SM World Academy, a highly prestigious institute for those who can afford to pay the unearthly tuition fee. Ranked as one of the top most expensive school in the world, the academy is known for its exclusivity. Only the richest of the rich could ever dream of enrolling there.

And with that knowledge in mind, Felle Levit almost found herself unworthy to walk the halls of SM Building 2, Tower C. Almost.

“Where the hell is everybody…” she muttered under her breath. The lavishly carpeted hallways were bare of students, and the whole tower deathly silent. The classroom doors were all closed, and Felle was tempted to push them open, if only to ask for directions.

How was she supposed to find her class if there’s no one to ask? The staff from the administration office pointed her to the general direction of…here—where ever here is. And yet she did not see any signs of a gymnasium.

So far, her experience at this exclusive academy hadn’t been pleasant. The staff uptight and hardly helpful, she wonders why they were even employed in the first place. So much for guaranteed service—no one would even point her to her class.

After rounding a corner, Felle finally found herself in a dead end, a set of wooden double doors, the size of the whole wall, leading to what must be another classroom… Or maybe the gymnasium, she wouldn’t know.

Blowing out her fringes, she decided to it. Ask or go astray.

Felle knocked on the heavy polished door twice before pushing it open. To her surprise, the door wasn’t at all as heavy as it looked, and with the brute force she used, it banged against the wall.

…And then something crashed to the floor.

“."

The thought of running away crossed her mind, but the chance disappeared as soon as she locked eyes with a guy in the far back of the room.

“The hell!?” He stood up, fists balled and ready to strike. Really? A fight on the first day? Good job, Felle.

“Sorry.” She shrugged. “I thought the doors were heavy.”

“The hell?!” He repeated. “Sorry isn’t going to cut it!”

Felle crossed her arms. “What do you want me to do then?” She was still standing on the doorway, and it was getting kind of awkward almost shouting just to communicate, seeing as the guy was in the far edge of the spacious classroom.

“You broke my masterpiece!” He sounded somewhat shocked, and Felle had the decency to feel somewhat sorry. “Shattered it into a million pieces!”

Sighing, she decided to man up and face the consequences. Stepping into the classroom, she closed the doors behind her—being extra gentle to avoid another accident. The room was spacious and bright, tall windows lining the walls, and the desks grouped together—almost like a cafe.

“Sorry, I really didn’t mean to.” Felle really was sincerely sorry, but there’s no use in getting worked up over a broken artifact is there? It won’t fix itself even if she begged for forgiveness.

The guy, seeming to have lost his patience (not that he seemed to have any in the first place), marched right up to Felle. His peroxide blond hair (obviously dyed) reflected the sunlight and Felle had to squint her eyes. She was highly perturbed by how tall he was up close—taller than her.

“I said I was sorry, let it go—“ He suddenly grabbed her collar and pulled forwards, catching Felle by surprise. She rolled her hands into a fist, ready to strike. Fine, you want to fight?

“Hellooo everybody—WOAH! What’s going on?” And just like that the tension in the room dissipated. A pair of hands grabbed the guy away from Felle, but he was still glaring at her, and she at him.

“Kris!” The guy finally broke eye contact and stared down at the shorter dude whose hands were still on his shoulders. “What’s going on man?”

The blond, Kris, titled his head at Felle. “He broke my masterpiece.”

“You did?” The shorter dude had his eyes wide open, looking at Felle as though she grew two heads.

Felle clicked her tongue. “It was an accident—“

“Yeah, but you broke it!” Kris pointed a finger at her.

“What do you want me to do then?” She sneered. “Glue it back together?”

Scowling, the blond brought his fist up, but the shorter guy quickly stopped him. To Felle’s surprise, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and she had to stop herself from throwing a punch. She tilted her head back, and a guy as tall as her with a cap on his hat grinned brightly at her.

“You guys aren’t fighting, are you?” His voice was surprisingly deep, a huge contrast to his childish face.

“The —“ Felle started to say.

“Hey! No cursing!” Some other guy called out from somewhere within the room.

When did this place get so crowded?!

Felle sighed and ran her hand through her cropped blond hair. “Look man, I’m really sorry, alright?” Kris scowled at her, but she ignored him. “I’ll try to make it up to you.”

“Yeah, how?” He towered over her, and being a tall person herself, Felle found it extremely weird to have someone tower over her.

She shrugged. “I’ll get the materials, and you make another one?”

The cap-wearing guy behind her laughed, and she had to commend herself for her astounding sense of humor. “Ahaha, that’s brilliant!” He leaned on her shoulder for support.

Felle scrunched up her nose. “Dude, stop leaning on me.”

The short dude behind Kris burst into laughter. “Yeah, Chanyeol, no homo.”

Chanyeol straightened himself with his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, well, in all seriousness, you guys can settle this without a fight, can’t you?”

Kris’ scowl deepened, and Felle had to stop herself from laughing. He looked absolutely ridiculous. “Look…” she trailed off.

“Kris,” Chanyeol supplied.

Felle nodded. “Yeah, Kris, I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you.” She inwardly facepalmed. Damn, if he wants money I’m dead.

“How?” He seemed to challenge. Felle was secretly relieved he didn’t ask for money, but that leaves…nothing. How was she supposed to make it up to him? The material idea was shot down instantly, she didn’t think she could come up with another one.

“How about manual labor?” The shorter guy behind Kris suggested.

Felle scrunched her nose. “Like hell tha—“

“Sounds good, Chen!” Chanyeol cut her off. “What do you think, Kris?”

The blond in question grit his teeth. “Yeah, whatever.” He turned and left the room, obviously pissed.

In this moment, Felle wanted nothing more than to punch something; channel away her violent thoughts until she feels better. But she really didn’t want to get expelled for harming school property (or other students) on the first day.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“Yeah, Kris is always like that.” Chanyeol took off his cap and ran his hand through his black hair. “He’ll cool off in a few days.”

Chen, the shorter one, raised an eyebrow. “How did you break his masterpiece, anyway?”

Felle swept her blond hair back in agitation. “An accident. I pushed on the door too hard, thought it was heavy.”

The two burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” The blonde asked, eye twitching in annoyance. This is turning out to be the most unpleasant first day ever.

Chanyeol grinned. “I knew it was going to happen sooner or later.”

“Yeah, it’s partially his fault for putting his masterpiece near the door,” Chen agreed. “Anyway, I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you new?” He suddenly changed the topic.

“Yeah,” Felle nodded. “This is turning out to be an eventful first day.” She hopes they get the sarcasm.

Chanyeol laughed. “Don’t worry man, Kris isn’t as violent as he looks.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m Chanyeol, by the way.”

“Chen.” He smiled.

Felle has no choice but to fake a smile—although she’s sure it turned out into more of a grimace than anything else. “Felle.”

Their smiles faltered for a moment before Chanyeol grinned even wider. “That’s new, never heard that name for a boy before.”

Felle closed her eyes and tried hard not to laugh. “I’m a girl.”

There was the imminent silence before Chen broke it. “You’re joking?”

She shook her head. “Hundred percent female.” It never gets old how others found it hard to believe she was a girl. The disbelief should’ve hurt, but after getting it from practically everyone, she was used to it. To be honest, she did look more like a boy than a girl.

“But you look like…” Chen trailed off. “Really tall.”

Felle shrugged. She supposed 185 cms was a bit too much for the average girl, but it’s not like she can chop off her legs.

“Your face, your everything!” Chanyeol suddenly spun her around. “No trace of girl anywhere!”

She pushed him away and scowled. “Thanks man, just the kind of confidence boost I need.”

“Even your voice!” He continued, oblivious to Felle’s increasing temper. “It’s so deep, I don’t understand.”

“What? You want me to strip to prove that I’m a girl?” She challenged.

Luckily Chen intervened, “Why aren’t you wearing the girl’s school uniform, though?” She looked down on her orange tracksuit.

“Haven’t got time to get it tailored.” She shrugged. “The normal sizes don’t fit me. In case you didn’t notice, I’m not exactly normal.”

Chanyeol seemed to be deep in thought before he suddenly shouted, “Suho! Do we have a spare uniform?”

“Only the boys uniform!” Suho, the guy who didn’t allow cursing, shouted back. He seemed to be busy with sorting out books or something, Felle didn’t really care.

“Go and try it!” Chanyeol pushed her to the general direction of Suho who was in the far back of the room, occupied. “C’mon!”

“What? Why?” Felle planted her feet firmly on the ground. “I don’t need the boys uniform.”

“Yeah, what’s the deal?” Chen asked, as puzzled as Felle was, although less violent in expressing it.

“Just do it, c’mon!” Chanyeol grunted, continuing to push the taller girl, to no avail. “Or I’ll tell the teacher you skipped gym class.”

The temptation to challenge the boy was overwhelming, but Felle knew that she’s created enough fiasco for the day. She decided that instead of making enemies, she could try and make friends instead. Once the girl finally conceded, Chanyeol dumped the uniform on her arms and ushered her into a storage closet.

“What was that about?” Chen took a seat at one of the desks.

“He’s probably thinking of recruiting the girl,” Suho said offhandedly, still focused on sorting the books and paper in front of him. “I think we could use another member in the club.”

Chen gaped. “You’re not serious, are you?”

Chanyeol shrugged.

“In case you didn’t notice, Felle is a girl,” he emphasized the world girl, waving his arms in the air. “We can’t have a girl in the EXO club.”

“That sounded really ist,” Suho piped. Chen shot him an exasperated look.

“In case you didn’t notice,” Chanyeol mimicked, “She’s more of a boy than she’ll ever be a girl, and honestly, not half bad looking.” He rubbed his chin. “We don’t have her type in the club yet.”

Chen threw his arms in the air. “We run a host club! A host club!”

“So?”

His eye was starting to twitch at the absurdity of the situation. “First of all, you think she’ll want to serve other girls, pretending to be a boy?”

“As long as I get paid enough, I guess.” The three boys whipped their head to stare at Felle who was leaning on the doorframe. The pants were a bit too short for her, stopping just a few inches above her ankles, but other than that, the uniform fit her perfectly.

Chanyeol clapped his hands in excitement. “See, I knew it!”

Felle shot him a look and walked towards them, hands in her pockets. “What do you want me to do?”

“Join the EXO Club. We’re basically an exclusive host club, we entertain girls, and the occasional boys,” He explained, eyes lit up in excitement. “For fun, you know?”

Felle narrowed her eyes. “Do I get paid?”

“We split the total income of each month into twelve,” Suho answered. “Thirteen, if you’re in.”

“And the total income is how much?”

“Just a bit more than the school’s monthly tuition fee.” Suho was looking at her expectantly now, brown eyes boring into her blue ones. “What do you say?”

Felle didn’t really have to think about it. “I’m in.”

 

Chapter 1/END

6/4/14