3 Years Ago:

“Noona, why didn’t you send your sons to SHINHWA? They’ll be well taken care of if they go to school there.” Ji Hoo asked his dearest friend, Min Seo Hyun.

Ji Hoo’s family were on vacation at France, where Min Seo Hyun and her family were living. Joo Hyuk was 13 years old back then and his older brother, Seung Hoon was 16 years old. Min Seo Hyun and her sons were on a restaurant together with Ji Hoo and his son, Jin Woo who was the same age as Seung Hoon. Joo Hyuk, Seung Hoon and Jin Woo were playing somewhere while Sung Kyoung was with her mother, shopping in a nearby mall.

                “Ji Hoo-ah, you know I don’t want my children to be like me when I was their age. I was pampered by my parents and ended up being their prisoner.” Seo Hyun answered.

                “But you’re different from your parents.” Ji Hoo insisted.

                “Yes, I’m different but the question is, will my children be any different from those spoiled brats? What if I end up never noticing that my children are starting to be like those kinds of children?” Seo Hyun continued on arguing.

                “Fine. It’s your choice. I do hope you’re making the right decision.” Ji Hoo gave up on reasoning with her.

                “Yeah, me too and I hope your kids will be fine attending that school.” Seo Hyun countered, smiling.

After a week, Seo Hyun decided to come back to Korea to manage the clothing business her passed mother had left her. She decided to transfer her sons in a university and held her promise to herself about not sending her children to SHINHWA. And so, Joo Hyuk and Seung Hoon ended up studying in U.K. Joo Hyuk was on his 1st year of middle school while Seung Hoon was on his 1st year of high school.

It was the first day of school at U.K. Joo Hyuk was on his way to his class room. As soon as he entered the room, he saw students who were already talking to their circle of friends and some were all alone sitting on their seats. He decided to find a seat where he could sit quietly by himself and he saw a vacant one at the farthest back near the window. He sat there and took his head phones out from his bag and just listened to his music.

At first, Joo Hyuk didn’t understand why they have to move back to Korea. He was having a good time in France with his long-time friends but as soon as he heard about his grandmother passing away, he decided to let go of all his life in France.

He was thinking all alone about this when he felt a presence beside him and he quickly took down his head phones.

                “Oh, you finally look this way.” A girl was now sitting on the seat beside him. “I’m Sae Ron by the way. Park Sae Ron.” The girl extended her right hand and was looking at him expectantly.

                “Nam Joo Hyuk.” Joo Hyuk took her hand and nodded.

                “And I’m Jin Hwan.” A boy suddenly appeared to Sae Ron’s side.

                “Yah! Jin Hwan-ah, stop appearing from out of nowhere.” Sae Ron scolded. “Oh, this idiot here is my childhood friend. Just ignore him if you want.” Sae Ron continued.

                “No, it’s okay. Nice to meet you Jin Hwan.” Joo Hyuk greeted.

                “Is someone seating here?” Another boy appeared, gesturing to the seat in front of Joo Hyuk.

                “No one.” Joo Hyuk simply answered.

                “Hi there! I’m Han Jin Hwan and this is Park Sae Ron. That cool guy over there is Nam Joo Hyuk.” Jin Hwan introduced them to the new comer.

                “My name’s Lee Hyun Hyeong.” The new comer answered.

                “Really? What’s your relation with Teacher Lee Young Woo?” A new boy seated on Hyun Hyeong’s right side asked, making them turn to him. “He’s quite famous. That teacher I mean.” He continued.

                “Yeah. I heard about him too. He’s an odd teacher and quite aggressive. He’s a teacher at the high school department.” Jin Hwan added and Sae Ron threw him a warning look. “What?” He asked, confused by the look he got.

                “He’s my brother. And believe me, His personality is quite..” Hyun Hyeong was looking for the right word to describe his brother while the others waited. “Extra-terrestrial.” He finished and everyone laughed.

                “I’m Kang Chan Woo by the way.” The last comer stated, extending his hand.

Everyone shook his hand and introduced themselves at the same time. Since that day, Joo Hyuk has found himself a new set of great friends. There wasn’t a day that he would not laugh to his friends’ jokes and messed around with them. He became used to his new school and new life in Korea.

                “Yo! Who is this guy on the cover of this famous fashion magazine, huh?” Jin Hwan entered their class room, loudly as always and was waving a magazine in the air and everyone in the class room stared at him.

                “Yah! Don’t tell me..” Joo Hyuk has an idea of what his friend was talking about. “Aishh! Give me that Han Jin Hwan!” Joo Hyuk tried to grab the magazine from his friend but Jin Hwan threw it to Hyun Hyeong.

                “Is this for real?” Hyun Hyeong asked, looking amaze by what he was seeing.

                “Let me see it!” Chan Woo grabbed the magazine from Hyun Hyeong. “Whoa! Is this you, Joo Hyuk-ah?” Chan Woo asked, showing the magazine to everyone and they all started to gather around him to see.

                “Yah! Why did you show it to everyone? Aishh.” Joo Hyuk was so embarrassed and grabbed the magazine and hid it behind him. “Just.. Just forget about it okay?” He continued.

                “What’s this?” Sae Ron who just came in, stole the magazine away from Joo Hyuk. “Waaahhh! Is this you, Nam Joo Hyuk? You’re so handsome in this picture. I didn’t know you’re a model?” Sae Ron continued.

                “That’s.. That. I was asked by my mother, okay? It’s just for one time so all of you just better forget about it.” Joo Hyuk answered, clearly blushing from Sae Ron’s compliment a while ago.

Sae Ron was about to say something assuring but the teacher suddenly arrived, making all the students to go back to their seats. Joo Hyuk was not really happy about being a model but his mother had asked him to do it for their clothing business. Knowing that it will help his mother’s business, he agreed to be a model for their clothing brand but he decided to never again do it. Then he heard that their clothing campaign had become successful thanks to him being the model for it so his mother had asked him to be their model permanently but he refused immediately, leaving his mother no choice but to select a different model.

                “Yoon Sung Kyoung?” Joo Hyuk almost choked from hearing the news.

                “Careful. Here, drink some water.” Seo Hyun handed him a glass of water.

                “That’s why you shouldn’t tell us something shocking while we’re eating mom.” Seung Hoon stated.

                “Sung Kyoung? Uncle Ji Hoo’s daughter? She will be your model?” Joo Hyuk asked again.

                “Yes. That’s right. She’s very good at it. You’ve got to hand it to her. She’s a professional, I’m telling you.” Joo Hyuk has never heard her mother praised someone so much before.

“She must be really good.” Joo Hyuk thought.

                “She’s brilliant at modelling, just like our Joo Hyuk here.” His mother commented, looking at him expectantly.

                “I know that look, mom.” Joo Hyuk sighed. “And I’m telling you, I’m not doing it.” He concluded.

                “Fine.” His mother acknowledged.

A year had passed and Jook Hyuk together with his friends was still on the same classes on their 2nd year of middle school. Even though a year had already passed, they were all still the same.  Jin Hwan was still the joker, talker and the most playful from the group. Sae Ron was still the only girl in the group. She was the nagger and the positive one among her friends. She would always know if someone’s in trouble and would always push herself to help them. Chan Woo was the friendliest of them and the happy go lucky one from the group. He’s kind, considerate and has the nicest personality among them. Hyun Hyeong was the serious type and the mean one from the group. He’s quiet, responsible and has the toughest personality among his friends.

One day, Joo Hyuk’s friends noticed that their friend was very quiet and didn’t even bother talking with them. They guessed that it has something to do with his family. They decided to leave him alone for that time and continued their day without talking to Joo Hyuk. Sae Ron on the other hand didn’t. Ever since morning, she would stick herself to Joo