Jihoon had a lot of trouble finding his first class of the day. It was English Composition and he wasn’t looking forward to it in the slightest which may have been why he was taking so long to find it. He had never been the best in school, but English was definitely the subject he lacked the most in.

As he walked through the crowded hallways, confused and all sorts of turned around, he spotted someone familiar. “Ah, Jisoo!” Jihoon called to the polite boy who was walking slowly through the crowd in the opposite direction. “Jisoo!” He called again only louder. The boy looked over at him with a smile and moved to his location with ease. “How do you maneuver in the crowd so easily without being shoved?” Jihoon asked, being shoulder checked backward for probably the 10th time in the past three minutes.

“You just have to be confident. If you look like you know where you’re going, people will normally notice you and get out of your way,” he explained as people walked around them. “Now, what did you need?”

“Do you know where English Composition is?” Jihoon asked, holding up his schedule on a piece of paper and showing the room number to Jisoo.

Jisoo smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “We have that class together so let me direct you there,” and with that Jisoo walked behind Jihoon, gently pushing him in the direction of the class. It was only a couple hallways away, but without Jisoo’s help, Jihoon was positive he never would have found it.

Once inside, Jisoo walked confidently past Jihoon and took a seat towards the front of the room. He motioned for Jihoon to come and sit next to him, which he gratefully did. Jihoon glanced around the classroom, looking for familiar faces but failed to see any. He was thankful that Jisoo was there though, at least he knew him.

The teacher, and old stubby man, walked in shortly after they did and immediately started the lecture without so much of an introduction. Jisoo leaned over to Jihoon and whispered, “Teach may seem rough but he’s actually extremely nice. Be sure to really listen to him, he’s very smart.” Jihoon couldn’t help but think for a second time about how nice Jisoo seemed. How did Hoshi ever end up becoming friends with him?

About ten minutes into the lecture, the door to the classroom swung open. In walked two boys, who both immediately bowed to the teacher who didn’t stop his lecture in the slightest. The first boy Jihoon recognized as Vernon from the clique's performance. He smiled an awkward smile at the class before walking to the back of the room to take his seat. The second boy who Jihoon knew immediately, Jeonghan, took a long second to gaze over the room. It was as if he was asserting his dominance over the entire class like he knew he was better than them. He made eye contact with Jihoon, who’s jaw had subconsciously dropped, and rolled his eyes as he followed Vernon to the back of the room.

The class seemed to drag on forever, to the point that Jihoon was almost shocked when it ended. He couldn’t focus on the teacher at all the entire lecture once the clique boys appeared. Multiple times in the class, Jihoon felt as though someone was staring daggers at his back, but every time he glanced around no one was looking at him.

“Did you like the lecture?” Jisoo asked, breaking Jihoon’s thoughts, as he packed up his things. Jihoon shrugged, not wanting to tell Jisoo how uncomfortable he felt, as two boys approached.

“Jisoo, we have a class together again,” Jeonghan said in a slow, sing-songy voice. “Are you excited?” He asked as he sat down on Jisoo’s desk, staring intensely at him. Jihoon could not catch the vibe of the situation at all. Were they friends or did Jeonghan hate him with his whole being? Jisoo's face gave away no hints as his polite smile remained unphased.

Jisoo zipped up his backpack, and genuinely responded back with “I’m thrilled Jeonghan.” He politely stood up and looked at Vernon. “Happy to be in your class again too, Vernon.” Vernon smiled and nodded back to him. The vibe just kept getting weirder, making Jihoon more and more uncomfortable. He started to leave the room to avoid being talked to when Jeonghan cleared his throat loudly.

“Who’s your friend?” Jeonghan asked, looking past Jisoo and staring at Jihoon with a raised eyebrow. “He seems to be leaving without saying goodbye.”

“Lee Woozi, it’s nice to meet you,” Jihoon said shakily, extending a hand that was only stared at by the boy. He had forgotten everything Seungcheol had taught him the other night. He was nervous and he truly didn’t understand why. Jihoon had never been nervous in his life. Was this what intimidation felt like?

Jeonghan didn’t respond with anything but scoff when Jihoon let his hand fall back by his side. He turned back to Jisoo, “I’d like to talk to you some time without Wormy around. Text me when you’re free,” Jeonghan said before standing up and sauntering away. Vernon followed in suit, laughing incredibly loud.

“D-did he..just call me... Wormy?” Jihoon asked slowly, completely dumbfounded.

Jisoo sigh, “Looks like Jeonghan didn’t like you too much. Don’t take the oddly mean nickname too personally, he’s actually a good guy once you get to know him,” Jisoo said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just.. don’t do anything to piss him off. Or else everyone in school will be calling you Wormy until graduation,” he stood up and grabbed Jihoon’s class schedule from him. “Now come on, I’ll walk you to your next class.”

“Wait, um, how do you know he’s a good person? He seemed a little mean to me,” Jihoon commented as Jisoo started out the door. For some reason he felt like Jisoo’s judgment was accurate, but he honestly couldn’t picture Jeonghan being a nice guy.

“I tutored him last semester in English. Trust me, he was a major jerk at first. Literally called me ‘Piss-oo’. But, once you get past the hard exterior, he’s actually really kind,” Jisoo explained with a heartwarming smile. “Now come on, you’ll be late!”

Jihoon arrived in his math class three minutes early thanks to Jisoo’s expert navigation. He, however, still couldn’t get Jeonghan’s comment out of his head. Out of all the mean things to call me, why Wormy? Is this what bullying was like here? If this was my old school, and I was still Jihoon, I would have torn Jeonghan apart. Starting with his stupid, long hair, he thought to himself. Unfortunately, that wasn’t who Woozi was. Woozi needed to stay under the radar, and if to do that he had to let one of the most popular guys in school call him “Wormy”, then so be it.

Jihoon sat down at a desk on the side of the room next to a window as he racked his brain for any reason why Jeonghan attacked him as he did. Maybe he just really hated his introduction because it wasn’t confident? Maybe he didn’t like how he styled his uniform? Maybe it was the pink hair? All Jihoon knew was that he needed to let it go before he completely overthought the situation.

“Hey,” a voice said abruptly, breaking Jihoon’s thoughts. He looked up to see Choi Seungcheol standing right in front of the desk he was sitting in. All eyes in the room were upon them as Jihoon stammered to say ‘hi’ back. “Lee Woozi right? From yesterday?”

“Y-yes,” Jihoon stuttered out. He remembered. He remembered who he was.

“Ah, still not confident.” Seungcheol smiled at him. “Well, we can work on that. In the meantime, I’m going to have to ask you to move.”

Jihoon blinked in surprise. “Move?”

“Yeah, this my seat. I always sit by the window in every class,” Seungcheol explained, motioning towards the desk.

Jihoon looked down and sighed. If it was anybody else Jihoon would have said no, but due to the number of eyes watching them he knew he didn't have a choice in moving. He slowly stood up and looked around. The only other open seat was right in the front row directly in the center. Definitely not his first pick in spots.

Seungcheol followed his gaze and quickly realized Jihoon’s hesitation. He reached over and tapped the boy sitting at the desk in front of Jihoon’s on the shoulder. “Hey, would you mind switching seats with me?” Seungcheol asked the boy politely. The boy quickly moved without a word, probably thrilled to have Seungcheol talk to him.

Jihoon sat back down at his desk and watched as Seungcheol arranged his stuff on his new desk. Jihoon couldn’t believe Seungcheol was in the same class as him. Maybe the universe wasn’t being so cruel to him? Maybe good things were in store for him?

Seungcheol turned around and gave him a soft, gummy smile before the teacher came in and started up the lecture.

As soon as class ended, Seungcheol turned around abruptly. “Hey, Woozi?” He asked, making Jihoon extremely nervous. He had no reason to be talking to him. Literally none.

“Yeah?” Jihoon asked, trying his best to hide his nerves.

“Will you meet me tonight where we met yesterday? I want to ask you something, but I don’t have time right now since I’m late for SVT rehearsals!” Seungcheol exclaimed, jumped up out of his seat after checking the time on his phone. “Just meet me there tonight, same time as yesterday!” After that statement, he took off out of the room.

“Um, okay, see ya..” Jihoon murmured to a Seungcheol who was already out of the room. Why did he want to meet with him? It didn’t really make sense. No. It didn’t make sense at all. But maybe this was good? Maybe he could already work on befriending him and helping Hoshi and the others pass their auditions into SVT. All he knew for sure was that he had to make sure to meet him.

The rest of Jihoon’s classes seemed to fly by. He didn’t know anyone in the classes, but he almost liked it better. It seemed like his English and math classes were going to be a little drama-filled due to the people he had in them, so he was thankful for a chiller rest of the day.

Due to the entrance ceremony, all the classes were cut short and ended right before lunch and he was starving. He followed the crowd of students to the cafeteria, slightly overwhelmed by how many people were there. He decided that he would stop first in the bathroom near the cafeteria in order to text Hoshi and ask him where he was.

He opened the door and walked inside. There he was met with a very jarring sight. One boy was pushed up against a wall, while another boy was muttered something aggressively in his ear, his arm pushed right up against the neck of the other. Both boys were breathing heavily as Jihoon watched the one pinning the other clasp his hand around the boy's neck.

Jihoon didn’t even think before running over and grabbing the boy who was pinning the other one to the wall. The boy was tall and Jihoon’s short height made it hard for him to pull him off, but luckily the boy let go due to being surprised. Both of them fell to the floor, allowing Jihoon to pin him to the floor. The other boy against the wall took a couple of steps away coughing due to the pressure that had been on his neck.

Jihoon looked at the boy he had tackled, who had now pushed him off of him and was standing up shouting obscenities at him. It was Mingyu from SVT. Jihoon recognized him immediately from the stage performance. Mingyu reached down and grabbed Jihoon’s collar, pulling him slightly off the ground and a few inches away from his face.

“What in the do you think you’re doing?” Mingyu spat. His eyes, once so handsome on stage, were filled with a murderous rage. Jihoon felt his own body tense up as Mingyu stared him down.

“You were going to hurt him.” Jihoon stammered out, pointing at where the other boy had been. Mingyu scoffed before flinging Jihoon back to the ground.

“Don’t get in between things you don’t understand,” Mingyu then spit on him before turning to the other boy and saying, “Next time, lock the damn door.” before walking out of the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

The other boy quickly ran over to Jihoon and sat him up. Jihoon recognized him as Jisoo’s friend, Wonwoo. “Are you hurt?” He asked, concern flashing over his entire face.

Jihoon’s eyebrows furrowed as he pushed Wonwoo away slightly. “No, I’m fine. But are you? He looked like he was going to really hurt you.” Jihoon said, scanning the boy with his eyes. He seemed pretty fine besides a mark on his neck that Jihoon couldn’t really make out but assumed was from being grabbed.

“Ah,” Wonwoo mumbled, his face turning red. “Yeah, I’m fine. We were just, um, messing around. He wasn’t going to hurt me..”

It was then that Jihoon remembered a very important thing that Hoshi had told him at the performance that morning:

“Wonwoo, who you met earlier, is actually close friends on the down-low with him if you know what I mean,” Hoshi said, pointing at Mingyu.

Jihoon replayed the scene he had just interrupted in his head. Mingyu pushing Wonwoo up against the wall. Mingyu muttering things in Wonwoo’s ears. Wonwoo’s red mark on his neck. Both boys breathing heavily. Oh god, he thought, feeling his face becoming bright red. He hadn’t stopped a fight.

He had stopped the two from ing.

“I am so sorry!” Jihoon cried, before getting up and racing out of the bathroom. He could not believe what he had just done. Mingyu was surely going to kill him if he ever ran into him again.