"The test was actually not as bad as I thought it would be,"Tiffany told Jessica on their way  to the cafeteria. It was lunchtime in SM high and the corridor was exceptionally crowded.

Jessica yawned.

"Really? I fell asleep halfway," she said nonchalantly,"I didn't even finish the paper.Hope I don't fail too badly."

Tiffany and Jessica were from the same class. However, their ways of studying and their attitude towards it were completely different.

Tiffany was the hardworking type. She takes down notes diligently in class while Jessica daydreamed beside her.

However, both of their grades were equally good. Up till now Tiffany's inference was that Jessica had a genius mind. Someone had probably implanted Einstein's brain into her head.

"You're always like this,"Tiffany chided,swiping bangs away from her eyes.

"Oh,Fany,"a female voice called out of the blue.

Tiffany recognised the voice.  Nicole.

True enough, she found her and her group of friends exiting a classroom.

"Omo,we're having the same lunch period!" Tiffany said in glee, running forward to hug her friend while Jessica greeted the rest.

Nicole was in the same grade as Tiffany. However, they were not in the same class, so it was really rare for them to spend lunch together. They'd met in the states and were friends during elementary. It was fate that had bought themm to the same school.

Now,introducing Nicole's friends.

The 'sweet honey' Goo Hara, with eyes as large as melons and a heart-shaped face.

The forever confident 'Goddes', Park Gyuri,tanner than the rest and long curly-haired.

And lastly the one bearing the most resemblance to a cute hamster, Han Seungyeon.

They,along with Kang Jiyoung (who was a year younger and was Seohyun and Yoona's classmate), had been friends since middle school and lived in the same neighbourhood as well.

As they were pretty close, Jessica wasted no time in telling her about the engagement.

"Seriously, the casanova Kim Jonghyun?"Hara said in a voice full of sympathy,"you could've gotten luckier."

Jessica flipped her blonde curls over her shoulder.

"I could careless.We're going to break the enagement at the end of the year anyway."

"But if you really think about it," Seungyeon said thoughtfully whil Tiffany and Nicole babbled on in English,"if you continue rejecting guys you'll never be able to marry and you'll become a widow with twenty-one cats."

Jessica frowned.

"I don;t reject guys I like. It's just that I haven't found my type yet."

She paused uncertainly.

"Or have I turned lesbian living with eight girls?"

Hara and Seungyeon pursed their lips,pondering.

"Speaking of which,none of you has ever dated before,"Hara contemplated.referring to the nine best friends.

"But some of us do have crushes..."Jessica said.

Hara and Seungyeon's eyes lit up.

"Who?"They probed Jessica excitedly. Jessica merely flipped her hair once more.

"If you pay close attention,you'll notice,"she hinted mysteriously.

Soon, all six of them arrived at the cafeteria.

It was filled with people as usual.

Jessica spooted Jonghyun at the far end of the room,surrounded by his fervent admirers.

Truthfully, she didn't expect them to acknowledge each other in school. They were from completely different leagues and barely talked to each other. They probably wouldn't even know much about each other if not for the engagement, not that it helped much. And even though both had not voiced it out, there had been a mutual (albeit silent) agreement not to leak that news out to the student body,which meant to never expose the engagement to someone they couldn't trust.

Anyhow,Jessica preferreed to stay this way,keeping a distance.

Tiffany seemed to have spotted him as well.

"Isn't that your fiancee?"she asked,squinting for a clearer look.

"Isn't that obvious?"Jessica replied, turning away and proceeding on to purchase her food.

Tiffany raised an eyebrow and exchanged confused looks with the rest.

What's with her?

 

While Jessica was having lunch, Sooyoung was suffering.

She was having Physical Education and the ruthless coach had assigned them the task of jogging endless rounds around the track,within a limited amount of time.

Sooyoung's stamina wasn't bad, but she felt like dying right then. The first thing she did after completing her rounds was to gulp down an entire bottle of water. She was probably going to get stitches later, but she didn't care.

On the other hand, Sungmin, who was in the same class as her, was still far behind. Sooyoung felt ashamed for her friend, having jogged slower than most of the girls. He was never good in sports since young.

"Yah Sungmin-ah!"Sooyoung shouted across the track,"you're slowing down again!"

She watched as the pitiful out-of-breath figure dragged himself inch by inch towards the finishing line,feeling sympathy for her dear friend. She guessed helping him cover up for all the rounds he had conveniently avoided in middle school was bad for him in the end afterall.

As expected, Sungmin and a few others who failed to complete the tasks were assigned to do a hundred push-ups at the side while the rest continued with lesson.

In this situation, Sooyoung would probably step in and do something about it, but in high school, you've got to do it all on your own.

Bad luck showered on her when the teacher decided to do limbo with them today.

Limbo has never appealed greatly to tall people. Sooyoung guessed her fellow senior and friend Sunny would have been excellent in this sport.

Sooyoung was not just tall though,she was extremely tall.

In this case, it put her at a severe disadvantage.

True enough, she was put aside after the second round, standing and watching as the teacher instructed so that she could observe the others' technique properly. As if that was much help. Sungmin was still doing the push-ups.

 

When Shim Changmin was informed that they were doing limbo today, he knew he would be watching other compete for most of the lesson. He didn't expect to be accompanied though.

It was the first time he found someone actually compatible to his height.

The girl was tanned, pretty tall of girls of course, had really high cheekbones (or was it baby fats) and extremely large eyes.

He felt an instant connection because of their heights. Why had he not notice her before? He wanted them to be friends.

But being the cool successor of the Shim Corporation, his pride prevented him from doing so. Instead, he just watched her. The more he watched, however, the more he wanted to know more about her.

Should he call Jaejoong?

 

Sunny caught sight of Sooyoung under the blistering sun during history.

The lesson was boring, she wasn't even taking down any notes at all. She was dependant on Taeyeon for this kind of stuff. Instead, she took a glance outside her window.

Ah, limbo. She was amazing in it, it was really no joke.

The sudden opening of the classroom doow distracted her from her mental state of blankness.

Turning her head towards the direction of the sound, her eyes widened slightly.

The guy whom her and Tiffany had encountered just the day before was standing at the door, out of breath.

Several of the girls straightened themselves up from their slouches. He was indeed attractive.

"Mianhe,"he apologized,"is this Advanced Math?"

The teacher confirmed his statement. It turned out that he was a transfer from the States,. Yesterday was his first day in SM.

And he had to go through the situation of nearly injuring someone. It must be horrible. Sunny felt bad for him for no reason at all.

"Annyeonghaseyo,my name in Ok Taecyeon. Pleased to meet you." His korean was mixed with American accent, but somehow Sunny found it adorable. Tiffany and Jessica's accent were just...ack!

Before she knew it, he was sitting behind her.

She should have realized it sooner, it was the only seat available.

Feeling slightly disturbed, she debated on whether to introduce herself or not, all the while looking straight.

 

It turned out that Taecyeon was only attending math in her class. Upon hearing this piece of news, Sunny felt slightly bothered. 

So he wasn't staying after all.

She watched as his back disappeared through the door,feeling regretful having not introduced herself.

"Soonkyu,let's go,"Taeyeon sang, feeling exceptionally elated that the long-awaited lunch period had eventually arrived.

Sighing, Sunny pushed the thoughts out of her head and followed Taeyeon out of the room.

 

It happened that Sunny and Taeyeon's lunch period coincided with Sooyoung's.

"You look half-dead, Sungmin,"Taeyeon commented, eyeing the drenched guy who was tagging along. Sooyoung passed him a bottle of deoderant spray as Taeyeon wrinkled her nose.

"I was watching you guys during history, Sungmin had really suffered loads,"Sunny said sympathetically, patting the guy on the back.

"It's...really...nothing,"Sungmin wheezed,trying to wave it off.

"It obviously is something, look at all the sweat,"Taeyeon said, somewhat bewildered at Sungmin's attempt to sound nonchalant.

Sooyoung raised her eyebrows. Why was he behaving like that?

Following his gaze, she realized that he was staring at Sunny. With a tint of red on his cheekbones which seemed to have nothing to do with jogging.

Then,realization hit her.

...Could it be...?

That Sungmin had a crush on Sunny?

 

Lunch period marked the reunion of the YoonYul twins. Amongst the nine girls, Yoona was the closest with Yuri, perhaps because they look alike. Being excellent pranksters have maybe contributed to their closeness as well. Hyoyeon and Seohyun were also close, but because of different reasons.

"Aigoo,"Hyoyeon sighed,"my brain is becoming like much after chem."

"Aren't girls supposed to be good at chem?"A male voice sounded.

A guy with jet black hair in curls came into view.

"Annyeonghaseyo Kyuhyun-sshi," Seohyun greeted in her expert polite voice.

"Haven't I told you to drop the formalities, Seo?" Kyuhyun stated,"anyways, a present for you."

Seohyun found a miniature of her beloved keroro sitting on her palm.

"Kamshamida!" Seohyun exclaimed happily, cuddling her newly-found friend happily.

"Found it on sale,"Kyuhyun said casually, secretly feeling elated upon seeing Seohyun's lit up face.

Hyoyeon observed the two maknaes and thought that she cannot keep living like this, without someone she at least liked.

"Unnie,unnie,look!" Hyoyeon's attention was diverted by Yoona's voice. When she turned to her left, her eyebrow twitched. Apparently, the twins had found something silly once again.

They were grinning at her identically with seaweed deliberately stuck onto their front teeth, making them look ridiculously toothless and goofy.

"Hyoyeon-unnie, try it too!" Yoona urged, pushing her pack of sushi to the exasperated Hyoyeon.

"No freaking way," the elder girl denied, wanting to ask Seohyun for help. But the latter was so deeply in conversation with Kyuhyun about some math stuff that Hyoyeon didn't have the heart to interrupt them.

"Unnie is no fun at all,"Yoona pouted as Yuri nodded in agreement.

Hyoyeon merely grunted, lowering her head into her food.

 

The day passed fairly smoothly, without any huge incident. Soon, it was after school.

On the surface, after school seemed to be a time when everyone goes home. However, it was customatory for SM high students to be involved in clubs and societies. It was also mandatory. Thus, almost everyone was in some form of club.

Jessica was no exception.

She was in choir. She may seem like the type who enjoyed singing as her vocal range was pretty large, but honestly speaking she only joined because Tiffany talked her into it. And also because (as much as she didn't want to admit it) it would be boring being alone at home by herself when all the others were still in school.

SM high's choir was quite strange.,so to speak. Normally, a choir consisted of both genders, but in SM it was different. The girls formed the Women's Choir while the guys the Men's. Lots of people thought that they were a single- school when they when for concerts.

"Let's go Sica,"Tiffany sang as she dragged her friend along happily.

The choir practice room was at the third level of the performing arts building, which was a long way from their class. The distance was enough to irk Jessia.

"Can't you tell the vocal coach I'm sick or something?"Jessica whined.

"Nope,"Tiffany saif as she shook her head disapprovingly," you can't lie to a teacher, it's disrespectful. And if you miss too many sessions someone would be sure to find out that you're skipping."

So on continued the long walk to their destination.

However, it seemed that nothing ever goes smoothly for Tiffany.

She bumped into a person while scolding Jessica, and that person seemed to be carrying huge stacks of books.

It all fell with a loud crash.

They were doomed.

"I'm so sorry!"Tiffany almost screamed out, bowing lowly and without looking up bent down to help collect the books.

"Ani, it's okay." What a smooth voice. Tiffany looked up to see a guy with glasses looking back at her.

Her first thought was that he was good-looking. Then she noticed he had blackish-blonde hair. Then she realized who he was.

The heir to one of the largest oil manufacturer's corporation, Kim Jaejoong.

Well, she'd better pick them all up quickly.

"You're such a klutz,Fany,"she heard Jessica's annoyed voice beside her. The next moment both of them were picking up the books.

And the next, next moment, Jaejoong joined them.

That was when Jessica first noticed him. She'd never examined a guy so closely before.

He had fairly large eyes, sharp chin, altogether a cute and boyish face.

At that moment, he looked up and his eyes caught hers.

Both eyes widened and a spark of electricity flew between them.

That moment lasted for about a second as Jessica shoved the books to him instinctively, confused.

"I'm really sorry,"Tiffany's voice broke their gaze as Jaejoong turned to smile at her warmly.

After a minute everything was set, the books were once again piled up onto Jaejoong's arms as Tiffany apologised profusely.

"I'll see you guys around then," Jaejoong said, grinning gently, before giving an extra glance at Jessica and walking off. It was a glance of curiosity.

Jessica stared after him in wonder.

 

Usually everyone will arrive earlier than the vocal coach,so the pracice room would be filled with noise.

As per normal, Jessica and the usual group of girls would hang around at a corner.

The group consisted of Taeyeon, who had a surprisingly strong voice for her size, Park Gyuri, Nicole, Luna their enthusiastic junior, Jung Ah and Bom their seniors and Raina who was a small-sized as Taeyeon but with an equally steady vocal.

It was a pretty large group, but thankfully they weren't the noisiest.

The group which was the noisiest ws no doubt Jea, Narsha and their group of giggling admirers.

Jea and Narsha, along with two others, formed the queenkas of the school. It's like they were not nice or something (okay, maybe one or two of them were), but Jessica and the rest tend to only look at them from afar.

Lots of girls wanted to joing the club because of them.

As soon as Jessica and Tiffany entered the room, the latter approached Jung Ah and Bom to question about the test they had in the morning. It was always rewarding to consult the seniors who had experience.

"Jessica-sunbaenim,"Luna chirped as Jessica sat down cross-legged beside her.

"Annyeong,"Jessica replied, and after taking notice of Luna's intricate hairstyle,asked,"did you wake up an hour early to do that hair?"

Luna blushed,touching her complicated braids subconsciously.

"Of course she did,"Taeyeon chimed from behing,"you can tell that she's trying to impress someone, and I could bet a hundred times that that someone was a person she liked."

"Who likes who?"Nicole, having overheard Taeyeon's assumption, joined in. It made Luna ever more flustered.

Jessica sweatdropped.

"Luna likes someone, don't you?"Taeyeon teased.

"Come on, there's nothing wrong with crushes at your age," Gyuri butted in.

Desperate, Luna sent Jessica an emergency signal.

"She doesn't want to tell you guys,.Anyways, it'll become obvious after some time,"Jessica said. You can't tell if she's trying to help but thankfully they dropped the matter.

"Who is it?"Jessica whispered to Luna when the others were engrossed in their own conversations. Luna shook her head.

Soon their teacher-in-charge appeared. It was very rare that she did, but it was always to announce pieces of important information.

They learnt that they were to corroborate with the Men's Choir and the Dance society to create a musical.

Everyone was instantly excited, because there were guys involved. Rich and handome guys, in fact.

For one, the kingka Kim Jonghyun was in the Men's choir.

When Jessica overheard that piece of news, she was a little bit disturbed. They were engaged after all.

"It's going to be massive,"Nicole gushed out excitedly,"I wonder how it'll work out. We've never done a musical before."

Gyuri frowned.

"Aren't there supposed to be like lead vocals for musicals or something?"

There was a pause.

"If it's going by votes like last time, none of us are ever going to qualify,"Jessica pointed out bluntly. The votes would definitely go to Jea and Narsha, which wasn't much of a problem since those two had solid vocals. It was just that Jessica thought that others who can sing equally well should be given an opportunity as well. But being the ice princess she was, she did not voice out her discontentment.

"Doesn't matter does it? We can just be supporting vocals,it'll be really fun."Tiffany,always the optimist.

And they laughed it off like always.