The city bus was packed with all kinds of people: students awaiting to be dropped off at school and anxious workers trying to get to work on time. Dae Ah, Young Ji, and Jackson were sitting by the windows, watching as people got on and off the bus. Jackson was listening to his music, jotting down lyrics for his next rap song, while Young Ji was sketching new dress ideas in her sketch book. Dae Ah was listening to her usual classical music playlist as she watched the bus pass by the trees that lined the side of the streets. At the red light, she watched as a rush of people crossed the streets and clashed with the people coming from the opposite side. She spotted a couple holding hands with their kid in her elementary school uniform. They were talking and laughing as the kid was skipping along the crosswalk. Dae Ah felt the her chest tightening up as she watched the happy family: the big smile on the girl's face, the parents' attention only on their lovely child, the mother's laughter, the father's admiring glances to his beautiful wife. She sub-consciously placed her hand over her chest and rubbed her aching heart. She watched as they made it across to the other side and continued on to their destination. She felt a tap on her arm. Her eyes were met with Young Ji's curious eyes.

"Are you okay? Is your heart acting up again?" Young Ji asked.

Dae Ah looked down to her hand still over her chest. She immediately put her hand down and shook her head.

"No, just school nerves." she said.

Young Ji nodded, still with a worried look on her face. Dae Ah shook off the feeling and collected her thoughts. 

"Approaching Shinee High School. Next stop will be Downton Seoul Transit Station." the overhead intercom announced.

Dae Ah and Young Ji scurried to pack up their stuff into their school bags. Young Ji turned to a sleeping Jackson, who was barely hanging on to the pencil in his hands, and elbowed him. Jackson jolted awake and quickly realized what was happening and frantically stuffed his stuff in his knapsack.

They got ready to get off the bus as it approached the rest of the city buses lined up in front of the school.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Shinee High School campus was swarming with excited students ready to start their first day of school. The school yard was buzzing with laughter and chitchat of summer vacations. The girls were showing their freshly pressed uniforms and limited addition designer bags. The boys were running around finding the rest of their friend group. The seniors of Shinee High were the most excited for today, as it was their first-last day of high school.

On her way to school, Im Na Yeon pulled out her favorite shade of pink lip gloss and applied a generous layer onto her pouty lips. She pulled up her phone and admired the reflection her selfie-camera was showing off. She puckers up her lips as she snapped a few selfies.

"Noona, you look like a duck with those lips." Ok Tae Soo said to his older sister.

"I have to upload my last-first day of school selfie to my Instagram so my followers can see what I'm wearing for this special day." NaYeon explained. "A little 7-year-old like yourself wouldn't know anything about trends."

"I know more than you." Tae Soo shouted back.

"You two both stop it right now." A strong and firm voice came from the driver's seat warned the two kids.

"He started it, Appah!" Na Yeon complained.

"Tae Soo-ah, stop stressing out your noona. It's a big day for her today." A sweet and soft voice said.

"Yes, Eomma." Tae Soo said, sticking out his tongue through the gap of his two front teeth at his sister.

Na Yeon fixed her bangs and continued snapping a few more selfies. She swiped back and forth through the multiple photos she had snapped, wondering which one to upload to her social media page.

"Na Yeon-ah, Appah has something to ask you." her father said.

"Yes, Daddy?"

"As today is your last-first day of high school and as you do turn 19 in a few months, your mother and I were wondering if you would like to attend the OTC Holiday party at the end of this month with us?" their dad asked.

Na Yeon stopped swiping her phone and looked up to her father, catching his glance through the rearview mirror.

"Really?! Like, really-really?! You're not joking with me? I get to go this year?!" she asked, in disbelief.

"Yes, dear. Really-really." her mother replied.

"AHHH!!!" Na Yeon squealed.

Tae Soo covered his ears at his sister's ear-piercing squeals.

"We thought since you're older now, it would be good to start exposing yourself to our business side and seeing the people we talk to on a daily basis. Whether or not you decide to join the business, it will be good for you to have some connections in the real world." Her father explained.

"Yes, Daddy! Yes, yes, yes!" Na Yeon shouted, kicking the ground happily with her heels.

"What about me?" Tae Soo asked.

"As this one is in Jeju, we're going to make it a family trip and you can stay with the housekeeper at our house over there." her mother explained.

"Can I also go to the party, too? I promise I'll be good. I prooooomiiisse!" Tae Soo plead.

Their parents laughed at his adorable plea.

"Just one hour past your bed time and then it's up to bed for you." Their father said.

"Yes!" Tae Soo shouted, fists pumping in the air.

Na Yeon took one last selfie of her biggest smile yet and posted it on her social media:

How does this pink lip gloss look on me? I'll be wearing this when I attend my father's hotel party TONIGHT! Today is going so well already! Last day of high school ❤️

"We're here." their father announced as they approach the school.

Their black Mercedes Benz pulled up to the gate where they were directed to a different route to enter. They bypassed the long line and pulled up right to the front of the gates. Their mother got out of the car and walked over to Tae Soo's side.

"Thank you, Mom, Dad! See you later tonight!" Na Yeon said as she hopped out of the car. 

Their mother led Tae Soo out to the sidewalk where the elementary school teachers were waiting for their students.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The school bus came to a stop by the front entrance of the school, the students got off and rushed into the school campus. Jackson, Young Ji and Dae Ah hopped off the bus and joined their fellow classmates. As they got to the front gates, Dae Ah hears a small voice shouting her name.

"Dae Ah-noona!" 

She looked to her right and a little gapped-tooth kid was running towards her. He threw his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. Young Ji and Jackson looked at each other in confusion and then down to the kid. Dae Ah was shocked by the little boy's affection.

 

"Oh, Tae Soo-ah." she said, still shocked by this little kid around her waist.

 

"Hi, Dae Ah-Noona! I miss you so much!" Tae Soo expressed.

 

Dae Ah hesitatantly patted his head and hugged him back. She looked up and spotted the black car that was eerily familiar. To the left of it was Na Yeon and mother watching their brother/son hugging his half-sister. Na Yeon scoffed and walked through the gates. Dae Ah turned her attention to the man coming out of the driver's seat. She pulled Tae Soo off of her and bent down to his level.

"Noona missed you, too, silly goose." she replied back. "How've you been?"

His mother had walked up to them as they were talking.

 "Tae Soo-ah, it's time to go, honey." she said.

Dae Ah sighed and fixed Tae Soo's uniform.

"You look great today, handsome. Have fun in school. I'll see you later, okay?" she said.

"Okay, Noona!" he said as he walked to his mother.

Dae Ah watched as her half-brother stood next to his mother. His mother gave a small smile to Dae Ah and nodded at her. Dae Ah gave a respectable bow and looked back at the man standing by the car still. With no other exchanges, she turned around and walked into the school. Young Ji and Jackson greeted and dismissed themselves from her parents and followed Dae Ah into the school.

 

"Damn, your stepmother has not aged at all, Daei-Ah." Jackson commented.

Dae Ah gave Jackson an annoying look and Young Ji slapped his arm and told him to shut up.

"You idiot. Now's not the time and place for that!" she hissed.

Dae Ah just shook her head as Jackson and Young Ji continued to bicker. The walked up the stairs to find Na Yeon and her little posse standing up there, gushing over Na Yeon's fushia hand bag. As they walked past them, the chattering stopped and they all turned to look at the trio. Whispers and snark remarks were tossed around as Dae Ah got closer.

"How pathetic is she, Na Yeon?" one of the girls whispered. 

"I can't believe she would be talk to your family." the other one said.

"She looks like a beggar." one of the girls said, sending out chuckles and laughter among the group.

As Dae Ah walked past them, Na Yeon stepped in her path.

"Annyeo, Ok Min Ji, How was your summer? I heard your 'summer plans' with your aunt fell through and you had to spend all summer just being here, working at that coffee shop. Sounds so lame, don't you think so?" Na Yeon said. "If we would've known earlier, I would've told Mom and Dad to reconsider inviting you to our trip to Venice. It was so nice out there with all the food and clothes and-"

"For people like me, making money over the summer is a summer well-spent. Glad to hear you had a good trip, though. Sounded like fun." Dae Ah said.

Dae Ah looked down at Na Yeon's shoes: Gucci black suede sling back kitten heels with pearl straps and gold buckle. Debuted in New York fashion show...of last year's. Knowing how Na Yeon has the need to always have the newest item of the fashion item, even 1 year will slowly kill her ego inside. Na Yeon followed down to Dae Ah's glance and smirked.

"Oh, these? Aren't they cute? They were given to me as a gift when we stopped by Paris, France." Na Yeon bragged. "Limited edition."

Na Yeon's little possed spewed out endless comments on how cute her shoes were, boosting Na Yeon's ego and smile as she showed them off.

Dae Ah chuckled and shook her head.

"They are cute. They look so...oh, what's the word I'm looking for, Young Ji?" Dae Ah asked.

"Um...'last year'?" Young Ji replied. Young Ji was Dae Ah's fashionista and if she didn't know it, no one else would.

"That's right! They look so...last year." Dae Ah said, looking right into the fury of Na Yeon's eyes.

Dae Ah smirked and brushed Na Yeon's shoulders as she walked past her, leaving Na Yeon to her own embarassment and anger. Jackson sticks out his fist and Young Ji and Dae Ah fist pumps it, ending with a fire explosion and jazz fingers.

"YAH, OK MIN JI!" Na Yeon shouted, whipping herself around. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME!"

Dae Ah continued walking, shaking her head and laughing at how sensitive Na Yeon's ego was on comments like that. 

All of a sudden, Na Yeon's shouting was covered in screams and shouts. A stampede of girls ran down the stair case towards the gate of the school. Dae Ah and her friends had to rush over to the side railing to keep themselves from getting tackled. They looked over the heads of the student body that was congesting the front gate. A red sports car had pulled up and a path was cleared by a group of men, preparing for the arrival of whoever was in the car. Na Yeon spun around and held her hands up to in excitement.

"Mark-oppa!" she exclaimed.

Ugh...Mark. Dae Ah groaned to herself.

The driver's door open and out stepped a slender boy with slicked-back hair. His shades still on his face with his school bag in one hand, and his uniform jacket in the other hand. As he walked through the adoring crowd, he swung the jacket over his shoulder and walked up the stairs. 

"Does he always have to make an entrance?" Jackson groaned.

"I mean, it's not bad when you're that good looking." Young Ji blushed, tucking back her hair.

Jackson lets out a gagging sound. Dae Ah watched as the chaebol of the school, only son of Tuen Entertainment, most eligable bachelorette of the school, took photos and autographs with his adoring fans. 

"It's not like he's famous for having good songs or anything. He just flaunts around his richness and good looks." Jackson critiqued.

"Ah, ha! So you admit he's good looking!" Young Ji countered.

Dae Ah laughed at them as they continue to prove their points to each other. Mark was just a rich kid that every one here treated like a celebrity. Sure, he was good student and not a sight to the sore eye.

"Ommo, I think he's looking at you, Na Yeon-ah!" a girl squealed.

Dae Ah looked to the group below them and caught Na Yeon fixing her hair and uniform. Dae Ah laughed at her efforts on trying to look good for the richy-rich boy. Little did she knew, her eyes had wandered over to Mark and his glance found hers. He had took his shades off and she can clearly see his stare. He seemed to have smiled at her. She quickly looked away, flustered with the unexpected eye contact and cleared at her friends.

"Let's get to homeroom, guys." Dae Ah suggested, continuing up the steps.

Young Ji and Jackson followed suit, still arguing who's right and wrong. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark tried to make his way up to the top of the stairs and was stopped every few steps with girls shoving their phones in his face. He let out a heavy sigh and tried to not look unhappy to see everyone. He looked up to see a group of people who didn't seem to be bothered by his presence: a boy and a girl whom seem to be bickering about something and another girl looking down to the commotion, but it felt like she was looking at him. Her brown eyes sparkled as it caught the morning sun, her hair blowing in the wind. Even from here, he can see her long lashes as she blinked. He gave out a smile, which seemed to have cause a fluster in her. He chuckled as he saw her frantically turning around and headed into the school. 

"Pretty." He whispered.

"Mark! My man! Say goodbye to your fan club and let's get going!" his friend, JB said.

Mark saluted the students and headed inside the school with his friends, leaving behind sad and envious girls.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A U T H O R ' S    N O T E

Second chapter done! I hope you guys enjoyed this one! It is currently 3 AM Midcentral Time in the USA and I wrote this chapter in this one night! So, if it's rough around the edges, my apologies! I will come back at another (reasonable) time to correct any grammars or spelling errors. Maybe add a few details here and there.

I just really wanted to get this chapter out there and have my characters kind of introduced to you all before I dive deeper into the plot of the story: the masquarade ball! I'm so excited to get into the rest of this story because I've been thinking about it so much lately. This story was inspired by Taylor Swift's song "Enchanted" and the movie "A Cinderella Story" with Hillary Duff and Chad Micheal Murray (the original and best version, IMO). I find a lot of my story inspirations from song lyrics and "Enchanted" is so romantic, I just had to write a story from it. 

I've realized that, for me, the beginning of the story is the hardest part to write. I have an idea of the middle and end planned out but I just need a beginning to catch my readers' eyes and I hope I have done just that!

There's more to come with Mark, Dae Ah, and Na Yeon. Lots of open concepts and unanswered questions but I hope I can get something out to you all soon! Again, the beginning is always the hardest so I hope to get this story rolling soon!

 

Thank you for stopping by and giving my story a read! Subscribe to this story if you haven't yet and leave a comment below! 

With love,

zooieyaj04