"Almost there..." Jihyun grunted as she dragged her heavy luggage to a tall building and put it down as she referred to the piece of paper on her hand again. 

"SM Apartment Complex, we finally got the place right, Hyorin!" She exclaimed happily and turned back to see Hyorin still dragging her luggage unwillingly. "You're taking forever!" She laughed loudly and ran over to help her.

With much difficulty and an aching back, they pulled their luggages and entered the elevator. "Unit 159... This way!" Jihyun led the way and both of them stopped in front of a wooden door. 

Jihyun and Hyorin were best friends since middle school and it had been years since the as they instantly clicked. They had been in the same middle school and high school, and now, they were even in the same college, which was SM College, one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. However, as the college was too far away from their home, they decided to move out of their homes and move into the college dorms. Thankfully, they were able to choose their roommates and naturally, they decided to stick together. 

“Finally we’re here!” Hyorin let out a sigh of relief as she settled down in the dorm. “I’m taking this side!” Jihyun jumped onto the bed nearer to the balcony while Hyorin shrugged. “Sure, I’ll take the one nearer to the cupboard then.”

After unpacking their stuffs, it was already 7pm and Jihyun could feel herself getting hungry. “Dinner?” Hyorin asked, as if reading her mind. “You know me too well.” Jihyun said as she flung her arm over Hyorin’s shoulder while grabbing her purse.

They had a quick dinner before going back to the dorms to prepare for lessons and have an early night as it was going to be starting tomorrow. “I don’t want to go to school.” Jihyun whined while Hyorin laughed. “The almighty Kim Jihyun who has been topping classes declares she doesn’t want to go to school, am I hearing things?”

Jihyun has always been a hardworking girl, and she believed that being smart is not everything, because determination and perseverance always beat everything else. That’s how she lived by, and that’s how she topped all her classes ever since middle school.

 “Well, there are days when I don’t feel like studying, and tomorrow is definitely one of those days.” She pouted while Hyorin just shook her head. “You don’t even know what tomorrow will be like, and you’re already dreading it. Who knows, tomorrow will be surprising.” Hyorin encouraged while Jihyun let out another sigh.

“Hopefully.”

--

The next day, Jihyun didn’t feel that upset about school anymore, and had even gotten up early to prepare breakfast for both herself and Hyorin.

“Up already?” Hyorin murmured as she approached the kitchen and saw Jihyun preparing sandwiches. “Yeah, couldn’t really sleep, so I decided to get up and make breakfast. Here’s yours.” Jihyun said as she handed Hyorin a lunchbox.

“Thanks, you’re the best.” Hyorin let out an eye smile before preparing herself for school.

When they entered the school, they referred to their schedules and realized they had most of their classes together, except for a few classes.

“Aww man, we have different classes for English and Literature!” Hyorin stomped her feet on the ground when she realized she wasn’t going to be with Jihyun for all her classes. “Come on, you can make friends! You don’t intend to have me as your only friend for your entire college life, aren’t you?” Jihyun teased while Hyorin frowned. “Well, it would definitely help to have a friend in the class for your first day of school.”

Just then, loud screams at the entrance could be heard and both of them turned towards the origin of the noise, only to find a bunch of students at the doors.

The students had separated themselves into two lines, creating a pathway, allowing a group of boys to walk in. 12 boys walked into the school and Jihyun could see that there were many girls who were looking at them adoringly while she wondered who they were.  

“Isn’t that Luhan and Kris sunbaes? Oh my, they have become so handsome during the term break!”

“What? Xiumin and Baekhyun oppa looks the best!”

“Wait, who are the other guys walking along with them? Are they new? I haven’t seen them before.”

“You don’t know? They are the youngest few of the group and they just entered this year. Their whole group consists of 12 people, and now with the addition of the youngest few, they are complete. I heard they are going to be joining class 1A.”

1A? That sounds familiar.

Jihyun glanced at her schedule and read the top of the list. Class: 1A.

Judging by the girls’ reactions, Jihyun instantly knew who they were; they were EXO, Kingkas of the school. She had heard of the Kingkas in this school, but she hadn’t really thought much of it.

“Who are they?” Hyorin whispered while I shrugged. “Kingas, I guess.” Jihyun said and pulled Hyorin away from the crowd, she couldn’t be bothered to see their faces.

The class was empty when they entered, everyone was probably out to wait for the arrival of the kingkas, but they just couldn’t be bothered to be involved in any of that.

They sat at the back of the class and waited for a few minutes before the students started filing in.

 “Aren’t they the 3 guys from the group of kingkas just now?” Hyorin whispered while Jihyun turned to her. “I’m not very sure; I didn’t take note of their faces. Why? Are you one of their fan girls as well?” Jihyun teased while Hyorin widened her eyes.

“What? Me? A fan girl? I would never step to that level.” Hyorin let out a scoff while Jihyun chuckled.

Time passed slowly but finally, class came to an end. “Hyorin, I have English next, so I guess I’ll see you at break?” Jihyun asked while Hyorin scowled. “I don’t have a break later on, my break is only at 2pm but that’s when your break ends.”

“I guess I’ll be eating lunch alone then.” Jihyun said sadly. “I guess so. I’ll see you after school then.” Hyorin said glumly and gave a small wave before heading off.

Jihyun turned the other way and tried to find her way to the next class, but as the school was huge, she ended up getting lost. “Aish, I’m late!” She grimaced as she looked at her watch.

She turned around in circles before finally finding her class, which was right at the building she passed by the first time. “I should really start getting better at directions.” She murmured as she raised her fist to knock on the door.

When she entered the room, the whole class was already filled and she widened her eyes to see so many people staring at her. “I-I’m s-sorry for being late.” She stuttered as she glanced at the teacher and bow.

“It’s your first lesson, so I’ll forgive you. Now, run along and get a seat.” The teacher excused her and she hurriedly walk to a nearby empty seat.

When she sat down, she could hear gasps and felt stares from the nearby students, but when she turned to look at them, they acted like they weren’t looking at all.

“Strange.” She thought, but shrugged as she took out her notebook and pen to copy down the notes. As the class carried on, she was focused on the lesson because it was her favorite subject, but when the teacher announced a 5 minute break, that was when she felt another stare on her.

She turned to her right and jumped in shock when she realized there was somebody next to her. “Omo!” She hadn’t realized it because she had been a rush so she just settled at the nearest seat available; and because she was already late, she wanted to catch up with the lesson, thus she was completely unaware of her surroundings.

“Yes?” She asked and he didn’t even realize he was staring intently at her.

“You do know that nobody has dared to sit beside me since the first year in college, do you?” He asked as he shot a look at her.

She was astounded; she didn’t know such a childish rule even exists in college!

“What?” She frowned. Jihyun was normally someone who could get along with anyone, but this guy was getting on her nerves.

“Who are you?” Jihyun asked curiously while the guy let out a scoff. “You don’t know who am I?” He was shocked; never in his 2 years in college did he have to introduce himself, because everyone knew who he was.

“Am I supposed to know?” Jihyun raised her eyebrows. Their conversation had gained the attention of the students around them, and they all listened intently to the both of them, it wasn’t every day that a kingka interacted with a normal student.

He was about to say something when she cut in, “Whatever, I don’t care who you are, you can be the president’s son and I’m still going to sit here. Now stop talking so I can continue writing my notes.” She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the front.

“Interesting.”  The guy smirked and tried to cover his smile. He was considered a senior in college, but because he had failed English, he had to take English again, which resulted in him being in the same class as Jihyun.

At first, he was frustrated because he had to take English, which was his most hated subject, all over again. But now with his new found entertainment, he started thinking that maybe English wouldn’t be that bad.

When the bell rang, Jihyun started packing her bag and walked out of the class immediately without sparing a glance at him. “Wow, first girl to not go crazy over me.” He thought to himself and chuckled as he headed to the library.

 When he reached the library, he saw her sitting at the corner of the room herself, with a book in her hands, and that’s when he decided to approach her.

“Hey.” He said casually, which made her look up from her book. Upon noticing his presence, her eyebrows creased. “What? Are you going to say I can’t sit here as well?” She scowled and he let out a chuckle.

“I think we started on a bad note, so I’ll introduce myself. I’m Xi Luhan.” He took out his hand for her to shake while she continued staring at it. This action had gained the attention of the nearby students as well, and like what happened during English class, they stared at them again, with a few girls putting their hands over their mouths, unable to believe what they see.

Luhan was never someone who approached girls, heck; he didn’t even attempt to make any friends apart from EXO. However, this girl had gained his attention, and he couldn’t deny, he let his heart instead of his pride decide, and that’s how he ended up standing in front of her.

“Aren’t you going to shake it?” He motioned to her and she glanced warily at her surroundings. “What if I take it and your fan girls decides to kill me?” She whispered, which made him laugh. “This girl is really surprising.” He thought to himself as he let out a small grin.

“Well, then I guess I can’t do anything about that.” He said as he took her hand and shook it, which led to even more gasps.

“Are you alone?” He asked and she shrugged. “Yeah, my one and only friend is currently in class, how great.” She unknowingly complained, and to think she was the one who said she was going to be okay without Hyorin.

“Well, I’m free now.” He said as he comfortably took a seat beside her, and she could feel menacing glares from the students around them.

“I’m guessing you’re pretty popular here, coz I’ve been getting glares from the girls around me. If stares could kill, I would probably be dead by now.” Jihyun grimaced while Luhan laughed loudly, gaining his first glare, from the librarian.

“You’re going to have to deal with it a lot more in future.” He had a teasing smile on his face.

“Ah, hyung! We finally found you!” A guy shouted as he ran towards Luhan and attacked him, followed by 10 other boys behind him.

Jihyun looked up at them and realized they were the ones she had seen this morning. “Oh, so he’s part of them.”

“What are you doing here?” A guy with brown chestnut hair asked and Luhan shrugged. “Nothing much, just hanging out with my new friend.”

Jihyun could tell every one of them was shocked, but she didn’t know the reason why. She didn’t know that they rarely made friends, and the 12 of them only had each other.

“Did she threaten you to be friends with her? I really despise girls like that.” Another guy raised his eyebrows and threw a dirty look at Jihyun. She recognized him, he was from class 1A as well, but she didn’t really bother with his existence.

Before Jihyun could say anything, Luhan stepped in. “Sehun, don’t be rude. I was the one who approached her to be friends.”

“Sehun, so that’s his name.” She thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.

“You approached her? You’re sure she didn’t force you to say that?” He let out a suspicious look and Jihyun couldn’t take it anymore.

“Yah, could you please watch your words? I’m not interested to know what you’re thinking, but I just want to let you know I’m not that low to force people to be friends with me just because they are popular or whatever.” She scoffed and she could tell that he was shocked, and his friends were no lesser than shock as well.

No one had ever dared to tell Sehun off, he was the bratty maknae, everyone had loved and cherished him, and whenever he did something wrong, someone would always stick up for him. And especially after that incident, they had protected him even more.

He clenched his fists; he couldn’t hit a girl.

“Let’s go.” He said and the rest nodded while giving a small smile to Jihyun. “I’ll be going, see you at the next English lesson, my new friend.” Luhan ruffled her hair as he walked away.

“Wow, Hyung, that’s a tough friend you got.” Kai commented as they exited the library and Sehun was still fuming mad, walking at the front.

“I know, right? She taught Sehun a lesson. Freaking Sehun? And she even told me off in the morning as well.” He laughed as he thought of English class when he got scolded by Jihyun.

“This girl is really unlike the usual girls.” Tao laughed as he joined in the conversation.

“That’s why I’m willing to make friends with her. I’ve been surrounded by you guys for too long, I think I need some other friends.” He teased while the other two frowned. “Hyung, how could you say that?”

“I was just joking. I approached her because she’s the only person who can last more than one minute beside me without shrieking and pulling me, or even getting scared by my presence.” He said softly and he knew the other two knew how he felt when they remained silent.

Girls couldn’t stay beside them without screaming and shoving gifts into their faces, and guys couldn’t sit a minute next to them without feeling they were going to beat them up.

They weren’t like other kingkas who just had pretty faces, they knew how to fight, and they had ever been involved in gang fights as well. They weren’t particularly considered gangsters, but sometimes, they came to school with bruises on their faces, and the students knew that anyone who dared to mess with them wouldn’t make it out alive.

“You guys are in her class right? You can make friends with her to see if I’m right.” Luhan smiled as he slung his arms over their shoulders.  

The class after the break passed quickly because the teacher was absent and they could do whatever they want, so Jihyun headed back to the library to read her book while waiting for her next class.

When the bell rang, she hurriedly ran to her next class, to find Hyorin already waiting for her at the seat.

“How was class?” Jihyun asked and Hyorin let out a fake sob. “Horrible without you! How was yours? You better say it was horrible as well.”

Jihyun chuckled, “Yeah, I missed you.”

“See; and you asked me to live without you.” Hyorin said triumphantly as she let out a victorious smile.

Just then, 3 guys entered the class and every one fell silent at once. Jihyun looked up due to the silence and frowned when she noticed one of them. “Right, he’s in this class as well.”

She mentally rolled her eyes while she could see the two guys beside him let out a small smirk as they glanced at her. Sehun was literally burning holes at her and she knew he hadn’t forgotten about what happened a couple of hours ago. How petty.

He settled down two seats in front of her, kicking the chair loudly in the process, startling the students around him.

His two other friends settled in the seats in front of her and turned their seats to her immediately.

“Can I help you?” Jihyun asked as she looked up and cocked her head to the side.

“I’m Kim Jongin, but most people call me Kai.” Kai said as he let out a charming smile and turned to Tao. “Your turn.”

“I’m Huang Zitao, you can call me Tao.” The golden hair boy introduced.

“I’m Kim Jihyun.” She smiled, glad that she finally had a normal encounter without quarreling with someone. “She’s Hyorin, my best friend.” She gestured to Hyorin, not wanting her to feel left out, and the two nodded their heads towards her as an acknowledgment.

“You’re Luhan hyung’s new friend?” Kai asked and Jihyun shrugged. “Uh… I guess so?” She said unsurely and the two guys chuckled.

“Then you’re our friend too.” Kai said as he let out a smile. “No offence, but I’m just wondering is it illegal to be friends with you guys or what? Why do I get so many shocked faces and stares from my surroundings?” Jihyun asked suspiciously and the both of them laughed again.

“Luhan hyung’s right, you’re really different.” They chuckled and turned back to the front again, leaving Jihyun and her thoughts.

“Yah, when did you become friends with them?” Hyorin questioned and Jihyun shrugged. “I don’t know, I met one of them during English class just now and he joined me at the library, then now, two others just pop up and say they are my friends too.”

“Tch, Kim Jihyun’s getting popular, ey?” Hyorin teased and Jihyun stifled a laugh. “I’ll give you my autograph first before I get popular.” She said as she scribbled onto her paper.

“Yah, you’re so annoying!” Hyorin said as she snatched her paper away. 

Author's Note: First chapter up! Tell me what you guys think about it! :)