The atmosphere is just plain tense as the five sit in Jihyuk's rooftop room, still in their uniforms. The letters are in their hands and each say the exact same thing with each of their names. It had seemed almost impossible to them. They'd joked around about it in front of Shil Ba, but now that they've tasted it, they want to take it all back. But they couldn't.  

"Expelled," Kyungjong repeats for the umpteenth time, "we've been expelled." Hajin looks at him distastefully and pushes Kyungjong's head aside, cursing. 

"Like we didn't know that," he hisses, "we read the same letters. We've been expelled. What are we going to do, Jihyuk?" The four turn their heads to their leader. Jihyuk clears his throat before speaking.

Hyunsoo, however, beat him to the punch. "Let's not continue school," he comments, shrugging a bit. Hajin scoffs at him and gives him this look, as if he'd just said the craziest thing in the world.

"We had to stay in school for Byunghee. We could have stayed just until the contest was over, but no, you just had to screw it all up like the idiot you-"

"Hajin," Jihyuk warns, "that was in the past." Do Il puts a hand on Hyunsoo's shoulder consolingly. The latter shrugs it off and looks away scornfully before Jihyuk speaks again. "Besides, the next rock festival is coming up. We have to be enrolled high school students to enter. We can still win this one."

"Fine, let's continue school," Hyunsoo says, voice low, "but we have nowhere to go. It's not like we can afford it. We're five high-schoolers who play in a band, have had trouble with the cops and are broke, we're not exactly scholarship material, either."

Kyungjong and Hajin agree, nodding their heads once. Jihyuk takes a deep breath and raises his voice. "Hey, hey. We're finishing school, alright? As for where, I'll take care of it, I promise," he looks over at all of them seriously. "Now, let's practice. I've got the new song down, now we just need someone to sing it with us."

"You should sing it with Hyunsoo." Kyungjong says. Hyunsoo punches his shoulder. "Yah, it was just a suggestion," he mutters while rubbing his arm. Hyunsoo grins.

"It's a duet about love. As much as I love you guys, I wouldn't go gay for any one of you." Jihyuk says. "But hey, I'm willing to let Hyunsoo sing it with someone else." He shrugs. Hyunsoo stares at him questioningly. The leader just shrugs again. "I'm saying, you're a good singer, Hyunsoo. We just need someone to sing with you."

"What about Soo Ah?" Hajin suggests. Jihyuk waves his hand at him, shaking his head vigorously as he did.

"No, no, not Soo Ah, we can't. It's not like she goes to school with us anymore. Soo Ah is out of the question." The rest of the band look at each other knowingly before continuing to spew out suggestions.

Do Il thinks to himself before looking up, "Wookyung?" Hyunsoo glares at him with such an intensity that the drummer is forced to look away. "Ah, so no to Wookyung?"

"Guys," Jihyuk sighs, "we need someone who doesn't just sing well. Hyunsoo could sing with that Nana girl from HershE and I still wouldn't be satisfied. I mean, she's good, but I don't think she'd suit our song. We need someone who doesn't sing perfectly, who doesn't show their efforts clearly. You know what I mean?" They all nod hesitantly.

Hyunsoo looks at Jihyuk, and the latter looks back. Their leader holds his gaze for a few moments before looking down. The younger isn't sure, but he swears he saw a knowing smile on Jihyuk's face. I already know the perfect school for us, and surely you'll spot that girl there, Jihyuk thinks, Lee Hyunsoo, you'll thank me one day.

It's a day like any other at Kirin, with the students going by their daily routine. A few people are practicing vocal exercises, others are moving their arms and feet slightly, running through dance steps in their mind. Most of the students are at their lockers, lounging around the rows of metal boxes rather than getting things needed. It's break period and everything is quite normal, at least until the school doors swing open, and it's as if Heaven's own doors have been opened.

Five very handsome boys walk through without a care, wearing different uniforms and donning messy yet undeniably y hair. All the girls stop and stare at them as they casually walk past, towards the faculty. As soon as they pass, the crowd of girls starts to grow noisy with murmurs and whispers. "Who were those guys?"

The five reach the faculty room, bowing at every teacher in sight. Heads turn as they brush past, but the quintet come to a stop once they see an awkward-looking teacher seated at his desk, watching Eye Candy's very own performance at the first rock festival. The leader coughs to show that they've arrived, and Jin Man jumps, completely startled. Jihyuk greets Teacher Yang Jin Man in a deep voice. "Good morning, sir." The four behind him bow as well, greeting him cheerfully. Well, as cheerful as they can.

Jin Man nods, "ah, you guys are here. You're the new transfer students, right?" He pulls out a pile of thick folders from his drawer and looks them over. "Kwon Jihyuk, Lee Hyunsoo, Jang Do Il, Kim Hajin and Seo Kyungjong?" He looks up for confirmation.

"Yes, sir." They all reply in unison. Jin Man raises an eyebrow before standing up and moving a bit closer to them. Before he could speak, Jihyuk cleared his throat. "Yeah, Teacher Yang, thanks for this. I knew I could count on you," his voice is low and Jin Man only nods again. 

"Anything for a friend," he mutters, "debt of gratitude." Jihyuk smirks just a bit and straightens up. Jin Man raises his voice and addresses all five of them. "I'll be handing you your schedules later, but as for now, you'll need to get proper uniforms."

"Again?" Kyungjong whines, "but we just bought these. These cost us a lot. I don't like wasting money, teacher." Jin Man rolls his eyes.

"Neither do I. But, you can't wear Jungsang uniforms at Kirin. I think we could get you some uniforms without you guys having to pay a single cent." They all grin widely before being led out of the faculty room.

"This uniform is itchy," Kyungjong complains to Hajin. The latter rolls his eyes and whacks him on his head, but doesn't disagree with what was said. The five of them are walking to their respective classes after having changed into the Kirin uniforms Jin Man handed them. They wear the uniforms with their signature Eye Candy style, loosened ties and ed blazers, untucked shirts and messy hair. 

"Hey, what's your class?" Do Il asks no one in particular while staring at his own schedule. They all look to their papers. "I'm in 2-4." 

"Oh, same as me." Jihyuk points out. He glances at the remaining three. Kyungjong and Hajin look at their own papers and then each others before grinning. "2-2," they say in unison. They look over to Hyunsoo, who is staring at his own paper with an unreadable expression.

"2…1," he mutters. The others grow quiet as Hyunsoo glared intensely at the paper. He's about to rip it into shreds and scream and unleash hell upon Kirin High when Jihyuk puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's not overreact. We can always cut classes." The slight grin on his face lightened up the mood. Kyungjong nodded with a wide smile, before - "But hey, we can't get expelled again. I only saved a limited number of teachers' asses." He looks at all of them before saying, in a hushed tone, "just remember, guys. We need someone to do the duet with Hyunsoo. There must be dozens of great singers here at this school, so keep your eyes peeled."

The four nod before splitting up into groups; Hajin and Kyungjong head to their classrooms quite eagerly, while Do Il and Jihyuk laze behind but eventually make their way to their class. Hyunsoo stares after all of them, sighing audibly before heading to the room with "2-1" posted outside their door. 

It's a miracle that he didn't get lost - he tends to space out when walking around alone - and when he arrives at the classroom, the warning bell rings. Just in time, he rolls his eyes and walks through the already open door. When he enters, it's as if he were the teacher. The room falls silent and everybody stares at him curiously. He ignores their gazes and sits on a random seat at the back of the room, next to the window, not caring if it already belonged to someone. Lazily, he drapes his legs over the table and rests them there before gazing out the window. The skies are bright, which irked him to no end. He never really liked vivid colors as they hurt his eyes and reminds him of the stereotypical Korean group, with their bright sets and stage outfits, colorful album jackets and hair and heavy makeup. Thick eyeliner peeved him a lot, but nothing ever beat his hatred for red lipstick. 

Suddenly, the silence that came with him into the room is replaced with excited murmurs by mostly male voices. He doesn't look at what instantaneously took over the class' minds, only stares out the window again, even though he hates the blueness of the sky, the bright white of the clouds, the glare of the sun. He feels someone tap him on the shoulder, but he still doesn't turn his head.

"Yah," a strong yet feminine voice says, "you're in my seat." It's only then that he turns his gaze toward the speaker, and the second his eyes catch sight of her, he suddenly wishes he hadn't. The girl has long hair, falling in waves, framing her face. It's a light brown. Light.

That doesn't even matter that much, but then he notices her eyes. Her big eyes, so enchanting he couldn't look away at first. Her eyelashes are long, curled up and touched with mascara. The girl's wide eyes stare into his, and Hyunsoo notices the make-up applied around her gray orbs. It's eyeliner. Thick eyeliner.

Of course, almost every girl in Korea wore eyeliner, as the cosmetic made their eyes 'pop' and made their lashes look longer, so it doesn't bother Hyunsoo that much. His eyes travel to her lips, her plump lips, pursed as she'd waited for him to turn around. They're perfect, and he actually thinks of what they would feel like against his own, or if the voice that slipped from them could be the one to sing along with his. Then, as if he'd been colorblind his whole life, he saw the color of her lips - a vivid cherry-red. 

She folds her arms across her chest and taps her foot, irritating him to no end. "You're in my seat, idiot." Too lazy for arguing, he stands and moves to the chair in front of hers, slinging his legs over the table again. "Hey, that's JB's seat," she protests.

"Well it's not yours, and he's not here, so shut your trap." He knows who she is, he knows who JB is. His younger sister was up-to-date with all the new K-Pop acts, and every so often she would be squealing to him on and on about this group that was always in-sync - what was it? Endless or whatever? - and sometimes the topic of Eden and HershE came up. He'd seen a few music videos, but never even heard the girl who he'd just spoken to - Rian, he recalled - sing. Ha, he snorts to himself, just eye candy.

I'm sorry it's been so long!! :( I said I'd update when summer started but summer's literally about to end and I've only gotten to finishing it just five minutes ago. SORRYYYYY!! I know a lot of you have been waiting. Can I just say, I'm surprised to hear the number of Myungyeon shippers here. I thought I was the only one! Haha! Anyway, hope you like this. I know it's kinda boring, but still, I put in a lot of effort. I'll do better, haha. Unbeta'd, too, but I hope I kept my mistakes to a minimum.

Word count: 1991