RIINNGG~~~

The shrill ringing of her alarm vibrated against her eardrums. Lazily, she tucked her head under the blanket, and cupped her hands over her ears, not even bothering to stop the ringing. It eventually got louder and louder, or at least, that’s what it seemed to her. Suddenly, she regretted turning on the alarm in the first place. She did, after all, have a life-size alarm clock of her own…

“Miss Shinkyu!” A faint voice from the other side of the door was heard, followed by a ‘bang’ as the door opened. Dressed in black dress and a white frilly apron, Sohee looked like a typical ‘maid’ from a French movie. She was gentle and delicate, which made her the perfect person to serve Shinkyu.

Gently tugging at the ‘Shinkyu-blanket roll-up’, Sohee said in an equally gentle tone, “Wake up, miss. It’s time for school.”

Shinkyu turned a little and let out a mighty yawn- wide, but still ladylike- and stirred around in her blanket some more before jumping to her toes. Sohee was already draping up the curtains. The first few rays of sun shone into the spacious room and into Shinkyu eyes, making her squint her eyes.

“What time is it?” she asked, with hope that it was still early and she could go back to sleeping. But her maid held up the alarm clock, with its big, fat face and two thin mustaches pointing at 7am sharp. So there goes her hope.

Sleepily, Shinkyu rubbed her eyes and trudged towards the bathroom, where a tub of warm water was already waiting for her. Smiling, she locked the door and proceeded to having her soothing bath.

Today was going to be a great day. Or so she thought…

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After brushing up, Shinkyu changed into her favourite get-up, a cream coloured button-up blouse, a lace skirt, and brown boots. She decided to let her wavy hair down for the day, and clipped on two shimmering butterfly clips.

After wards, Shinkyu went downstairs into the dining hall, where breakfast was already served on the table. She promptly sat down on the soft cushioned seat and studied her meal. Two pieces of toasts, a bowl of granola with yogurt and dried fruit compote, and a tall glass of milk. Shinkyu groaned, she never really liked milk. She thought it was baby food! She’d rather prefer some fresh fruit juices. But her parents made her drink a glass of milk everyday because according to them, Shinkyu was “still a growing girl”.

Shinkyu tucked into her granola, and paused halfway through eating. Faint voices could be heard, and it soon grew louder and clearer. She immediately sat up straight as soon as she saw her parents entering the hall.

“We have to speak to Mr Han as soon as possible, this is important!” her mother said to her husband. Then, she briskly walked to Shinkyu and blew her a kiss. “Morning, darling.”

“Good morning, mum. You too, dad,” Shinkyu flashed her best I’m-a-good-daughter smile. Her father didn’t seem to hear her; he was on the phone, again.

“Business matters?”

“I’m afraid so. The recent economy status is not very much of help,” her mother explained.

“Is it going to be fine?” Shinkyu asked out of concern.

Her mother nodded, though she didn’t look as confident as she usually is. “It will be, soon.”

Shinkyu didn’t ask more. She just continued eating as her parents went back to business mode; her father with the phone and her mother with the newspaper.

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The front yard was crowded with hundreds of students, all dressed up. For the girls; they were prettily clothed to flirt with the guys while for the guys; they were sleek and handsome for the girls to flirt with.

The arrival of a black limousine distracted them, as they looked at the girl who was stepping out of the car. The chauffeur handed Shinkyu her books, as she stepped into the school grounds, with other kids staring after her in awe. Well, at least the kingkas did. The queenkas did too, but more of jealousy and not so much of… admiration.

These kids were not bad either. Anyone who managed to get into Kyunghee University should be undeniably brilliant, or has parents with their pockets full with green “origami papers”.

Shinkyu was proud to say that she was accepted into the university because she was talented and not because her parents are rich and influential. Sure, the Kwon-Ly Share Holdings was a powerful company. In fact, if business was a kingdom, then KLSH would be the castle and Mr and Mrs Ly would be the king and queen, along with the founders of the company, Mr and Mrs Kwon.

Ever since she was a child, Shinkyu was a music prodigy. She can play the piano, guitar, flute and violin, to name a few. And she can sing just as well, if not better, than some singers. Her best friend told her this once, and Shinkyu thought it was quite true, even though she supposed it really was boasting. She majored in Post-modern Music, where she got to shine as one of the top students.

As she was making her way towards homeroom, she was greeted by five boys. Hah! Greeted was not even close. Try ‘harassed’. Although good-looking, they looked like teenage gangsters who would gladly go bashing some old lady’s head and rob her, and then staying up late to watch .

Shinkyu smiled in her brains. Such nice description! Maybe creative writing worked for her too.

“Hey, miin-a~” one of the guys, who had his has dyed platinum blonde, grinned at Shinkyu. “Miss me?”

“Miss you? My !!” Shinkyu waved her hands, as if aggravated by pesky flies. “The past two days in your absence were definitely the best in my life! Mine, and many others.”

Kwon Jiyong felt his blood boiling inside him as steam started emitting from his ears. No one so far, has spoken to him like that. Especially girls, since he was so handsome. Shinkyu was not a typical lady. She might not even be a female, for all that matters. Still being calm, he said, “Watch your mouth, princess. Or I’ll tell your mom!”

Tell one’s mom? That’s a classic, Shinkyu thought. No one’s used that as a threat ever since middle school. And they were in university now. But she was a bit scared. Her parents, especially her mother, were super conscious about etiquette and grace. She was always rattling on about Shinkyu not behaving enough ‘ladylike’. Once, she went as far as to hire a personal etiquette teacher for Shinkyu. But Shinkyu scared her off when she showed the teacher a frog. Well! What did she know? She was EIGHT, for goodness’ sake.

Shinkyu kept quiet. Jiyong went on to . “See, I told you it’ll work!” he said to the other four guys; TOP, Taeyang, Daesung and Seungri. These were Jiyong’s right-hand man.

Kwon Jiyong was the heir to Kwon-Ly Share Holdings. He hasn’t got any caliber, but seeing as he was the only child, he was subjected to his parents’ entire share. Shinkyu felt sorry for Mr and Mrs Kwon. She could imagine how tragic it would be to have your own child killing your company bit by bit. That was what you’d get for having only a single child.
Because the Kwon and Ly families were business partners, their children got to see each other frequently too. This was how Shinkyu got to know her enemy, Jiyong. He was stubborn, ungentlemanly, insensitive and corrosive. What’s more, he was a self-conceited jerk. Only numb-skulls will like him. And Shinkyu wasn’t one. The other four were.

Jiyong didn’t like Shinkyu either. To him, she was spunky, unladylike, and stubborn. She was the only girl who doesn’t fall for him and still find the courage to stand up to him.

“Just leave me alone, you jerk!” Shinkyu scolded loudly.

“I don’t want to be any nearer to you either, you skunk!” Jiyong scolded back.

“Herbivore*!!”

“Transgender!!”

“Just shut up and go away!” they shouted at the same time. The other four, although being such loyal followers of Jiyong, just shut up and watched from aside. This was not the first time the two yelled at each other in public. Angrily, Shinkyu and Jiyong both stormed towards the classroom, and knocked shoulders upon entering through the door.

“Get away, I was here first!” Shinkyu hissed through gritted teeth.

“No, I was!!” Jiyong retorted.

The rest of the students just stared at them, open-mouthed. They watched as Shinkyu shot through the door and flashed a triumphant smile at Jiyong, who was glaring at her.

Seungri went towards their leader, “Are you okay, hyung?”

Jiyong tugged at his collars while huffing angrily. He went to his seat as the other four followed.
Shinkyu was still basking in glory when the girl sitting to her left passed a note to her. The paper smelled of strawberries. Shinkyu carefully unfolded the paper and read the five bold, angry words: “I’ll talk to you later.”

Shinkyu groaned. It was her best friend, Ga-eul, who was always complaining about Shinkyu behaving too tomboy-ish. She was also Mrs Ly’s spy who was given the job to make sure Shinkyu behaved well. At once, Shinkyu knew she will be lectured later. But she decided to ignore her worries until later on.

Meanwhile, at Jiyong’s desk…

“I hate that Ly Shinkyu!!!” Jiyong scratched angrily his desk with a pen.

“Trust us, we know…” the other four chanted in unison.

Right on cue, the teacher, Miss Rue, entered the class. “Good morning, class! Sorry I was late. Did I miss anything?”

“NO!” Shinkyu and Jiyong exclaimed, one sitting in the middle row while the other at the back.

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