CHEN's POV 


SM boys private high school was the most prestigious high school in Seoul. You had to be the top of the top to even be considered for SM high. Many of the children who attended this school were the children of CEOs, doctors, and lawyers. They all owned something. 

Of course, there's always those few that are different from the rest of the students. They have been accepted into this school through pure talent, or brains. They are usually looked down upon by the other students, as class is a huge issue at SM high. Equality is promoted, but never acted upon. 

It is the first day of school, and also one of the rare opportunities to catch a glimpse of the headmaster, Lee Sooman. He personally hand picks the students, throwing away hundreds of applications, but also forcing those talented children to attend his school. Some say he doesn't give a damn about the students, and he's only in it for the money. This statement is true to some degree. 

As expected, the first years are looking terrified, and the grads are already sick of this place. The students in between are unfazed by opening day, and I cant blame them. In every high school, the middle years are often ignored and underappreciated. But, I laugh at them, and remember the times when I too, was in that position. 

I follow the mass of students into the auditorium. The auditorium is similar to Tokyo Dome, on a smaller scale. Our school only has 500 students total, 100 for each year. Headmaster Lee only chooses that many students, and even if students "leave", there are new ones ready and eager to take his place. When I say leave, I mean kicked out. 

I take a seat near the back, unnoticed by the others (thank goodness), and settle in. Suddenly, a flustered looking student quickly sat in the seat next to me and takes a deep breath. I never seen him before, but he was wearing a white tie, which signified a fifth year. I assumed he was a new student. "You okay?" I ask.  

The boy nods and takes a moment to catch his breath. "Yeah, sorry. I ran cause I thought I was going to be late." He smiled and reached his hand outward. "I'm Baekhyun. Nice to meet you." He grinned widely, showing a cute eye smile. 
I grinned back and shook his hand. "I'm Chen." I push my circle shaped glasses up the bridge of my nose and offer Baekhyun my water. He drains half the bottle in one go, and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

"Thanks," he said.  

I smiled and pointed to the stage. "It's starting." I whispered. 

The lights dimmed and a man in his 40's stepped onto the stage. A spotlight automatically found him, leaving me to wonder who was manning the light. Anyway, he cleared his throat, tapped his mic twice, and began to speak. 

"Welcome to SM high. I am your headmaster, Lee Sooman. You will address me as Headmaster Lee." 

He continued with the school's code of conduct, and the general rules of the road. I had already heard this speech four times in the past, causing me to nearly fall asleep. Baekhyun, however, was completely captivated. I chuckled a little at him. 

An hour of talking passed, and we were dismissed. "So what do we do now?" Baekhyun looked around curiously as we exited the auditorium. Students milled around like usual, chatting about classes, and comparing schedules. I felt like it was quadruple déjà vu. 

I turned to Baekhyun. "Since you are a newbie here, you need to become acquainted with the important people in our year." I led Baekhyun down the halls, the halls I knew all too well. He seemed interested in everything, everything down to the most insignificant speck of dust. I shook my head with a sigh. He would only be disappointed later. 

We stopped outside the cafeteria, and I jerked my head in the direction of the school's resident bullies. The three of them were sitting at one of the tables, talking. That was the most civilized I've ever seen them. "Those are the guys who you need to avoid," I explained. "Especially the one with the tanner skin. His name is Kai, and he's really nasty. The other two are like his followers."

Baekhyun looked at them curiously, craning his neck to get a better look. Chanyeol, the black haired bully looked up and in our direction. I noticed that he was looking a little bit to the left of me, so I assumed he was looking at Baekhyun. I quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him away. 

"Where are we going now?" Baekhyun asked innocently. I laughed, half at his excitement, and half at how oblivious he was to the dangerous thing he had just done. Oh well, can't really do anything about it now. 

I frowned when we reached the smoke pit. It seems he had left already. "The students who are usually here smoke and are high most of the time. Best to avoid them too."  

Baekhyun pouted. "I basically have to ignore everyone?" 

I laughed. I knew he was going to be disappointed. "Not exactly," I say. "You don't have to ignore me." 

Baekhyun laughed and gave me a good natured punch. "Of course not."  

I grinned and punched him back. "I need to show you one more group." We headed back into the school and into the throng of students. 

Finally, we entered the main hall, or the foyer. I pointed to a group of four boys standing under one of the cherub statues attached to the wall. "That is the F4 of our school. The tall one is Kris, the guy with the black hair is Tao, the guy with the big eyes is Luhan, and the serene looking guy is Yixing. They are all Chinese, and they are basically the cream of the crop here." 

Baekhyun frowned while he observed them talking. "They seem like ordinary people. What's so good about them?" 

I looked at him incredulously. "They are the F4. Need I say more?"  

Baekhyun blinked in confusion, gazing at the F4. Then, Kris just so happened to look our way and he waved. It was impolite to ignore a wave, especially that of the F4, so I waved back. I was stunned when they started walking towards us. 

"Hey Chen!" Kris grinned, his perfect white teeth flashing. I personally didn't find him particularly attractive, but I could see why girls and other guys would be. I replied with a smile and a polite 'hi'. 

Kris laughed. "Come on, don't need to be so formal with me." 

"Yo," I said, with a laugh. 

"That's better," Kris grinned. "Who's your friend? New student?" He looked curiously at Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun bowed in a flustered manner, and blinked shyly. "Hi, I'm Baekhyun. Nice to meet you." 

"I'm Kris. But i'm sure Chen here has already introduced me as the most popular guy in school." Kris flipped his dark blonde hair and shot us a smirk, earning him mock gags from Luhan and Yixing.

“Don’t mind him,” Luhan said, with a prince like smile. “He’s actually really cocky, and you don’t want to associate with him.” Kris let out an indignant cry, causing all of them to laugh. Except Tao, of course, who almost never laughed.

The bell rang, signalling the start of classes. Students began to disperse, and head to their classes. “Well I guess it’s the start of another year.” Kris said, taking out what I suppose was his schedule. He smiled. “Sweet. Math with Mr. Cho.”

Yixing gave him a high five, to which Luhan whined. “That’s not fair! I get that stinking Mr. Kim. He’s so boring.” He looked over at Tao’s schedule. “Wow, I get left out.”

I peeked over Baekhyun’s shoulder to read the paper he was studying. He has math with three of the F4 first block. This kid was off to a good start, getting noticed immediately by the ‘leader’ of said group. I was a total nobody back in first year.

“Where’s Mr. Cho’s room?” Baekhyun asked.

Yixing smiled. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Kris nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’ll show you the way.”

I noticed how Tao’s usually dark expression was darker than it was before. There was something in the way he was looking at Kris, or maybe it was Baekhyun. There was that emotion, but its name seemed to have slipped my mind. Whatever it was, it wasn’t friendly.

I was about to warn Baekhyun, but he was preoccupied with Kris, who seemed to take a strong interest in Baekhyun. Baekhyun turned and waved a goodbye to me, as he was dragged away by the F4. I grinned and waved goodbye as well.

As I walked to my first class, Advanced Korean, I suddenly remembered what that look in Tao’s eyes was all about. I remember the name of the emotion.

Jealousy.