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"Don't take things so personal. What people say about you is a reflection of them. Not you."

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MARK LEE'S
POINT OF VIEW

Lee Haechan is here.

Those four words kept repeating in my brain nonstop and all I could do was tense up the closer he gets to the building's main entrance. I felt like I was in some sort of thrilling race — my heartbeat was uncontrollably fast and my breath hitched from time to time; my palms turned clammy, every nerve bitting me down.

I glanced beside me to see Jeno looking overwrought; will we be able to welcome our relative with open arms? Even with the chaos he had just brought with him?

I'm pretty sure the Seo's were prepared for his arrival, they just have to be prepared. Who knows what mischief would this new student bring to Ilseong?

"Scared, Lee?" I whipped my head back, seeing a certain brown-haired girl standing next to a tall boy with reddish-brown hair. A scowl masked my nervous state, eyebrows furrowed together to accentuate my annoyance for the certain duo. "Jung. Zhao. Nice to see you two again."

Sungchan raised a brow at me, arms crossed in front of his chest, "Hmm? When was the last time we saw each other?" He tapped his chin as he recalled our last meeting. "Wasn't it the day you lost to Seo?" He then gasps, cupping his mouth, "Oops, I forgot you still haven't paid your debts. Well," he shrugs, "at least I reminded you."

Jeno scoffed, wanting to hurl a punch towards the younger boy but I stopped him. I didn't want to start a fight, not when everyone's looking down on me and starting to treat me like rubbish. I had to make them respect me again. They have to know how fully capable I am, no matter how hard they try to drag me down.

Jeno glanced at the girl beside Sungchan — Zhao Qiuyue. One of Seo's most loyal members of the Student Council. The school's beloved Secretary; always follows Seo around and keeps an eye on everyone for her. Qiuyue is Seo's main eyes and ears of the whole school. I never liked Zhao one bit, she may look so innocent and mannered but behind that façade was a sly grin that would hunt you down until you become nothing but scraps — useless.

Sungchan is also one of the President's eyes and ears, being the Vice President himself. He's like a lapdog, same as to Zhao. Though, his relationship with Seo Narae differs from the Secretary, probably because of the connection between the Jung family and the Seo family.

"I'm not scared," I emphasized, hoping to have intimidated them a little bit, but knowing them and the position I was in right now? Certainly, I was the unfortunate one. Of course, they won't be intimidated by me, who would be? I was now nothing but a soon-to-be pet of the infamous Seo Narae.

"That's funny." I flinched, promptly turning around to find an orange-haired boy instead. The mischievous glint in his eyes told everything. His blazer was missing, though replaced by a dark blue sweater vest instead. I knew this boy as an annoying prick, always has a say in everything, never shuts up his mouth. Somehow, he knew all of your weak points and problems; ready to bring them out in a gamble.

Do not associate with Liu Yangyang. I always kept that in mind.

"Yangyang." Qiuyue hissed, yanking the boy towards their side of the hallway.

Then it hit me. It was like my viewpoint on the second-floor hallway gradually became capacious. The wine-red carpet that slithered down the rest of the hallway symbolized our differences. It was like a barrier, a wall in between us. They were those who got the upper hand while I was stuck with a bunch of garbage hands. I had nothing to go all in for.

Qiuyue steps in front of the two boys, giving them a side glare before facing me with calm sangfroid. She seemed more collected than she was when I last saw her.

Jeno instinctively placed a hand on my shoulder, a keen eye watching Zhao's every single move. He was trying to intimidate her, but with our family name being in the line, it wasn't working. Qiuyue rolled her eyes at Jeno, looking back at me with the widest grin she could ever give. It's the fake smile for me.

"I apologize for their..." she trails off, glancing at the two members who avoided her stern gaze, "unruly behavior." She then clasps her hands together, surprising Jeno. "Though I'm sure there isn't any problem with that considering you are... well, you will become a pet."

Jeno snarled, "Leave him alone!"

I sighed, shaking my head and pulling Jeno back. "Let's just go, they're not worth our time."

"Hope you spend that precious time of yours gathering money to pay Prez back!" We heard Yangyang yell down the hallway and I could only slump my shoulders in disappointment.

As we headed towards our classroom, we passed one of the stairwells, we caught a glimpse of a certain blonde-haired boy. Jeno yanked me back to take a closer look and my thoughts were right. From the dermal piercing on his right cheek, the roguish stare his eye gave off, and the infamous white eyepatch that covered his left eye.

So it's this psycho.

He stood in the middle of the staircase, pointing down at someone with a torpid grin. We heard little giggles emit from his pinkish lips and I felt chills run down my spine. Hastily grabbing onto Jeno's wrist, I pulled him into the corner before the male could even spot us.

"That— that was Renjun right?"

"Yeah, what about Huang?" I murmured, trying to get rid of his image from earlier.

"So the rumors were true..." he said softly, gritting his teeth.

"About what?"

"His eye."

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "That's what happens when you mess with the wrong kind of people." Peeking around the corner, we could tell he was in a conversation with someone. He sounded very cocky and annoying.

Jeno gave me a little nudge and I raised a brow at him to which he only nodded his head towards the other side of the stairwell. My eyes widened seeing Qiuyue also hiding from the corner, a clipboard in hand as she jotted down words with that red pen she has. Her gaze was lifted from the clipboard and directed to us making us stare back at her. Ignoring our presence, she gazed back down Renjun before walking off when the conversation died down and all we could hear were footsteps up the marbled stairs.

Jeno and I leaned back against the pillars, waiting for the blonde-haired to pass by us, but he didn't. He went the other way, muttering words under his breath. When I was about to peek again, my heart stopped when I saw the person Renjun was talking to.

Lee Haechan.

That aforesaid person had his eyes boring into mine, slowly taunting me with faint chants being heard in my head. Not wanting to feel disparaged by that stare of his, I glared at him which caused the corner of his lip to tug up into that devilish smirk.

His plump lips parted to slowly say, "I'm here, Mark-Hyung." The way he said it was so eerie and sinister that I broke off the eye-contact.

Catching my seemingly lost breath from the simple staring contest; my chest heaving up and down. Jeno looked at me with concern, "What was that? Who was it?"

Before I could even answer, we heard a voice echo in the hallways. "I won. Again."

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what do we think??