As if the surprises and excitement that I underwent during our vacation in the countryside wasn’t sufficient, life decided to throw one more surprise in my way when school resumed. Much to the astonishment of Heechul, horror of Kyuhyun and satisfaction of Sungmin, I was chosen as a student councillor.

“You’re chosen as a what?!” Heechul exclaimed, spraying grains of rice from his mouth. I frowned and started picking off the stray rice from the plate of vegetables that was placed in front of him. Beside him, Kyuhyun was wearing a similarly shocked face.

“As a student councillor. The student leaders?”

“Why did they choose you?! Yah! Cho Kyuhyun! What did you do to make the teachers choose her?!”

Kyuhyun turned to face Heechul with his face still in shock mode, he pointed to his face before answering, “Look at my face! Do I look as if I had anything to do with it?!”

“I voted for her,” Sungmin said casually, looking at the two boys with puppy eyes.

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” The duo exclaimed in unison, jumping onto their feet together. Sungmin jumped a little in shock from their over-reaction.

“Wh-Why can’t I vote for Yonni?”

“Exactly! Why can’t he vote for me?” I pouted as I asked indignantly, putting down my bowl and chopsticks.

“Does she look like she has the capability to be a student leader to you?” Kyuhyun looked at Sungmin questioningly as he sat back down onto his chair.

“Yah! Cho Kyuhyun! Are you saying I’m lousy?” I attempted to kick his leg from underneath the table, but he dodged just in time.

“My thoughts exactly! How can Yonni lead? She can’t even lead herself!” Heechul backed him up as he too took his seat again.

“Brother Heechul!”

“I’m just speaking the truth! When did you ever exhibit your leadership qualities?”

“I never had the chance to! You’re always the one making decisions!”

“I think Yonni will do fine,” Sungmin smiled confidently at me. Ever since Kyuhyun promised he would ask Sungmin to not pressurise me, the awkwardness between Sungmin and I dissipated. As long as he did not bring up the question again in the near future, I was perfectly fine with speaking with him.

I returned the smile as Heechul and Kyuhyun groaned. It was not as if any of their complains would change the fact that I was now a student councillor, although it did not stop Heechul from expressing his relief that he was no longer a student of the school.

“I’ll prove to you two that making me a student council is the best decision the school will ever make!” I answered confidently.

I mean, how hard could it be right?

The orientation for the newly elected student councils was on the weekend of the same week. Despite my earlier confidence in the week, I was really nervous as the day drew near. Especially when I realised that none of the people that I knew in school were elected. This meant that I would need to try and make new friends in the council.

On the day of the orientation, I woke up much earlier than I intended to. In fact, I was so nervous that I was unable to sleep much the previous night. Looking at the clock which read 6am, I had had more than 2 hours to prepare.

I got up from my bed and started going through my cupboard, trying on different outfits to wear to the orientation. In the end, I decided to go for shorts and tank-top for I believed that we would be expected to do some activities.

When I stepped out of my shower, the time was about 6:45am. Having ample time to enjoy my breakfast, I made my way towards the kitchen in the dark, not wishing to wake any of the boys up. However, as I switched on the lights in the dining area, there was already a plate waiting for me on the dining table. Walking over, I noticed a small piece of note taped to the plate cover.

Yonni,

Good luck for your orientation later!

Don’t fret, I believe you will be able to make lots of friends!

Hwaiting!

PS: I heard the head of the SC is the chairperson of Kyuhyun’s

fan club, be wary of her okay?

Sweet PumpkMin

“Sungmin’s such a sweet dearie…” I thought as I happily tucked into the breakfast that he had prepared for me, “Maybe I should really accept him… Shouldn’t be a bad choice right? But… It’s not fair to him if I… Aish! I better be sure that I really ‘like’ him before I make any decision…”

He had prepared a hearty meal for me. Toast with butter, together with a sunny side-up, some lettuce, poached tomato and grilled chicken, served alongside with my daily cup of peach milk. As the warm food travelled down my gullet, I was left with a fuzzy feeling that edged itself into my heart and a smile that edged onto my face.

When I walked through the school gates at 7.30am, there was a huge colourful banner set up in the front foyer that reads “Welcome to SC’s Orientation! Please assemble in the Student Council room! We look forward to meeting you!”

It took me another 15 minutes to find the Student Council room as I had totally no idea where on campus it was. Just as I was about to knock on the closed door, I heard a couple of voices coming from within.

“What do you guys think about the bunch of newbies this year?”

“Not sure, but I seriously doubt the capability of one of them.”

“Hey, shouldn’t we lower our volume? What if one of them comes along?”

“The time is still too early… I doubt any of them will be so punctual,”

“Anyway, Inhyeon, which one of them are you talking about?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m guessing it’s that girl that always hangs out with Kyuhyun-sshi! Am I right, Inhyeon?”

“OH! Cho Kyuhyun’s girlf…”

The last person’s sentence was interrupted halfway by a loud smacking sound. I jumped backwards from the door in shock.

Kyuhyun had a girlfriend?

Why didn’t he say anything about it?

Even though eavesdropping is very bad, curiosity got the better of me. I was curious about whom Kyuhyun’s girlfriend was.

“Inhyeon-sshi… I-I’m sorry…”

“Aish… Yooryung-ah! How many more times must we tell you? That An Yonni is not Kyuhyun’s girlfriend! She’s just an ignorant brat that is making use of him! Kyuhyun-sshi’s rightful girlfriend should be our Inhyeon!”

“N-Ne~ You’re right, Inhyeon-sshi is the only person who is worthy of Kyuhyun-sshi! That An Yonni is too simplistic!”

“Yooryung-ah,” This person’s voice was dangerously calm, “You can’t belittle Yonni-sshi… After all, she did make it to the Student Council…”

“Why was she chosen? Which club is she from?”

“From what I heard from the teacher-in-charge, it was a popularity choice. She’s from the Animal Welfare club. The teachers in the staff room were all praises for her, saying that she is the most caring and polite student that they had ever seen. She has already been nominated for the annual ‘Compassionate Student’ award.”

“Strings-puller. How else would she have made it here? She must have made used of her relationship with Kyuhyun-sshi to influence the teachers!”

“Girls…” The scary voice was back again, “Fret not… I’ll make sure everyone in the Student Council deserve their titles… Especially… Her…”

I gulped and backed away from the door slowly. “Opps. I'm in for trouble...” I thought, contemplating whether I should accept my post after hearing such hostile comments from the seniors. She must be the SC head that Sungmin was warning me about.

Suddenly, my back came into contact with something warm and soft, causing me to whip around in shock. Standing behind me was a girl who was around my height. Her long black hair was pulled back neatly in a ponytail. She had a cold look on her face as she looked at me. “I'm...I'm so sorry!” I stammered as I bowed in apology.

The girl simply held up a hand to stop me from bowing, and nodded without a word.

“You're here for the orientation too? Me too! What's your name?” I asked with the brightest smile I could conjure.

However, my warm smile sizzled against her cool deposition. Looking at me from head to toe, she walked past me without answering. With my head slumped in defeat, I followed behind her disappointedly.

“Leejin,” came her reply just before she reached the door leading to the student council room.

“Leejin?” My smile instantaneously recharged as I ran up to her, “Nice to meet you! I'm An Yonni!”

“Nice to meet you too,” She gave me a small smile before knocking on the door. I was apprehensive of the dangers that awaited me, thus I instinctively moved a little such that Leejin would enter the room first.

“Welcome! You two must be the new council members,” a cheery voice greeted us. My heart was racing from nervousness as I looked around the room. It was the size of a classroom, and there was a big empty space in the middle where approximately 20 chairs were set up facing to the front. I’m guessing that this was where the new members were supposed to sit while we were briefed.

Suddenly, my eyes met that of the girl who was sitting at the front of the room. Although she had a sweet smile on her face, her stare was fiery. “She must be Inhyeon…” I concluded as I looked away from her, feeling uncomfortable because of the way she was looking at me.

“Welcome! I’m the president of the Student Council, Inhyeon,” The girl whom was sitting in front of the room stood up and started walking towards me, “You must be Yonni, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Her voice was icy even though she had a bright smile on her face. Unknowingly, I began to take little steps backwards. This girl seemed dangerous and I wanted to stay as far away from her as possible. I already had half a mind to reject the nomination and get out of the student council. Then, I suddenly recalled that I had already told the boys back home that I would make a perfect councillor.

The thought of Kyuhyun and Heechul laughing their heads off at me prevented me from leaving. Having no other choice, I tried to be as friendly as I could, “That’s right! I’m very honoured to be chosen as a member of the Student Council.”

“Oh!” Her smile was hypocritical as she took my hand in a firm handshake, “I’m sure the honour is all ours…After all, it’s not everyday that someone so… Capable like you get elected…” I tried to maintain the smile on my face even though I knew what she was insinuating at.

It was understandable that she might have misunderstood that I made used of Kyuhyun to get into the council. “It’s okay, Yonni… Time will show the truth… Just as long as you do your best, they will realise their mistake sooner or later! Hwaiting!” I encouraged myself as I took the seat beside Leejin, who had chosen to sit right at the back.

After all the new members arrived, the seniors started dividing us into pairs. Coincidentally, I was placed with Leejin. Then, they made us do a short self introduction of ourselves. That was when the worse part of the day set in.

As more and more people finished their self-introduction, I began to sink lower and lower into my seat from self-consciousness. There were about 16 new members in the council, and I was due to be the last person to present. At this point of time, out of the 12 people who had already presented, 10 of them were either leaders or captains of their clubs and societies while the remaining two were class chairpersons. Being just a normal student who neither hold a key leadership role in my club nor in my class, I wished the earth would just open up and swallow me whole to save me from the embarrassment that I was about to face.

Inhyeon was staring at me with a glint in her eyes, suggesting that she was looking forward to me making a joke out of myself. I cursed Kyuhyun silently in my heart for causing me to become the target of her wrath. Just then, Leejin nudged me a little, bringing my attention back to the presentation.

“It’s your turn now,” she whispered. Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I managed a small smile at her before I stood up, wringing my hands a little in nervousness. Clearing my throat, I began, “Hi, I-I’m An Yonni… I’m… I’m in my first year… And… A-And…”

Snickers started going around the room as I struggled for words to say, “And I’m glad to be chosen to be part of this family. Thank you,” Feeling stressed, I hurriedly finished my sentence and sat down with my face turning crimson. Inhyeon refused to let me off though. Addressing me directly, she started to probe me for the information that I had tried to withhold.

“Yonni-sshi, why don’t you tell us more about the clubs or societies that you are participating in?”

“I…I-I’m from the Animal Welfare Society. We do fund raisings and organise voluntary work for animal shelters,”

“And what’s your post within?”

“…”

“Yonni-sshi?”

“I’m… I’m a project leader,” I answered, trying to make my post sounds more fanciful. In reality, I was just the leader of a small team of 6 people.”

“Oh, I see…” She paused before looking around the room with that fake smile of her plastered on her face, “Well, I guess it’s good that the Student Council receives a… Commoner, once in a while. Thank you for sharing with us, Yonni-sshi,” Laughter broke out in the small room, making me feel smaller than I already felt. Tears began filling my eyes as I tried to block out the mocking laughter. Never before had I felt so totally humiliated, and this was just the beginning.

All of a sudden, a hand placed itself over mine. Looking up in surprise, I found it to be Leejin, who was had been sitting beside me quietly. She was not laughing like the rest of them, but she had a small smile on her face. However, her smile was that of comfort and encouragement and not that of mockery. “Just ignore them, they’re idiots,” she said softly, giving my hands a couple of pats before looking away.

I smiled and blinked away the tears that clouded my vision. Leejin was right, why let the narrow-mindedness of a few people spoil my mood for the day? I will show them that being a leader in other places doesn’t necessarily mean they have the ability to represent the student body.

“At least I’ve got Leejin on my side, she seems like a cool friend to have!” I thought as I glanced briefly at the cool girl sitting beside me. Maybe something good came out of this after all.