xxx  The Underdog Class

2 - The Learning Thing

Once the door was open, Youngjae released the breath he had been holding, a huge weight instantly being lifted from his shoulders. No one else was in the room - none of the students and not even the teacher. He had a few more minutes before he met his fate.

He stepped in and thought about setting his bag down on one of the desks, but decided it would be better for him to hold it. He didn't know what desks were taken, after all. He settled for walking through the room, taking in his new learning enviornment for the next four months.

It looked just like any other classroom. There were various posters displaying things like the periodic table of elements, a world map, and geometry formulas. Along one wall were labeled cubbies for the students to put their things and a chore chart. Youngjae stared at these for the longest, taking in his nine  new classmates' names. Apparently this week, Bang Yongguk ("aka Jepp Blackman" was sloppily written in black marker under his name) was responsible for sweeping the floor while Jung Hana (with "Zinger" scrawled and crudely crossed out under her name) had to wipe down the blackboard.

Youngjae frowned when he realized he didn't have a nametag or a labeled cubby of his own. His teacher should have been expecting him, right?

"Way to not make the new kid feel welcome," Youngjae mumbled under his breath. He set his bag down in one of the empty cubbies and took out his notebook, a pen, and a pencil and set about his original plan to find a seat.

He walked between the rows of desks and chairs to look for an unoccupied space. One desk had "Jepp Blackman" carved into the wooden tabletop, so he knew that seat was reserved for Bang Yongguk. Another desk was covered in green bunny stickers, so Youngjae assumed someone would be sitting there too. Behind that one was a desk with several boxes of various snack cakes, peppero, and chips neatly stacked underneath it, so he didn't mess with that one either. He settled for a desk in the back corner that was so undisturbed that there was a thin layer of dust on it (Jung Hana was clearly an underachiever in the subject of desk-cleaning). He wipe the dust off with his hand and sat down, anxiously awaiting the arrival of either his teacher or his classmates.

When the warning bell rang, he was stunned that he was still alone.

When the tardy bell rang, he was in absolute shock.

Fifteen more minutes after that passed before the door finally opened again and three girls walked in, chatting casually with one another. They stopped, their attention instantly focusing on Youngjae when they realized he was there.

"You're in the wrong room, kid," the tallest of the three said, defensively placing her hands on her hips.

"Unfortunately, I'm not," said Youngjae, standing up to greet the girls. "I'm new and I've been assigned to this room. I'm Yoo Youngjae."

"Han Sunhwa," said the girl, raising her eyebrow as she regarded the new boy with mild interest. "The two behind me are Jeon Hyosung," She pointed to a shorter girl with a strong gummy smile "And Zinger."

The girl with strong cheek bones nodded at the mention of her name and then frowned. "Oh my God, I told you guys to stop calling me that already," the girl whined before smiling at Youngjae. "I'm Jung Hana."

"Nice to meet you guys," Youngjae said politely.

"Nice for now," said Sunhwa with a grin. "You clearly don't know who we are and what you've gotten yourself into being in this class."

The girls chuckled to themselves a bit before sitting down at their respective desks and continuing on in their conversation. Youngjae awkwardly watched them before sitting down again. He fidgeted around with his pencil, but felt himself becoming rather bored and his curiosity about his new classmates was becoming too much to ignore.

"So, is the teacher always this late?" Youngjae asked.

Hana rolled her eyes, turning from her friends to look at the new student. "If he even bothers to show up, yes."

Hyosung smiled at Youngjae. "Look, Youngjae, I don't know how you ended up here, but I'm beginning to think this classroom isn't the right fit for you."

Youngjae leaned back a bit in his chair and crossed his arms. "Yeah, I got that feeling right when I got here. This guy, Seo Eunkwang, told me -"

The boy couldn't even finish his thought at the door swung open and a tall, handsome boy, eyes narrowed in a dangerous glare, barged into the room. He was trailed by and equally, if not taller boy with blonde hair, a blue bandana tied around his neck and pulled up to his chin, and a skateboard tucked under his arm; a much shorter boy with small eyes and a bright smile on his face; and a large, portly middle-aged man who was dressed in a well-tailored blue suit, dark black sunglasses perched low on the bridge of his nose.

"Why is anyone even talking about Seo Eunkwang is this room?" the fuming boy snapped.

"Forgive him, Himchan, for he knows not what he's doing," Sunhwa answered, sarcastically.

"Who's this guy?" The man in the blue suit, presumably his teacher since he was so much older, asked.

Youngjae, once again stood up, and bowed to the room's new occupants. "I'm Yoo Youngjae. I just started school here and have been assigned to this classroom..."

"Hi Youngjae!" The shortest boy shouted happily. He rushed up to Youngjae and pulled him into a bear hug; and Youngjae was honestly amazed by how much strength he had because the hug was rather tight and suffocating. "Welcome to our class! I'm Moon Jongup!"

"Nice to meet you, Jongup," Youngjae gasped. "Can you not hug me so tight? I kind of need to breath a little bit..."

Jongup let go, still grinning like a fool. "These are my friends, Kim Himchan and Zelo and our teacher, Mr. Park Jaesang! And have you met the girls yet?"

"We've met."

"Wonderful! Oh, wait there's a few more people you need to meet!"

Jongup dashed off, back into the hallway for a moment.

"Is he always that..."

"Energetic? Exciteable? Always." Zelo answered before sitting down at his desk in the very front row. "That's Jonguppie hyung for you."

"Hyung?" Youngjae asked, but he never got an answer before Jongup barged back in, dragging in a tall, rather intimidating-looking guy and a pretty girl. But those two didn't hold his attention for very long.

After the small group came another boy; the heavy bags under his eyes seemed to be the only immediate flaw Youngjae couldn't find on his otherwise ideal face. He had a smug grin on his face and a large pastry of some sort in his hand.

"This is Bang Yongguk!" Jongup announced, holding up the hand of the scowling student. "And this is Song Jieun!" He held up the girl's hand and she blushed, giving a meek wave.

"Hello," Youngjae said politely.

"And behind me is Jung Daehyun!" Jongup concluded his introductions.

Daehyun had taken a large bite of his pastry, his cheeks stuffed with the flaky, buttery baked good. "'oothehellryou?" He managed to mumble around the wad of sweet bread in his mouth.

"This is the new kid, Yoo Youngjae," Jongup answered. "Welcome to the family!"

"Not this family," Sunhwa rolled her eyes.

"I agree with her," Yongguk said quickly. He pulled Jieun and himself from Jongup's grasp and guided her, his hand on his waist, to their own desks.

Youngjae held a steady gaze, not wanting to show that he was sincerely hurt by their instant rejection. He simply sat back at his seat, his gaze focused on his teacher who had made his way to his own desk in the front and had set down his brief case as the rest of the class sat down. He opened up to a fresh page in his notebook and held his ballpoint pen over the page, ready to write down the first thing Park Jaesang said.

Not one of them pulled out a single pen, notebook, or binder. The girls continued to gossip. Yongguk and Zelo had their headphones on and were lost in whatever music they were listening to. Himchan had tasked himself with fussing over Jongup's slightly wrinkled uniform and Daehyun, already finished with the pastry, had pulled out a bag of chips from under his desk, munching away while staring off into space.

Youngjae frowned when he realized the man had yet to take off his sunglasses and had kicked his feet up on his desk, looking far more relaxed than a man responsible for the academic welfare of ten students should be.

"Mr. Park?" Youngjae raised his hand.

"What, boy?" Jaesang snapped.

"I... er... aren't you going to start the lesson?"

The room instantly went silent. Yongguk and Zelo pulled their headphones down and stared at the boy, just like the rest of the class.

"Oh, sweetie," said Hyosung gently, with a look on her face that clearly had 'bless your heart, you poor, naieve little child' wirtten all over it.

Jaesang pulled his sunglasses down at a bit to better regard his classroom's new resident. "Look here, Yoo Youngjae. The way this room works is simple. You kids come in, stay off the street, stay out of trouble and I give you marks good enough for you to pass and get out of here. Why waste our time with actual 'learning'."

Youngjae's jaw dropped in disblief. "What kind of school is this?" He all but shrieked.

"Yah!" Jaesang yelled. "Keep it down! I'm too hung over to deal with your loud mouth this morning. That goes for the rest of you, as well. Especially you, Himchan."

"I take offense to that," Himchan glared at his teacher.

"No, you don't understand," Youngjae pressed on. "My so-called step-dad is spending a lot of money to send me here. I'm trying to get into a top-tier university. I need top marks. In everything. And if you aren't teaching us, what are we supposed to do all day? Sit here and count ceiling tiles?"

"There's 88 tiles," Jongup piped up.

Youngjae couldn't even fight the urge to face palm and he groaned. "This is insane."

"This is Sangjeon High School," Zelo said with a smirk. He turned back around, putting his headphones back and on and minding his own business once again.

"Well... can I go to the library then?" Youngjae asked. "I'm not going to sit here and waste my time like this."

"Do what you want," Jaesang waved him off. "Anything to get you off my case and stop talking."

Youngjae huffed indignantly, before gathering up all of his stuff and heading for the door, ignoring the amused looks and glares he received from his peers before leaving.

"Bye Youngjae!" He heard Jongup chirp as he left the room and entered the hallway.

It was going to be a long semester, indeed.

a/n: Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, commented, and even upvoted so far. Hope I can continue to entertain you with this story. Sorry if this chapter was a little slow, but introductions were in order so you know how it goes. ^^