Three Years Ago   If I wasn’t with Myungsoo, I was always surrounded by girls. We weren’t friends. My relationship with the other girls were more of a prey and predator. They all thought they were the lion and that I was a worthless impala. But they were wrong. I was the lioness reigning supreme, and they were the frightened impalas trying to threaten me. A lion had authority even by itself, but weaker animals needed to stand together to become stronger.   As was the case with Jia and her bunch of fellow Chinese transfer students. Being non Koreans, they were also victims of bullying and discrimination, but at least they were together. When two impalas form an alliance to haul their strength, it won’t change the fact they were mere impalas. I, on the other hand, was the only person from the US, thus putting me at the bottom of the food chain.   “I broke up with my boyfriend because of you! You seduced him!” The one named Jia yelled, pushing my entire body against the blue tiles of the bathroom.   I frowned, wondering how this stupid accusation came to be. “I never seduced anyone,” I told her coolly, not giving her the satisfaction of scaring me.   “I saw you talking to him!” Jia said.   I rolled my eyes even as my wrist were still chained to the wall. “What kind of insecure biatch do you have to be to worry about him talking to other girls?”   That earned me a slap against the face. As she released her strength on my arm, I dropped down to the floor immediately. She was surprisingly strong for someone so skinny.   I tilted my head at her, not bothering to brush my sweaty hair strands aside, and smirked. You do not anger a lioness and expect her to leave you alone.   “He obviously made the right choice breaking up with you. Your insecurity makes you ugly on the inside, and your oily skin makes you ugly on the outside. Maybe you were only good in bed, but I suppose he wanted with the lights off.”   Jia was the first one who lost her temper and started kicking me as I lied crouched on the floor. The other girls soon followed and dealt more damage to my body.   I was certain they had no grudge against me. They were merely following the crowd. If they weren’t the oppressor, they’d be the oppressed. So they did their best to fit in. It was a survival instinct, I suppose. We needed to follow the strongest one out there to survive, but they chose the wrong leader.   The next day, Myungsoo had asked me about my bruises. I told him I was fine, having other things on my mind. I did the one thing Jia was most afraid of. I talked to her ex-boyfriend, trying to see what would happen if I seduced him.   Once he got the taste of a goddess, he would never want to be with a peasant ever again.   ***   Present   “Today we have a new student,” Mr. Park announced, cueing for the student to enter the classroom.   As soon as the door slid open and a figure walked in, we stood amazed. My first impression of him was that of a rich kid. His uniform was remade using a more expensive material than anyone else’s. He had his hair waxed and combed back like a CEO of a multi billion dollar company. There was some slight arrogance and confidence on his face that made him appear vain, but with a visual as handsome as him, he’d be excused. His skin was quite an exotic tan, slightly darker than anyone I had ever seen.   The girls were fawning over him, and the guys were intimidated by him. For me, Myungsoo was much better, of course.   “Hi, my name is Kim Jongin,” the boy introduced himself, winking to the class. He sure knew how to woo a crowd. “I’m excited to be here and hope to get along with you all. Please take care of me.”   Everyone applauded, mainly those stuck up females. Look at Jinri and Sunyoung staring at him, mentally undressing the poor lad. Everyone tried to gain his attention in some way.   “There is an empty chair next to Jung Soojung. You can sit there,” Mr. Park told him, pointing at me.   Of course, it had to be beside me. Because out of every girl in the class, I was probably the only who didn’t give a crap about him. Staring outside the window and daydreaming about Myungsoo was much more enjoyable.   “Hey, Soojung, is it?” This Jongin guy called out to me. Our table was at the very back of the class, positioned against the window.   I literally felt everyone’s eyes on me, but instead of flying daggers, it were eyes of defeat. This wasn’t my middle school years. In high school, I had the reputation of a primadonna and was off limits. I even had my own fanclub. If the new hot guy wanted me, they’d accept their defeat willingly.   My eyes glanced over to Myungsoo who was on the other side of the room. He watched me intently. My heart skipped a beat, fluttering at the way his eyes showed so much concern. After being forgotten thanks to Suzy’s presence, he finally seemed to remember my existence. It was all thanks to Kim Jongin.   “Yes. I hope we’ll get along well,” I told him, showing a flashier smile than usual. I couldn’t help it, my heart was in ecstasy because of Myungsoo.   “I’m sure we will. Birds of a feather flock together. That’s something good looking people like us would understand,” he said, smiling at me.   He was more vain that I thought, and had the audacity to speak such an arrogant statement using the sweetest smile. Anyone else would’ve been propelled to ignore him, but I was immensely drawn to his a