— Chapter 1 —

We All Have Problems

"All right! You may be dismissed now, but remember to hand in your work..." the teacher's voice was drowned out by Taeyeon's thoughts as she packed the last of her notes into her backpack.

"Next Monday, history assignment. And I, Kim Taeyeon, am going to finish it tonight," she made a mental note, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She slid out of the classroom through the back door, bumping into someone in the process. Stumbling back slightly, the petite female looked up at the person in her way and pushed up her glasses, a grin spreading across her face.

"Taeng!" chirped the taller male, an exact copy of the girl's expression on his face. Lee Jinki, one of Taeyeon's group of friends that most people would classify as "nerds" - the ones who actually bother to study properly - flattened her fringe onto her forehead. 

"Please don't," she mumbled, eyeing a couple of girls who were staring at Jinki and giggling non-stop as they strolled past the two friends.

Jinki, even though he was one of the "lowlife nerds", had risen a little in school's popularity ranking due to his soft, boyish facial features. He didn't take much joy in it though, he preferred being alone with a few friends to having small groups of girls following and admiring him wherever he went. It was pretty annoying, hearing gossip and giggles directed towards him throughout the course of the school terms.

Pulling Taeyeon's hand, he ran towards the gates of freedom through the hallways as fast as he could. Finally, he could get back to his apartment for the weekend, doing his homework in peace and have some quality time with his parents over the phone.

"We're going home!"

"Slow down! You know I can't go as fast as you-"

Crash.

A muscular boy fell to the ground, his shocked expression quickly changing back to the usual cold and uncaring stare. Towering over Jinki as he stood up, he growled fiercely, "Watch where you're going, pumpkin boy!"

"Don't bother, Kris, he's probably too used to looking down at the filthy soil while gardening that he doesn't even know where to direct his eyes," snorted a shorter male, sporting a spiky hairstyle, staring at Jinki like he was a piece of gum stuck to his white shoes. "Just go back to your teensy weensy hut of a house!"

Psh, typical jocks, thinking they own the school. You may be popular, but not everyone in the school is going to be intimidated by you. Jinki thought, breathing deeply and barely managing to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

"Says the one who doesn't even know how to use a hose properly, Oh. Se. Hun," Taeyeon retorted, enunciating the last three syllables with her hands on her hips, leaning closer with furrowed eyebrows. "And it's not called gardening. The proper word is farming. Get your words right before you try to insult somebody, otherwise you'll end up being the idiot." She was referring to the water fiasco a week ago, where Sehun didn't plug the hose properly to the tap when he wanted to wash his football, and turned it on with the open end pointed to his face, causing him to get drenched. A large part of the female population in the school was there, their cameras all out to take pictures of their "handsome oppa". They had managed to snap pictures of him after the incident, and those photos were spread everywhere in no time. It dealt great damage to Sehun's pride, and ruined his image of being cool and nonchalant. Surprisingly, Sehun got even more popular afterward, as the girls thought it was adorable, contrary to his beliefs.

Jinki held back a chortle while he glanced at his best friend. Sehun's cheeks turned a slight pink, although he tried to cover it up with a smirk, moving his face closer to Taeyeon's. "That's exactly what I like about you, sweet on the outside, spicy on the inside, Kim. Tae. Yeon," he chuckled, imitating the girl while twirling his index finger around her dark brown locks.

"I'm not the type of girl who'd fall for you just like that," she huffed and slapped Sehun's hand away, staring dead straight into his eyes, "You might want to take a lesson on how to keep your hands to yourself as well."

"Stop playing hard to get, you're only making me more interested in you..."

"Just stay away from her!" Jinki snapped, glaring at the other before walking away hastily with Taeyeon.

How dare he? Nobody shouts at Oh Sehun! He slowly clenched his fists, glaring right back at the two as they walked away.

At this moment, Jinki stopped and said something just loud enough for Kris and Sehun to catch. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you, but I noticed you two may have a problem with pimples and acne. I heard that manure is actually a good and inexpensive substitute to facial wash!" 

That was the last straw. He wasn't going to hold back any longer. Sehun stormed towards the male, who was grinning cheekily from his previous statements. Kris followed, for the first time, behind Sehun with a dark expression.

"Hey, that was rather nice of you," Sehun started softly once he was right behind Jinki.

As soon as he turned around, Sehun dealt a blow to his right jaw, knocking him out cold.

"Jinki!" Taeyeon gasped. She got down to her knees, shaking her buddy while Sehun and Kris turned away and moved off hastily, avoiding eye contact with anyone else. "I'll never forgive you for this!" she yelled after the duo, tears welling up in her eyes. What was she to do? The infirmary wasn't open, she didn't have her phone with her, and no one else around in the hallways would stop to help them. Everyone else just walked away like nothing happened.

"You stupid boy, you shouldn't have said that... But please, just wake up..."

Soon, the hallways were clear, except for the two friends on the floor, one unconscious and one watching helplessly with red, puffy eyes. Footsteps were heard, and they soon turned into sounds of running as a male rushed to their side, mouth agape at the sight that met him.
 

"Thank goodness you're here..." Taeyeon sighed in relief, a small smile reaching her lips as she spotted him.

A/N: The first chapter of the story! It's a little short, but yeah. Did you enjoy reading it? If yes, that's the equivalent of receiving gold in a competition with super strong competitors for me. ; - ; If you liked it, please stay tuned for the next chapter! ^^ Here's a question for you readers: Who do you think the guy at the end is? What is his relationship with Tae?

By the way, please please pleaaaase note that I don't hate EXO alright? I just felt that Kris and Sehun fit the whole "mean guy" thing. I love EXO, SNSD and SHINee all the same, so don't bash me okay? ;;