Sojin's POV

 

Coming back from summer vacation after my 13th birthday was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be the year when I finally was a grown up, not a little girl anymore. But the moment I walked inside the doors of school, I noticed that something was different. No one came up to me, wondering how my vacation had been. It was like I was invisible. I tried. I really did. Several times, I walked up to my old friends, trying to talk to them, asking if I'd done something. But all I got was silence, and they turned their backs to me. Leaving me alone, with no one in the world but myself. And trust me, I'm not good company,always criticizing everything I did. Everyone know they have flaws, the ones who believes that they're perfect are ignorant. But it's a difference when those flaws are the only thing you see in the mirror. Not pretty enough, not smart enough, not funny enough. Simply not being enough. 

 

I quietly walked up the stairs to my room, not wanting to disturb mom. She always whined about having a headache, and if I made too much sound, she would blame it on me. Dad was probably still at work, he basically lived there. Being the boss over a huge restaurant company demanded commitment, and my dad was more than willing to give it. Besides, what did he have at home? A failed daughter and a tired wife. His son had gone to college, so the one thing that he loved more than his work was gone. Even though they never had said it, I knew that my parents was disappointed with me. My brother, Dongsung, had been popular and loved by everyone, and that had raised the bar for me. My parents didn't know about my scars and bruises, but they knew very well about me not having any friends. It got very clear when they threw parties for dad's colleagues, when the daughters of other successful business men giggled and gossiped, while I sat on the side, all alone. The looks I got from my parents were enough, they didn't have to tell me how they felt.

 

I sat down infront of my clean desk and pulled up my homework from my bag. The one thing no one could blame me for was doing bad at school. I had straight A's in every subject, and that was because of all the free time I had to fill up. I opened the book, and buried myself in the history of South Korea.

 

I had lost track of time when there was three hard knocks on my door. I looked up from my book, just in time to see Ms. Kim, our housemaid, open the door. She was an unmarried old woman, who seemed to hold a grudge towards everyone.

 

"Dinner's ready", she muttered.

 

I nodded, but she had already turned around and left. I carefully closed the book and got up from the chair. I wasn't exactly eager to go down and spend another quiet meal with my parents, so I walked slowly. Once I got into the dining room, I found that it only was my mom who sat at the table, looking as stern as ever. She would be beautiful if it wasn't for the constant frown on her face. She had a spotless skin, and intelligent eyes, that gave you the feeling that she looked right through you. I quietly sat down on the other side of the table, so we sat right across from each other. We ate in silence, and I felt a tension on the air. They'd fought again. I was sure of it. But that was nothing that we talked about, because that was something that made the perfect unperfect, and my parents would rather die than admitting that they had flaws. Instead, they fought in silence, about stuff I didn't even want to know. 

 

Minhyuk's POV

 

"Dad, send the water!" I called over the table.

 

He swooshed the water can over to me, and I catched it with a grin. Mom frowned in disapproval but didn't say anything. She knew that it wouldn't matter anyways, we never listened on her. 

 

"How was your first day in school?" she asked me instead.

 

"It was just like my other first days. Fine", I answered truthfully.

 

That only made her frown even more. She felt guilty for making me go through so many moves, never giving me a steady place to grow up in, but it didn't really matter to me. I liked meeting new people, even if it sometimes felt a little rough leaving my friends behind.

 

"Did you meet any new friends?" she asked, trying to mask her discomfort.

 

"Yeah. Seven of them. One guy from my math class, Ilhoon, and his friends, and then a girl, Sojin", I answered, taking a sip of my water.

 

Mom immediatly put down her cutlery, looking at me.

 

"A girl?" she asked me.

 

"Yeah. You know, one of your kind", I answered, waving at her, earning a chuckle from my dad.

 

She gave him a quick but stern look, before she looked back at me.

 

"Minhyuk, honey... You know we're probably not going to stay here?" she asked me carefully.

 

I simply shrugged, not wanting to think about that when we just moved in. 

 

"Relax mom, it's nothing like that", I said.

 

"Oh. Well, that's great... I guess", she said, obviously confused.

 

I exchanged a look with my old man, mentally rolling my eyes at mom. Sometimes, she really dug her own grave.

 

 

The next day in school, Ilhoon caught up with me as I walked down the hall.

 

"Sup man?" he asked.

 

"Nothing. You?" I answered.

 

"Nothing", he answered awkwardly.

 

"You know, a simple hello wouldn't work so bad as a greeting", I .

 

"Naah, it would totally ruin my image", he said, and I really had no clue whether he was serious or not.

 

I actually liked Ilhoon, he was like a comic relief in real life. And he was easy to have a conversation with, as long as it wasn't too deep. My attention suddenly got caught by a thin figure down the hall, that stood by her locker.

 

"Hey, Ilhoon. That's Sojin", I said, pointing at her.

 

Ilhoon looked at what I was pointing at, and then he stopped walking. I stopped too, and looked at him with confusion. He had a wary expression on his face. 

 

"Dude, are you serious?" he asked, only increasing my confusion.

 

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, throwing a quick glance at her over my shoulder.

 

"Sorry to tell you this, but you shouldn't hang around her", he said, also looking at her.

 

"What? Why not?" I asked, feeling frustrated.

 

"She's kind of... You know", he said, nodding meaningly towards her. 

 

"No, I don't know", I answered.

 

"She's just not... someone you hang with. She's weird. An outsider", he said.

 

An outsider? That would explain a few things. I turned around to look at her again, but she had disappeared. 

 

"Can we go now? We're gonna be late", Ilhoon said, starting to walk.

 

I followed him, and when we passed her locker, I noticed something on it. I didn't have time to stop and look at it, but it didn't make sense to me why there was something on her locker, and no one elses. There were alot of things that didn't make sense to me.