The much too short summer holidays came to an end and in 2 days the new school year of high school would start. Somewhat wistful, I thought back to the past summer holidays. I had experienced a lot: a short trip to Busan visiting my family and friends there, a day trip to Jeju Island and I had spent a lot of time with my best friend and roommate Seongwoo. We got along well and enjoyed spending time together. The established fact that we share something special was one of the reasons, why we get along so well. We are different! And no, I don’t mean that we are crazy or mad... okay, yes, maybe we are, even if I don’t like to admit it. No, we both share a supernatural secret. We noticed it quickly when we met for the first time. Seongwoo, the little grandson of Satan and I, the little son of a magical family. Okay… admittedly we both weren’t exactly little or small with our 180 cm. But height didn’t matter anyway, because with our supernatural powers, we had grown together to become a real dream team.

"Hey, where are you? Are you done yet?", came the voice of my roommate, tearing me out of my thoughts. "I'm almost done, give me another 10 minutes.", I called back and immediately jumped up from my bed and hurried into the bathroom. "Hurry up, the party is about to begin.", Seongwoo reminded me in a tone of reproach. "Chill, I really don’t need a long time and we're still there on time for the party.", I shouted. "Very good, because you know, I don’t want to miss anything and besides there are always the best drinks in the beginning.", it came from my roommate and I rolled my eyes with a grin. "One would think you're just going for the drinks?", I countered teasingly. "Mostly yes, but of course to get to know the new classmates as well, you know! I need to know if there's anything or anyone interesting.", the black-haired boy joked, and I could almost imagine his mischievous grin. "I'm already worried about the newbies.", I replied with a laugh, before I changed my clothes and got ready.

As promised, I managed to get ready for the party in 10 minutes. As so many times before, I opted for black skinny jeans with a white, slightly translucent shirt. Over the shirt I wore a thin burgundy summer jacket and matching vans. I styled my ashgray hair slightly backwards and emphasized my eyes with a subtle eyeliner. Satisfied, I looked into the mirror, winked at myself and remarked: "The party can come, I'm ready!"

"Are you so desperate now that you have to flirt with your own reflection?", Seongwoo's voice suddenly came from behind me. "No, don’t worry, it's not that far yet!", I replied with a wicked look. "The emphasis is on yet or what?", teased my roommate and promptly took a hit against the upper arm. "Ow!", Seongwoo exclaimed, looking at me in surprise. "You deserve it! You have the nerve to say that I'm desperate! Always remember, I'm usually more successful than you. In both es!", I countered. "Yes, yes, I already understood it, dream of all girls and boys at our school and in the whole universe... Just take care and do not overwork yourself or get a hangover tonight.", Seongwoo warned me with a laugh. "Don’t worry about me, I know when I have to hold back.", I winked at him, before we both made our way to the party.

When we arrived at the party, only a few familiar faces were to be seen. We quickly made a round and greeted our friends and acquaintances. At the bar we met our friend Jisung, who had been willing to be the bartender for several years. With success, his cocktails and long drinks were just heavenly. "Hey, are you okay?", I greeted Jisung. "Everything is fine and you two?", he asked the counter question. "Everything is fine, too. We are looking forward to the party and the newcomers.", I shared my anticipation with him. "Why did I already anticipate this answer? You and Seongwoo, you just cannot let it be and leave the new ones alone. I almost feel sorry for them. I mean, they're coming here, thinking of nothing bad or evil, and then they meet you and all hell breaks loose.", Jisung said, almost worried. "Now don’t be like this, we are usually very nice with the new ones. We know how to behave.", I defend ourselves. "But the emphasis is on mostly. I don’t like to remind you of many situations.", Jisung admonished us with a reprimanding look. With an innocent look Seongwoo and I looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Now don’t act so innocent! You know exactly what ‘m talking about! I'm just saying Woojin. The poor man had stomach ache for three days after the party, just because you thought it was funny to mix something into his cocktail.", Jisung scolded us seriously. "What do I have to do with it? I did not mix it in the cocktail.", Seongwoo said indignantly, looking at Jisung. "You did not stop Daniel either. On the contrary, you spurred him on! You know the saying: cling together, swing together.", replied Jisung almost annoyed by Seongwoo's excuses. "Basically, I just want to ask you to behave yourself and not directly scare off the new students.", Jisung asked us again with a gentler voice and looked to us. "Yeah, I agree with Jisung, you should really be nicer to the new students!", Woojin now joined in and looked at me almost pleadingly. Luckily, after some time he forgave me the little incident with the cocktail and we became friends afterwards. "It's alright, don’t worry, we'll be nice today.", I try to calm the two and looked at Seongwoo. "Right?", I asked my best friend now and he nodded in agreement.

After we had sat down with Woojin and Jisung at the bar for a while and talked about God and the world and of course had already enjoyed the first drinks, the party filled up gradually. There were more and more familiar faces from different years and the first newcomers were already there. Interested, I let my gaze wander over the crowd and searched for the unknown faces. So far only a few newcomers have arrived, just a handful. But there was one person who literally stood out from the crowd in my opinion. A young man with conspicuous red, slightly curly hair. Probably a bit smaller than me, with a good but rather slender physique apart from his well-trained thighs and a round, still very childlike-looking face. This young man had awakened my interest and I watched him for a while and forgot more and more the ongoing conversation. After a short time, I was like in a tunnel, my eyes fixed on him and apart from the music in the background, I couldn’t hear anything around me anymore. I couldn’t say exactly what it was, but something about him intrigued me. And no, it was not his striking red hair. He had something special about him, which casted a spell on me and made me forget everything. Was it the contrast between his childlike face and his well-trained body? Or the way he elegantly sneaked through the crowd and moved rhythmically to the music? I just couldn’t say what it was exactly.

"Hey.... Earth to Kang Daniel?!", I suddenly heard the voice of Seongwoo beside me and he wakes me up from my thoughts. "What? Yes?", I replied dazedly, and it was hard to tear my gaze away from the newcomer. "What's wrong with you? You were like in a trance?", Jisung asked almost worried about me. "Oh no, I was just deep in thought.", I replied to his question and I assumed that they did not believe me if the skeptical gaze of Seongwoo and Jisung were any indication. "Don’t lie to us, who did you observe? We're not stupid, we've seen how you your lips like a hungry animal... So, spill the beans!", Jisung said, looking challengingly at me. I had what? my lips? Damn, I really had to be in a trance. "Oh, I've just watched one of our new arrivals, nothing more... But, tell me, where is Woojin anyway?", I tried to distract my friends from myself after realizing that he was no longer with us. "He left a few minutes ago. He wanted to look around and mingle a bit with people.", Seongwoo told me and I nodded. "I think I'll do the same and take a look around.", I told them and got up from my barstool and started to leave. But Jisung grabbed my wrist and held me back. "But please remember our words from earlier. I don’t want to experience any bad surprises here.", Jisung warned me with a serious tone and I nodded. "No need to worry Hyung, I understand you and there will be no incident. Promise.", I tried to convince him and smiled.

Finally, Jisung let me go and my gaze slid back over the crowd in search of a specific person. Unfortunately, I lost sight of him despite his eye-catching hair color. Somewhat disappointed, I sighed and went to the direction of the dance floor first. After all, I was part of the dance team of our high school. I made my way through the crowd until I hit the dance floor and immediately began to move with the beat of the music. Quickly I met other teammates from the dance team and a little battle started on the dance floor. Everyone tried to do their best and win with their moves. A cluster of people quickly formed around us, and half of the party society became our audience. Of course, that only spurred us dancers on and the battle became more intense.

During a short dance break, I looked at the party crowd again, after all, I had not forgotten the young man with the red hair and there he stood. The boy from earlier. He was leaning against a wall just off to the side of the dance floor. With him another new face. I saw my chance and went out of the crowd and strolled over to him. He and the second freshman seemed to know each other well, they were engrossed in a conversation and apparently, they already knew each other for a long time.

"Really sorry if I bother you both. But I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Kang Daniel and president of the dance team at high school.", I interrupted the conversation of the two. "I saw you dance earlier and I have to admit, that was really good.", I directed my praise directly to the redhead, who had sparked my interest and gave him a smile. "Oh, thank you Daniel.", he replied with a beaming smile that made my heart warm. "By the way, I'm Park Jihoon.", he introduced himself and finally I knew his name. "Oh, I'm so glad to meet you, Jihoon.", I beamed without wanting to. "That's Minhyun, by the way.", Jihoon introduced me to his companion and I looked at him just as friendly. "Nice to meet you as well, Minhyun.", I said and wanted to shake hands. But Minhyun just looked at me coldly and emotionless and nodded to me. Then he turned his gaze to Jihoon and looked at him almost as serious. "Jihoon, we should go.", he said in a serious tone and Jihoon's irritated look portrayed that he disagreed.

"Why should we go?", he asked almost stubbornly, like a little child. "Did you forget the words from earlier already? The warning? And besides, it's late ...", Minhyun tried to convince him. "What are you talking about? Yes, it is already late, but it’s only 10 o'clock in the evening and we were out a lot longer before... And no, I did not forget the warning, but it was one of the students and he probably already had a drink more than he should have... Don’t be like this!", Jihoon spoke again and looked at me apologetically. "Why don’t you leave Daniel and me alone for a bit? I'd like to get to know Daniel a bit more.", Jihoon suggested, but Minhyun didn’t seem so convinced of the idea yet. "Jihoon, I don’t think that's such a good idea...", Minhyun's words were interrupted by Jihoon. "Minhyun please!", Jihoon said very seriously now and as if enchanted Minhyun nodded in agreement and a small smile was seen on his lips. "Of course.", he remarked, before he started to leave. But before he left us all alone, he came past me, stopped and leaned closer to me. "I warn you. If you do something to Jihoon, then the whole school will know who you are and what you are faster than you like and we both get a big problem!", it came threatening from Minhyun and for a brief moment a red glow flitted over his eyes. For a second I lost my composure and stared at Minhyun shocked, but fortunately I was able to catch myself quickly. What did that mean? I had a guess, but that's something I would think about it later. "Don’t worry, I can behave myself.", I replied coldly and shrugged before finally leaving Minhyun and leaving us alone.

"I'm very sorry, Daniel. Minhyun is a little.... difficult... sometimes ", Jihoon apologized to me with puppy-eyes and I felt like I could faint because of that look. "Oh well, not worth mentioning.", I assured him and smiled at him. "No, really, I'm so sorry.... He is so overbearing sometimes and then after one student just...", Jihoon sighed a little frustrated and lowered his eyes downcast. "No, really, it's not a problem. On the contrary, I'm pleasantly surprised that you sent Minhyun away for me so decisively.", I told him and had to hold back a little mischievous grin. "Really?", he looked at me with big eyes again and was a little red at my words. "Really. But how about we sit down at the bar and have a drink and get to know each other better?", I suggested and Jihoon agreed to my idea. Without losing any more time I put my arm around his shoulders and led him towards the bar.

At the bar we sat next each other, both with a drink in our hands. Jihoon had suddenly become a bit shy and did not dare to start a conversation, so I took the initiative. "So, you're new here at the school?", I asked interested. "Yes I am. My father was transferred to Seoul and my mom, sister and I had to go with him.", Jihoon told me. "Okay, I understand, but surely it isn’t easy to have to leave your old environment like this?", I speculated. "Yes, yes. It's not easy, but I didn’t have many friends there so I’m not that attached to my old environment. Especially since it's not the first move.", Jihoon told me, smiling as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "For real? I cannot imagine that someone as nice and as pretty as you hardly had friends? And then having moved so often at this young age? Wow, that's amazing.", I remarked surprised and looked at him. "It's the truth.", Jihoon said shyly, barely daring to look me in the eye. It was very amusing but sweet, too, how fast he was embarrassed. But then he recovered and continued talking. "Unfortunately, that's the downside of having a father who works as a policeman and being constantly moved.", Jihoon told me with a smile and shrugged. "Ah, okay, I understand. But otherwise it's certainly cool to have a dad who works for the police?", I wanted to know interested. "Yes, it is.", he remarked and we both had to smile. For a brief moment our eyes met, and I stopped in surprise. His eyes were intriguing, they sparkled as bright as diamonds, and at second glance his eyes were as deep and expressive as I had seldom seen before. I could hardly believe it and so it happened that for a moment I had fixed my eyes on his eyes and totally forgot the conversation.

"But now to you. You just said you are part of the dance team at the school?", Jihoon recaptured my attention with a charming smile before taking a sip of his drink. Suddenly he changed again, like another person possessed his body. His initial shyness had dropped and now he was the one who had a grin on his lips. "Yes, that's true. I am the leader of the team and lead our group. I always work on the choreography with my buddy Woojin.", I told him enthusiastically about my hobby. "Oh, that sounds very cool and exciting.", Jihoon beamed and his enthusiasm reminded me of a small child at Christmas and I could not help but laugh a little. "It is and it's always a good balance to brighten up the boring school days.", I grinned and drank from my drink as well. Somewhat disappointed, I realized that there was clearly too little alcohol in the drink and I wondered if Jihoon's drink was as feeble as mine. Without further ado I decided to help a little and with a small hand movement, the problem was eliminated from the world. "I like that.", Jihoon smirked and again I fell for his smile. "If you want to, you would be a welcomed guest in my dance team. As I said, you're really good.", I offered and leaned closer to him. "I don’t know, I'm not nearly as good as you are... I mean, I just saw you with your group on the dance floor and that was just... world class.", Jihoon admitted a bit embarrassed and his cheeks turned into a gentle pink shade. "Oh, thank you for your compliment.", I remarked with a wide smile and looked deep into his eyes. I just could not resist those eyes. "But really, you're also very good and believe me, I have a lot of knowledge about dancing and I see when someone has potential and you definitely have great potential.", I assured him and continued to look deep into his eyes. Amused, I watched Jihoon's reaction as he tried to hold my gaze and how the pink color of his cheeks became more intense. Ultimately, I decided to go one step further and put my hand gently on his thigh. Surprised, Jihoon flinched, but he made no move to dodge my hand, which made me grin triumphantly. "Really, I see great potential and I think we can get a lot out of you.", I assured him with a grin and winked at him. Embarrassed, Jihoon looked at me and nodded. "Gladly... I've always wanted to dance.", he told me, swallowing hard. "Well, that makes it all better then.", I said. "I would really appreciate if you become a member of my team.", I breathed in a deep voice close to his ear.

But before I could talk to Jihoon some more, Minhyun intervened. Without any warning, he grabbed me by the collar and pulled me away from Jihoon, so I almost fell off the bar stool I was sitting on. Well, I must admit, it wasn’t surprising to me, as I had seen his almost jealous glances in our direction out of the corner of my eyes the whole time. "Minhyun, what are you doing?!", Jihoon exclaimed, looking shocked. "Enough, let's go!", Minhyun said firmly, ignoring Jihoon's question. "No, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on!", Jihoon insisted and crossed his arms in anger. "Jihoon not now! That's not something we have to discuss here and especially not in front of someone like him.", Minhyun looked down at me abruptly at his last words. His reaction did not surprise me, but his behavior towards Jihoon made me angry. "Who do you think you are? His father?! Jihoon is probably old enough to decide for himself when he wants to go and when not. He doesn’t need anyone like you to decide that for him!", I commented dismally as well and glared at Minhyun. Although I didn’t want to do that now, I couldn’t stop myself from standing up in front of him to intimidate him if possible. That this didn’t really work did not surprise me at all, Minhyun was almost the same height as me. "You better watch out, you wannabe hero! This isn’t your business, so you better keep your nose out of our business, if you don’t want to get into trouble. Moreover, you should use your little tricks a little more inconspicuously, if you don’t want the whole world to know your secret soon!", warned Minhyun me and again his eyes turned a reddish shade. This time, however, much more intense and I couldn’t resist a grin. "I'm not the only one who should pay attention!", I warned him too.

Before Minhyun and I could start a fight, Seongwoo came in and tried to calm me down. "It's okay Daniel, let him talk. Come on, let's go home.", he grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from Jihoon and Minhyun. "We'll meet again!", I directed my words coldly to Minhyun and he just shrugged with a grin. Then I turned to Jihoon. "I'm sorry that our nice conversation had to end so abruptly. But don’t worry, we'll catch up at another time.", I promised him with a smile before letting Seongwoo drag me away from the party.

When we were out of earshot, Seongwoo looked at me and shook his head in disbelief. "What was that? Have you completely gone nuts now?", he asked shocked. "No, don’t worry, I'm not. I was never normal to begin with. You should know this the best.", I snapped, I was still angry about the interruption of the nice conversation. "Man Daniel! What's wrong with you?! You almost lost control! Did you forget how dangerous that can be for all of us? What if one of them finds out your secret?", Seongwoo chided me. "Don’t worry, neither one of them would say anything.", I assured him with a grin. "How can you be so sure?", Seongwoo asked, confused by my sudden change. "Because the two themselves keep a secret!"