January 27, 2005

Daehyun's eyes beamed triumphantly as he tightly gripped the thinly stacked sheet of papers in his hands. His smile widely spread from ear to ear, and his teeth shimmered in a bright, florescent white. It was as if everyone in the room could feel the radiant energy surrounding the little boy, folllowed by stares here and there emitting at him. They were all engulfed with envy because of the fact that he had done it again-- a thing Jung Daehyun was known for always doing.

A perfect score, a perfect grade, a perfect 'A'-- just as always.

"Will you just stop it with that stupid smile already? God, it annoys me," Taemin pestered at his friend, cringing with disgust as the boy kept on ogling at his test.

"You're just jealous because I'm smarter than you. Ha. Ha. Ha." 

Taemin groaned, holding his hands up to stop the conceited boy from continuing any further.

"Don't you dare say another word. You know I'm sensitive about these things."

"You know I can't help it Tae; I was born a genius."

"Riiiiight. Just like how you were born rich, born with a quote on quote- nice- personality, and to top it all off--good looking. Ha, yeah. Life can be really fair sometimes." Taemin heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Oh come on Man. We've been through this so many times already. It's okay not to be perfect, because not everyone can be me." Daehyun patted his friend's back along with a sly smirk.

Taemin scoffed, wanting to say something, but the sound of rhythmic heels clacking away at the tiled floor paused him from doing so.

"Dude, I think Miss Park is coming. Go back to your seat."

In response to the boy's gut feeling, their homeroom teacher walked into the tiny class of twenty kids, her shoes making a loud click and clack with each and every step. Daehyun noticed a strand of what seemed to be braided hair sticking out from behind his teacher. He knew it was a girl-- probably a small, little girl-- and just as he had thought, it was the new girl: Lee Jieun.

"My name is Lee Jieun. Please take care of me." She bowed.

Lee Jieun-- eleven years old, just like the rest of the bunch. She was a little on the short side for someone of her age, and her chubby cheeks deemed tint with rosy color. She wore thick, black-rimmed frames, her fringe cut straight across at eye-brow's length, but the rest of her hair was parted into two, unified pig tails. Her whole attire just screamed the word "average", and it didn't help that her eyes dully bore into every one of her classmates. Oh, and she didn't smile. The curve of  her lips were far from that of a smile. She was an intimidating child, that was for sure.

Daehyun took one single look at the new student and yawned. A bored look planted on his face. She seemed like some sort of plain, little, country-side girl, and with one glance-- a girl with a bad personality. He was not amused. Instead, he simply looked to his left, and his eyes planted on the birds and bees that passed by from the other side of the window. The small insects and animals were far more entertaining than the new kid.

It wasn't until Miss Park called out his name that he perked up and actually paid attention for once.

"Daehyun, please show Jieun around the school after class. It is your duty as class president."

Daehyun agreed with a smile on his face, but on the inside, all he could do was mentally groaned. He would much rather spend his time playing outside with his friends than tour some dumb girl around campus. After all, how different was this school from her old one? It wouldn't have taken very much time to learn one's way around this place.

He reluctantly fell into pace with his new classmate, leading her around the school. He kept on a smile plastered on, hoping to keep the mood as bright and jolly as possible, at least until she felt the slightest bit comfortable around him. However, her response was opposite. Jieun kept quiet throughout the whole tour, and the longer he saw her shut mouth and tight lips, the more he wanted to rip his own hair out.

She was unresponsive no matter how hard he worked, and it annoyed the living hell out of him.

"And that is the end of our tour!" Daehyun exclaimed, relieved that the dreadful experience was now over. He made a tsk-sound, seeing Jieun walk the opposite direction, not even bothering to give a sign of thanks for his hard work.

 February 3, 2005

Daehyun took a deep breath-- once, twice, then again and again-- but he just could not keep his calm. He tried to keep the urge from crumpling his test, but the tight grip on those stacked sheet of papers failed him from doing so. From crisp, clean slates to a crushed ball of scraps, Daehyun couldn't help but tossing it to the ground.

He was a mess after hearing his teacher's small announcement this morning, one in which not only shocked him, but took the whole class by a surprise.

'Let's give a round of applause to Lee Jieun. She received the highest marks out of everyone in fifth year. Congratulations Dear!'

The more he thought about the horrific event, the more his face turned into a sickening pale blue. Daehyun held his head in despair, as he still could not comprehend the huge shock that was received a few hours ago. Just how was it possible for him not to be number one? He was always first in school, always the one to receive perfect scores, always one to be perfect, so how was it possible for him to lose by just one measly percent?

He achieved a score of 99%, the one time he wasn't perfect, and the one time she had to be.

At that time, Taemin found his best friend hiding behind the boy's locker room. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle, seeing as though Mr. Perfect  just wasn't so perfect after all. Daehyun looked back at the mushroom-headed boy, his eyes glaring daggers back at him.

"Don't laugh Dude! This isn't even funny okay."

"I'm sorry Dae, chill! But it's just way too funny. I mean, come on! It's one test; I'm sure you'll get your petty little number one position back in no time, 'kay?"

"Fine, I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right. Now hurry back inside and get dressed! PE's starting in a couple minutes."

In just ten minute's time, Daehyun was back to his old, triumphant self. Today's activity was track-and-field, and Daehyun knew he could outrun every single boy and girl in his grade. He was always scouted to join the school's track racing team, but he declined every single opportunity, feeling as though it would just be a waste of his time.

At the hundred-twentieth meter mark, Daehyun started to slow his pace, knowing that everyone else was at least fifteen meters behind him. There was no need to beat his peers that badly and embarrass them; that would just be plain rude.

However, as Daehyun took a quick peek behind, his eyes dilated, seeing a short girl with stubby legs and dangling pig tails accelerating in speed. She was guaranteed to pass him at her rate and speed, and Daehyun knew that if he didn't pull out all stops, it would certainly come true. So he quickened his pace, running with all the stamina left in him.

At the hundred-ninetieth meter mark, Daehyun felt a new surge of happiness filling inside him. He was just steps away from reaching first place and earning recognition from his classmates, the thought of it only making the boy run even harder. But three steps from reaching the finish line and Daehyun already heard his classmates starting to cheer and run towards him.

He slowed his pace after reaching the finish line, so happy to see his classmates eager to congratulate him. But seconds later, and the cold realization splashed mercilessly onto Daehyun that it wasn't him they were congratulating, but the girl next to him. It was Jieun. She managed to beat the boy with a last minute dash attempt, taking over with just a point-seven second lead. 

She beat him. For the second time in just one day. And so Daehyun scoffed, feeling a growing hatred for the pig-tailed girl.

The new girl. 

Lee Jieun.

So I know it's been almost a month, but I just couldn't help but rewrite this first chapter over and over.

I didn't know how to start out the story, whether to just start from the seven years mark and give a back drop of history in between or to just start as a timeline.

I chose the timeline because it would just be much easier.