BRIINNGGGG!!

I groaned in annoyance as a noise pierced through the air. It took me a bit of time to process what was happening. Where was I? I thought, and what on earth was that sound? I sighed as realization sunk in. Right, I grumbled mentally, my alarm clock, duh. My hand shot out to where the noise was coming from, my eyes half-closed, blindly searching to make it stop. Anything to simply go back to sleep. Instead of successfully hitting the snooze button and silencing the ringing clock like I was planning to, it fell to the ground and kept on ringing, and ringing, and ringing. I angrily kicked away my bed covers and stood up, madly scanning the floor for my clock. When I finally found what I was looking for, I just hit "dismiss" and slammed it on the table because my sleep was obviously ruined.

It was 7:07, and school started at 8:10. Since it took me about 10 minutes to bike there, I had enough time to make sure I wouldn't be late. Since Minsa Academy, or my school, was one of the most prestigious high schools in the country, with rather intellectual students from families with considerably high social status, being late was unacceptable. I began to head to the bathroom to get ready for school. When I stepped out of my room, a gust of chilly air slapped my face. It was late-September, and the air was starting to get chillier, and more...fall-like, although that was clearly not a real word. I rumpled my hair and continued on with getting ready for school. In about 20 minutes, I was completely ready for school. My bed was made, my backpack was packed, homework done, uniform perfectly worn. I ran downstairs because I could not be late for school, and it was even colder downstairs. There was no one downstairs. My mom had left for work early in the morning. It was a well-paying job, being a secretary for the richest CEO in South Korea, but it also required a lot of time. I felt something was missing though. My gaze travelled to the kitchen, and my stomach growled at the same time. Grinning, I walked over to the pantry and took a granola bar. As I unwrapped it, I poured myself a glass of milk. I was leaning on the countertop while enjoying my simple breakfast until my eyes landed on a spot.

The spot where my mom had been crying.

I shook away all uneasy feelings, and finished up my granola bar. After I put the glass in the sink and threw the wrapper away, I picked up my backpack and my helmet. When I neared my bike, I saw that a note had been taped on the seat of my bike. That's unusual, I thought, why leave a note on my, uh, bike? I took the note.

Have a nice day, I hope you're wearing your helmet.

It was from my mom, I could tell from her tone and unique handwriting. Slightly messy, but neat as ever, if that made any sense. She was always concerned about my safety, too, like it was guaranteed that I would die if I didn't wear a helmet while biking to school. I ran my thumb over the characters, hoping to sense her presence in the hastily scribbled note.

I felt nothing.

I looked up at the sky, which was now brightening, and put the note in the small pocket of my backpack. I checked my watch. 7:43 am. Perfect. Right on schedule, as always. Not wanting to disobey my mom after she specifically told me to wear my helmet, I fastened it on, and unlocked my bike from the fence. I started riding to school, smiling as the fresh morning breeze tickled my face. The wind pushed me on, urging me to ride faster, and cheered me on when I encountered steep hills. It was my favorite part of the day, riding my bike in the morning and watching the sky take on a shade of blue, even if it was only to school.

Sooner than I'd hoped, I was already at school. I was one of the earlier ones to come to school, but there were a still a lot of people here already, and the school was starting to buzz with life. Not like I'd care though. There weren't too much things that would take up my attention. I felt my face put on the unreadable pokerface, and quickly corrected it, with a very presentable, charming, and totally fake smile. Because it was school. And I had to act "normal". No one so far, no one had guessed it was fake for all my years of life. I could really succeed in the acting industry, I thought, since I was acting in everday life anyways.

As I was thinking, I rode over to the garden behing the school, where there weren't as many people. From there, I got off and walked my bike into a narrow grassy path, which led to a tiny wooden "bridge" over a small stream of water. There was a bench on the other side, and I locked my bike behind the bench. The area was completely deserted, and I was very thankful, because I didn't want to share this place with anybody else. I had found this place on my first day in this school. My curious nature had led me away from the newbies' tour and to the narrow path. When I came across the bridge, I was thrilled because it was so beautiful here. The flat, grassy clearing with trees and flowers, a white bench to rest on, completed my a quiet stream that would change accordingly to the seasons. Most importantly, it seemed deserted, which meant it was all to myself, and I didn't have to pretend, like I always did in front of other people. I could just freely think as I just watched the water flow, not having to constantly remind myself to smile for others, or make an appropriate reaction. Everything was so peaceful. So calm. It was my own little world

I stretched and yawned, relaxed by my surroundings, and fixed on my perfect smile, preparing myself to step out of my protective bubble, and face the rest of...them. When I walked back into the school garden, I was met with more people than I had seen when I first came in. I checked my watch again. It was 8:00 am, sharp. I looked around, anticipating something that usually happened right about--

"Hyung! I found you!" a male voice shouted from afar. I grinned. Yup, my friends at school, they should be here around now. These were the only people who kept me out of what's a fitting word, maybe...depression? Although I wasn't completely open to them, and they didn't see too much past my mask, I felt that if anyone in this world had any chance of understanding me, just slightly, it would be one of them. And my mom, though I wouldn't pester her with my complex thoughts. I turned and grinned at the tall figure that was already right behind me. Right behind me. Way. Too. Close.

"Hi Sehun," I said, flashing him a wide smile and took a step backwards, "Personal space man, too close. Where are all the others?" Sehun, the youngest, was usually the first to come from my friends. I figured it was because of his long legs and activeness. Ah, the energy of youth, I thought comically.

"Aren't you happy enough with me?" Sehun frowned slightly, then quickly smiled. "It's okay, hyung, because I know you love me! The others were right behind me, but their legs--" Sehun's explanation was cut off by a deep voice.

"Yo Baekhyun! Missed you!" it was Chanyeol, my deep voiced, baby faced friend. "Oh and hey there again, Sehun" Sehun pouted slightly at this, insulted by how lightly Chanyeol had seemed to take him. I laughed at Sehun's childishness, because everyone clearly loved him and his bubbliness. I lightly punched Chanyeol's arm.

"I saw you yesterday, so it really shouldn't have been too bad," I stuck my tongue out. Then I ruffled Sehun's hair and said, "Cheer up, Sehun, you know Chanyeol loves you too, right?" That seemed to do the trick, and Sehun brightened almost instantly, nodding his head like a gigantic bobblehead. As we were talking for a bit, more of our friends joined us.

"Hi, everybody. Good to see you all so lively this fine morning." Suho greeted us warmly, with his arms slung over Jongin and Kyungsoo's shoulders. The oldest person from our little clique of friends, and he was like my second mother, as weird as that sounded. His personality was just so caring, and he really did treat all of us like we were his little sons a lot of times. Plus, whenever any of us were hungry, it was him we could all count on. I waved at them with my smile. Jongin and Kyungsoo made their way over to me and slung their arms over my shoulder.

"Hi, Baekhyun hyung! You gotta treat us to lunch today! We were talking about how dukboggi really sounded nice," Jongin sneakily started. I quickly slithered out of their arms and faced them. Then, with a twinkle in my eye, I slapped both of their arms, and they yelped in pain. I laughed and ran off about 5 yards away from them.

"No can do, Jongin and Kyungsoo! Maybe if I took you and you paid?" I called out. Jongin and Kyungsoo had a slightly bewildered look on their face. Well, they should've known better, right? Although, dukboggi did sound nice to me too. The bell rang, interrupting our loud conversations, and we started to walk over to the school building. I slightly frowned mentally, but kept the smile on my face. There were going to be people staring at us as we went to class now. It was as if the six of them were toys, exclusive edition of special toys the public couldn't have, and they were drooling over them. It was uncomfortable, to be frank, and it felt weird, the delusional confessions of love and whatnot. How could you love something, or in this case, someone, that you didn't even know? It felt all foolish to me, and I was trying not to scoff outwardly as all of the girls started to crowd around us. I glanced over at my friends, and saw that Kyungsoo looked slightly uncomfortable and expressionless, since he was pretty shy, but all the others were keeping up their facade and had a smile fixed on their faces as they looked straight on. I was like them too and I simply made sure my smile was plastered on my face and stared ahead.

Suddenly, a face caught my eye. It was probably because, it was something unusual--a new face. A female face. Since my eyes were so accustomed to the usual surroundings, it was exceptionally talented at picking out a difference. I stared at it for a second, and it stared right back. I detected a glint of curiosity from her eyes, and we sort of stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Then, she smirked. Smirked. Did she know what she was doing? And then she just left, to the deserted areas of the hallways, and darted away somewhere, probably to her own class. Well, I thought, it's not like a school doesn't get new students. I just turned my gaze back to the front, and continued on my way. Yes, I thought dryly, onward, to the classroom.

So there you go! The second chapter! The female lead will appear and I'm having fun putting her in XD

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