She tightens her grip on her phone and flips it round and round in her trembling hands. Nervously, she bites down on her bottom lip and slaps the back of her smartphone on her small palm. Her eyes dart to the time on her phone and she breathes out unsteadily. 8:25, she thinks to herself. Surely today won't be as bad as she thinks. 

"We're here, Young Miss." The driver informs as he pulls into the school's parking lot. The young lady scans the view outside her window and frowns. Boys. She rolls her eyes. Annoying, filthy, and stupid boys.

"Mr. Song, do you mind just dropping me off? There's no need to find a parking spot if it's a hassle for you." The girl smiles at her driver's reflection in the rear view mirror. He curtly nods in reply and the car accelerates forwards. She looks down at her phone's screen and her eyebrows furrow. Why hasn't anyone replied yet?

"Ah! I see a spare spot!" The old man triumphantly smiles as he parks the car. The car rolls to a stop and she gathers her belongings and more importantly, herself. The old fellow exits the car to promptly open the door for his passenger. She swiftly but elegantly exits the car - an action she has done all too often. She takes a deep breath and tightly smiles at Mr. Song. "Have a good day, Miss. Jihyun." He bows before shutting the door and entering the car again. Slowly, she brings herself to walk away from the sleek black car and walk towards the closest school building. Little does she notice the other black car that has been waiting for her car to take its leave.

Laughter and chatter surrounds Jihyun as she tentatively walks through the school's front yard. So this is the newly established Seoul Academy, she muses. Girls and boys her age loiter around the front yard, happily greeting their new classmates and making friends. Suddenly, Jihyun remembers that she has friends as well and glances down at her white phone. Absentmindedly, she walks through the front yard and closer towards the main school building. 'We're waiting near the fountain. See you soon Ji! Sora xoxo' the text message reads. Jihyun shakes her head with a smile, of course her close friend would text her back 10 minutes after Jihyun had asked her about her whereabouts.

"Jihyun noona?" A soft but uncertain voice calls out towards Jihyun. Her head slowly lifts up from her phone. It's a male's voice. She didn't know any boys who would casually call out to her like this. 

Jihyun turns on her heels and stares at the group of boys sitting underneath the wooden gazebo. A tall and slim figure jumps down from the table and walks towards Jihyun. She tilts her head to the side, not sure whether to walk towards the person or slowly back away. Her parents had always told her not to talk to strangers, but then again the world she lived in comprised of strangers often greeting her and knowing everything about her. 

The blonde boy approaches her with hesitant steps, he's not sure if this is Jihyun. As funny as it is some people do respond to names that are not their own... anything to be able to speak to him he guesses. Jihyun's eyes widen as she realises who had called out to her and without warning, a warm smile graces her face.

"Oh Sehun! What are you doing here?" She makes a start towards him. After a few steps, the 2 stand face to face with large smiles greeting each other. Sehun pulls Jihyun into a tight embrace and laughs. "What are you doing here?! Last time I heard, you were meant to be in Busan, noona."

"That was 2 years ago," Jihyun sighs in relief. At least she knew someone who was a decent boy at this school. Sehun pulls back from her and stares at her. She's grown quite a bit in the past few years and become a lot prettier, he notices.

"Yah, Sehun! You never told us you had a pretty noona!" A low voice shouts. Jihyun raises an eyebrow at Sehun as he lets his arms falls to his sides and grins up mischeviously at her. "Well no-one ever made the effort to ask, Kai!" He rolls his eyes exaggeratingly. Sehun discreetly winks at Jihyun before turning to look at his friends who are coming towards him. Jihyun awkwardly stands behind Sehun and glances down at her phone. 8:29. School starts at 8:30 she needed to find her friends pronto.

"There's no way Sehun could have a sister as pretty as her when he looks like that." A shorter boy of the group with extremely round eyes remarks with a smug look. Jihyun finds herself involuntary smiling. Did a boy just make me smile? She mentally slaps herself for getting carried away.

"Hey! I'm a stud muffin, thank you very much." Sehun pouts as he tries to do aegyo. 

"So what's your name?" Another boys with small eyes that are made to look bigger with eyeliner asks Jihyun. As much as she didn't like fraternising with the opposite , sometimes common courtesy overruled her own desires.

"Jihyun." She replies.

"Oh Jihyun," a soft voice says.

"Umm, no. Choi Ji-"

"Ah! Noona~ You were meant to play along!~" Sehun whines. Oh. Oops.

"Aha! So she's not your sister!" The wide-eyed boy from before yells before punching Sehun in the shoulder.

"Hyung! Ow!" Sehun retaliates with his own playful punches. So immature, she mentally shakes her head. One of the many reasons why she didn't like boys her age.

"So how old are-"

"Attention students. Can all students begin to make their way to the Hall. Thank you." A stern female voice rings throughout the school grounds over the speaker.

"Alright, let's get a move on then." The boy with a soft voice smiles at everyone before turning to retrieve his bag.

"Do you know where the Hall is?" The boy who was going to ask for your age asks. This kid asks a lot of questions, Jihyun notices. "Oh, sorry. I'm Kai." Kai mistakes Jihyun's pause as timidness when really she was criticising him. Out of politeness, Jihyun shakes Kai's hand and shakes her head. As much as she would love to get away from these boys, only they knew their way around the school, and right now she needed their help.

"Follow us then mi'lady." Kai grins as the group begin to walk into the building.

"Hang on, where's Chanyeol?" Eye-liner boy suddenly asks as you enter the building. A loud cacophony welcomes the group as they enter the building. "I don't know, the kid's always the latest to get to school but the earliest to leave." The boy with a soft voice answers.

Jihyun tries to take in the sights before her despite the overwhelming load of information she has to take in. The large hallways and corridors are filled with the booming voices of boys who tower over the chattering and giggling girls. Clearly, everyone is giddy to be in this new school. Jihyun purses her lips at the sight before her. She was not used to being in a school with hormonal boys and girls. She was not used to socialising and talking to teenage boys for that matter- well, not in school that is. She follows the crowd before feeling a warm hand tug on her right arm. Jihyun almost hits at the bold invididual when a familiar face is inches away from hers.

"There you are, Ji! Where were you? We were waiting and waiting for so long~" Sora whines.

"Oh, shut it. You only got to school at 8:20 yourself." Jihyun snaps.

"How did you know?" Sora gasps.

"You sent me the text at 8:20?" Jihyun rolls her eyes.

"Ah, dae." Sora forces a laugh. Jihyun pushes Sora's head to the side and laughs at her friend's inability to lie.

Up ahead, people start to turn left through a door, and into an extremely large room with rows upon rows of chairs. However the rows are split exactly down the middle, allowing people to walk down the aisle to sit. Interestingly enough, girls sit on the left side and boys sit on the right. Despite the friendly banter outside the Hall, there is still a barrier between the one cohort. Jihyun turns around to say something to Sehun but the two of them are too far apart. The 2 girls take a seat with the rest of their group which are sitting two rows from the front.

Whilst waiting for the Principal, the girls in the Hall take a moment to observe the Hall. A large room with a really high cream coloured ceiling that is meticulously covered with lights, the two walls on either sides are filled with large clear windows, and the large stage faces the entrance to the hall. The long red curtains that hang on the sides of the stage suddenly move and then emerges two Principals. The Principals make speeches about the merging of the Seoul Girls' High School and Seoul Boys' High School into Seoul Academy which shall uphold the respective prestigious reputations of both schools and strive to maintain the academic calibre of both schools which are always the Top 2 schools in the nation.

Jihyun doesn't pay attention until the half an hour speeches are over and school representatives are called up. The boy's representative is called up first, and to Jihyun's surprise it's the boy with the soft voice from earlier. She straightens up in her chair and stares at him in bewilderment. As the boy walks up to the lectern, a few male voices can be heard cheering him on which is abruptly halted by the supervising teachers. 

"Hello everyone, gentlemen-" the boys erupt into a mass cheering which lasts a few seconds before the boy continues, "staff, and ladies." There is silence from the left side and the boy awkwardly clears his throat from the lack of response. "My name is Suho and I am the male representative-" a few shouts from the boys' side, "for our school this year. It is an honour to be given this position and I look forward to working together with all of you to make this year everything you and I both hope for. I warmly welcome you-" Suho motions at the left side of the audience, "to our school and anticipate the amazing things to come from our conjoined forces. Thank you." Suho closes his address to the school with a formal bow before returning to his seat.

The boys' voices boom throughout the hall and bounce off the walls - their shouts, hollers, and cheering for Suho. The left side clap with open jaws as they watch their male classmates. Jihyun breathes out already exhausted. It is only expected of them to be so loud and cocky since this is their school, their turf, and we are their intruders. 

The male Principal then calls on the female representative and Jihyun notices a girl, a few seats away from her, shift out of her seat and make her way to the stage. Jihyun's eyes widen as she remembers the girl, she'd completely let this thought slip her mind. How could she have forgotten that she had voted for Minhee? A proud smile appears on Jihyun's face and her body buzzes with excitement. Minhee is an adorably intelligent girl who deserved this position and Jihyun wanted the boys to know this.

"We should scream really loudly for her after." Jihyun whispers to Sora over the monotonous clapping for Minhee. Sora looks at Jihyun and grins knowingly. She had been thinking the same. Sora turns to the girl next to her, whispers the instructions and tells her to pass it on. Jihyun discreetly turns around to the girl sitting behind her and tells her to pass on the message. As Jihyun turns around, she notices a tall lean figure walk into the Hall. He's wearing a cream trench coat and black jeans. She shakes her head in disapproval at his tardiness and spins back around to focus on Minhee.

"Um, good morning staff and fellow classmates. I am Minhee and I am honoured, just as Suho has previously said, to be in this position to work alongside you, the cohort, to make your final school year or years experience all that better. Do not hesitate to come to me if you need help or would like to make any enquiries-"

"What's your number?" A male voice calls out and all the boys erupt into laughs. The girls scrunch their faces in disgust. This is one of the many reasons why Jihyun didn't like boys her age. They could only be relied upon for immaturity. 

"112." Minhee wittily replies and this causes the girls to laugh as some of the boys make "oooohhs" and "dayumm". "I will now conclude my speech with this: As important as education is, don't let the number at the end of this year define you. Do find the balance between your academics and social life. Thank you." Minhee ends her speech with a bow before walking back to her seat.

The cohort breaks out into an applause and Sora pulls you to your feet along with her. "C'mon!" She shouts out at the rest of the girls. Jihyun feels an adrenaline rush and starts to clap louder before placing her hands on the sides of to shout, "Woo Minhee! Woo!" Soon the rest of the left side rise to their feet and begin shouting and whooping for Minhee. A sudden surge of excitement washes over Jihyun and she begins to stomp her feet over the wooden floorboards. Sora and the girls around her follow along and soon enough chaos is unleashed on the left side of the Hall. Yes, she might be immature by trying to one up the boys but they needed to know that the girls weren't timid beings.
 

---

After being reminded of student protocol, the high school seniors are released to eat during recess.

"Did you see their faces when we cheered for Minhee?!" Sora asks giddily.

"Yes! It was priceless." Jihyun smirks.

"They looked shell-shocked." Yejin giggles.

"Thank you for that, you guys," Minhee bashfully smiles at the her friends - Sora, Jihyun and Yejin. The four of them are a formidable force. Minhee being the most involved student, Sora taking on the role of sports fanatic, Yejin the most intelligent of them all, and Jihyun who is the social butterfly of the cohort. Four beautiful, intelligent and capable young women. They were the queenkas of Seoul Girls' High School. Surely this status would continue into Seoul Academy?

Despite not knowing their way around Seoul Academy, formerly known as Seoul Boys' High School, Yejin is able to navigate the group back to the fountain.

"I really need to pee, I'm gonna go." Jihyun laughs at the girls as she walks backwards.

"Do you know where the bathroom is?" Minhee frowns.

"Yep! We passed one before, I'll be back quick-smart!" Jihyun winks before dashing to the bathroom.

There's a line in the bathroom, and Jihyun smiles. It wasn't only her that was holding in their inner-fluids.

"It feels weird being in casual clothes, doesn't it Jihyun?" A light voice next to Jihyun asks her. 

She glances at the person and nods at Bora  - a way Jihyun tends to greet others. "Yeah, I'm glad though. It'd be a waste to make us buy brand new uniforms for just one year."

"I heard that the parents were really upset about this merging and this was one of the compromises." Bora gossips.

"Compromise?"

"My parents said a a group of students would have transferred because other parents were really against this merging." She nods more to herself than Jihyun.

And by offering to not make parents purchase their children uniforms calmed them? Any of these loaded families could have easily afforded new uniforms. Although this is just gossip, Jihyun reminds herself.

"There's a free cubicle, Jihyun." The girl after Jihyun in the line jerks her out of her thoughts.

"Thanks," Jihyun mumbles.

On her way out of the bathroom Jihyun suddenly collides into a moving hard body. "Oomph," Jihyun throws her hands out to steady herself.

"Whoa, easy there." A low male voice steadies Jihyun.

"Oh? Noona!" Sehun's familiar voice rings in Jihyun's ears.

"Hi," Jihyun squeaks as a pair of outlines eyes meets hers. She takes a step back and looks at the group surrounding her. It is Sehun's group from earlier on.

"Since Sehun isn't going to intro us, I'm Baekhyun." The boy Jihyun just bumped into extends his hand for a shake. 

Jihyun stares at the pretty hand distastefully - as beautiful as Baekhyun's hands are, Jihyun still didn't like the thought of interacting with immature boys. However, Jihyun's parents- no scratch that guardians, didn't teach her to be impolite.

"And here I thought I was the only one with magnificent hands." Baekhyun lifts Jihyun's hand to closely inspect it. "These,"  he lifts Jihyun's hand up for the rest of the group to see, "are hands of someone who has never lifted a finger before." Baekhyun might have been complimenting Jihyun but the underlying tone meant otherwise, something Jihyun had heard all too often. Scrutiny.

Jihyun smoothly retracts her hand and sweetly smiles at Baekhyun. Too sweetly. "Forget about that narcissist. I'm D.O." The shorter boy with large round eyes awkwardly waves his hand. "Hi," Jihyun lifts her hand up - already exhausted this early in the morning.

"Kai." The slightly tanned boy from earlier reintroduces himself with a swift nod. Jihyun returns the nod and turns to Suho.

"I am your ever loyal school council representative Suho." He salutes Jihyun with a movement of his right hand. Jihyun responds with a small smile.

"And I am your ever y, handsome, adorable, manly, and smart eye-candy cousin." Sehun widely grins as he grabs Jihyun by her shoulders and pulls her against his side.

"We've only been a co-ed school for," a deep voice pauses before resuming, "two hours and maknae has already started hitting on girls." A low chuckle behind the cousins' embrace is heard.

Jihyun slaps her left hand onto Sehun's face and pushes his body away from her. She is being nice to him only because he is her cousin and she had enough family troubles.

"Ahhh, noona, this is Mr. Deep-voiced-Chanyeol." Sehun announces as gallantly twirls his hand to the figure behind him. Jihyun mentally groans and rolls her eyes before facing the owner of such a rich tone.

Chanyeol's eyes widen at the sight of the girl in front of him, of course he knows that Sehun has a good taste in girls but his eyes did not enlarge because of her aesthetic. Black slacks, white short-sleeved blouse, and hair tued back into a sleek black ponytail; it is definitely her.

"You." Chanyeol says.

Jihyun bites down on her tongue to keep from tsk-ing this tardy boy. You. He was the one who walked in on Minhee's speech. Up closer Jihyun could properly admire his features: soft, bouncy hair, large eyes, pointy ears, and a smooth jaw.