Kim Myungsoo wasn't the only heartthrob that roamed the school.

There were surprisingly many charming men in Gangnam but none could match the stunning features that belonged to Lee Taemin.

At the end of every hallway, Taemin's hands would always be full of letters, flowers, and snacks. At times, he adored the attention of many beautiful ladies but most times, he hated it. Privacy became a rare thing for him since the start of Junior year when puberty had hit him like a bulldozer. His best friends, Kai and Key, were no different from him. Being the school hot-jock and art prodigy respectively, with the addition to their good looks, they almost had it as difficult as Taemin. He had just turned a corner to meet his mates.

"Dang Taemin," Kai said as he stared at the gifts Taemin had received, "I think this morning's offerings best yesterday's." Taemin rolled his eyes but failed to hide the slight smirk that slowly crept up his lips. He wished he could burn them all and send them to the heavens. It would save him much space in his room but that would be inconsiderate of him. Instead, he kept them in large boxes and stashed them in his attic, never to be seen again.

All around them, students wore thick clothes, some bringing their snow gears for the trip. Taemin had planned to bring his ski gear as well but was too lazy to carry the heavy equipment. He'd rather spend a little extra just for this occasion.

"I still can't believe Headmaster Han paid an entire week's worth at Starlight," Kai continued.

It was surprising. Headmaster Han was known to be generous, but no one suspected him to be excruciatingly generous.

"He's probably only confident to spend that much money given the amount our school gets every year," Key commented. That was also true. Like its namesake, the students of Gangnam mostly came from wealthy families. Some were even heirs/heiresses including the three of them. Only a handful of students got their fees paid through scholarships.

As the boys made their way to the main hall, Key had bumped into a tall, slender brunette. She bowed and apologized before running to two other girls. Taemin didn't recognize the three girls, so they must've been from another class. He looked at Key and could've sworn he saw a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"Looks like somebody has a crush," he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. That gave him a blow in the stomach.

The one-hour briefing bored the boy to death. He wanted to drag his feet to the school lounge and take a catnap before the trip, but his grumbling stomach said otherwise. Taemin wasn't able to get a quick breakfast before coming to school since his father had to reach the office early today. Thankfully, the food served in his school was delectable compared to most schools. If one was lucky enough, a bowl of acacia topped with granola and drizzled in maple syrup would be their first meal of the day. Today's menu, however, was bacon and eggs along with some fresh fruits on the side. The trio was peacefully eating their breakfast when a loud thud caught everyone's attention. Taemin scanned his surroundings until he found the source of the noise.

A school fight, Taemin realized, and it looked pretty nasty. A large crowd had gathered around it.

This ought to be interesting.

He squeezed through the crowd to get a better look. Unsurprisingly, L was the one on top of the other boy, striking at him like a punching bag. Taemin and L were classmates for freshmen and sophomore years, but they never got along with each other well. Taemin was far less violent and was much more of a gentleman compared to L - he was just plain rude and proud. Out of the corner of his eyes, a girl, whom Taemin recognized as one of the brunette's friends from earlier, ran and kicked L off the bruised-face boy. She too was a tall, slender girl but instead of brown locks, she had long, silky jet-black hair.

Pretty strong for a petite girl, he thought.

"Go ahead," she said. Taemin frowned this time. Was she being serious? He didn't notice himself walking closer to them. "Give it your best shot," she continued.

"Pabo", Taemin muttered as his pace quickened, shoving people out of his way. Just as L's fist was ready to strike the girl down, Taemin caught hold of it. A second later and it could've been game over for her.

"Easy there, L," Taemin growled, "before you regret it". He saw L's eyes, burning with fury. He was going to do it. As much of a douche he was, Taemin couldn't believe he would have the audacity to strike a girl.

As L's gang dragged him away, Taemin looked at the girl beside him, a shocked expression on her innocent face. He almost admitted that it looked cute on her.

"Brave girl you are," he said, breaking the silence, "but also stupid". That snapped her back to reality.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Did you honestly think he wouldn't dare to break a few of your precious little teeth?"

The girl's face quickly turned into a frown. "I didn't need your help."

Taemin scoffed. Was this girl serious? She hadn't even thanked him for saving her! Nevertheless, being the gentleman he was raised to be, he didn't argue back. Instead, he gave her a sarcastic reply.

"Sure, you didn't," and walked back to his seat. All eyes were on him, including Key's and Kai's.

Key was the first to say something.

"Show off," he smirked.

Taemin smirked back at him, "Shut up and eat your bacon."

~~~

As the boys made their way to the bus, Taemin made sure he sat far from the still fuming L. Since Key wanted some peace after what had happened in the cafeteria, Taemin sat next to Kai. Coincidentally, the girl whom he had saved as well as the brunette whom Key had bumped into, were sitting behind them.

"I'm alright, don't worry," he heard the ravenette say.

Taemin slightly turned his head around to see her face. He had to admit, she was a beautiful girl. How had he not notice her before? Before he could dwell further into his thoughts, he caught her glancing at him and Taemin quickly turned back.

Jessica, one of the staff members of the resort, informed them that the ride to Starlight Resort would roughly be a two-hour drive. It was already close to 3 pm. That meant the fun and games would begin tomorrow. The rest of the day would just be touring, check-ins, eating, and sleeping. Definitely what Taemin needed.

He upped his Spotify volume and drifted off to sleep.