Chapter Two
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HYUNJIN | FELIX

Starting my final year of high school at a new school was not on my bingo card, and yet, here I am. Leaving the comfort of my home for majority of my life in Australia to move to the states was extremely hard, especially since I was here alone for the time being. My family would move later in the year to join me, but as for now, I'm on my own.

Luckily enough, I had my cousin Chan to rely on and give me prior knowledge of what to expect at his alma matter, and Han who was one of Chan's partner in making music. I also had my online pen-pal Wooyoung as a friend, who later introduced me to his friends Yeosang and Hongjoong a few days before school actually started. All of them I found myself quickly getting along with, making the transition easier to manage.

Reaching the school entrance doors, I patiently waited outside for my four friends to arrive before stepping in. My nerves were on overdrive, and I could feel my hands shaking. The one thing I absolutely hated was attention, and I felt as though walking inside alone would create that.

Growing up, I was always one to play alone and was selectively mute, only speaking to my parents or sisters when I needed to express something. It took years of therapy to help me break out of that phase, but I'm still learning to adjust with speaking to multiple people at once. Wooyoung was the first person I spoke verbally to outside of my family, and he never judged me for my shy personality. He even made sure to reassure me that his friends would be just as understanding, which made me feel better about meeting them. Safe to say, he was right.

"Lixie! We're here!" Wooyoung yelled excitedly, waving his hands frantically to gain my attention. The other three were in line with his stride, with Hongjoong scolding him for being so loud.

I giggled, slightly waving back with a smile as they approached me. When they all reached me, Wooyoung embraced me in a tight hug. "Good morning!" He squealed, placing a long kiss on my cheek.

"G-Good morning. Woo, I c-can't breathe!"

Yeosang sighed, forcefully pulling said affectionate male off of me. "You can't kill the guy on his first day. Calm down. It's too early for the yelling anyways..."

Wooyoung pouted, looking at the floor sadly. "Sorry..."

"It's fine, hyung. I needed that, anyways." I squeezed his hand with a soft smile. "Thank you."

"So, you ready for your first day?" Han asked, putting his arm around my shoulder. "I think we have the same first class together."

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Hongjoong smiled. "Don't worry. With the way you look, I'm sure you'll gain plenty of friends."

"Friends, or friends...?" Wooyoung wiggled his eyebrows playfully, earning a light smack on the head from Yeosang.

This time I let my giggle out. "Hopefully the former, not the latter. I'm just trying to graduate."

"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Han cheered.

Composing myself, I pushed the entrance doors and saw how large of a building the school truly was. With lockers on both sides, the hallway was spacious enough for all five of us to walk together in a single line. However, I could already hear the whispering and gasps begin as we took our steps to our lockers.

"Oh my gosh, who is he?!" One girl squealed.

"He looks like a prince! He's so handsome!" Another screamed. "Look at his freckles...Oh my gosh, I'm going to faint."

"Now we have more competition? Just great..." A guy muttered.

Wooyoung nudged me with a proud smirk on his face. "Look at you! Not even five seconds in and you're the talk of the town!"

Forcing a smile, I nodded, trying my best to ignore the nerves building up again as we walked through the crowd. My hands were shaking and feeling sweaty, and my breathing was starting to shorten each step we took.

Yeosang noticed the change in demeanor and softly held my elbow comfortingly. "Hey, just breathe... We're right here with you..."

Hearing Yeosang caused Wooyoung to looked at me wide-eyed, quickly apologizing. "Oh my gosh, Lixie I'm so sorry! Here, let me tell you about the time Hongjoong-hyung almost peed his pants because he got scared in a haunted house!"

"Why the fuck do you want to tell him about that!" Hongjoong whisper-yelled, his face turning beet red of embarrassment. "You could've chose any other story but that, Woo!"

"Too bad! Desperate times call for desperate measures!" Wooyoung rolled his eyes, huffing before continuing. "Anygays, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted... So Hongjoong-hyung was.."

A giggle escaped my mouth as the two started bickering. My mind was starting to feel at ease listening to Wooyoung ramble about his story about Hongjoong, causing my nerves to settle as I pretended to listen eagerly with interest. The distraction was definitely needed.

While walking, we passed by that group of boys Chan informed me about, the boys known as the 'Kings' of the school. Apparently, they were the boys that he left his so-called legacy to, and boys I should stay away from. However, one of them caught my attention.

He had black hair tied in a ponytail, a black leather jacket, brown eyes, black distressed jeans and black sneakers. His eyes were on me and with a brief connection of eyes, I granted him a soft smile before focusing my attention back on Wooyoung. The last thing I wanted was any problems with that group, so a smile seemed fitting to do.

Finally reaching our lockers, Han let out a long exaggerated breath of air out before speaking up.

"Did you guys realized who we just passed?!" Han whispered shakily, barely looking over his shoulder to make sure we were safe to speak.

Yeosang sighed defeatedly. "Yes, and I am glad they didn't do anything to us... they are just annoying bullies and I can't stand them."

"Well, not all of them are bullies..." Hongjoong mumbled. "Seonghwa is actually nice..."

Wooyoung laughed. "That's because you have an unhealthy crush on the guy."

"Whatever, as if you don't have a crush on his friend San!" Hongjoong whisper-teased, which caused Wooyoung to start blushing.

That guy I saw earlier was cute too...

"Can you guys name who is who exactly, because I'm lost." I asked quietly, shutting my locker after finding my books.

"Sure! Seonghwa is the tallest and oldest out of all them with dirty blonde hair. He's only older than me by seven months, so I don't really care for honorifics." Hongjoong said with a proud grin, closing his locker after me.

Yeosang spoke next, shrugging nonchalantly as he leaned against his own locker. "Choi Jongho is the shorter and younger one of them all, with the brown bowl-cut hair. He may be younger than them, but he's practically the Hulk when it comes to strength. Rumor has it that he can split apples with just his hands."

"Choi San is the one with pink hair and the left eyebrow piercing. He's Jongho's older cousin and same as Hongjoong-hyung, he is only older than me by four months so no honorifics for him." Wooyoung added with a dramatic eye roll. "He's alright, I guess."

"You don't even use honorifics for me, so I'm not surprised." Yeosang rolled his eyes.

"That's because you don't care, and I love you." Wooyoung kissed his face softly, specifically on his birthmark for emphasis.

Han went next with the introductions. "Lee Minho has the burgundy colored hair out of the group. He doesn't like honorifics, so I don't use it. He's also a cat owner!"

All of us raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him due to hearing the random insert of information. He just rolled his eyes. "What? That's all he talks about according to the girls!"

"Hold on," I paused, "his last name is Lee?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't think you two are related though, because him and Chan already had that discussion Minho's freshman year." Han clarified.

"Ah, okay. Continue."

"Then finally there's Hwang Hyunjin, the leader. He has the black hair with the ponytail!" Wooyoung concluded. "He's the one they all practically follow."

Hyunjin...

I nodded with a smile. "Got it. Thank you."

The first bell rang, meaning we only had five minutes to walk to our classes. My homeroom and first class was Social Studies, shared with Han.

"Awesome. Now that we got through that... Let's get to class!" Han cheered, dragging me by my elbow to our shared Homeroom. With that, we all departed our separate ways and my first day of school began.

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