chan didn’t know surrounded it. He struggled to break through and read the list.

“I’m still with Soohyun, we both move to 1-1” he said.

“How about me?” Yeri asked.

“Kim Yeri… Kim Yeri… It’s here. Class 1-6”

“Anyone from our school?”

“Nope”

Yeri looked a bit depressed. She looked up to the sky and took a deep breath.

“I hope I’ll be okay” she said.

“You will. You’re better than me when it comes to getting to know people”

“It’s still hard when you’re younger than everyone else”

Yes, Chan and Yeri, alongside their friend Lee Soohyun (whom Chan mentioned earlier), were actually a year younger than most of their new friends. During junior high school they attended a special class called accelerated class, where students finish their studies a year earlier. Lucky for them, Seoul High School was full of expats, which means there was no need to be worried about their peers being senior-like. They didn’t even have to use honorifics to address an older classmate, honorifics were used only to those who were actual sunbaes.

Still, social life would be hard. “Special class” meant that Chan, Yeri, and Soohyun had been stuck with the same people for two years. They forgot how it felt to meet someone new, or to be separated from a best friend. They should get used to changing classmates every year.

“Special class” also meant that the three were focused mainly, if not only, to their studies. They were used to sleepless nights in front of a book, they had learnt for a topic way before it was talked about in class, they went into courses to improve their grades, they made a group project by themselves because they felt that their groupmates were some lazy asses or were too stupid to do it correctly, and such. Absolutely no time for extracurricular activities, school organization, or school clubs.

Unfortunately, joining a club is mandatory for all Seoul High School students.

“I’m anxious about everything. Especially the organization part” Chan complained.

“Me too. But well, let’s enjoy it. Oh, we have to go to the field. There’s a ceremony” Yeri said.

At the ceremony Chan chose to stand at the back, observing his new classmates.

There were some from his old class 1-7: the guys were Goo Junhoe and Kwon Soonyoung; there were also two girls, Ryu Sujeong and Bae Yoobin.

But Soohyun wasn’t there.

Chan sneakily took out his phone and messaged her.

            Lee Chan         : Soohyun where r u?

            Lee Soohyun   :

            Lee Chan         : O_O Tf did u say woman??

            Lee Soohyun   : wut   

            Lee Soohyun   : HOLY GOD THAT WAS A HORRIBLE TYPO

            Lee Soohyun   : I MEAN SICK! SICK!

            Lee Chan         : lol

            Lee Chan         : gws L  btw we in the same class, 1-1

            Lee Soohyun   : thx, new class?

            Lee Chan         : yea

            Lee Chan         : brb teachers looking at me

Chan immediately put his cellphone back in his pocket before the teachers noticed him. He didn’t want a bad impression from new people.

After the ceremony the students went back to class. Chan initially sat alone, but lucky for him Soonyoung was nice enough to sit beside him.

“Hey” he greeted.

“Oh, hey, Soonyoung”

“Anyone you know?”

“Well I know some from our previous class”

“That one’s from your school” Soonyoung pointed at a student.

“Oh, I know him. Lee Jooheon”

Jooheon went to the same junior high school with Chan, but he wasn’t in the special class. In fact, he was a complete opposite of Chan – he was a bad boy, involved in several fights and was caught smoking during the school field trip.

“Are you close to him?” Soonyoung asked.

“Not really. I’m not really close with anyone here except Soohyun”

“Oh, Lee Soohyun? She’s in this class?”

“Yeah… Hey Soonyoung, everyone here seem to mingle well”

“Most of them are from Junhoe‘s school, that why he looks comfortable. As for me, I’ve known some of them before, some just today”

“You’re humorous, no wonder you befriend people easily”

“It’s okay, don’t feel pressured. Take some time to socialize. I’m going to the toilet”

“Okay”

As Soonyoung left Chan started to observe his new classmates.

Junhoe was talking to his friends whose names were unknown to Chan. It was a loud debate about football as Junhoe was a fan of Manchester United; his tall, thin, comedic-looking friend liked Chelsea; his plump, baby-faced friend loved Arsenal; and his nerdy friend was a fan of Liverpool.

Chan would like to join, but he didn’t side loyally with any club, he just supported the dark horses of the season – at that time it was Swansea City, which he didn’t really know.

Jooheon seemed to be quite close with the class’s popular girls, or girls Chan thought to be popular. It’s easy to identify them: loud, busty, thick makeup, expensive bags filled with anything but school supplies, and conversing about nightclubs.

Then he looked at the other girls who were grouping with their friends and tried to find someone attractive.

“Have you decided on the girl you want to hit on or are you going gay?” Soonyoung suddenly came back and asked, startling Chan.

“O, oh! No… no… I haven’t found someone pretty, but there must be some. I’m not going gay, really” he denied.

“Just kidding, nothing against homouals or anything. By the way, how’s your plan on school organization? Which club would you like to join?”

“I don’t know…”

“There’ll be a presentation from all clubs this Wednesday”

“Really? How do you know?”

“I’m running for a spot in the student representatives”

Student representatives is like a parliament in the student organization. Its main tasks are to convey aspirations from students regarding the organization and evaluate all programs ran by the organization and the clubs. That means the members knew each and every organization official, which gave them access to “confidential” information such as the organization’s future plans or what and who teachers liked and disliked.

Chan decided to get closer to Soonyoung as he tried to know more people. He’s funny, nice, and most importantly, very active in the student organization.

“You seem to be so active in the organization. I hope you can help me if I have problems”

“Don’t worry, we are all learning. If I have an edge, I will help you,” Soonyoung said and smiled, “But most importantly, you need to balance studies and organization activities. I heard that you attended accelerated class before. One, you might not be used to organization life. Two, people like you tend to focus too much on studies and neglect nonacademic activities. Both are important and beneficial”

“I’ll try to,” Chan nodded, “Thanks, Soonyoung”

~o~

On Wednesday, the freshmen were brought to one of the school’s two main auditoriums. There, they were greeted by their sunbaes.

“Hello! What class are you?” a tall, short-haired girl smiled and greeted Chan, who was walking alone.

“1-1, sunbaenim”

“Oh, then go to the auditorium on the first floor. This one’s for Class 1-6 until 1-10. Take these stairs and when you reach the first floor, go straight until you find a large room on your left”

“Okay, I’ll get going. Thank you”

“You’re welcome. Have fun!”

Chan bowed and walked away.

He entered the room and sat beside someone he didn’t know. Actually Soohyun had recovered and had come back  to school, but she came a bit late and wasn’t there at that time. She came just when the presentation began and sat way at the back of the room.

The presentation was led by two MCs, a chubby guy with glasses and a stout, long-haired girl.

“Hi, I’m Kim Minseok and she is Yoon Bomi”, the guy, Minseok, introduced himself and his partner.

“We are going to be your MCs for today. But before we start, I want to hear your excitement!” he continued and raised his hands, as if asking for some noise. He was replied with loud cheers from the hoobaes.

“As you have known Seoul High School supports extracurricular activities and encourages students to join clubs as a means to develop good characters. Here, we are trying to help you choose the right club for you. Are you ready?” the girl, Bomi, said excitedly.

The freshmen screamed “Yes”, also excitedly. Chan did screamed, but not so loudly. He was busy wishing he had better public speaking skills like Minseok and Bomi.

A projector was and slides appeared on a screen.

“So here’s a list of clubs you can choose. They are divided into five sections. You can only choose one”

Everyone went silent as they skimmed across the list.

Section I: Development of Natural and Social Awareness

1. Scouts
2. Mountaineering Club
3. Volunteer Club

Section II: Development of Artistic and Cultural Appreciation

4. Dance Club
5. School Choir
6. Seoul Park (School Magazine)

Section III: Development of Scientific Attitudes and Entrepreneurship

7. Science Club
8. Home Economics Club

Section IV: Development of Physical Qualities and Health

9. SHS Red Cross (School Medic)
10. SHS FC (Football Club)
11. Basketball Club
12. Athletics Club
13. Martial Arts Club

Section V: Development of Foreign Language and Technological Comprehension

14. Robotics Club
15. English Club

“All of them are interesting” Chan thought.

“Each of them will give a presentation. We’ll start with the Scouts. Are they here?”

Both MCs lengthened their necks to peek out of the window.

“Yes, they’re here. Coming to you valiantly with their signature suits, please give a big hand for the Scouts!

The Scouts presented their club to the freshmen. After them came the other clubs in order. Nothing was really special about the presentations, but Chan found everything interesting. It seemed interesting because he had zero experience, and their club-life sounded easy and fun.

As for his club choice, he wasn’t 100% sure, but Home Economics Club caught his eyes the most.

But for the time being, he would not prioritize that.

~o~

Two months had passed.

Chan immediately stood out for his good scores, and this, alongside Soonyoung, helped him socialize with the males who needed help with their studies. He developed some bromances with them – they treated him like a cute maknae and didn’t mind him making little skinships like resting his head on their shoulders. Some of them were really good-looking, to be honest.

Nevertheless, Chan didn’t become gay as he found Moon Sooah, a cute, innocent girl who became Soohyun’s friend immediately after she recovered and came back to school. Sadly even someone as green as Chan thought he was too tainted to date someone as innocent as Sooah.

His problems with social life seemed to be quite better, but organization activities had just started.