[CONTENTID1]Poor Boy - Kai's POV[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]I couldn't get the girl out of my head. I'd stayed up till late last night going over everything I knew about her to the point I felt like a stalker. I'd learned from Chanyeol that her name was Penelope Park and her father was an oil tycoon and owned one of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world. Fair to say, she was everything that I was not; rich, straight A student and loved by all. Not that I was stupid - far from it. I worked hard to get good grades because it was the only way I could ever go to college and get a good job to help my family. It was just harder for me to keep on top of my school work when I had a part time job as a construction worker in order to help my dad pay the bills. My father worked as a trucker for different companies and had recently accepted a contract from PetroPark Industries which is why we'd moved here from South Korea. My mother had cancer and chemotherapy was slowly rendering us bankrupt. 

"Jongin, wake up. You're going to be late for school," I heard my father say through my bedroom door. Groaning, I sat up on my bed and rubbed my tired eyes. I reluctantly cleaned myself up and got dressed in a slim, white V-neck T-shirt, my black leather jacket, black jeans and battered combat boots. Ruffling my freshly damp hair, I looked in the mirror and raised a brow; I now understood why I was perceived as a 'bad boy'. It was my style - although I liked it and chose my clothes because they fit me well, another part of the equation was that I couldn't afford the clothes the socially elite wore. Therefore when I showed up wearing my usual rugged outfits, I was immediately labelled. I shrugged, it didn't bother me. I didn't care much for people who thought they were better than anyone else simply because they had money...the main reason why I was angry at myself for thinking about Penelope Park. She was the richest person in that entire school, the entire state of Texas, even. I couldn't even afford the air she breathed. I had to stop myself from going after her, besides, I doubted she'd go after someone like me. She was, after all, one of the spoiled girls. 

"I'll be gone for the next eight days. Remember to lock the doors and windows when you leave the house, if anything happens, call me," my dad reminded and I nodded, promising I would as I always did. He usually worked for a week straight, or for 70 hours then came home and worked his other trucking job for two days before taking a two day break and restarting the cycle. I promised myself I'd do everything I can to get a better paying job when I was older so that my father would never have to work another day in his life. "Look after your mother. Tell her I love her."

"I always do," I replied, grabbing a cereal bar from the almost empty cabinets in the kitchen. A look of worry flashed in my father's eyes but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. I knew he hated that he couldn't provide me with more but I didn't blame him - I wanted him to put all of his earnings towards the care of my mother. She was the number one priority and I wouldn't change that for anything. "Go, Appa. I'll be fine."

"I know. You're a good kid, Jonginnie," he smiled and walked over, pulling me into a brief but warm hug. I smiled into his shoulder and patted his back before pushing him back. "Alright, take care. Work hard in school, I love you. Hwaiting!" I laughed and rolled my eyes, bumping his fist with my own.

"Love you too, Appa," I chuckled and watched him scurry out of the house and into his car which was parked next to the pickup truck I'd purchased at the beginning of summer with a portion of my savings. It was convenient; it got me around the city and I could also use it when I was working to carry the construction equipment. Finishing up my cereal bar, I chugged a carton of milk and wiped my mouth, striding over to the front door. I exited the house and locked it, getting into my vehicle. As I drove to school, I danced along to the songs on the radio. My ultimate dream, once upon a time, had been to become a professional dancer. As a kid, I'd studied jazz and ballet and eventually got into hip hop. Then, my mother got ill and my dream was replaced with one of getting a stable office job that got me an income high enough to cover her chemotherapy costs. 

I shook away the dark thoughts as I pulled into the school car park. I swore when I saw the expensive car parked in the spot I'd claimed yesterday. It was a beautiful white Maserati GranCabrio MC. Whoever owned it must have been seriously well-off, money-wise. I parked in the spot next to it and got out, ruffling my dried, fluffy hair. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and strode into the school, going to my locker first. I grabbed my AP Literature and AP Chinese books and walked over to my period 1 class. 

"Hey, Kai! You take this class, too?" Xiumin asked and I nodded, taking as seat next to him. Yesterday I'd been busy finalising documents with the school administration so today was my first official day. "Awesome. I walked in here yesterday like 'what the ' since the other guys have different Chinese classes. Most of us are taking it since, y'know, it's the most spoken language in the world."

"You talk a lot for a guy everyone says doesn't talk much," I said and he feigned offence, punching my arm. I grinned and elbowed his rib, grabbing my things from my backpack and placing them on the table. "I'm pretty good at Chinese but I need to be great. Hey, we could get Luhan to help us, right?"

"Yeah, just don't expect him to do your homework for you. He'll help but he won't give answers," Xiumin grunted, rolling his eyes. "Kris isn't even worth asking and Tao hardly speaks English or Korean as it is. Yixing is our best bet, he's too nice to say no." More of our classmates entered the room as the bell rang, filling up the seats around us. My breath caught when one particular person walked in, all laughs and smiles.

Her hair bounced around her when she laughed, her pearly teeth pok