Kim Jinwoo is a 17 year-old-boy from Imja island. He is the smartest student in the whole island. He is always the first in all of his classes, making his parents very proud of him. Both the people of the island and the responsibles there know who Kim Jinwoo is because he always wins academic competitions against other schools from big cities like Seoul, Incheon, Busan, and others. He brings home many awards and also gives recognition to Imja island, which few know about its existence.

Kim Jinwoo is a very nice and polite boy. Whenever he gets praised by someone or simply have a conversation with them, he thanks them and invites them to visit his beautiful island out of courtesy. Indeed, many of those whom he invites come to visit the island either on vacations or on the weekends. Due to that, he has become very famous there, and everyone consider him the pride of the island. Some even started calling him Imja Prince.

However, Kim Jinwoo is not completely similar to what a prince should be like. It is true he is very handsome and almost pretty for a boy, but he is aslo from one of the poorest families in the island. Both his parents barely get a decent income to live on. His father is a fisherman, who sells what his rod catches daily from the wide sea. While his mother rans a small suju tent at the marina where fishermen, like her husband, and workers there come to have meals and drink suju. Jinwoo always tries to get a part-time job to help his parents, but each time they prevent him and tell him to only focus on his studies. Despite feeling sad because he cannot help them, he gives in not to have arguments with them. Instead he rewards them with his outstanding grades and makes them proud of him.

A new scholar year had started, and everyone was preparing their new uniforms and school stuff. Jinwoo, on the other hand, took out his old uniform which he bought two years ago when he first got enrolled in high school. He washed it and ironed it with care before trying it on. It had become evidently small for him, but he cared less. He couldn't be selfish and ask his parents for a new one; especially when they were facing an economic crisis lately. His father stopped working for a week now after he suddenly collapsed while selling fish in the market. The doctor said he had some heart problems that should be treated very soon. He prescribed some pills for him to ease his chest pain and help him survive some more until he could receive better treatment. 

Jinwoo looked at his reflection in the mirror with a pained expression. He was very sad because his father, the closest person to him, was now suffering with a life-threatening disease. It pained him more because the few part-time jobs he started working for were not of a big help. They were barely helping him buy a small amount of his father's medicines. Jinwoo was really troubled and concerned with their current situation. His mother worked day and night to save some good amount of money to his father's treatement, but the hospital fees were very expensive and she barely saved third the amount. 

Jinwoo heaved a sigh reminding himself he should hurry to go to school. It was the first day and he couldn't miss it. He is a model student after all, and he should set a good example to others mainly by being at school on time. He put his arms through the straps of his shabby schoolbag and put on his shoes before walking quickly from their small house after making sure his father was doing okay.

When he arrived to school, he found his best friend Lee Seunghoon waiting for him at the gate. Seunghoon waved at him excitedly as if he hadn't seen him for a very long time. A smile finally made its way to Jinwoo's face. Seunghoon never failed to make him smile.

"Morning, Jinwoo-ah!" Seunghoon greeted, hugging him briefly after a signature handshake.

"Morning, Seunghoon-ah!" Jinwoo greeted back with a wide smile. No matter how sad he felt, he sometimes couldn't supress a smile to his best friend.

Jinwoo remembered very clearly that day when Seunghoon got transferred to Imja High School.

Flashback

On a Monday morning in second year of high school, Jinwoo entered his classroom which was very noisy with the students chattering and laughing with each other. He walked through the rows to his seat, trying to avoid colliding with some classmates jumping and playing around. He safely made it to his seat by the window and sat silently. He was the top student in the whole school but barely got any friends. All those who feigned friendship with him were just profiting from him to help them with their studies or do school projects for them. They never showed true friendship or offered a helping hand to him when he needed it. Jinwoo hated fake people and started avoiding any kind of interactions with them. He was practicly with no friends.

A few moments later, their homeroom teacher entered the classroom yelling at the students to sit down and keep quiet. Instantly, everyone sat down quietly in their seats. 

The teacher cleared out and tapped the black board slightly with a thin stick to get the students' attention. 

"Good morning class!" she greeted calmly. "before we start our lesson today, I'd like to introduce to you a new classmate who has just transefered to our school this morning. Please be nice to him!" she finished before calling out for the transfered student. 

Jinwoo as well as his classmates looked up curiously at the classroom's door where a tall, handsome boy was standing. He walked in and stood next to the teacher, who indicated for him to introduce himself. 

"Hello everyone!" he greeted with a cool hand wave. "I'm Lee Seunghoon from Busan. Please take care of me!" he bowed his head slightly.

Jinwoo raised one eyebrow at him. He thought this boy was so full of himself; especially when he started smirking arrogantly as the female classmates squealed at him and were asking him to take a seat next to them. Jinwoo scoffed at the scene and turned his attention to his textbook, uninterested.

"Okay Seunghoon, you may sit in one of those empty seats," said the teacher, and Seunghoon nodded at her. He looked at all the empty seats and spotted a suitable one. He smiled to himself and made his way to it.

Jinwoo looked up again when he realized the class had become quiet, only to notice that the transfered student was sitting beside him and smiling at him like an idiot. Jinwoo's eyes widened and didn't know what to do. He never expected the new student to choose him as a seatmate out of all the other girls who nearly started begging him to sit next to them.

"Hi, I'm Lee Seunghoon!" the boy said friendly, offering a handshake.

Jinwoo looked at him in disbelief. Was this boy really nice or just acting? he wondered.

Seunghoon still waited for a handshake, and Jinwoo finally snapped out of it and shook his hand back. 

"Hi, I'm Kim Jinwoo!" he replied, not to seem impolite. 

"Nice to meet you, Jinwoo!" Seunghoon smiled genuinely, making his eyes disappear completely into crescents.

"Same here!" Jinwoo smiled back slightly.

Looking at Seunghoon closely, he didn't seem as an arrogant boy like he had thought.

"It's okay if I sit here, right?" Seunghoon asked then. "I mean I don't wanna sit next to these girls. They look annoying!" he added with a chuckle.

"Not at all!" Jinwoo shook his head.

He knew well how annoying his female classmates would become when they'd see someone who is handsome and rich?! Jinwoo noticed then that Seunghoon was wearing a brand new uniform with the latest trend of sneakers, and his hair was done in a stylish way. He was also carrying a designer schoolbag.  Jinwoo found himself gaping at the boy beside him. He closed his mouth and averted his gaze to his textbook again feeling embarrassed.

From Seunghoon's appearance, Jinwoo got the impression that he was from a wealthy family. Not to forget how his female classemates were practically fangirling over him which only indicated he was not just handsome but also rich. Jinwoo remembered his first encounter with them. They used to treat him the same way they were doing with Seunghoon right now, but once they knew he was very poor some started bullying him, while others feigned friendship to get from him what they wanted.

Jinwoo cared less about that now since he cut all connections with them and made it clear he was not going to give in to their traps. They still bothered him but at least not like before.

When the morning classes ended and it was lunch break, Jinwoo thought Seunghoon would probably go grab his lunch on his own. However, the newbie stayed with him and asked him if they could have lunch together. Jinwoo was surprised again, but he accepted anyway because he would finally have lunch with someone unlike before when he had to eat alone. During the meal, the two of them got to know a lot about each other, and Jinwoo found Seunghoon very friendly and sincere about himself.  Even when he knew Jinwoo was from a poor family, he was okay with it and never looked down on him.

From that day on, their friendship started and they became so close to each other. For Jinwoo, Seunghoon was his only best friend in his entire life. He was the first one to befriend him for who he was, not for what he could offer. He treated him as a real friend and always stood up for him when other students tried to bully him or do him wrong.  

Despite being loved by his teachers and the headmaster, Jinwoo was hated by the majority of students. They simply felt jealous and envious of him because he would always get all the praise from their teachers. Seunghoon, on the other hand, was that average student who did good in class but still lazy to work hard to improve. He was more interested in the artistic side as he would spend the majority of his free time dancing and creating new choreographies to any song he listened to. He aslo started learning how to rap, and Jinwoo admitted he was improving noticeably.

End of flashback

Jinwoo smiled to himself at the memory. Seunghoon and him were now inseparable and always there for each other.

"You're so early today!" Jinwoo told his friend as they made their way to their classroom.

Seunghoon often came late to school or at the last minute before the gates were closed.

"Oh! Strangely, I woke up very early than I intended!" Seunghoon chuckled, putting his arm on Jinwoo's shoulder. "I was sleeping peacefully when that loud catchy music started playing in the background! The last thing, I found myself awake dancing to it!" he added, laughing out loud.

Jinwoo laughed as well. He always found his friend funnily weird.

"But where did the sound come from?" he asked in curiousity. 

"It was Mom who the radio by mistake, and I created a genius choreography by chance!" Seunghoon said brightly.

"Woah! I need to see it!" Jinwoo said in anticipation.

"Of course! You are my mentor!" Seunghoon exclaimed. "I always need your opinion!"

"Yeah, I know!" Jinwoo chuckled.

Once they reached their classroom and entered, everyone started looking at them; precisely at Jinwoo. When they saw him wearing his shabby old uniform, some started snickering at him while others talked about him sarcastically. Seunghoon looked at his friend's clothes and just then noticed what was going on. He glared at their classmates because they were making fun of his best friend. Jinwoo bent down his head and walked to his seat silently. He was not ashamed of his financial status, but he felt oppressed and wronged by his classmates. It was sad how no one loved him just because he was poor and diligent. 

Seunghoon snapped at his classmates making them stop their daily-bullying session. He was the only one who could put an end to their bad treatment toward Jinwoo. Whenever they saw them together they wouldn't dare to hurt Jinwoo physically. They might make fun of him or mock him but that was it, no further thing added. However, if Jinwoo was alone by himself, they'd do anything to hurt him or scar him. Jinwoo, on the other hand, never told his friend that he was still getting bullied physically. He still remembered the first time Seunghoon saw him getting bullied by some of his classmates. The taller did not hesitate for a second as he latched at the bullies punching them and fighting with them angrily. Both Seunghoon and the bullies received detention for two weeks for fighting in school, while Jinwoo was assigned to tutor some juniors in Physics and Mathematics. After that day, Seunghoon threatened all his classmates from hurting Jinwoo in any way or he'd kick their asses. Jinwoo was really thankfull for his best friend's help and support, but he never wanted to see that angry side of him nor wanted him to get into trouble because of him. For this reason, Jinwoo endured the bullying by himself and never mentioned it to Seunghoon.

Seunghoon sat beside him when he made sure no one was looking at his best friend anymore. Jinwoo acted like nothing happened. He opened his textbooks staring at them calmly. At moments like these, Seunghoon found it difficult to start a conversation with Jinwoo.

When the pretty boy let out a heavy sigh, Seunghoon took it as a chance to speak.

"Um.. how is your father, Jinwoo-ah?!" he asked carefully. 

"He's still the same but stable at the least," Jinwoo finally looked at him with a sad smile. 

"I hope he gets well soon!" Seunghoon said returning a similar smile. 

"I hope so too!" Jinwoo replied just as the teacher entered the classroom, and everyone greeted her.

For the rest of the morning, Jinwoo was spacing out and barely focused on what the teachers were saying. His body was in class, but his mind was back at home with his father. He was o