Sunlight fell delicately on the mattress as Jeon Wonwoo’s chest rose up and down. He groaned loudly when the sound of his alarm suddenly came crashing in, at 6:00 AM on the dot. He had barely gotten a wink of sleep last night, and unsurprisingly so; after all, today was going to be his first day at his new school. And not just any school at that. Glancing at the newly purchased white and gold uniform loosely hanging on his dressing, Wonwoo sighed. He was not going to chicken out now. Not when he was so graciously offered a full scholarship at the most prestigious school in the country. The young man dragged his feet to the end of the hall where the bathroom was. Thankfully, his father and younger sister were still asleep, which meant he had plenty of time to perform his morning routine and cook breakfast for the three of them. He had gotten used to it pretty early on, ever since their mother passed away. His father worked as a mechanics and would spend long shifts at the garage. His sister was still in middle school and was going to take high school entrance exams soon. This meant Wonwoo had to take care of the chores and tend to the house. And since they were not exactly well off, he also worked part time at the local coffee shop for extra income. To put it mildly, it wasn’t easy, but they managed. Wonwoo downed his breakfast before grabbing his keys and exiting the house. After twenty minutes of pedaling, the golden gates of his new school finally came into view. Large facilities of white and gold stood as far as the eye could see. In the distance, Wonwoo could make out a racetrack, tennis courts, a dome made of glass and a pond. It was basically a miniature city. 

Blossom Private Academy. ‘From which the Great are raised’. If you could graduate from here, you were set for life. This institution was renowned worldwide for only accepting the elite. Its alumni were all influential figures in the fields of politics, science, the arts and more. This could also explain why the school itself played such an important role in the political life of the country, and why its overall influence was so vast. Did he say miniature city? No, it was more like a small country for rich kids. 

“Hey, move it” Someone suddenly shoved him aside. Wonwoo suddenly became conscious of how he’d been standing right in front of the gates for a whole five minutes, jaw hanging like a trout. Still holding onto his bike, he noticed the other students exiting expensive cars lining up the entrance of the facility. Some of them even had staff open the car door for them. Wonwoo wondered what it would be like to have someone open the door for him. Not that he had plans to get a car in the first place; they were a complete waste of money as far as he was concerned. Not knowing where to park his bike, he simply locked it onto a corner of the iron fence surrounding the school. He would probably find a more suitable place later; for now, this would have to do. Taking a deep breath, he confidently took a step towards what was going to be his new life. 

Since the first day was essentially just orientation, they were going to have an entrance ceremony, as well as a tour of the facilities for new students. Wonwoo stood nervously in the middle of the Great Hall while they waited for the ceremony to begin. The students were standing perfectly lined up in rows and casually chatted with one another. Wonwoo thought it made sense for them to already be acquainted; they were second years after all. Feeling awkward, Wonwoo played with the hem of his blazer. He was given a red baby rose to slip inside the pocket of his uniform. It was probably meant to look elegant, but he only felt more out of place after doing so. ‘Huh…? What’s that smell’ His nose suddenly twitched. ‘…Tchiii!?’ He barely had time to contain the sneeze in his elbow. ‘What was that about?!’ He thought. He tapped at his uniform, only for his hand to hit the baby rose in his pouch. As he took it out, he noticed that the stem had a slight abrasion, causing some white powder to leak out. ‘Flour?’ He examined the rose more closely; at the center, deeply hidden among the petals, was a miniature electrical device. It was connected to a tiny compartment inside the stem which housed a small amount of flour. This was probably meant to get a good sneeze out of the bearer. An elaborate prank. Unnecessarily elaborate, he chuckled.

“Oho, would you look at that. Yena, seems like we’ve been found out” Wonwoo heard a voice coming from the row right behind his. He turned around and was met with two pairs of eyes, a boy and a girl. The male student had a round, chubby face with small ears sticking out the sides. His hair was perfectly combed in a bowl, and his eyes had a teasing glint. The girl next to him had protruding lips and narrow eyes harboring the same look as her peer. None of them had a baby rose in their pocket. However, both of their faces betrayed a knowing smirk. Like a child biting his lips after saying ‘poop’.

“Huh…?” Was the only thing Wonwoo could think of at the moment. The other guy glanced around him before whispering: “The baby rose” He said. “It’s a welcome gift. Wait for the cue word during Eunbi-noona’s speech”. Wonwoo unknowingly nodded. ‘Cue word?’ 

He couldn’t ask further as the school anthem resonated inside the Hall, prompting them to direct their gaze to the stage. A tall, fair man walked up the stage. “Greetings, students of Blossom Private Academy. I’ll try to keep this brief. To those of you who will be joining us again this year, welcome back. I hope your break was fruitful, and that you are now ready to get back on track. For our new arrivals, welcome. My name is Kang Siwon. It is currently my seventeenth year as the vice principal of this Academy. As a scholar, I have always made my view of education known to the faculty, as well as the Ministry of Education. What you will thrive for during your years at Blossom is nothing short of survival. You will learn to survive in an environment where resources are scarce, and only the great prevail. This is in no way an exaggeration. The life that awaits you beyond these walls will be even tougher. My only advice to you today will be: stay sharp. Keep your wits to you. But do not forget to also make time for yourself and your colleagues. Youth is a but a fleeting moment, after all. Treasure it”. At these words, the vice principal nodded curtly. He then left the stage accompanied by a polite thunder of applause, only stopping halfway to shake hands with a student standing near the edge. Wonwoo heard the two muffled chuckles behind him. 

“Good morning everyone!” A student took the mic. “I’m Kwon Eunbi, the student council president and a third year here at Blossom”. The students cheered. Wonwoo thought she must’ve been pretty popular. “I hope you had a great Spring break this year” She continued. “Again, I’m just here to remind you of the few regulations to abide by. Please note that these are all laid out in your student handbook. Also, remember that the club fair will be held next week. New students are welcome to attend. Of course, I’m sure I mustn’t remind you that coercing students into joining is not permitted. We do not want a redo of what happened last year after all” A few chuckles emerged from the audience. Kwon Eunbi cleared . “Alright. This is it from me. I hope you all have a great year...”

“Alright. Ready?” 

“Born ready”

Wonwoo braced himself for what was about to come.

“3…

2…

1…”

The male student suddenly ducked between Wonwoo's legs before yelling: “CUE WORD!!!”

In a second, the Hall erupted in small whiteish clouds, followed immediately by sequential sneezing and gasping. Wonwoo covered his face using his blazer to protect his eyes and oral cavities. Around him, people started screaming and running around, bumping into one another in the process. It was complete chaos. Wonwoo couldn’t see two meters around him. Suddenly, he was abruptly grabbed before being dragged towards the pool of powder and frenzy. He recognized the two students responsible for the incident, who discreetly exchanged high fives before making a run for it, still grabbing the unknowing Wonwoo by the shoulders. “W-Wait! What are you doing?!” The female student winked at him before tapping at a specific spot on the stone wall. There, a small trap door opened, and the three of them slipped inside. They crawled in complete darkness for a minute before emerging from a manhole outside the building. Wonwoo huffed, hands grasping his knees. “What…what just…happened…?” He asked, still in a daze. The male student gave him a curt slap on the back. “Sorry about that. We don’t usually drag innocent bystanders into our plans. But you discovered the trick, so we had to kidnap you” The girl nodded, taking out a few sheets of paper from her banana bag. “Here. These are non-disclosure forms. To make sure you don’t rat us out to the council and stuff. Just a precaution” Wonwoo hesitantly took them from her. “Ehm…You don’t have to do that. I wasn’t going to say anything” 

‘Is it that normal in this school to blow things way out of proportion?’ 

“Interesting” the other guy grabbed his chin. “I wouldn’t be one to trust the words of a stranger like that, but my intuition tells me he might be telling the truth. What do you think?” He asked the girl next to him. She smirked. “I’ve never seen you around here before. You’re a second year too, right? So you have to be THE transfer student” Wonwoo felt a chill run down his spine. “Yeah, I’m Jeon Wonwoo” The guy offered his hand. “Boo Seungkwan. The renowned”

“Choi Yena. The infamous” Wonwoo accepted their handshakes. 

They both seemed pretty friendly, although calling themselve 'the renowned' or 'the infamous' was not something regular people typically did. “So, care to tell me what happened back there?” The transfer student asked. “Oh, just a routine prank. To celebrate the new school year, you see” Seungkwan answered. “Huh...And how did you know there was a trap door there, like, in the wall?!” Yena chuckled. “This school has a bunch of hidden doors and mechanisms. We do these pranks so often we