Title: Mangwondong Family: The Time of Our Lives

Genre: School drama, Friendship, Romance

C H A P T E R   O N E

‘Wakey wakey, Upper East Siders. Welcome to the first day of senior year and the onset of a new social dynasty.’

     –Gossip Girl                     

--

“Myungsoo, are you sure about this?”

The boy turned to his back and met his manager’s face, annoyed that he kept replaying the same question for the past days. He had been more than sure that he wanted to take a break from the show biz. He’d gone through a lot and by a lot, they really mean a lot.

“Yes, hyung. I won’t change my stand.” He said, his voice was firm with determination reflected in those coffee eyes.

“Very well, then. We’ll announce it in the press conference tomorrow. Be prepare.” His manager gave him one final look before walked out of his bedroom.

Myungsoo sighed in relief, felt at ease that he could start over. Being in a band at such age sure is tiring as hell and he didn’t even like it. Not once. Sure, playing guitar is his passion but doing it for money was never an option. He was forced into the celebrity world by his family, by his bad circumstances. By her.

And now, he would chase her back. She rejected him once, and he learnt what pain was. Now, he was ready to win her love back. To feel her next to him was all he could ever need. He would chase her, no matter how far she ran, he would keep coming after her.

-----

“You’re ready for your very first day, pumpkin?” Her mother who was braiding her long jet black hair, smiled. Seeing her daughter blossomed into this beautiful young girl almost made her cried. It felt like yesterday, the youngest in Oh family was running around the house with only diapers on. Time sure flew fast.

“Mom, I’m not in kindergarten anymore.” Hayoung whined as she twirled to see her face on the mirror. Satisfied, she landed a peck on her mother’s cheek and adjusted her new school uniform. First day at high school. She couldn’t help but feel excited about it. Her sister always told her, high school is where everything started. The clique, the jocks, everything.

“Hayoung!” She was startled by a back hug, a pair of hands wrapped around her waist. The girl giggled and released her, throwing herself on her pink sheeted bed as if she’d done it a thousand times.

Rolling her eyes, Hayoung sat in front of her mirror and applied some lips gloss on her lips. Her mother had gone downstairs a few minutes ago so she undone the lovely braid. “Can you believe my mom? This is so out of style. Let see, how should I style my hair today? What do you think, Namjoo? Namjoo?”

As she turned, she met the shocked look on her best friend’s face to which she simply replied, “What?”

“You changed.”

“It’s high school, Namjoo. We need to survive high school. Well, at least, I need to. I don’t want to be a joke on my first day.” She continued combing her hair, making sure it looked perfect. “I’m still me when I’m with you, Namjoo.”

“You promise?” Namjoo asked, sounded like a scared 5 year old girl came running to her parents’ bedroom in the middle of the night. She didn’t want to lose her only girlfriend. Unlike Hayoung, Namjoo never dream of surviving high school or leaving an impression on their first day. She wanted a quiet high school life where she could enjoy every little thing without anyone judging.

So, when she noticed how it was going to change Hayoung, she felt effected. They’re like twins. Everything one did, the other would feel it too. It bothered her that being a high school student means she had to throw her true self away and sculptured a new Namjoo.

“No worries, Nammie.” Hayoung pulled her in a hug, patted her back. Namjoo chuckled as she felt nostalgic hearing that nickname from their childhood. And by those simple words, she was convinced. Convinced that Hayoung would never leave her for popularity or anything similar to that. Silly me, she thought. The Hayoung she knew would never ever do that.

At least not for now.

-----

“Naeun, wait!” Sungyeol yelled, scurrying to the girls’ side and panted. “Why didn’t you wait for me, Naeun?”

“Why should she?” Eunji shot him a dry look from Naeun’s side. “You’re late, Sungyeol. She’s not your slave or whatever you call those girls.”

Sungyeol scowled as he returned her a stern stare, hands in his pocket, kicking a stone on the road, “It’s oppa. Have some respect, Eunji. Why are you here, anyway? Your house is at the other side of the town.”

“I came here to walk with Naeun. We’re in the same class this year.” Eunji clapped her hands, half amused of that fact.

“Well, that’s not enough of a reason for you to walk here in our neighborhood. There must be something else, am I right? Am I right, Eunji-ah?” Sungyeol continued irritating her whilst Naeun kept silent in the middle.

She had enough. Eunji and Sunyeol were like cats and dogs, water and oil. And she, she, Son Naeun always had to be the middle man. The one who would calm both sides in any heated argument, the one who wasn’t allowed to do anything she liked, the one who was forced to be in the middle. Either way, she understood well about her job. She belonged there, in between them because at the end of the day, they’re everything she ever had.

“Aha! I got it! You’re afraid bumping into your precious little ex, aren’t you?” Sungyeol’s face lightened up, a devilish smirk formed on his face as he walked facing the now flushed Eunji. “Aren’t you? Oh, breakup hurt isn’t it, Eunji? It hurt to the core that you’re willing to walk this far. Ohh, Jung Eunji, you’ve been caught, and now it’s time for punishment.”

He roared with laughter seeing Eunji’s reddened cheek and her fidgeting confirmed everything. Naeun shook her head, unbelievable at how immature Sungyeol was being right now, mocking someone who had just had her first split up.

“Grow up, Sungyeol oppa!” Naeun hit his shoulder lightly but that didn’t stop him from even forming tears in his eyes.

“Oh, screw it!” Eunji cussed and grabbed his sling bag before throwing it away. The three of them watched as it landed perfectly into the lake.

“Perfect score!” Naeun high fived with Eunji and pulled her as boiling Sungyeol was ready to unleash his anger.

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU WIMPS!”

-----

Chorong opened the door and put the piled of papers on the teacher’s desk. She sighed inwardly and took a seat before beginning to sort out the documents. She sometimes glanced out of the window, brows furrowed seeing the view of her peers meeting up and having fun. Jealousy rose as she looked away and resuming her works.

“The Student Body President sure has a lot riding on her back, huh?”

A voice surprised her and she stared at the owner who was giving her a charming smile, “Knock first, Sunggyu. You’re always like this, even at home.”

 “You’re early. You missed breakfast,” Sunggyu sat down, facing his step sister, “and your dad.”

Chorong stopped signing the papers abruptly and Sunggyu recognized the exasperated face she was wearing. Though they were not related by blood, he knew her for more than 10 years now. Park Chorong, a strong willed girl who would do anything just to see her goals achieved.

Sunggyu hesitated as he saw her poker face before spoke up, “He asked for you. You guys haven’t seen each other for months now. How long are you going to stay mad, Chorong? You can’t avoid him forever and you freaking live under the same roof!”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Sunggyu.” Chorong said grimly, gritting her teeth, her eyes focused on her planner. “Leave it.”

“Fine, then.” Sunggyu let out a distinct groan. “I heard we got a new celebrity student today. The girls are lining up at the front gate, antsy for his entrance. Things can get a little wild, you know. Either way, the principal is delightful to have a big star enrolling here.”

“The principal’s a toad. Just shove money in his and he’ll do anything you ask.” Chorong stated, matter factly. She then pulled out a photo from her planner and handed it over to Sunggyu who was creasing his eyebrows. “I have a task for you, Sunggyu.”

“Again? I’m done hurting people, Chorong. “ Sunggyu peeked at the photo with a beautiful girl in it and sighed heavily. “Last time I did, it hit back to me.”

“Don’t tell me, you’re actually falling for her? Sunggyu, Jung Eunji is just another tool! You can’t- “

“I know, Chorong!” Sunggyu snarled, his feet brought him standing near the window. “I know. I’m not in love with her so don’t you worry.”

Chorong took a deep breath, her head ached so much with all of these problems. First her dad, now her step brother? Then, what? The entire school? She rubbed her head smoothly to ease the throbbing feeling in her head.

“Who’s she?” Sunggyu whispered while holding the photo.

“Hong Yoo Kyung, a 2^nd year student.” Chorong answered calmly, observing his face, whether he was interested in her or not. “One perfect girl. Pretty face, a brainiac, the heir of the DSR Corporation. She’ll definitely have an amazing resume for college application with her active partaking. You need to distract her, Sunggyu, she’s getting in our way.”

“You mean, your way.” Sunggyu retorted heartlessly before folding the photo and kept it in his pocket. “So, the invincible Park Chorong is threatened by a sophomore? How amusing.”

“I’m just being cautious since she’s a menace of my position, Sunggyu!” Chorong snapped, feeling rather defensive at his sharp remark. “I worked hard for this and you out of all people should know that. It’s for your good sake too. I’m doing this for us, just the two of us. We both own the world and I will not let a pest destroy my hard slog.”

Sunggyu face hardened hearing his step sister’s harsh words. When did she start becoming as one of them? So possessed and obsessed with power and ranking. Where had his sweet, shy Chorong go? He wanted to riposte but then he noted the obvious black mark under her eyes.

Sunggyu sat back, in front of her, “Your eye bags make you look like a zombie, Chorong. Are you sure you applied enough make up?”

His funny question made her chuckled, “Don’t go changing off topic, Sunggyu.”

“It’s true! You should hire an assistant.”

Chorong gave him a bewildered look as if he just lost his mind. But the more she thought about it, Sunggyu did have a point. She had so many works to handle and the other board members weren’t doing any good. A personal assistant. That sounded like a great idea.

“How about this?” Sunggyu’s voice brought her back to reality. “You find an assistant to help you and I’ll distract her as long as you want. Okay?”

She contemplated on the offer for a while and tilted up her lips, “It’s a deal then, my brother.”

-----

“I don’t want to part from you, Hayoung.” Namjoo pouted at her best friend as they strolling down the hall to find their lockers. Being ignored, Namjoo kept whining about how it was unfair that they were put in different classes.  Much to her dismay, Hayong seemed fine about it.

“Quit the childish act, Namjoo. We can still see each other in PE class. You can hang out with me during lunch or just come by my house after school. It’s not really a big deal, okay?”

“Still-“

Hayoung rolled her eyes, starting to feel irritated, “Namjoo, please. I need to find my locker and we have classes in just 10 minutes. So, for once, Kim Namjoo, forget about your stupid complaint and help me instead!”

Namjoo stayed silent, trailing Hayoung from behind. She was used to her bad temper and mood swings. In fact, Hayoung is always the opposite of her and sometimes it made her wonder, how in the world did they become best friends? She often ended up scolding herself for worrying and doubting their pure friendship.

“Found it. Where are yours, Namjoo?” Hayoung asked as she unlocked her locker and kept her books. “By the way, don’t you think we should decorate our lockers into something classy? Fantastic, isn’t it? What do you think, Namjoo? Namjoo?”

As she turned to her back, Namjoo was nowhere to be found among the unfamiliar faces. Hayoung groaned for she knew too well that Namjoo was probably too engrossed in her little adventure, wandering around the new school.

She was about to snap at her useless curiosity when a really pretty girl walked through the hallway, all eyes were on her every movement. Her shiny black jet hair cascaded down to her back, her milky white porcelain face and her long legs underneath that checkered skirt and black socks. She is, by anyone definition, hot.

“It’s Suzy! She looks even prettier.” Hayoung heard someone gasped, her eyes were locked on this perfect girl. Suzy stopped by her locker and abruptly, a swarm of guys surrounded her, handing whether a bouquet of flowers or a bar of chocolate to which she sweetly took.

Hayoung’s eyes were dreamy, flickered with determination as she aimed to be in her clique. Exactly what she needed, she thought. By sticking to everyone’s favourite girl or the queenka –was what her sister told her, she would be the next it girl. Smirking, Hayoung thought inwardly, ‘Hmm, this is easier that I thought.’

And at that exact moment, her best friend, Namjoo chose to appeared, unfortunately, showing her quirkiness, “Hayoung! I just found out that this school has an internet access! Did you see it too? The plate said ‘wifi zone’. We can play Farmville together during classes! Awesome.”

--

A/N : So, the first chapter is finally out. Let's do some summarizing by parts. The first part is about Myungsoo. It was short, even, you got to see a glimpse of his bitter (?) past. Myungsoo is willing to let go of his job, against all odds, just for the sake or relighting the old time love spark. The second part is about the first years, Hayoung and Namjoo. I must say, among all of the characters, Namjoo is the purest. She is she. Kim Namjoo is Kim Namjoo. But, her best friend thought differently. Tho' Hayoung seemed greedy and somewhat annoying, she actually had something nice burried within. The way she said Namjoo's favouite nickname, it showed that their friendship is genuine despite the clash in personalities. Then, we have the trio. Eunji, Naeun and Sungyeol. Eunji and Sungyeol had an awkward relationship. I can't call them friends because they can't be left alone with Naeun in between. Enemy is to rough. Eunji despised Sungyeol and Sungyeol despised her too. The way Sungyeol made fun of Eunji showed that he can be really immature and insensitive. The fourth part is specially for the alphas. Chorong and Sunggyu are not real sibilings. Now, Chorong is competitive, stubborn but Sunggyu did not make any effort to talk to her heart-to-heart. Moving on to the last section, it told the story of Hayoung's and Namjoo's first day in high school. Namjoo just being Namjoo while Hayoung - she's to busy socialize.  The old Hayoung is actually the exact version of the now Hayoung, only tougher. But then, she was blinded by all s her sister told. 

That's all. Enjoy, guys. Do comments or leave some feedback.