It all began with a knock on the classroom door, followed by a deliveryman carrying a large bouquet of flowers under Seryung’s name.

The accompanying letter read:

‘I hope you like the flowers. I hope they make you smile the way you make me smile.

‘Oh Seryung, if we could meet under different circumstances I’d like to start again.

‘Wouldn’t you?

‘ – from your Secret Admirer.

‘ P.S. I’ve decided I will court you after all.’

Seryung didn’t have time to ponder over thoughts. The teacher began to shout, and she was ordered to put the bouquet at the back of the classroom because it was ‘distracting the whole class.’ The boys whistled ,and the girls made faces at her, but she didn’t care.

She smiled softly as their pleasant scent reached her. The various colors of pink, white and red stared back at her. It made her reluctant to part ways. She snuck the card into her sleeve, so she could re-read the message.

She pressed her lips together, all through class, to stop her smile from tearing her face. Her eyes darted to Tao every so often. Was he the one sending her flowers? If not, who else could it be?

She was flattered by the gift. She wondered why he opted to hide from her, and why he was purposefully avoiding her glances. What was the big deal?

‘I’d like to start again.’

Sehun had often told her that Tao liked her. She hadn’t believed it, but now she was doubtful of her previous theory. Her uncertainty stemmed from the content of the note. Each sentence seemed to connote him. She was sure she shared this connection with no one else.

There were really only two conclusions. One, Tao was her admirer or, two, this whole thing was a prank.

Seryung hoped it wasn’t a joke. She wished for Tao.  Who else cast her secret glances in class, and looked away when she caught his eyes? There was really no other answer, but him. She prayed for the admirer to exist.

With the appearance of the Secret Admirer, Seryung’s long awaited confession was sent on hiatus. How could she ruin his efforts? Despite what the school believed she wasn’t a horrible person.

And so days went by, time ticked, more flowers came her way, but no revelation. It was almost as if the Secret Admirer had taken to hiding. She wondered how long he would procrastinate before unveiling himself. She was aware of who he was, but decided to play along to his game. She’d pretend she was oblivious. It made things all the more fun.

With each day Tao became even more reserved. It made Seryung wonder what he was planning. Why did he avoid her as if she’d caught something fatal? Was he really that shy? She’d never thought of him as such, but there was no other explanation. It confused her. He puzzled her, and soon the world became a conundrum she was unable to solve.

Each time she tried to catch him on his own, he blanked her. Was he embarrassed?

Why?

Had he caught onto the fact that she knew something? Perhaps... but she would never admit it. She only wanted to talk to him, but he was evasive. It was frustrating, but she decided to wait…

-

With love on hold she had nothing to turn to except maybe revenge… Revenge was the only thing keeping her sane. She planned exquisitely not wanting to make a single mistake.

Seryung pressed her lips together. She felt like a scientist in the chemistry lab. A mad one, perchance. After all, who was it that had gone through great lengths to disable cameras?

Her task was lengthy. That didn’t put her off. Instead, it hardened her resolve. She would do anything to see them all gone. It was payback. A teaser of what she was capable of, and it provided distraction from her annoyance.

She extracted oil from poison ivy into large spray bottles. She would shower it everywhere. Anything to see the school population tormented, and then she would laugh at them as they’d done to her. It was perfect!

As the lust for vengeance grew, and exasperation forgotten. She became unaware of her surroundings. Had she been alert she would have noticed that someone had stumbled upon the chemistry lab, and that she was being watched.

The amusement the on-looker felt made him want to laugh. He wondered what she would do with the oil. He continued carving while she worked on her task. He could see an eloquent masterpiece emerging from the block of wood.

She grinned evilly when she was done, and hurried out of the lab with her bottle of poison. In her haste she bumped into the peeping tom. A pair of arms caught her, and her heart skipped several beats. Had she been sniffed out? Was this the end?

Seryung didn’t want to believe it. She would deny it to the end. Slowly, she raised her head to meet the eyes of her captor, and then her eyes grew. almost dropped open. She gulped staggering backwards. Her head, which had been  swimming with excuses, suddenly refused to cooperate.

She wanted to run away when he reached to pick up the evidence of her almost-wrong doing. Her legs were next to fail her. They stiffened to match her shoulders. She was rooted to her spot.

It was him!

She felt a tremor pass through her. Was it possible for lightening to strike her out of the blue? Anything was better than running into him. Her feeble legs trembled, threatening to give way. She bit her lip to keep herself from uttering a whimper. She’d just crashed into one of the most dangerous people in the school, the President’s son!

He frowned lightly. “Oh Seryung?”

She cringed at the sound of her own name.

“Are you okay?”

She wished he would stop talking to her, and be on his way. If he did, she promised herself, she would never dare to even think of the word ‘revenge.’

He didn’t. She held her breath as his cold hand lifted her chin. His intense eyes bore into hers. “You didn’t answer my question Oh Seryung. I asked if you were okay?”

She bobbed her head dumbly making him chuckle.

“I meant with words,” he teased.

She flinched when his hand brushed against her cheek, as he pushed her hair out of her face. The coldness never left his eyes even as he handed her the bottle.

Seryung was confused by his actions. He gave her a warm smile revealing a set of pearly white teeth. His crescent eyes accentuated into eye smiles. “You dropped it.”

She inclined her head, and tightened her grip on the bottle as if doing so would shroud her from him. However, his darks orbs held hers steady. She was so surprised to run into him that she missed his carelessness.

“Ah!” Kangjun hissed making a face. Seryung jumped. Her eyes landed on a trail of blood. He watched her expression soften into one of concern, and waved casually.

 “It’s nothing. I was just making something.” Kangjun babbled, and scurried to pick the carving blade, and his latest creation. Both had slipped out of his pocket after the damage.

“You cut yourself?” Seryung asked without thinking. She bit her tongue at the words she’d chosen. Feeling confused, he stared at her making her stiffen under the pressure of his crescent eyes.

Kangjun shook his head vigorously. “No, no, that’s not it! I’m not a cutter! I was carving this when you bumped into me. I put this, and the knife into my pocket without thinking, and, and, and it was an accident,” he stammered.

He then removed a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his thumb. Before pulling out a plaster, and wrapping it around his thumb.

He mumbled some more, under his breath, until his eyes landed on his figurine. It made him click his tongue, and shock her. His face contorted in misery, and eventually he sighed heavily as if he’d failed life’s biggest mission.

“I ruined it!” He shook his head letting his long locks cover his eyes. She was taken aback by it all. He was deemed to be a ruthless man, yet he didn’t seem that way. It was perplexing!

“I’m sorry for bumping into you,” Seryung apologized timidly, bowing. He turned his attention towards her again. This time his smile seemed more serene. “So, you can talk?” He chortled, thoroughly amused, when she countered with a nod.

“I’m actually glad you bumped into me! If you didn’t, then I wouldn’t have been able to approach you.”

She grit her teeth as he moved closer. Fear gripped her at all angles. It riddled her. Why was she afraid of him? What was there to be wary of?

“Careful, you’re about to spray yourself with poison ivy!”

“What?!” Seryung snapped out of her thoughts, and stared at the bottle. She had indeed been very close to squirting herself.

“I feel sorry for the poor souls who upset you. They’ll be covered in rashes for a while.” He remarked light-heartedly, making her smile bashfully. A smile graced his features when he noticed she’d relaxed her shoulders.

“This was supposed to be you.” He handed her the figurine. “I was watching you while making it. Can’t believe I ruined it, last minute!” He groaned.

Seryung inspected the replica. Her breath hitched in . Part of her had been sliced dangerously. She pretended it didn’t give her goose bumps because he was awaiting some kind of reaction.

“You must have hurt yourself pretty bad.” She motioned towards the plaster on his thumb.

Kangjun shook his head, and ran a finger through his hair. “It happens when I’m negligent. That’s why I carry plasters.”

“You didn’t need to make this,” she held the figurine in her palm. “You just ended up getting hurt.”

“Do you like it?”

Seryung blinked, and examined it. She didn’t know what to say. Questions filled her head, questions that her mind told her not to ask. Trepidation still held her heart, despite his smile. Dread sat on her shoulders, menacingly. Her head was giving her the red light, indicating danger, yet his eyes remained hopeful.

“I do. Thank you for this.” She lied.

Oblivious, Kangjun’s smile widened further. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the compliment.

Seryung didn’t remember the rest. She could only recall that he’d been shy when his ability to cut wood had been queried upon. It was weird… Why did he bother carving her? Did he have nothing better to do?

She decided to drop that. It wasn’t her problem. The real issue was that he’d taken her bottle, when she’d almost sprayed herself, and she hadn’t asked for it back.

How could she display such improper behavior, when he had spoken to her as a human being?

She hadn’t wanted to fall in his eyes too.

All she was left with was a damaged statue of herself. She didn’t want to think too much about its disfigurement. It reminded her of how he’d accidently stabbed himself.

Had that been her fault?

She hadn’t asked him. If she had, she reckoned he would disagree. All this thinking led her to believe that the rumor about him was false. He was just as ‘dangerous’ as she was ‘popular.’

Seryung decided to drop the subject altogether.

-

Meanwhile, Huang Zitao was already self-conscious. Seryung peered at him more than what was comfortable. He could have deluded himself into thinking she was checking him out. There was a truth he wanted to admit to her, to ease her fretting, but something silenced him, and it came in the form of a letter.

It had started with one. He’d ignored it thinking it was unimportant. Then came one that had mentioned ‘Hana’ in subtle terms. It had made him wary. He should have paid attention to it, but he hadn’t.

Hana’s locker was broken into. Nothing big had happened, according to her. Only part of a project she was working on with Sehun had gone missing. She hadn’t created a fuss about it saying she should have known better, but Tao thought it was somehow his fault.

The following epistle hadn’t come till much later, when he had thought it was all just a prank. It didn’t even consist of a sentence, just a name. ‘Oh Sehun.’ This time Tao had been careful to warn Sehun about it. Sehun had laughed at him. Hana had thought he was being ridiculous. No one had taken him seriously, but then something else happened… Sehun’s locker was trashed.

Nothing was taken from it, but Sehun complained that his essay had been shredded. Tao might have followed up on this case, perhaps fancying himself a mystery detective. He wasn’t given a chance to do so however…

Another message arrived for him. This one was in Chinese. It read: ‘I know your secret, p.h.easant.’ This one had almost caused his heart to stop. Immediately his thoughts were sent awry. What seemingly were ‘drops of ink,’ were not the same to him. ‘Pheasant’ was not the word. The word was one Tao expected rich kids would call him. The problem there was that there were so many of them in this school.

Who was it?

There were people that came to mind. The people who were closest to him might have know something. Had there been a Freudian slip? That wasn’t important though. Nothing mattered anymore, not when those words inscribed themselves into his head. From there his suspicions aroused. He questioned everything, and everyone.

Who knew his secret?

‘Hana.’

Who liked to use codes?

‘Sehun?’

Who was calling him a ‘peasant?’

‘Seryung?’

Someone was making fun of him.

Someone was threatening him.

Who could it be?

‘Anyone…’

It's a mystery, but I'm sure you guys have cracked the code haha. That guess you had might be spot on. Don't doubt it :D
Seryung has a secret admirer. His letter spells Tao.
Kangjun carved a statue for Seryung.
Tao is getting bullied...
Oh, and those essays can't possibly be a coincidence. Something smells fishy.
So, anyone up for attending the same school as the mains? If you went there, what would you do?