School was finally over and Mira was glad.

She rolled her eyes when a driver opened a car door for some girl as she made her way out the school gates. The girl had hands, why couldn’t she do it herself? It wasn’t that hard. Things like this angered Mira. She really couldn’t stand all these royalty services. What was so different about them? They were all human beings, but why did they have to be treated all high and mighty? 

Two more years and I'm out of this school. Mira determinately encouraged herself and walked passed a few students.

“Hey isn’t that Mira?”

“The Ice Princess?”

“She’s probably taking the bus back home.”

“I don’t understand why she even comes to this school, she doesn’t even look rich.”

Can’t they just stop being so nosy for once? Mira stopped in her track and turned around to face the group of girls. They all held their breaths as they couldn’t tear their gazes away from Mira’s intense stare. “Do you want to ride the bus back home with me?” She asked, glaring at them. They nervously gulped and shook their heads almost too quickly. “So drop the subject," she cockily stated and simply left.

Mira was about to head toward the bus stop when an annoyingly loud screech made her slow down her pace. Curiously, she looked toward the direction to only see another student from her school. She was about to continue walking when the sight of a young teenage boy caught her attention. She could clearly tell his status right away by the way he looked, he obviously looked poor by the way he was dressed.

“Why are you here? How did you even get into this area?” The girl in front of him asked in shock as she furrowed her eyebrows in disgust at how she was talking to a lower class individual. He didn’t say anything and tried to walk away from her, but she wouldn’t let him leave. She sternly stood in front of him while titling her head. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those thieves who are in a desperate situation right now. Are you here to steal something?” She asked again, only to offend the boy.

Other students couldn’t help their nosiness as they all surrounded the teenager who looked a bit frightened now. They all started to comment on how disgusting he looked. They made him sound like a monster when clearly he was just another human being like them.

“What is he even doing here in a rich area?”

“I think he came here to steal something since he knows we’re rich.”

“Ewww, he smells.”

“Look at the way he’s dressed!”

Usually, Mira didn’t interfere in any situation where she would be the center of attention. She just didn’t want to make interactions with other people around her, but right now she couldn’t help but feel angry at the students. She had seen how the boy was just making his way toward wherever he wanted to go, but a stupid girl from her school stopped him and started saying rude things to him. It wasn’t even the boy’s fault, he had done nothing wrong which was why she was so angry.

“Minji, are you ok? Did he hurt you in anyway?” A friend of the girl asked. 

Minji pouted as she quickly stepped back from the boy in front of her. “I’m alright, but I think he’s here to steal something.” She wrongly accused while vulgarly pointing her finger at the boy.

Soon a group of boys who were known as 'the bullies' from her school walked toward him.

“Do you know where you are right now?” The leader of the group asked cockily.

“Look Taejoon, he’s got something in his hands.” His companion exclaimed.

Taejoon smirked and took the basket from the boy’s hand. He wrinkled his nose when he saw eggs in the basket and then glared at the boy. “Did you steal these from around here?” He asked, but before the boy could even answer, Taejoon threw an egg at him.

Everyone was surprised at first, but soon broke out into laughers and joined his act. The boy was in tears and only Mira could see that. She couldn’t take it anymore. Something in her told her to help this innocent boy. She didn’t even realise it, but within seconds, she stood in front of the boy with a worried look plastered on her face. 

“Move out the way, we were just having fun,” Taejoon said as he touched Mira’s shoulder. Mira hated it when people touched her without permission. She turned around to glare at him. “Mira, Kang Mira right? You look prettier in person,” Taejoon smirked as he stepped closer toward her. “Maybe we could go on a da-“

“Shut up,” Mira interrupted as she pushed Taejoon. She then worriedly turned toward the boy. She quickly held out a hand for the boy to grab who still looked terrified. She couldn’t blame him. She wouldn’t trust anyone as well since her schoolmates had just made fun of him. 

In his eyes, Mira was one of them, conceited and cruel. 

“Come on let’s get out of here,” she encouragingly said in a softer tone and it worked. The boy took her hand and stood up. Mira was about to safely help the boy away from the crowd when Taejoon wrapped his hand around her wrist. “Let go,” she sternly warned. Mira really hated physical contact. 

“I never expected the ‘Ice Princess’ to help someone,” he commented. “Or are you just doing this so you could get into bed with him? Come on babe, you can do so much better than him,” he smirked as the crowd snickered. He then leaned in closer while looking at Mira’s bright pink lips, but before he had the chance to lay those filthy lips of his on her, she pushed him harder this time. 

Of course Mira was offended and mostly irate at the statements which came out of Taejoon’s mouth, but she tried to remain as composed as possible even though she wanted to punch the living daylights out of Taejoon.

“In fact, if I had to choose between the two of you, I would definitely choose this boy,” she cockily announced, making few students chuckle in amusement.  

“,” Taejoon cursed at Mira as she had just embarrassed him in front of his schoolmates. He was about to slap her in anger when someone grabbed his wrist this time.

Now, loud gasps from the crowd could be heard. They were obviously shocked and surprised to see Jongin.

By far, everyone in the school knew about Jongin’s attitude. They all knew that he didn’t like to talk much, or get involved in anything social. Overall, everyone in the school knew that Jongin was in the top five of those who held the most power. They wouldn’t dare get into a fight with him.

“Title 11 Section Crime, Delaware Code-Section 612; Class D Felony: Assault in the second degree. When a person is guilty of assault in a spur of the moment,” Jongin stated as he looked at Taejoon who had a confused look on his face.

Everyone else was just as confused, but some knew what Jongin was talking about as they understood the law terms. They also knew that Jongin was studying law as he was the next heir of the largest Law Firm in Korea.

“Delaware Code-Section 603; Class A Misdemeanour: Reckless endangering in the second degree. When a person recklessly engages in conduct, which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to another person,” Jongin added. “And you Taejoon, have instigated these codes by hurting her and this innocent boy,” he glared at him now. 

Taejoon looked quite uncomfortable as he took a step back from Jongin. “Well, she started it!” He childishly pointed at Mira with hatred.

“Section 769; Unlawful ual Contact in the first degree,” Jongin went on, ignoring his childish excuses.  

Taejoon’s eyes widened, a bit frightened. “W-what are you talking about?” He stuttered in between.

“Am I not right? Earlier I heard you make some ual comments and saw that you made contact with her when she clearly didn’t give you permission,” he indicated.

Taejoon didn’t say anything, obviously feeling guilty. He had already lost.

Jongin then faced the other students who had helped Taejoon with his childish act. “Looking at the mess that each of you made, you all deserve the same consequence as Taejoon,” he vacantly told them. They nervously looked down at the ground, not wanting people to see how embarrassed they were. “Actually, there are various consequences, but I'll leave it up to you to decide. You can choose to participate in community service, or deal with the harsh fines and maybe even decide on how many years you want to be in prison,” Jongin stated and then remained quiet for a few minutes. “So which one have you decided to choose?” Jongin rhetorically asked even though he was uninterested to listen to their answers. They all bowed their heads as if they were asking for forgiveness, but they were trying to hide their face from embarrassment. “Just don’t do something childish like this ever again.” Jongin ordered and with that took Mira’s hand while the young teenage boy followed after them.

Mira didn’t want to admit it, but she was profoundly impressed by how Jongin had dealt with the situation. She glanced back to see the looks on people’s faces. Some were surprised, some were shocked and some admired Jongin while Taejoon angrily glared at them. She then turned her attention back to Jongin who was still gently holding her hand. She had already recognised him as he had interrupted her in the music club a few hours ago. He had also been staring at her nonstop which made her feel awfully uncomfortable. Overall, she had only one question to ask him.

Why did he help her? No, why did he help her and the innocent boy?

She had always thought that no one in the school cared about anyone, but themselves. However, her views changed a bit when Jongin helped her, not only that, but when he had defended the innocent lower class boy as well. She glanced down to see that they were still holding hands. She couldn’t help, but feel safe, she felt protected. 

Jongin saw where Mira was looking so he quickly let go of her hand and looked at her. His face didn’t show that he was worried, but his eyes did, Mira noticed that. “Are you ok?” He asked.

Mira could hear the concern in his tone, she was now even more surprised.

---

Jongin was getting lost in Mira’s eyes once again. 

When she looked at him, he felt something in him. It was indescribable to explain.

He had heard some endless gossip about Mira after his encounter with her. He didn’t actually know her by her name, apparently he just knew her as the 'Ice Princess' just like the rest of the student body. The fact that he was going to graduate at the end of the year made him realise that he had never once seen her since he had first attended the Academy, upset him. It was unbelievable how they had never once bumped into one another, but he was happy now.

His path had finally crossed hers.

“Are you ok?” He asked her once again. It surprised him that he was actually worried about someone. The fact that he had just defended her surprised him even further. 

Jongin had seen the whole incident take place before anyone else. He saw Minji being nosy as she stopped the boy. Jongin could see that the boy was obviously lost and hadn’t realised that he had entered into ‘the rich’ area. He didn’t want to sound mean, but he just simply didn’t want to intervene. He blankly watched the scene as Taejoon and his friends made fun of the boy and later onwards started throwing eggs at him. He couldn’t continue watching their childish behaviour anymore so he decided to leave, but then saw Mira from the corner of his eyes. He could see that her hands had curled into fists. Even though her face didn’t show any expression or emotions, her eyes clearly told him that she was angry. He watched her as she bravely made her way toward the crowd to help the boy. Jongin knew that Mira could take care of herself so he kept his distance away from the crowd and simply watched her. However, when he saw Taejoon lean in toward Mira, he had the urge to walk right toward him and punch him straight in the face. 

How dare he initiate a kiss? Jongin took a deep breath, trying to control his anger, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t when he saw how Taejoon was about to raise his hand at Mira.

If he saw some other girl nearly getting slapped by someone, he wouldn’t care less, but he knew Mira was different. She wasn’t like the others in the Academy. He knew she wasn’t those naïve, bubbly kind of girl who almost believed in everything in order to just fit in a certain crowd. In their status, being unique was appalling and not allowed. They all had to follow the same rules being rich. They had to act the way their parents had told them to. Jongin knew that Mira didn’t deserve this treatment so he quickly ran toward the crowd to help her.

Mira suddenly looked away from Jongin’s gaze and walked toward the boy who was still slightly teary. When the young male saw Mira, he bowed multiple times. He wouldn’t stop until she told him to. “Thank you so much Ma'am, thank you. Thank you for helping me,” he gratefully bowed once again as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Mira softened and patted his back which surprised Jongin, even Mira herself was surprised by her action. She couldn’t help, but comfort the young innocent boy who had gotten humiliated in front of all her egotistical schoolmates. “Are you ok?” She asked, surprising Jongin yet even more. 

“I’m fine, but-” he stopped to sigh as he looked at the broken egg shells which were thrown at him by the students. His basket had also been stepped on by many other students earlier. The boy had only came to the Capital to sell some eggs so he could provide his family some money in exchange for food and shelter for tonight. He never knew that he could come upon such ruthless event, hosted by the students from Royal Seoul Academy.

Mira hated that. She hated how the lower class people were being treated. What made the rich people more special than them? They were all human beings after all so what was the difference between them? Just because their families were chaebols, this didn’t give them any right to look down on anyone. In fact, judge anyone. She hated how the world was so unfair. Why did the world have this status of Rich and Poor?

The upper class didn’t even know the hardships and the pain that the poor had to go through. The poor were in need for food, shelter and transport. They had little to nothing for long-term savings, medical expenses, or educational costs. However, the rich could almost purchase anything in the world. They had a large home, loads of food in the fridge which were cooked by the best chefs, they wore clothes which were specially tailored for them. They owned more than one car. They had good insurance, they had a steady income and they could go on vacations almost every month where they stayed in their own personal vacation home. 

They had everything, but here there were still making fun of the people of the lower status. Rather than feeling grateful and lucky that they got to live their lives without any worries, they showed how powerful they were to everyone and made everyone seem so weak and powerless. As a human being, everyone was supposed to help one another. Even if they didn’t want to help them, they didn’t have to make things harder for them.

Mira quickly got her purse out from her school bag and politely handed the boy some money. He looked at her with wide eyes, but shook his head right away. “No, I possibly can’t. You have already helped me enough and I can’t ask for anything more,” he refused.

She was in awe at his behaviour. He could have just taken the money from her, but he was so humble. “I want you to take it. You should go now, your family must be waiting for you,” she spoke in a soft tone. Mira knew that she looked uninterested by her usual facial expression, but at least the boy could hear the tone of voice she was speaking in. “And make sure to buy some bandages on the way for your cuts,” she added, looking at a cut which was on the boy’s forehead.

The boy was beyond touched. He too had the same views on the upper class people. He also thought that they were all spoiled and ungrateful, but here one of them was not only helping him, but showing him recognition as if there were no boundaries between them-the two statuses. He bowed over and over again while thanking her. He then realised that he hadn’t even thanked the boy who closely stood next to the kind girl. He remembered earlier how the boy had said some very smart statements while helping him.

Well, it looked more like he was helping the girl, but he didn’t mind. He was happy that there were at least few people from the higher status that actually used their knowledge and education for good. This helped him gain more hope that one-day everyone, no matter who and what class they belonged to would finally be one and help one another.

“Thank you Sir,” he bowed at the young male.

Jongin awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck not knowing what to say. He decided to just politely nod his head. The boy then turned to look at Mira. Jongin could tell that he had a liking toward Mira already, call it male instinct.

“I wish you well,” he said as he shook Mira’s hand. He also shook Jongin’s hand, but then quickly glanced over at Mira and smiled. “You are very lucky to have a man like him.” He stated, making Mira and Jongin’s eyes widen as they were a bit taken back by his assumption. 

The boy had thought that Jongin was Mira’s boyfriend since Jongin had protected her earlier from almost being slapped by Taejoon. He could see the look in Jongin’s eyes when he asked Mira if she was ok, he could tell that Jongin was worried about her. He also admired their close relationship when Jongin took and held onto Mira’s hand so naturally.  

Before both of them could protest, the boy already left, leaving the two feeling awkward.

Mira didn’t know what to say, or do. She wanted to leave and go back home, but that would seem rude toward Jongin. Right? She didn’t know what to say even though she wanted to ask him why he had helped her earlier. He didn’t even know her, she didn’t know him, but that didn’t matter. The fact that mattered was that Jongin helped her and she had to thank him. She decided to thank Jongin when suddenly his phone made a beeping sound. 

Jongin cursed under his breath when he read the message that he had just received. Without glancing back at Mira, he simply left without a proper goodbye.

Mira blinked a couple of times as she tried to think back to what had just happened.

Why did Jongin help her? They didn’t even know each other, they only knew that they went to the same school. She wanted to ask him that question as she was beyond curious. Her mind then trailed back to when Jongin asked her if she was ok. Why did he sound so worried about her? They were both strangers which meant that they had no relationship what-so-ever. 

Slightly groaning, she rubbed her forehead. She didn’t want to think about it anymore.