Chapter 1 – I’m a Loner

The sun shone brightly as children of all ages ran around the playground at the elementary school known as Daewon Elementary. The boys ran away from the girls claiming they had cooties and they didn’t want to catch it. The older kids played at one of the nearby basketball hoops or the soccer field. As the younger kids were not allowed to go near them, they had to settle for the colorful playground equipment. A bunch of happy second graders crowed around the jungle gym, waiting their turn to have a race to see who could get across the fastest.

However, there was one boy in the class that wasn’t allowed to join. It’s not that the boy was banned from it by an adult, but rather his classmates themselves. Every time he eagerly approached them or tried to make friends, he was bitterly rejected. Everyone claimed that he was too poor to talk to them, or that their moms had banned them from playing with him. It seemed that everywhere he went, there was nothing but hateful words dripping with acid for him. He eventually learned to just stay in ‘his place’ and avoid the kids altogether. He didn’t hate them at all, in fact he really wished he could play and laugh with them. He knew that it was not his place to talk to them, so he settled for the old and rusty swing in the corner of the playground.

Secretly he had always hated that lone, creaky swing. It was difficult for him to get any movement out of it. He hated that swing with a passion, yet he could never get enough of trying to move fast and faster on it. The anger he should have felt towards his peers, was instead directed to that swing. He would tell himself, “If I can swing on this swing, as high as the new ones, I will feel better.” He knew it was a lie, but it didn’t stop him from trying. He naively thought that if he could swing high on that swingset, he would be able to lift the suffocation he felt while amongst his peers. Every free moment that he was on school grounds, he would spend on that swingset. That lonely swingset was his only friend in the world.

While spacing out on the swing as he usually did, a ball broke him out of his daze. It was a red rubber ball, probably one that one would use for a game of kickball. He motioned towards it, intending on picking it up, but stopped himself once he saw a girl from his class running over to pick it up. All he could do was stare at that girl as she ran towards him. If there was anyone in the world he wished he could be friends with, it was that girl, Kim Yu Jin. To him, she was the sweetest and prettiest girl in the entire world. He hadn’t met all the girls in the world of course, but to him there was nobody better than her. He stood up and began running towards her when she suddenly tripped and landed face first on the hard, cement ground.  His brain caught up with his movements and stopped his legs from going to close.

“I can’t talk to her…” he sadly thought. “I can’t help her… She’s only going to hate me even more than she probably already does.” He continued to watch her as tears ran down her cheeks and the cut on her knee oozed out the precious, red liquid known as blood. Nobody came to her rescue and she continued to sit there in pain, waiting for someone to help her. The small boy decided it was better to act than to stay in hiding. As long as he could help her, he didn’t care if she lashed out at him. He took off to find a bandaid from the school nurse. Along the way back, he passed by a vending machine. He jingled the change in his pockets and thought it would be nice to get her something to calm her tears with. He had just enough to grab a bite to eat at lunch, but it was more important to him to get her something nice. Although, he was going to go without eating that day, he smiled at the thought of handing her the drink he bought her.

He was pleased to see her still sitting on the ground. He wasn’t pleased that she was crying of course, but rather that he would be able to still help her out. The boy walked over slowly to her and handed her a glass bottle filled with chocolate milk. The girl looked up at him with puffy eyes, confused as to why he would hand her a drink.

“Um… here, drink this. It will make you feel better,” he told her. “Let me see your knee.” Hesitantly the young girl stretched out her leg, giving him a clear view of the painful wound. In a quick movement, the bandage was out of the wrapper and on her knee, successfully covering the cut.  He anticipated a flurry of curses from the girl so he stood up abruptly in order to avoid them. He could take the curses from the others, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to suffer those words coming from .

“Wait, where are you going?” she called out to him before he got too far. “Don’t you want to play?” The boy turned around and threw her a confused look. Had she really just offered him to play with her? The prettiest girl in his class had just asked him, the poor bastard everyone hated, to play with her. It was an unbelievable sight.

“Ye… yeah I’ll play with you,” he stuttered. If he had died and went to heaven right then and there it wouldn’t have made a difference to him. He walked over to the red ball that had caused all the trouble in the first place and chucked it at her. She caught it eagerly, shooting him a cheerful smile as she did. Before she could throw the ball back, a new figure came into the scene and snatched it from her.

“Yah! Kim Yu Jin, why are you playing with this guy? Don’t talk to him, he’s going to curse you with his disgusting poor people disease. Just look at him. His uniform barely even fits him and it’s all old and shabby too,” the second grade boy with black spiky hair pointed out. The lonely boy looked down at his uniform that was almost one size too small. It was faded, most likely because it was a second hand uniform, and even had a small hole here and there. “Comon let’s go play with the other kids. Don’t bother with this loser.”

“Seung Ri, stop being mean to him. He was just helping me. I fell down and he brought me a bandage and even bought me some chocolate milk.” She held up the glass bottle that she happily took a sip from. “He wasn’t bothering me or anything so just leave us alone.” Just as she was putting the cap back on it, the boy known as Seung Ri slapped it out of her hands, allowing it to shatter as it hit the concrete floor.

“Ugh, how could you drink something like that? You’re going to get sick if you take food from people like him. Comon let’s go, the others are waiting.” Before she knew it, Yu Jin was being pulled towards the crowd of laughing children, leaving the helpful boy behind.  He knew it had been too good to be true. He knew he didn’t belong with those kids. All he had to do now was sit back on the swing and watch as they lived their lives that would never include him.

Second grade passed in a flash, then third, then fourth, and then finally fifth grade came to an end. Over those years, he suffered tortures that no elementary school student should have. Friends were nonexistent and the word was barely even in his vocabulary. Even though he tried his hardest in school and was the smartest boy in his class, nobody acknowledged it. He learned to stay hidden in the shadows, avoiding any sort of attention. By the end of his fifth year in school, he threw away his naïve perceptions of the world. People were evil even if they claimed to be your friend. He watched as so-called friends stabbed each other in the back. He watched as friendships that lasted years were broken over something as stupid as liking someone. He decided he didn’t need any of that.

Before he could enter Daewon Middle School, his mother was forced to move back to their home town in Busan in order for her to find a job. Employers would turn her down as soon as she heard she was a single mother with a child. House owners would immediately judge her as a and claim that they already had someone in mind. It was a wonder how he had even gone to a good school like Daewon. Due to her crippling economic conditions, his mother would be forced to send him to a more regular school and have him stay with his aunt in Seoul. He didn’t regret not going with his peers to Daewon Middle School. If anything, he was happy he would not have to see any more of their snobby and arrogant faces anymore. For once in his life, Jung Yonghwa was happy.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Hello Mister Jung, have a seat,” a glasses-wearing man offered. “I know you might be wondering why you were called here today. I assure you that it will definitely be worth your time. Oh, sorry for not introducing myself, my name is Kang Oh Hyuk, principal of Daewon Prep.” The principal reached across his large desk, offering his hand for a handshake. Yonghwa, being the polite young man he thought he should be, reached over and accepted his offering.

“I am pretty confused as to why I am here today, but I guess you will explain everything in detail for me.” Princpal Kang surveyed his face closely. He searched for the so-called confused expression that Yonghwa should be showing, but he only saw the same expressionless face he had been wearing for the past ten minutes.

“As you may already know, Daewon Preparatory School is one of the most prestigious high schools in all of The Republic of Korea. Having gone here will exponentially increase your chances of going to a top school in Asia such as Korea University or even abroad like Tokyo University. Sadly this school has a reputation for being for the economically elite and I would like to stray away from that,” he explained. “I have been watching you since you exited the Daewon system back during your middle school years and I have to say that I’m impressed. Your grades are miles away from the rich kids that go to this school.”

“So you have been stalking me is what you’re trying to tell me?” Yonghwa asked with the same expressionless face. “With all due respect Principal Kang, I don’t think that I approve of your methods.”

“Just hear me out. I would like to recruit you to this school at no cost to you. I know that you’re a bright and smart young man with ambition. I know that if you put your mind to it, you will get farther than any of the kids in this school put together. You do realize that if you go here, you will have so many more opportunities for post-secondary education.” The suit wearing man dug through his desk once he finished speaking and pulled out a large yellow envelope.

Yonghwa opened it as it was handed to him and scanned the papers inside. It was a transfer form from his school to Daewon. “You can fill all of that out now and start attending classes today if that is your wish,” Principal Kang spoke out. “I know you that you may be thinking that you don’t want to come here, but it is your best interest to attend this school. Don’t worry about paying a dime either. I’ll have your uniform and fees already taken care of should you decide to accept my offer.”

“Sorry if I’m being too direct, but what do you get out of this? Why spend money on someone like me who clearly doesn’t belong in this school?” Yonghwa asked.

“What do I get out of this? Truthfully, whether you have potential… I don’t have the answer. But of one thing I’m certain. I’m certain that you , more than anyone here, want to fly… because you want to succeed like crazy, because your dream is so beautiful, even though you may not believe that your road is a happy one. Telling you not to start because you might get hurt… is cruel, is it not? I think trying something like crazy is potential. I’ve seen that potential over these years. So trusting that potential, I want to tell you to try and fly. I don’t know how big your wings are, but I want to tell you to start. And to make sure the road is happy, I’m going to put my full strength behind you,” he explained.*

“Damn, well I can’t argue with that,” Yonghwa half-joked. He was expecting some bull answer from the man, something along the lines of how he would get recognition for ‘discovering’ Yonghwa. Over the years Yonghwa had learned how to read people’s feelings. He could tell when someone was trying to take advantage of him, after it happened to him so many times. None of those feelings radiated from the man in front of him, only trust and faith in its purest form.

“Does this mean that you will attend this school?” the principal asked in anticipation.

“If I can use this institution to achieve my goals, I’ll take your offer. Thank you for believing in me,” Yonghwa accepted, giving a full bow in respect for the man in front of him. “I have no use for that belief of yours in me, I have no use for any feelings of compassion or love towards me. Those things are all words that have meaning at the moment you say then, but when it comes down to it they’re just empty words. Although I appreciate your honest feelings, I cannot accept them. However, I can accept your offer of admission. I’ll come back tomorrow with this paperwork filled out and ready to start class. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

“Yonghwa, I don’t know your entire life’s story, but I know it’s been hard. I’m sorry if I have trespassed in your life, but I do sincerely believe you can soar higher than the rest. I expect to see you here first thing tomorrow morning,” he laughed before attempting another handshake. Yonghwa just nodded in response, once again taking the man’s hand in a handshake. Yonghwa walked out of the room silently, leaving Kang Oh Hyuk to wonder how he could change Yonghwa’s life.

“Yonghwa… why is it that you had to go through this your entire life? All of the kids that go to this school have everything you don’t have, yet they lack the most important thing. You have something that I wish all of these kids here had and that is true ambition and fighting spirit. I guess nobody can be the whole package in life. I wonder why the divine beings from up above like to play these kinds of jokes on us, but it can’t be helped…” he said to nobody in particular.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Yonghwa walked out of one of the restroom stall, fully dressed in his new school uniform. It felt rather strange wearing such a nice and expensive uniform and he wished he could just go back to his old one, but it couldn’t be helped. He took a look in the mirror, getting the same look in response from his reflection. There stood an eighteen year old young man with an almost angry expression on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed together as if someone had just pissed him off. He ran a hand through his black hair that had been previously brown in frustration. His blue uniform made him want to throw up, especially when he noticed the school’s crest stitched over his heart.

“How is it?” a voice came up from behind. Normally someone would have been startled by that, but Yonghwa’s emotionless demeanor prevented that. “You’ll get used to it eventually. I filed your paperwork already and have your schedule prepared for you. Do you need help getting around or are you…”

“Thank you,” Yonghwa told him before snatching the paper from his hands. “I’ll be fine alone and I would rather not take any more help than I already am from you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to class.” Yonghwa brushed past the helpful person rudely and stormed out of the bathroom. The man still in the bathroom chuckled lightly at his behavior and decided to head back to his office. He saw Yonghwa walking down the hall in a very unenthusiastic manner and hoped that he would be alright.

As he was used to, Yonghwa noticed how everyone gave him a strange stare has he walked past them. They weren’t hateful stares just yet, but he knew they eventually would become that. The entire placed reeked of arrogance, but decided to ignore it. The males of the school crowded around each other and commented on how nice a girl’s legs were that day or how they wanted to bang some other girl so badly. The girls on the other hand bragged to each other about how their daddy was going to buy them a new car or expensive piece of jewelry. If there was something Yonghwa despised, it was wastefully spending money. He braced himself for a year of dealing with the ignorant people that were now his peers.

“Oh welcome to my class,” an exceptionally good looking female teacher welcomed him as he stepped foot into the room. “Would you care to introduce yourself to the class?”

“Hello my name is Jung Yonghwa and I will be your new classmate for the year. Please treat me well,” he politely stated while giving a bow.

“As you may have seen on your schedule already, I’m Shi Kyung Jin. I will be your calculus teacher for this year so I hope you learn a lot in this class.” She gave him a smile, but he knew she was faking. The smooth way she talked and the fake voice she was using wasn’t fooling him in the slightest. Yonghwa just stood there leaning against the chalkboard in a hunched position while shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked around the class with a bored expression, one of the few he knew how to do, and waited for the woman to stop talking.

“Now you look like you’re rather… interesting Mister Yonghwa, so I think I’ll pair you up with one of my best students in the class.” Yonghwa almost scoffed at her comment. He could tell that she was already judging him to be a troublemaker or perhaps a bad student. He wasn’t in the mood for arguments, so he just let her do her business. After all, he would show them all up eventually. “Ah, Seohyun would you be this young man’s partner. I’m sure there is no better choice for him in order to get acquainted with the school.”
“Ne, seonsaengnim, I’ll be his partner,” the girl happily chirped.

“Alright Yonghwa please take a seat next to her. She can run you through the syllabus and what not while I go and pick up a few things from the copy room. Please keep the noise level down students, I don’t want to come back and have a mess on my hands,” she ordered.

“So your name is Yonghwa? That’s such a nice sounding name. The first character is ‘Yong’ like the word for dragon so you must be a brave and cool guy,” she pointed out in a cheerful voice. Yonghwa just glared back at the girl sitting to his right. She was a girl a few inches shorter than him, she was sickeningly happy all the time. He had to admit that she didn’t look too bad, but he had no interest in girls. She had large happy eyes that poured out all her emotions, making her one of the easiest people in the world to read. He could tell she was genuinely happy to meet him, but he didn’t give a rat’s . He wasn’t there to make friends, he was there to succeed.

“Are you always this annoying?” he finally asked, getting tired of her constant blathering.

“Eh? What was that?” she asked, thinking she heard him wrong.

“Your name is Seohyun right? Well Miss Seohyun, you don’t want to talk to me alright? I’m going to bring you nothing but misfortune so please just stay away from me. I didn’t come to this school to make friends, especially not with rich girls like you,” he harshly warned her. “Now, if you don’t mind, please turn around and refrain from speaking to me.”

Seohyun did in fact stop talking to him, but not because of his order. She was stunned at the rudeness that emanated from Yonghwa at the moment. Seohyun had only met one person in her life that disliked her. Yonghwa now made the count of people that disliked her to two. She was just too good of a person to dislike, but somehow this man managed to do it.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” she surprisingly responded. She slapped her hand over as she said it, also surprised that she said that. She wanted to flip out on him, but his glare was intimidating enough to prevent her from doing so. “Sorry for disturbing you.”  Yonghwa just turned away from her and propped his head up with his left hand. His classic ‘I would rather be anywhere but here’ expression sat on his face while he twirled his pencil in boredom.

“Last class we learned about the notation of derivatives and what their uses are. Today we will learn a few of the practical applications that derivatives have. As with most math, you might all not see the point of it, but in this class we will focus on the many uses that this class has on the real world. Now everyone please complete the worksheet that has been handed out to you in 20 minutes before we start our lesson,” Shi seonsaeng ordered before sitting back at her desk.

“Um… Yonghwa-shi do you want to see my notes from yesterday? Since you weren’t here last class it might be a little hard for you to complete the problems from last time,” Seohyun sincerely offered. Yonghwa let out a small scoff and held up his worksheet. Seohyun’s eyes widened when she noticed that he had already finished it.

“I don’t need your help or anyone else’s so please just worry about yourself,” he coldly commanded. He set the paper back down onto his desk and resumed his new hobby of pencil twirling. Seohyun just stared at him as he sat there wishing he was somewhere else.

“Why did Shi seonsaeng make him my partner? By the way she spoke, it seemed like he wasn’t very smart. It doesn’t make sense to put two strong students together… maybe she made a mistake,” she supposed in her thoughts.

After another agonizingly boring hour went by, the bell rung, indicating the end of the hell that was calculus. “Seohyun, would you please show Yonghwa around the school? I’m sure he will need some help getting around and to his next class.”

“Ne Shi seonsaeng,” she replied. Before she could turn around to ask Yonghwa about his schedule she saw him already a few meters down the hall, turning his back towards her. “Yah! Yonghwa-shi!” she yelled down the hall.

Yonghwa stopped in his tracks when he heard the annoying girl’s voice echo through the busy halls. “What do you want?” he asked the girl running towards him. “I told you I don’t need your help. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks.”

“Why are you such a jerk? I was only trying to help you.” She noticed the piece of paper that she supposed was his schedule in his right hand and snatched it from him. “You’re in all the same classes as me. Oh wait… you’re in a higher Japanese and English class than I am.” She looked at him strangely, wondering just how smart this person was. “Since we have all the same classes today, I guess we should go together. Comon let’s go,” she said before grabbing his arm and dragging him towards his class.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Yonghwa felt that he could finally breathe a proper breath of fresh air once the clock struck 2:00pm. The large glass doors leading out to the school were now behind him. He had survived his first day at this elite school with little trouble. He decided it was better to skip lunch and just stay in the gym and get a quick nap, so he avoided the majority of the students during the day.

“Yonghwa-shi!” a girly voice called out to him.

“What a ing drag…” he groaned before turning around to meet the girl that had become his new partner in all of his classes. “What is it now?”

“Do you need a ride home or are you waiting for your ride? Since you go to this school, I assume you live in the same neighborhood as me. Comon, my chauffer is already here so I’ll give you a ride,” he happily offered. Yonghwa stood in front of her staring at the black haired girl wearing the blue uniform and the checkered blue and white skirt. Her hair was styled into two pigtails, giving the impression that she was a lot younger than a high school senior.

“Tch, I seriously doubt you live in the same neighborhood as I do. Do yourself a favor Seohyun and screw off. I already told you that I don’t want anything to do with anyone in this school, including you. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m a very busy person and don’t have time to play with a little girl like you,” he told her off once more. “I’ll see you tomorrow, unfortunately…”

“Uh…” she mumbled, not knowing what else to say. She didn’t know what she had done to him that had pissed him off so much, but it was probably better for her to stay away from him. She hoped that his temper wasn’t always liked that and that he was just having a bad first day. “What the hell is your deal?” she boldly asked before he was out of earshot of her.

“What was that?” he laughed.

“I want to know why the hell you’re so mean to me. What did I do to you?”

“Oh ho… the daddy’s little princess knows big words like ‘hell’ huh? Do you really want to know what it is that’s wrong with me? Do you really want to know?” he asked in a serious tone.

“Yeah I really would want to know. I have done nothing but help you today. I just wanted to be your friend at this school since you haven’t met anyone yet. I just want to know why you don’t like me,” she admitted.

“I can’t stand people like you or anyone else that attends this school. All of you people flaunt your wealth and luxuries while millions of people in this world are starving to death. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jealous of you and I never will be. I’d rather be poor and humble, than rich and arrogant. Do you want to know the real reason I don’t want to be your friend?”

“Um… yeah?”

“I’m a loner. It’s as simple as that.”

Author’s Note: Weeeeeeee first chapter of this done. It feels so weird writing the characters with different personalities than my first story. I’m so used to the other ones, that they seem like completely different people in this one. I tried to keep it short and will probably shorten my chapters by a page or two from now (compared to my first story) on since I want to have more material for future chappies. Peace out everyone.

** That ‘speech’ that Principal Kang Oh Hyuk (the badass inspirational teacher from Dream High) was not mine. I didn’t write it, the writers of Dream High did. I only modified it a little bit to fit the situation, so I’m not plagiarizing it :D