Two hours later, lunch finally arrived. The EXO boys were at their private café once again, while Minah was with her friends, Taeyeon and Junhyun.

 

“How was calculus?” Taeyeon asked Minah. “Did you talk to Kris?”

 

Minah sighed in exasperation. “No, we didn’t talk. We didn’t even make eye contact. I’m not interested, remember?”

 

“Aish, what a liar.” Junhyun laughed. “Of course you’re interested! Everybody is.”

 

“Well, I’m not,” Minah insisted.

 

“If you’re not lying, then I applaud you. The first girl to be immune to Kris’s charms. Although I seriously doubt it…” Taeyeon giggled. Minah rolled her eyes, but smiled along with Taeyeon. She changed the subject, and the three continued to chat and eat their lunch.

 

 

……

 

 

There was a bit of awkwardness amongst the EXO boys as they continued their previous conversation.

 

“As I was saying earlier, I think it’s not a bad idea,” Sehun said. “We should let Chanyeol get to know her better. She just might be different.”

 

“What?” Baekhyun asked in bewilderment. “But you were the one complaining about your tutor noona! What if this girl turns out to be exactly the same?”

 

Sehun his lips nervously. “Well… I don’t.. I don’t know, but I’d really like to know how it feels to be treated the way Hyung was describing. Other than my mother, no girl has treated me like a human being… Everyone treats me like I’m an alien or something. I don’t exist for people to stare at. I’ve got feelings too. ”

 

Luhan patted Sehun’s arm soothingly and looked at his friends. “I agree with Sehun. I think it’s worth a shot. Anyhow, if anything goes wrong, only Chanyeol will be affected. We have nothing to lose.”

 

“I agree as well,” D.O said.

 

“You guys are all running on false hope!” Baekhyun hissed. “Every single girl is the same! She is no different! Watch, she will fall for one of us. Or at least, she’ll try to attack us somehow! I’m sure of it!”

 

“Um.. how about a vote?” Suho proposed. “All those in favor of letting Chanyeol befriend this girl?”

 

A total of five hands went up. The other seven boys kept their hands in their pockets.

 

“Aish, this is dumb,” Chanyeol said. “Everyone already knows I’d do it regardless of the votes. This little voting thing isn’t gonna stop me. I really want to see if she’s legit.” He frowned and stuck his lower lip out in a pout.

 

Baekhyun chuckled, though his face was full of concern. “Well don’t come crying to us when she ends up disappointing you.”

 

“I don’t think she will,” Chanyeol grinned.

 

“Hold on,” Kai held up his hands, stopping all conversation. The boys gave Kai their full attention, and he spoke again. “It wouldn’t be fun unless something’s at stake here. I’ll bet you a thousand dollars that she’s just like any other girl.” Kai challenged.

 

“U.S money?” Chanyeol raised his eyebrows.

 

“Duh, I said dollars, not won.”

 

“Make it two thousand and we have a deal.”

 

“Oooooh,” the boys made childish noises and looked to Kai for his response.

 

“Alright,” Kai grinned. “Two thousand says she’s no different from all the other fangirls in our school.”

 

Tao frowned. “Hey, I know two thousand isn’t much at all, but should we really be playing with our parents’ money like this? They might get angry…”

 

“Don’t worry,” Suho smiled. “They’ll never know. They have too much money to notice a few thousand dollars missing. Plus, you’re not the one betting anyway. You have nothing to be worried about.”

 

“Think of how much that could buy, though!” Xiumin gasped.

 

Kai raised his eyebrows and snorted. “What, like one shirt?”

 

“No, I’m talking about food, you idiot! I could care less about clothes!”

 

Baekhyun burst out laughing. “Wow, you would be thinking of food, Xiumin!”

 

“Of course,” he grinned. “I love food.”

 

“Hey, you guys,” Luhan said, snapping at the boys for their attention. “Getting a little off topic here. Back to Chanyeol.”

 

“Thank you, MC Luhan,” Chanyeol said dramatically. “Now, I’m going to befriend this girl and prove you wrong, Kai. I’ll prove you all wrong. Watch. I’ll bring her today afterschool too. I won’t lose to you!”

 

Kai snorted. “I’ll be making some easy money~”

 

“We’ll see about that,” Chanyeol grinned.

 

“So, we have a deal?” Kai asked.

 

“Deal.” The two boys shook hands.

 

 

……

 

 

After lunch was over, Minah slowly advanced to her fifth and favorite class: Music. She walked in confidently, completely unaware of what was about to happen between her and EXO.

 

“Hello, Ms. Ji-Eun,” Minah said happily.

 

“Hello, Minah!” Ms. Ji-Eun replied. “Sit, sit! We’ve got a lot to cover today.” She turned to the rest of the class and waited for her signal, the bell. After the bell rang, Ms. Ji-Eun smiled brightly at the class.

 

“Welcome to day two of your music class! Today I’ll be explaining the basics of singing. As you all know, to become a successful singer you need a brilliant voice. You must be able to reach those high notes, as well as the low. It’s okay if some of you are unable to reach the more difficult pitches at the moment.” She smiled and looked around at her students. Many looked uncertain or even scared, but others were smiling and nodding. This would definitely be an interesting class.

 

“However, there is a key in singing,” Ms. Ji-Eun continued. “It’s emotion. Without emotion, your song will not sound beautiful and alluring; it will simply be dull. If your music has no emotion, then skill does not matter. Emotion is what draws people in. The same applies to musical instruments, though a little differently. For now, we will be discussing singing and singing only. Are there any questions so far?”

 

When nobody raised their hands, Ms. Ji-Eun smiled. “Good. Now, I want everyone to get into groups of two. I understand that there are many students who are not yet acquainted with one another, but that is okay. In fact, it’s even better if students that aren’t close pair up. This lesson is all about exploring each other’s talents and emotions, after all. Now, pair up!”

 

Minah looked around. That girl over there seemed like a nice person.. Or that boy… He seemed very shy, but she had heard him sing before, and his voice was amazing… But she had no idea how to deal with boys. So.. it was better to choose the girl. Minah took a deep breath and prepared to walk over to the female student. Suddenly, there was a tap on her shoulder. Minah turned around and found herself face to face with Park Chanyeol.

 

“Er.. Hello,” she greeted. What the heck was he doing? He wasn’t going to choose her as his partner… was he?!

 

“Hi Minah,” he replied, grinning widely. “Be my partner, okay?” 

 

The class went silent.

 

Eyes turned.

 

People stared.

 

And then the whole class burst into rushed whispers and harsh comments. People stood up and banged their hands on the desks.

 

“What the hell?!” a girl hissed. “Did Park Chanyeol really just chose that loser?”

 

“She’s the kissup from yesterday! She also spilled coffee all over Kris and tried flirting with Chanyeol!”

 

“Oppa!” a girl screamed. “She’s a fake! Don’t fall for her! She only has bad intentions!”

 

Chanyeol closed his eyes and sighed. “Sorry Minah,” he mumbled. “Looks like things’ll get annoying from now on.”

 

Minah bit her fingernails nervously and looked around at the angry students. Things were going to get annoying? All she had wanted was to pass senior year unseen….She shrank back, trying to become invisible.

 

“Minah? Are you listening to me?” Chanyeol asked.

 

“Huh? Y-Yeah,” Minah said, snapping back to reality.

 

“Don’t you dare talk to Chanyeol oppa!” a girl screamed. She pointed an accusing finger at Minah. “You! You’re some kind of witch or something! Three years at JunKang and Chanyeol has never picked a partner! Why the heck does he suddenly pick you?! You must be doing something wicked to him!”

 

“What? U-Um… Er… No I’m…” Minah’s voice was drowned out by loud, accusing shouts from the students.

 

“STUDENTS!” a voice suddenly boomed. The class fell silent in shock. Ms. Ji-Eun cleared . “Mm. That’s better. Now. Let me reiterate the task that I gave everyone. I said that the students were to pair up. That means two, yes? Which means that Mr. Park here,” she pointed to Chanyeol. “has no choice but to pick a partner. And he picked Ms. Jung here, who he seems to already know. Just because you are all jealous that he picked Minah over you does not give you the right to YELL AND TALK CRAP ABOUT HER! Understood? If you girls wanted to be picked by Chanyeol, then you should have worked harder for him to notice you. Now. You will all be quiet, and I will give you your assignments. Understood?”

 

The entire class, including Chanyeol and Minah, was in shock. “Y-Yes Ma’am,” a quaky voice responded. The rest of the class followed, murmuring “Yes ma’am” and “Yes Ms. Lee”.  

 

Her face relaxed. She smiled and held up a stack of papers. “Now, this is your assignment. It is due next Wednesday, so I expect to see you working with your partners often afterschool. This assignment will be graded harshly and will affect your grade largely. Those who pass this assignment will probably have an easy school year. Those who don’t... well those who don’t will either have to work harder or drop out, hmm?”

 

Ms. Ji-Eun passed out the papers to the silent students. “Jesus, students, there’s no need to be afraid. I rarely use that tone of voice. I find it very… unladylike.” She looked at her watch. “Goodness me, we only have a few minutes left. Well, then I’ll hurry and wrap it up. Basically, if you haven’t read the paper yet, you’ll be singing a duet with your partner. It does not matter if the song is original or covered. This will be an exciting project, don’t you all think so? It is a way to get to know each other! And plus, you may discover some new things about music. Remember, kids, the whole point of this assignment is to discover your emotions. Which types of songs do you feel deeply about? What kind of music can you connect with? Sing with emotion and in harmony, and I guarantee it will sound well. Of course, that is if you aren’t completely tone deaf. Now, have a nice day!”

 

The bell rang, and students rushed out of the classroom. They shot dirty look at Minah as they left, though the students did not dare speak. They were afraid of Ms. Ji-Eun’s  frightening tone. Minah walked out slowly, thinking about what had just happened. She was now Park Chanyeol’s partner… Which meant that she was caught in all the drama now. There was no escaping it. Her school life would become hell now…

 

“I hope you have a nice voice,” Chanyeol suddenly appeared next to her. He noticed her uncertain face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

 

“Er.. Nothing.. I just … I’m not a very sociable person… I don’t like drama or trouble… And somehow I’m all caught in it now..” she shook her head sadly.

 

“Ah… I’m so sorry,” Chanyeol apologized. “it’s all my fault. I wanted to be your partner. This probably wouldn’t have happened if not for me..” He lowered his head sadly and looked at her with adorable puppy eyes. “Forgive me?”

 

“I forgive you..” Minah replied. “It’s okay, I need to get over my shyness anyway… Better sooner than later.” She began to walk to her next class. “I’ve gotta get going now. I’ll be late at this rate. See you tomorrow!”

 

“Damn,” Chanyeol thought. “She’s probably mad at me. Aish… I should’ve edged my way into her life more slowly.. instead of picking her as a partner.. I wasn’t thinking properly. Now all those crazy fangirls are going to hate her…”

 

Chanyeol suddenly grabbed her arm. “Wait.”  

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Come hang out with us today afterschool,” he demanded. His deep voice boomed, slightly startling Minah. Well, if there was no way for her to return to being a nobody, he might as well include her in their activities and get to know her better.

 

“U-Um, I… I… o-okay..”

 

“Ah, sorry,” Chanyeol rubbed his neck. “My voice is just like that. I don’t mean to sound demanding or anything. You don’t have to come if you really don’t want to.. But I hope you do come.”

 

“It’s okay… I’ll come,” Minah answered. Oh no.. what was she getting herself into? Minah knew this was not a good idea. It was one thing to have been chosen to be Chanyeol’s partner.. but now he was inviting her to hang out with his friends? She had promised herself to get past senior year peacefully.. and associating with these boys would definitely go against that. Still, being meek and gullible, Minah did not dare speak against Chanyeol.

 

“Great, then meet me here afterschool!” he grinned. “You already said yes, so you absolutely have to come, okay? If you go back on your word I’ll be angry!” He laughed and walked on to his next class.

 

Minah’s sixth period was not any better than the previous day. However, today it was worse, for Minah continued to worry and worry about fifth period. She was certain that her senior year was officially screwed. Unless she managed to break away from EXO and disappear, things would only get worse.

 

She sighed and attempted to focus her attention on her literature class. Today, the class was at the library to check out their textbooks.

 

“Joy..” Minah muttered.

 

“What was that?” the teacher asked, suddenly popping up next to her.

 

“Oh, nothing, sir,” Minah gulped. “I said ‘joy’, because I’m happy to be in this class.”

 

“Don’t you lie to me,” he said, wagging a finger at Minah. “I can tell you’re not too hot about taking this class. You’ll eventually come to like it, though. I guarantee it.”  He chuckled and walked to another student.

 

Minah sighed. Time passed slowly. Suddenly, she felt something tug at her, and her book fell from her arms. The cover ripped right off the hardcover textbook.

 

“Oops,” a girl said. Her face was red, though not from shame. She was desperately trying to hold in a stream of giggles. “I’m SO sorry.” She turned around and went to her friends, who were all giggling in the corner.

 

Minah stared at the ripped book stupidly. She bent down and picked it up. Before she could, a large foot came down on the cover.

 

“Oh, my bad,” a boy snorted. “Need some help with that?”

 

Minah did not respond. She knew that he was trying to ridicule her.

 

“What’s the matter? Are you mute?” the boy asked. His friends came up behind him, and they formed a wall, blocking her way. Minah looked at the teacher, but his back was facing her. He was chatting with another student. She didn’t want to call for him… that would just make her look even weaker.

 

“No.. I’m fine, thanks.” Minah replied slowly. She retrieved the cover when the boy moved his shoe. There was a large footprint on the cover now. She placed the cover back on the book, not saying anything. She clutched it tightly and attempted to pass through the boys. They did not move.

 

“What’s so special about you?” one of the boys spoke up. “We heard that Chanyeol picked you as his partner. My girlfriend has been sending me texts nonstop. Wanna know what she said?” Without waiting for a reply, he shoved his hand into his pocket and took out his cellphone. He swiped through it, showing her various text messages.

 

“Yah! That Jung Minah girl is getting on my nerves!” the first message said.

“You know what she did yesterday? She tried to attack Kris! But that wasn’t all, she had the nerve to flirt with Chanyeol!” Minah shook her head as she read the message. The facts were all wrong.. but nobody would believe her if she said otherwise.

“And you know what happened today? Chanyeol picked her as his partner in music! Like what the hell! Now they’re going to be singing sappy love songs together.”

“She’s definitely a witch or something, Oppa. Witches can’t take water, right? You’d better toss some on her or else we’re done. No, you’d better do more than that! You’d better make her pay. I want her to suffer and regret ever trying to seduce EXO. The EXO oppas are MINE!”

 

The boy smirked. “So you see, I’ve got to make you pay somehow, or my baby is gonna leave me.” He took a step towards Minah, smiling wickedly.

 

Another boy stepped up and put his hand on his friend’s chest. “Not now, hyung,” he said. Minah recognized this boy as Kim Myungsoo, another extremely popular boy. He was known throughout the school a player, though that only made him more desirable towards women. Minah had no idea why that was, though. Personally, she wanted her future boyfriend to be loyal and kind.

 

 Unlike the EXO boys, Myungsoo was actually willing to date girls in his fanclub, if they were y enough that is.

 

“We’re in the library. Do you want to get suspended again?” Myungsoo asked. His friend reluctantly stepped away from Minah.

 

“Come on,” the boy growled. “Let’s go. We can get her another time. We have all year.” The boys all stepped back and began to leave.

 

Minah was about to thank Myungsoo, when he shot her a dirty look. So he wasn’t trying to help her after all… he was only looking after his hyung.. Minah bit her lip and clutched her ripped textbook tightly. She would have to tape and clean it later. Aish.. now she’d have to pay  a fee at the end of the school year for ruining the textbook.

 

Just then, the teacher turned around and smiled brightly at the students. “Have you all checked out your textbooks?” The students nodded, acting like nothing had happened.

 

“Now you take notice of the class…Perfect timing,” Minah grumbled sarcastically under her breath. Thankfully, nobody heard her. The bell rang, and the students all filed out of the library.

 

 

On the bright side, the first day of school was over.

 

 

However, now Minah had to go join the EXO boys.