Author’s POV

The students at ShinHwa High were bustling. New gossip was snaking its way through the hallways and when the girls were this giddy, it was obvious that the gossip involved information about the new transfer students…more specifically, the new HOT MALE transfer students. Girls started to reapply their mascaras and adjust their skirts to make their legs appear longer, hoping that they might capture the heart of one of the new boys.

Ahrang had reached school by then and she wondered why everyone was so jumpy today. She accidentally bumped into a few people due to the hallway’s crammed capacity.

“Oops. Sorry, Ahrang. I didn’t see you!” said a girl with a short hair.

“Oh, it’s fine. Hey, Sunmi, do you know why everyone is so worked up this morning?”replied Ahrang.

“Oh..” Sunmi scoffed. “It’s because of these new transfer students. THREE, to be exact.”

“All this chaos just for three new students?” huffed Ahrang.

“Oh, Ahrang. You should pay attention to the gossip more…apparently, they’re all GORGEOUS!” Sunmi squealed, lightly slapping Ahrang’s arms.

Ahrang crinkled her nose as she slid her thick glasses up with her index finger. “I see…”

Ahrang’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted when someone’s powerful hands swiveled her around. Ahrang gasped as she was turned to face a charming boy’s smile, his face dangerously close to hers.

“NAM WOOHYUN!” she shrieked. “You scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry, Ahrang,” shrugged Woohyun who tossed his backpack over his shoulder with one hand. As he flipped his bangs, a trail of fan girls squealed in delight.

Ahrang peered behind his broad shoulders and smirked. “How many fans can a guy have?”

“Jealous, my dear Ahrang?”

“Nah…but I will say that you’re making it difficult for me to remain a wallflower. I’m afraid that your fanatics may murder me.”

Woohyun let out a deep-toned chuckle as he affectionately ruffled Ahrang’s hair. “Don’t worry…I won’t let them get you.”

“Oh, please!” Ahrang sighed as she rearranged her bangs. “Your popularity is going to bring so much attention, and you know I DON’T like that. We should just stop being friends.” She harrumphed sarcastically.

“Babe, don’t be like that…” replied Woohyun as he jokingly winked. “You know I only want you, right?” Woohyun emphasized his passion by dramatically slapping his chest.

Ahrang pretend to vomit until she broke into giggles. They continued their walk towards their homeroom class together.

Ahrang’s POV:

Once Woohyun and I were seated in our designated seats, he kept shooting me floating heart gestures from his desk. He was joking around nonstop, as per usual. I shot him a look to cut it out before the other girls noticed. He pouted and started to mouth “I love you” towards my direction. I clasped my hands over my mouth to prevent myself from snorting out loud. His greasiness was distracting me from the classroom noises until the door slid open and Mrs. Kim walked in. Her stiletto heels clacked against the marble floors as she tapped her pen against her clipboard. Everyone fell into silence. She glanced icily at the classroom as she straightened her posture and released a low sigh through her nostrils.

Every student at ShinHwa High trembled when beckoned to Mrs. Kim’s presence. She liked me, I knew that…Whenever she walked past me in the hallways, she’d smile warmly towards my direction and ask me about my wellbeing. She was really sincere once you got to know her, but her bitter appearance casted a barrier between her and her students. And you could almost tell, behind her straight poker face, a smirk lay hidden. She liked the grasp on authority she had over the students, even over some colleagues. She caught me smiling gently at her, and for a flash of a moment, she smiled back. I’m sure I was registered as the “Nice Girl” in her head.

“Teacher’s Pet,” I saw Woohyun mouthing towards me. I smiled sheepishly. It was somewhat true.

“Now, class…”started Mrs. Kim. “As you may have heard, there will be new students enrolling at ShinHwa High today.”

The girls started to break into foolish giggles. I started to hear squeaky whispers.

“I heard they’re so dreamy!”

“I heard they all have abs!!”

“OOH! How yummy! I can’t wait to see them!”

“JA, JA! JOYONG!” Mrs. Kim said impatiently. “Now, I do not doubt the Chairman’s decisions, but it’s ridiculous how they scheduled all three transfer students into my homeroom class. We’re packed already…with 33 students. Now, they’re expanding my class to 36? Outrageous!”

Mrs. Kim’s rant was disrupted by a sudden knock at the classroom door.

It slowly slid open with a boy’s head poking through. He had light brown hair, softly tossed to the side. He looked polished, yet dandy with his collar shirt left slightly ed and had thin lips that were slowly curling into a smile.

“Is this Room A-4?” he asked with curiosity igniting his speech.

The girls were gawking at his handsomeness and some guys were even clearing their throats, feeling rather threatened by the approach of such a good-looking student. Woohyun swiveled his head towards me and mouthed, “Interested?”

I made a silent “X” with my index fingers. “I don’t even know him, Woohyun,” I mouthed back.

But I must admit, he was really, really attractive. He had this indescribable sweet aura.

“This is Room A-4,” replied Mrs. Kim. I think his looks even took her aback for a bit, because her reply was a few seconds late.

“Excellent,” the boy replied. “Come on in, boys!”

Once he said that, two other boys followed him into the classroom. A few gasps and awes escaped the crowd.

There was one boy that you could tell he was well-built. He had shrugged his uniform jacket over his right shoulder, exposing his collarbone and a peek of chest skin, since he, too, had forgotten to button his shirt all the way. I noticed his hair was slightly waxed upwards as he rubbed the back of his neck lazily and adjusted his Beats headphones. He looked extremely manly and exuded with confidence. I couldn’t tell if the carless glances he shot at the classroom peers were an indication of cockiness or genuine lack of interest.

The last boy had a rusty red hair color that seemed to compliment his milky skin. He had dark brown eyes that were filled with unreadable emotions. Out of all three of them, he composed himself in the most intriguing way…he seemed so dark and mysterious, despite his soft facial features. He would have looked kind, but his lips remained in a bitter position, refusing to even offer a smirk. He seemed indifferent, even with the admiration he was receiving at the moment.

“Um….introduce yourselves,” said Mrs. Kim as she cleared . She hadn’t expected these new students to live up to what the gossip had claimed. To be honest, so did I.

“My name is Yoon Si Yoon. I hope we all get along,” said the first boy.

“My name is Lee Howon…but call me Hoya. It’s more comfortable that way,” said the boy with the headphones.

“Jung Jinyoung…” muttered the last boy.

The boy named Hoya lightly nudged the boy named Jinyoung. I think he was urging him to speak a bit more. Jinyoung sighed as he continued.

“Uh…please take care of me.”

The classroom roared with the girls’ delighted cheers and the boys’ hesitant claps.

“Okay, settle down, everyone. We must find seats for our new friends,” said Mrs. Kim as she attempted to hush her students. The giggles continued and Mrs. Kim rolled her eyes behind her spectacles.

“MRS. KIM!! I HAVE AN EMPTY SEAT BY MY DESK! ONE OF THEM CAN SIT HERE!” shrieked Lee Hyosung.

*Oh my god….What is she doing?*

I felt so embarrassed for her…she was basically sacrificing her dignity as a girl just so one of the new guys could sit next to her? It hasn’t even been 5 minutes since they’ve arrived.

“If you don’t mind,” started the boy named Si Yoon, obviously uncomfortable from her proposal. “I’d like to sit over there.”

He pointed towards the back of the classroom. It took me a long while to realize where he had pointed.

It was the desk right next to mine.

“Uh… Mrs. Kim? I know this desk is empty, but it’s because Myungsoo is absent. He has the flu, but I’m sure he’ll return in a few days or so.” I explained. I did NOT want this new pretty boy to be my desk mate. That would redirect all the attention towards my direction during class then. It would dismantle my opportunities to daydream or secretly sleep.

“Ahrang, it’s ok. We can replace Myungsoo’s seat to elsewhere once he gets back,” replied Mrs. Kim.

GREAT.

Si Yoon smiled brightly at me and started to make his way towards his new desk. His eye smile was melting all the other girls in the class. The other two boys suddenly spoke, “We’ll make space over there too, then.”

WHAT? NO. NO…..NOOO!!!

“Mrs. Kim...” I whimpered.

“Hm… I suppose that’s the only way I can squeeze you three in,” Mrs. Kim said as she tapped her clipboard with her fingernails. “Hey, Dongwoo and Dayoung! Move to the front so Jinyoung and Hoya can fit in.”

I unconsciously groaned and buried my face into my hands. Si Yoon seemed to have caught my disgruntled expression and chuckled. “Don’t worry. We don’t bite, princess.”

What did he just call me? Princess? He just called me princess. EW….this guy is just as greasy as Woohyun. Perhaps even more.

I shuttered a bit, which must have amused Hoya since I saw him bite back a smile.

Mrs. Kim continued talking. “I’m sure Ahrang will help you guys adjust to our school. I trust that she’ll help you with a tour of the campus during free time. Right, Ahrang?”

I reluctantly nodded. What other option did I have? I’m sure I could introduce them to a group of girls that’d be more than happy to give them a tour. Then, I could maybe slip into the library with Woohyun to escape. It would still be somewhat fulfilling my promise with Mrs. Kim, right?

Jinyoung slammed his bag on the desk behind me, abruptly halting my plotting.

To my dismay, he leaned forward from his chair, placing his lips close to my right ear. His bottom lip basically brushed past my earlobe as he tugged the sleeve of my uniform to keep me from moving away. His hot breath started to morph into words as he whispered to me.

“Don’t try to escape us during free time, princess…”

WHAT in the world was happening?