Note: Middle school and high school for this story are affiliated. And despite Irene being one year older than the rest of them, she is still in the same class as them because she transferred from Daegu and had a gap year. 

It is the start of a new year, a fresh start of a new term. Yet, to Irene, it is just another typical school day. A dreading school day that can never be compared to those days in middle school. It may have been due to the change of environment as she transits from middle school to high school. Where it is no longer so carefree as there are always countless deadlines to meet. But even with the once in the blue moon freedom, something is still amiss. 

Honestly, nothing much has actually changed in her life. With the same trusted little circle of friends and familiar faces all around the school, she just can not seem to pinpoint the cause of the sense of loss. But well, after all, it has been 2 years since middle school ended and Irene can not really expect everything to stay exactly the same, can she? Though the 13 years old naive Irene once did, only to get a shock of her life when the assumed constant in her life became a distant memory of the past. 

If you were to ask those around in school whether Irene is still the same irene in middle school, most will tell you yes. That she is still the ever so popular queen bee in school, with her holding the position of the president of both the student council and the dance club ever since middle school. That her cold aura, which might have gotten colder in recent years, still never fails to scare yet attract students, an interesting fact that no one understands. That her beauty which has grown over the years have built an even larger fan base as compared to in middle school. That, basically, she is living up to her name as the queen bee in school with her reputation as the ice princess. 

Yet, a small group will tell you no. The only few people who are close to Irene, the privilege few that is privy to the unguarded Irene. Where they get to see the vulnerable side of her and notice a few differences to her overall aura ever since she entered high school. They will tell you that she has lost her once visible glint in her eyes and seems to slowly withdraw back to her shell. As she drowns herself in more responsibilities and studies. She just does not seem to be as happy as she once was and her smile became an ever more rare moment to witness. Though Irene will never admit to these changes described and always blames it on the inevitable change in the environment.

As she walks down the hallways to her class, students partway to form a path for her to pass. Eyes follow each and every movement of her as if they are in a trance. Being used to the attention she is given, she just walks to her first class of the day. 

“Unnie why are you so late” whines a bear looking girl even before she reaches her seat.  The girl has brown hair and a cute fringe that her friends still make fun of as she said it is supposed to make her look chic but instead make looks like a cute fluffy teddy bear. 

Irene plops herself down beside the bear looking girl, dreading to hear complaints at the start of the day.

“Stop pouting like that, save that cute act for your fans. And how am I late when I’m actually here two minutes before lessons start Seul.” Irene deadpans. 

“But unnie, we promised to be here 15 minutes earlier to secure a nice seat for the rest of the year. Did you know how hard it was to constantly tell others that this seat is taken?” Seulgi complains to Irene while gesturing wildly in hope to get her point across.

But Irene being Irene, will always have a way out of any argument. As she replies teasingly with a sweet smirk, “but what’s more important is that you managed to secure a seat for us, didn’t you?”

However, even before Seulgi is able to respond, the teacher walks in. Putting an end to the conversation.  Irene turns to Seulgi and sticks out her tongue before returning her attention to the teacher.

Seulgi can only slouch in her seat in defeat after she once again lost against Irene and focuses on the lesson as well. 

But Seulgi can not focus for long as she gets bored of the lesson quickly and starts to think of ways to entertain herself. Unsurprisingly, her first target is Irene. She starts poking Irene to gain any reaction out of the model student. However, Irene is not at all bothered as her attention remains unfazed on the teacher. The most Seulgi gets is a cold glare that challenged her for more as