Author's Note: This chapter is basically just introducing the characters. It'll get more interesting later on as the story develops.

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It was another day at Dae-Jung High School, and Park Taeyeon was in her Science class, her last class before lunch.

Taeyeon is eighteen years old and a senior at Dae-Jung High School. She’s just a normal student but barely has any friends. Most people consider her as a loner or an outcast.

Many people do not know her, but if they did they would know that she has a very difficult home life. Her father died when she was only five years old, leaving her mother to care for her and her younger brother, Jonghyun. Her family has never been rich, so it was a real struggle for her single mother to take care of two children. Taeyeon’s mother works two jobs and is barely ever home because she is so busy. Taeyeon and Jonghyun work every day after school to help their mother with money, but there is only so much they can do when they have to go to school too.

They live in a small house in a terrible neighborhood that’s trashy. The neighbors don’t take care of their lawns or the environment, and the police are always around because the other teenagers always get into trouble. Taeyeon is ashamed and embarrassed of where her house is located, but it doesn’t really matter because no one ever goes over anyway.

The only friend she actually has is Lee Sunny. They’ve been friends since their first year in high school, and Sunny knows of Taeyeon’s situation. She’s the only person Taeyeon trusts.

The bell rang, telling everyone that it was time for lunch.

As Taeyeon walked out into the hallway, she met up with her younger brother Jonghyun. He was a year younger than she was. They usually eat lunch together with his friend Kris, a student who had just moved from China. His Korean is actually pretty good although he still has a little accent.

“Taeyeon!” She spun around to find Jonghyun and Kris walking up to her. She waved at them and softly smiled.

When they were about to turn into the cafeteria, they heard a loud shriek and suddenly everyone was running to one end of the hallway.

“Oh no, it’s Kim Hyun Joong.” Jonghyun said while rolling his eyes.

“Why does everyone always do that whenever he’s around?” Kris questioned.

Jonghyun gave a disgusted look. “Because everyone wants to be his friend.”

The three of them could see Hyun Joong at the end of the hallway even with so many people in the way. He was tall although not extremely built. His hair was black, and although he looked quite simple, he still had an aura that made him seem superior to everyone else. Maybe it was because of the way he carried himself. He stood up tall and walked with confidence. He was stuck up, and he talked to no one except a few people. He was the smartest student at Dae-Jung High School, so that’s probably why he thought he was better than everyone else.

Although Taeyeon would hate to admit it, she couldn’t deny that he was attractive.

About a minute passed before someone shouted “Han Jaejoong”. Half the girls who ran to Hyun Joong ran to Jaejoong, who was at the other end of the hallway with his group of friends.

Han Jaejoong was as popular as Hyun Joong but it’s only because of his money and looks. He belonged to one of the richest families in all of South Korea because they owned tons of corporations. Out of all the guys at the school, he had the most style. He really cared about his looks so he looked very pretty for a guy. He had a more feminine look to him compared to Hyun Joong.

Taeyeon couldn’t deny that he was attractive as well. Actually, she has a huge crush on him. He’s been her crush for about four years now, but she has never talked to him before.

She, Jonghyun, and Kris all got shoved out of the way as everyone tried to reach Jaejoong.

“We should’ve gone inside the cafeteria to avoid being ran over.” Kris mumbled, brushing his clothes off with his hands. Jonghyun and Taeyeon nodded in agreement.

Just as Taeyeon grabbed the door handle to get inside the cafeteria, someone else had grabbed it. She quickly jerked her hand back and looked up at who it was. Kim Hyun Joong. He wasn’t looking directly back at her but just looked from the corner of his eyes. After a second or so, Hyun Joong ignored Taeyeon, her brother, and Kris and walked inside the lunch room with a pack of girls following him.

“What a prick.” Jonghyun said under his breath.

Right before the three of them were about to walk inside, they were stopped once again. “I can’t believe you touched Hyun Joong’s hand.”

Taeyeon closed her eyes briefly because she already knew who it was. She opened her eyes and braced herself for what Tiffany Hwang was about to say.

The three of them turned to find Tiffany standing behind them with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“It’s not like she touched his hand on purpose.”

Tiffany laughed. “Are you really going to let your younger brother fight your own battles for you?”

“I’m not in the mood for this.” Taeyeon started. “So what if I touched his hand? It’s not like I liked it.”

“Any girl would have killed to touch his hand and you’re saying that you didn’t like it?” Tiffany questioned disbelievingly.

“Mhm.” And Taeyeon left it at that. She spun around and walked into the cafeteria before Tiffany could say another word.

“Wow Taeyeon, you really shut her up.” Kris said with an impressed smile. It was rare to ever see him smiling. He usually has a cold face so no one dares to talk to him.

“I needed to shut her up. I wasn’t in the mood to get into a long argument over something stupid.”

The three of them sat down at a table and saw Jaejoong walk in with a crowd. Taeyeon couldn’t help but stare at him and the girls who were always around him. She was envious of them because they got to touch and talk to Jaejoong. She let out a sad sigh and continued staring at them.

Jonghyun rolled his eyes at his older sister. “Why do you like him?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Taeyeon snapped back. “He’s gorgeous and rich.”

“Yeah, but he’s got no brains.”

“Yes he does! He’s passing all of his classes.”

“He’s barely passing all of his classes.”

“So what? I know he’s smart. He just chooses not to do anything in school.”

Kris rolled his eyes at the two siblings. “Will you two cut it out? You guys have this conversation every day.”

Jonghyun ignored his friend. “If you like Jaejoong, then why don’t you like Hyun Joong? He’s just as popular and good looking. He even has brains!”

“No! No one can compare to Jaejoong.” Taeyeon retorted. “Hyun Joong is a stuck up and conceited nerd who doesn’t talk to anyone because he thinks we’re all dumb and worthless people. Jaejoong on the other hand has to keep up an image due to his parents.”

“I can’t believe you’re sticking up for that playboy.”

“Shut up Jonghyun!”

Kris buried his face in his hands and tried to keep from blowing up at the two of them. They seriously have this conversation everyday and he was getting tired of it.