The scene was perfect—at least to her. There they stood at the railing of the river, admiring the view of the city lights that brightened the sky and reflected off the water. There were some couples behind them that were quietly laughing to themselves as they walked by. It didn’t matter to her as her dark eyes studied his face, a blush dusting her cheek when the taller male reached over to grab her hand and rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand. A genuine and loving smile graced his features as he stared into her eyes. It almost seemed like it couldn’t get any better until he leaned down closer to her to whisper,

‘’I love you, Eunhye.’’

She felt her blush deepen when she returned his smile and confession, “I love you too, oppa.”

The peaceful scene was soon interrupted by an annoying repetitive beeping. Groaning, Eunhye rolled over to smack her hand against the alarm, cutting off its beeping victory. Sighing, she sat up slowly, glaring daggers at the alarm while wishing she could continue that beautiful dream. It seemed a bit unfair that she would have that dream the day she would have to go back to school. Shaking her head, she stood up, walking over so she could grab her towel and clothes to get ready for her day. While tying up her hair the text ringtone rang through her room. Wondering if it was urgent, she hurried over to her phone to read the text message.

From: Cici

To: Eunnie unnie <3

Good morning, unnie! Ready for the first day of school?

Hurry up! I’m excited to see you all again!!!

A smile spread on her lips as she read the message, it was from Mochali, who was fondly known as Cici to their group of friends. She was filled with excitement, setting her phone down without reply to rush off to the bathroom to get ready. Eunhye didn’t want to be late and she wanted to see them, too, being in England for the summer made her miss them even more. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about drifting away from the group as they always tried to contact her while she was with her mother. She was happy about that. Though she could go without school, it was the people she liked that made it better.

Suddenly she stopped in the middle of the hallway, in front of her father’s study. A blush dusted her cheeks as the dream unexpectedly popped up into her head. She held onto her hand, the very same one he held onto in her dream. He had held it so gently, but surely, as he told her his feelings. Sighing, she wished it was true, but right now…there was no chance whatsoever. Perhaps for the other girls she could see things for them working out one way or another, but for her…she already coupled him with someone.

“Sweetheart?” Her father’s concerned voice that was tinted with amusement brought her back from her thoughts.

“A-appa?” Eunhye gasped and looked into the study, shyly smiling at her amused father.

“Get ready. I’m sure your friends want to see you.” He laughed as he added, “I’m sure another person would be happy to see you, too.”

Quietly agreeing to the former suggestion, she rushed off to the bathroom and decided that she would tell the girls about her dream later.

---

Once she woke up, Mochali quickly grabbed her phone from the side of her bed, to send a text message to Eunhye. She was so excited that she could barely contain it, having to release her delight in laughter. Not only was she excited to see her best friends again, she was also excited to see ‘him’ the one boy she always admired. She went through her morning routine, twirling around in front of the mirror missing how the school uniform looked on her. Mochali went downstairs to the kitchen, tripping a bit over nothing but regained her balance, but continued acting like nothing happened as she went to look for something to eat. After preparing a bowl of cereal, she went over to the dining table to find a neatly written note.

Mochali,

I woke up early to go to work. Please eat breakfast and good luck in the first day of school. Have fun! I love you, sweetie!

Mom.

Her mom was always an early riser, taking in the morning cheerfully, and she was a hard worker. But, even though she worked so hard, she never neglected her daughter. No matter what came her mom’s way, she remained kind and calm, her smile still on her face. She was always loving and thoughtful. Mochali looked up to her mom for that. She smiled when she finished reading the note and sat down, beginning to eat while she thought of her mom’s strength. She wanted to be like her and worked hard at it every day to reach her goal. Reaching that goal meant a lot to her and she could take care of her mom, too, when things worked out in the end.  But, right now, she had to focus on school. She was so excited she couldn’t help it and ate faster.

---

Teayeon had arrived at Seoul National University, waiting by the row of lockers that she and her group of friends were all lucky to have next to each other. Leaning against her own she brushed a few strands of her brunette hair back behind her ear, apprehensively looking from side to side in hopes of seeing the arrival of any one of her friends. She felt a bit out of place amongst the crowd of students who were cheerfully reuniting with their friends or catching up with each other. The mixture of their loud laughter rang through the halls of the school, making Teayeon a little envious. Where were her friends? She knew that they all had the tendency to wake up late from their habits of pressing the snooze button one too many times. But, today was an important day. If anything, they should be up and excited to come back to school, just to hang out with the group again and…well, see ‘them’ again.

She had laughed quietly to herself and sighed. The truth was that she arrived early. She had been so excited that she barely slept the night before and the anticipation settled in her stomach when she woke up an hour before her alarm in the morning. Taeyeon would have taken her time getting ready, because it was a little embarrassing to wake up so early and she didn’t want to be the one waiting at school…again. But, she had hopes that maybe one or most of her best friends would be early this time and it wouldn’t have to be her. So much for hoping—she ended up waiting by herself.

Crossing her arms and pursing her light pink lips together into a fine line, she began to shift her weight back and forth on her feet, her dark eyes continuing to search the crowds.

‘’Teayeon-ah!!!’’ 

The voice that called out to her caused the other groups to quiet down to look at the culprit. Taking another quick glance around she caught sight of one of her friends not too far from her.

‘’Annyeong, Chaeni-unnie!’’ Teayeon greeted with much enthusiasm to match that of the younger girl’s, jumping up and down while waving enthusiastically. She couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her friend sprint toward her as if her life depended on getting a single autograph from a celebrity. It was the same old Chaeni, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  ---

Like Teayeon, Chaeni had arrived early but she stuck around the entrance for a few minutes, keeping a lookout at the door, watching the people who were coming in. While searching the separate groups of boys and girls she wondered where her friends were. She scratched her cheek, thoughts running through her mind on where they would be. Perhaps they were in class…no that would be silly, why go to class early when most of them didn’t have the same class? Sure, during the school year some of them would not meet up due to meeting with some club members, project partners, or whatever…but this was the first day. Besides, they always met up in a big group at the beginning of each school year without fail. Now if only she could remember…

A light bulb sparked on in her brain and she jumped up in realization as it did. The lockers! That’s where they would be. Quickly, she began to jog through the halls, lightly pushing aside people who were in her way and shoving the people who had been rude to her. In the back of her mind, she knew that she should apologize, but right now courtesy wasn’t as important as seeing her friends. Chaeni saw one of her unnies next to their lockers and she halted, jumping up and down before yelling to her from across the hall a wide smile taking over her once determined expression.

“Teayon-ah!!!” She had yelled enthusiastically.

‘’Annyeong, Stella-unnie!’’ Teayon had retuned her enthusiasm, looking as happy as Chaeni did.

She ran over to her, the crowd hurriedly moving to the sides as she ran through and parted them like the red sea. They all knew not to get in her way since there were a few incidents when she had plowed some students over when she was late to class. None of them wanted to be victims and none of them couldn’t help but wonder how Teayon could withstand the bear hug that came flying at her with full force. The female had her breath knocked out of her, but when she took a deep breath, she laughed and returned Chaeni’s hug.

“I’m so happy to see you again, Stella!” She cheered as she pulled away, “Now…tell me about your trip!”

---

Early morning 6:30, Soorin had decided to walk to school. Passing a bakery, she stopped in her tracks when the wonderful and luring aroma hit her nose. A scenario vividly played through in her mind, of her holding the freshly baked treat in her hand, a bright smile gracing her features as she walked to school. Passerbys would be stunned by her smile, slowing down to wonder what could be the cause of that smile. Then they would go to the same bakery she went to and the bakery would- a bike bell rang, bringing her out of her reverie and Soorin rushed to move out of the bike’s way. Her brown eyes read the bakery sign, realizing that they were having their grand opening.

Fully knowing that she had enough time to make it to school, she went inside and shyly ordered sweet bread from the kind lady up front. Thanking the woman and the heavens for this wondrous snack she continued to school. Soorin was excited to see all her friends again, and she knew that they would be just as excited as her. She walked faster and she hastily finished her snack, deciding that she should bring up the idea to go to that bakery to hang out with the girls. The thought made her imagine how they would be in the bakery; sitting in the cute chairs gossiping and laughing. She also knew that Teayon would be very happy, since her best friend loved eating. It brought up her delight to the next level but another thought crossed her mind as she checked her watch, reading the time 7:00.

She wanted to go to the washroom.

Entering the school, she skimmed the groups of girls to find a glimpse of any of her friends. No such luck, so she went to fix herself up in front of the mirror at the washroom. While brushing away a few strands of hair a cheerful cry pierced the chatter outside. The voice was familiar, as was the name she called. It didn’t take long for Soorin to recognize who it was that yelled to Teayon. It was Chaeni!

Hurrying out of the washroom and scaring a couple of girls away from the door in the process of Soorin shoving it open, she saw Chaeni and Teayon together. She walked towards them quickly and skillfully weaving through the crowd infested hallway. Her large smile reached her eyes as she watched Teayon tell Chaeni about some events during her summer, complete with hand movements. The two girls saw her and waved her over, beckoning Soorin to walk faster. She did, spreading her arms wide open to bring the two girls into a hug. They continued talking when they pulled away, briefly telling each other events during the summer, not going into detail as they waited for the other two to arrive.

---

Eunhye had a short conversation with her father over the simple western breakfast she made about some things about Europe. This time when she went to visit her mother, her mother had a vacation so she brought Eunhye with her and traveled around to different parts. Her father had reminded her to bring the gifts she had bought for her friends with her to school. He had taken the dishes when she finished and dashed upstairs to pick up the small trinkets for the girls, she had larger gifts also, but she could give those to them another time.

“Eunhye-ah!” Her father yelled from downstairs, “Don’t keep your friend waiting!”

“Deh!” She yelled back in reply.

Since Eunhye and Mochali lived close to each other, they walked to school together every day. But, unless one of them fell sick, and normally whoever was sick would feel bad about leaving the other to walk by herself, urging the sick one to call the other during lunch break to apologize. Placing a kiss on her father’s cheek, he smiled and waved her off telling her that he’ll lock the door behind her. When the door shut behind her, she heard the lock click and she ran over to Mochali, who greeted her cheerfully,

“Annyeong, unnie! You look great! It must have been the England air and their pastries, huh?” 

Smiling fondly, she hugged the maknae of their group as tight as she could to show how much she missed her and softly returned the cheerful greeting, “Annyong Cici-ah.”

They talked as they set off to school, sharing some events of their summer. Eunhye described the view of London’s night scenery to Mochali as she saw it on the largest Ferris wheel the ‘London Eye’. Mochali shared a funny event of when she went to the beach with her mother during her mother’s short vacation off. She her laugh rang through the block when she retold of how her mother scolded a couple they found on their walk doing indecent things.

Mochali wiggled her eyebrows and nudged Eunhye slightly while adding, “If you…know what I mean.”

The older girl laughed, covering with her hand. She caught a glimpse of the time and found that they only had thirty minutes left before school started. Knowing that they only had a short time left before the school bells rang the start of their day they had to meet the others before it started. They broke into a light jog, lightly laughing along the way making small jokes about Mochali’s story before they reached the school and through the mass of people to reach their lockers.

“GIRLS!!” Eunhye and Molachi shouted in unison when they saw the others.

The three looked over to them their shocked expressions making the latecomers smile. They silently screamed as they ran up to them, bringing the two into a group hug, where they all jumped together, overjoyed that they were all together again.

“You two finally made it!” Teayon exclaimed. “I have been waiting here with Stella-unnie since…forever!”

“We’re sorry,” Molachi apologized, locking eyes with the two early birds who only smiled and shook their heads.

Chaeni laughed, “Don’t worry about it…unless you tripped over something again, Cici.”

“Yah, unnie!” exclaimed Molachi with a small laugh. “I slipped this morning, but I wasn’t late because of that! You two just didn’t have mine and Eunnie-unni’s patience.”

She scoffed a bit in response before looking at the other brunette standing next to her, “We’re all here together now, that’s what matters, right, Soorinnie?”

Soorin nodded enthusiastically. “We all have to catch up! There’s this perfect place I walked by that I know Teayon-unnie would love!”

“Is it a restaurant?” Eunhye joked which earned her a slight glare from Teayon to which Eunhye shoved the girl playfully, “We all know you love food.”

“Don’t diss my food, unnie, it’s just as important as…well…everything!” she declared and the group laughed.

“It’s a bakery! Their sweets are so amazing!” Soorin squealed, shutting her eyes as she drifted off to heaven again when she recalled the sweetness that danced on her taste buds.

“We should go after school then,” Eunhye agreed. “I have gifts for all of you from London and a dream to share.”

“Ooooh,” Chaeni’s eyebrows wiggled. “Was it of your favorite oppa, unnie?”

“Yah!”

They all laughed at Eunhye, Chaeni adding in, “Well, I guess you just spoiled the surprise for us. Way to be, Eunnie-unni, way to be.”

Before they could continue with their conversation, they took notice to the murmuring that was routine every morning at Seoul National University. They were babbling about how the certain group looked, how one got a new haircut, and anything about them in general.

There was a shrill squeal next to them. “EEEEEP! It’s oppa!”

Then another squeal rang from down the hall. “Oppa! You are so cute!”

It was obvious to the group of girls who had just arrived to the school, welcomed by the fangirls as always without fail. The group of kingkas that the fangirls fondly called, SHINee, had arrived. The murmurs slowly crescendoed into loud, ear-destroying screams from the many fangirls. These screams are what officially start the day in Seoul National University, aside from the school bells. There was no escaping them, Eunhye and Soorin knew that for a fact, as these screams could be heard from the library and sports club room next to the gym and field.

The girls never joined in and preferred to stay quiet and not make any moves to block the path that the fangirls had so kindly made for their oppas. Chaeni facepalmed at the memory of when one unfortunate soul ended up falling into their path and it didn’t end very well for them as the most devoted fangirls ended up hunting down that person who was forced to apologize to the kingkas. The kingkas didn’t really mind and forgave the girl, but that only made the situation worse for her as the same group continued to harass the poor girl believing that the forgiveness only put the girl in favor of their oppas. They didn’t approve of that. Of course, somehow, the fangirls got off of the girl’s case and she hid herself in the library to avoid any more problems.

When the kingkas passed the group of friends, they flashed a smile at them, and a couple waved to the girls that they knew. Some had classes or clubs with them. Anyone who received a smile or wave was considered very lucky. But, that luck could turn bad since the fangirls loved to be in control of their oppa’s love lives. Not only that, but if the queenkas heard anyone was close to the kingkas, then whoever that lucky person was would have their reputation ruined in a quick snap of their fingers or beat by the loyal fanboys who would dirty their hands for their oh so perfect queenkas. So, anything simple from the kingaks leads to utter doom for the ‘lucky’ recipient.

Those problems weren’t on the five girl’s minds as they nudged each and sent each other knowing looks. They knew each other’s secrets and had a strong bond of trust that they could just communicate without words but with expression. The five were careful not to be caught or anything, knowing how the female population of the school is. Each of them watched each other’s backs and was there for whoever needed support. After all, that’s how best friends are.

And they were going to need it this school year.

Once the fangirls slowly grew quieter, due to the fact most of them ended up following the five kingkas, the girls headed towards the school office for their schedules and then to the first day morning assembly. Bright smiles were all on their faces, caused by the happiness of being reunited and from the smiles they received. They hoped that it would be the sign of a great school year.

But, like first days and first impressions, it could be good or bad.

-----------------

Hi there~ Co-author here with some...changes. I hope you don't mind. Character chart is on the way and I hope you all liked the poster.

Erm...if I could ask a favor of the chosen girls...I was curious if you could comment what your character dreams of doing in the future...it would be much appreciated.

Much love and take care. ilykthatmusik and I are working hard for you!

Love, forgetfulxangel