[AN: It's finally here (ﾉД`) I hope this renewal will be accepted well! However, one thing will never change--please ignore all typos and errors lol. And comments are absolutely loved and appreciated!]

Chapter 1

It was Monday, the worst day of the week. Being a morning person is hard enough, but to wake up with a period cramp—that’s a major setback to start anybody’s day. Heaving a heavy sigh, you slid yourself out of your bed and start to prepare for school.

What a wonderful start for the day.

After taking a warm shower, you put on your uniform and packed last minute things into your bag before walking out of your room and into the living room. The house was empty as usual, and the coldness in the empty space started to become normal to you. Before leaving for school, you roamed around the house to check for notes left by your mom. Right when you entered the kitchen, you found the said note left on the fridge, saying that your mom had just left to work in her company’s US branch for a few weeks.

“Can’t she stay for more than a week at home at least?” you mumbled in disappointment as you crumpled the note and threw it in the rubbish bin.

With your mood made sour, you ditched the idea of making breakfast and just pulled out an apple from the fridge. Grabbing your blue cardigan sweater, your marched out of your house and walked to school, which was conveniently nearby. The morning air was cold enough to make you shiver a bit, but thankfully it wasn’t as polluted as usual, so much so that it lifted your spirit.

Occupying yourself with an online story in your phone, it didn’t take long until you’ve finally reached the school area and walked past the gates. Just when you enter the building, however, your mood dropped once again when you heard the all too familiar squeals and loud whispers from the schoolgirls.

“They’re coming!” a girl half-squealed, half-whispered to her friend standing close to you.

“Hurry up!” her friend replies in the same manner, rushing with her.

You turned your head with a frown, wondering what’s the commotion about. The big entrance door opened, and they came in.

Just seeing them, you immediately held your breath in displeasure. “It’s just them…” you muttered as you rolled your eyes. As if on cue, their entrance was welcomed with flirtatious and overly-excited greetings.

“Good morning, boys~”

“Looking good today!”

“Are you going to perform again today?”

“Can’t wait to see your gig later!”

You pretended to gag, hearing those girls fangirl over those six boys. You don’t really remember when their popularity started growing in school, but ever since the school chose them to create performances for this year’s grand opening ceremony for freshmen, the already popular boys became even more popular as the day comes and goes. The school’s theme for this year was Performing Arts, and so the school picked representatives from the three levels in the senior high school section. It wasn’t much of a surprise that those six boys were picked. Although you didn’t pay too much attention, you still remembered how well each of them performed on stage, and you sort of understand why their reputation immediately spiked up after the school’s opening act.

Being the new and trending clique in school, they attract people like magnet, and it wouldn’t be much of a problem for you if it wasn’t for all the noise pollution. They’re all attractive, you wouldn’t even dare to deny that fact, but you don’t necessarily think that they’re as attractive or great as how these girls made them sound. Although honestly, those boys aren’t the problem, it’s the people bustling around them.

 Being someone who prefers to stay in your own bubble, you felt greatly irritated at the students trying to pry into the boys’ space, but then again, looking at the smiles on their faces, it seems that they aren’t bothered in the least.

As the boys walked across hall, you shook your head and turned around, ignoring their stare when they caught your peeved expression just before you showed your back to them.

“Well,” Jongin snorted, passing a glance at the others, “Someone doesn’t look interested,”

“Who? The one in the blue cardigan?” Baekhyun stretched his neck to catch your disappearing figure, narrowing his eyes as you went farther away. “Don’t think I’ve seen her before. Is she a new student?”

“Not showing her face to us does not mean that they’re new, Baekhyun,” Suho sighed softly, plastering a polite smile to the students constantly greeting them.

“She’s from my class,” Sehun mentioned monotonously, eyes focused on his phone, not as interested as the others.

Kyungsoo frowned a bit as he scanned her figure, studying her. “There’s something about her that’s… different.”

“Is it her scent?” Suho lifted a brow, subtly nodding in agreement.

Sehun looked up from his phone, finding a bit of interest in the conversation when he finally noticed Kyungsoo’s notion. They all quiet down and focus, having their eyes set dead on you as if trying to solve a puzzle.

“… It’s blood,” Chanyeol blurted out, although his tone showed that he’s a little unsure. “Her scent is laced with blood,”

“No, it’s not blood,” Kyungsoo quickly opened his mouth to disagree, walking a bit faster to keep up with your pace, not wanting to lose sight of you as he continued to scrutinize you. “A lot of the students here have their scents laced with blood, but her scent is a bit—”

Before Kyungsoo could find the words to complete his sentence, the school bell interrupted him with a loud ring.

“Let’s just continue this later on.” Jongin shrugged, nodding his head at the bell’s direction, implying that they should go to class.  “It could just be a new perfume for all we care.”

“… I have a weird feeling about her,” Suho mumbled, but loud enough for the rest of them to hear. He nudges Sehun on his shoulder, encouraging him to lean down a bit for him to whisper, “Keep an eye on her for me.”

“Me?” Sehun retorts immediately, eyes nearly turned into a scowl. “Why should I?”

“I can volunteer—“ Jongin raised his hand, only to be interrupted by an already highly disapproving Kyungsoo.

“She’ll run away before you could even manage to talk to her, Jongin.” the shorter muttered.

“Don’t complain,” Suho clicked his tongue, patting his shoulders with a little mock in his smile. “Just do it.”

“For this semester, our project will be done in pairs instead of groups. The names that I call out will be partners, and your topic of assignment will follow right after, so listen carefully,”

The announcement from the teacher was followed by a series of mixed responses, some being whines, some being cheers, and the rest would be a collective heavy sigh from those who prefer to work alone, including yourself. You slouched in your seat as you glance at those disapproving the teacher’s project as well, giving each other virtual pats on the shoulders and little encouraging nods.

“Another project?” Sehun huffed, throwing a glance at a neutral looking Jongin. “She made us do one in the first semester, and now she wants another one?”

“I don’t think she’ll give us that announcement if that wasn’t the case, Sehun,” Jongin chuckled in response. “What’s the problem though? I remember you liking her project last semester,”

Sehun rubbed the back of his neck, resting his back on his chair. “I don’t know,” he shrugged, finding difficulty to word his own feelings. “Maybe I’m just bothered by this partner thing,”

“Why?”

“I just have a weird feeling about it.”

After the class settled down, the teacher took the attendance list in her hands, planting a stern stare on all of them like a scanning machine. After making a few scribbles in her list, she puts on her glasses and clears .

“I’ll call the first set of partners,” the teacher announced firmly. “Oh Sehun and Alice Park,”

You whipped your head up at the teacher, eyes wide open. The class was filled with soft whines and subtle complaints, meanwhile you’re just sitting there frozen in attempt to let the information sink in. You craned your head to the back to get a good glance of your partner, only to see him looking straight at you. Putting down your attempt to look away, you stare back at him, eyebrows drawn together to show your confusion and slight displeasure over the way he’s looking at you. Judging from Sehun’s unwavering stare, you could only guess on two things—he’s either unhappy being paired with you, or he has a resting face.

Then again, it could be both.

“This girl is staring at me like I have two heads,”

“Who?” Jongin asked, glancing away from the teacher.

“Alice,”

Jongin tossed a glance at you, snorting a laugh when he caught the intense eye contact battle going on. “It looks as if you were the one who offended her, though?”

“What did I do?” he frowned all the more, his eyes still not averted. “The teacher said we’re partners. Isn’t it natural for me to look for her right after?”

“Well, for one you could drop the unfriendly look and give her a smile. Maybe that’d stop her from giving you that look,”

“But what’s wrong with my face?”

“Just try it.” Jongin clicked his tongue, raising his hand when the teacher called his name to be partnered with one of the students in class.

Sighing, Sehun pursed his lips before stretching his lips into a small smile. You, however, didn’t seem to be affected by his sudden