Kim Joonmyun has this way about him that makes people love and hate him at the same time. He’s incredibly charming, so much so that people often don’t even realize that he isn’t exactly the tallest person because his personality more than compensates for it, but he’s also a quick-witted, snarky smartass so no one would dare point out his height anyway.

As such, Joonmyun really didn’t have any friends at Sooman Academy, not in the traditional sense at least. It was more like he had a group, and he was the leader. He commanded attention and consequently held a measure of authority. Naturally, when he was elected student body president, it was almost unanimous.

At least, that’s how Joonmyun paints it. The truth of the matter is the race was much closer than he would care to admit because everyone probably—no, definitely—liked Baekhyun more than they liked him, but Baekhyun is too nice and unaggressive to care to fight for the position of student body president so Joonmyun just had to turn on his charm. It also helped that Joonmyun was a senior, which gave him more weight to win the vote.

Besides, Baekhyun was president of all of the major school clubs at the time. He probably had more than enough on his plate when the election came around, and it really isn’t his style to sway people the way Joonmyun does. Joonmyun oozes charisma. People like Baekhyun because he’s just nice. He comes from a wealthy family, but no one would be able to tell if they didn’t know him personally because he doesn’t act it at all. It’s really hard not to like Baekhyun because even though he might as well be perfect with his cute smile, stellar athletic ability, and great grades, he’s not condescending about it. Somewhere in his heart there is a seed of deep, genuine love for people.

Baekhyun is always trying to help people so joining clubs at Sooman seemed the most natural for him. He organized charity projects, cultural events, special guest speakers, anything and everything. It helped that his family has connections with all the major movers and shakers in everything from politics and business to arts and entertainment.

He was the one everyone wanted to be friends with. He knew everyone, which gave him a certain aura of power, similar to that of Joonmyun, but no one could truly rival Joonmyun’s rule the way Park Chanyeol could.

Chanyeol had a different kind of foothold in the school hierarchy, one that left hearts broken left and right. All the girls wanted to be with him because he had it all: tall stature, fit body, deep voice, long hair, and a sense of humor. He never officially dated anyone, but he was always with a girl. And he doesn’t have a type. The girls he was with were tall, short, curvy, skinny, girly, androgynous, smart, artsy, quiet, eccentric, exotic, anything and everything. No, Chanyeol’s type is girl, and that’s it.

He had all the social pull at Sooman, always organizing secret parties at his dorm when the dorm master left. He never got in trouble though, even the few times he was caught, because with just a captivating smile and sly wink, the teachers were like putty in his hands. He was the one that knew how to smuggle soju on campus and keep it flowing for a party because he knew Kim Jongin, the resident rebel.

Chanyeol was one of the few people who actually talked to Jongin back then because Jongin mostly kept to himself. He was always cutting class to smoke behind the refectory or sneaking off campus to wander the city at night. He would disappear for days sometimes, always somehow managing to avoid being sent to Principal Kim’s office.

No one knew much about Jongin. He still doesn’t like to talk about himself, what with all that he’s gone through, but he’s not a bad guy per se. He just lives by the policy that rules are meant to be broken, and he pushed the limits at Sooman by breaking as many as he could. He earned the title of bad boy, but that often left him isolated because no one else wanted to get in trouble.

Occasionally, Oh Sehun joined Jongin in his mischief though, not because Sehun had any malice or reason to rebel but simply because he didn’t give a . He was always sleeping in class or drawing on his homework. He went to Sooman because of his family’s expectations, but the truth is that they don’t really care for him. He has two older brothers that are golden stars, one in medical school and engaged and the other a lawyer and married.

Sehun was invisible at Sooman. He slipped between the cracks, not doing bad enough or good enough in class to merit any attention. He spent most of his time alone, reading or drawing or playing video games. He didn’t care to make friends with anyone. He didn’t care for much of anything except to finish and get out of school.

I, like Sehun, wasn’t interested in making friends either, but I did want to experience all that Sooman had to offer. I joined all the clubs, played all the sports, attended all my classes, went to all the events, and just took it all in. I needed to get the full experience of Sooman Academy.

And I got it and more.