|Weak Hero| One Night [Donald X Kingsley]

A New School Year

All of the Union members will be sophomores. The Eungang will still be freshmen.

Kingsley Kwan woke up at 7:00 AM, as she did with any other school day. She walked down to the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast for herself and her two roommates. She didn't have to, as her parents were the ones who owned the house and the other two were living there free of charge, but she found cooking to be relaxing. The  aroma of spices and fresh food was calming.

She set down the plates of pancakes, eggs, and toast onto the table before taking a seat. She began to eat her meal and was eventually joined by her two roommates: Stephen Ahn and Gray Yeon. Gray seemed unbothered by having to wake up early while Stephen still seemed pretty tired.

"Aww man," Stephen whined as he took his seat. "I can't believe summer break's already over. Now we have to wake up early and can't sleep in anymore,"

"You should just go to sleep earlier instead of staying up late," Gray told him.

Stephen dug into his food and was instantly revitalized. "Kingsley, your food's amazing!"

"They're simple breakfast items," Kingsley claimed. 

"I still can't believe Gray and I are finally in high school," Stephen said. "All three of us will be going to the same high school now, Yeongdeungpo High School," He paused. "Isn't the guy living next door also in high school? He's the same grade as you, right Kingsley?"

Kingsley tensed up at the mention at the mention of their neighbor. "Yeah, he is,"

"Why don't you introduce us to your friend sometime?"

Kingsley shook her head. "He's not my friend,"

"Hey Kingsley Kwan, from this day forth, we're best friends!"

"He and I are not friends," Kingsley repeated. 'Not anymore,'

Kingsley had met Stephen and Gray in fifth grade after she had transferred to Byuksan Elementary School. When they saw Kingsley was alone during before school, during break time, during lunch time, and after school, Stephen had dragged Gray over to make Kingsley part of their friend group.

At first, Kingsley immediately wanted to be left alone and have no part in their friendship. But Stephen's insistence caused her to warm up to them. She actually got along quite well with them, especially Gray. The two were both quiet children that mainly focused on studying and rarely did anything else except when Stephen dragged them into other activities like playing video games.

They continued to chat a bit through breakfast and once everyone was ready for school, they left the house. Kingsley sent a brief glance over her shoulder in the opposite direction, towards their neighbor's house, before continuing in the direction of the school.

'He and I aren't friends anymore. He didn't remember me in freshman year, so he wouldn't remember me this year. I should just forget that we were ever friends in the first place just like he did,'

XXX

Kingsley looked down at her schedule to double check that she had the right classroom. It was the correct class so she entered and took a seat at an empty desk in the front row. Since there was still some time left before class began, she decided to read the textbook. More of her new classmates began to enter and fill in the empty seats.

The final seat, which was right next to Kingsley, was filled in by none other than Donald Na, the most popular student at Yeongdeungpo High.

'Why did he have to sit next to me!? Couldn't he have come by a few minutes earlier so he could have a better choice of where to sit? And why did he have to be in the same class as me?' Kingsley could feel the jealous students glaring at her, silently demanding to know why she was sitting next to Yeongdeungpo High School's Prince despite the fact that Donald was the one to sit next to her.

Before she could ask anyone if they'd like to trade seats with her—which everyone would gladly fight over—and use the excuse that since she was taller than most people, she didn't want to accidentally block the person sitting behind her, the bell rang and class began.

XXX

When first period finished, Kingsley immediately left to head to her next class, wanting to avoid Donald Na and his posse. She sat at an empty seat in her second period class. As the students entered, they sent jealous glares Kingsley's way and everyone avoided sitting next to her, treating her like an outcast and a plague.

'It's only been a few minutes and word has already gotten around,' Kingsley noted. 'I'll just sit at a different seat tomorrow and they'll eventually leave me alone,'

As if she had jinxed herself, Donald Na and his entire posse had the same class as Kingsley. Donald's group of friends consisted of Wolf Keum, a brutal fighter who hated being stared at, Forrest Lee, who didn't exactly get along too well with Wolf, Jimmy Bae, who admired Donald's strength, and Jake Ji, who only hung around Donald from time to time but mostly stayed with his own group of friends.

Thankfully, this time Donald didn't sit right next to Kingsley since there were more open seats. He sat with his friends.

Kingsley mentally sighed in relief. 'I don't care if everyone wants to just ignore me, but if I were to be assigned a partner for a group project, I would want them to at least cooperate with me. I don't want my grades to suffer because my partner is upset over something petty,'

XXX

After second period was break time. Kingsley left and met up with Gray and Stephen, who had made friends with other freshmen. "Hey Kingsley, how are your classes so far?" Stephen inquired.

"The classes themselves are pretty much the same as any other class," Kingsley answered. "The classmates though? Tiring,"

"You're not a very social person," Stephen sweat-dropped. "But I'm sure your classmates will warm up to you,"

'Very optimistic of you, Stephen,' Kingsley thought. 'But it depends on how long it takes for those fangirls to 'forgive me for sitting next to their prince','

"These are our new friends," Stephen introduced. "Ben Park, Alex Go, and Eugene Gale,"

"Yo!" Ben greeted. 

"Hi," Alex waved. 

"H-Hello," Eugene stuttered a bit. 

'This Eugene kid has a studious look but doesn't give off studious vibes,' Kingsley noted. "Hello, I'm Kingsley Kwan,"

Ben was louder and more boisterous than the other two. Alex wasn't as noisy as Ben, but was more conversational than Gray. Eugene seemed more nervous and would probably talk more in the conversations after she got used to them. Stephen casually spoke with his new friends, roping Kingsley and Gray into talking too so they wouldn't be left out.

I feel like if the whole Union thing didn't exist, Gray and Kingsley would get along. Stephen's there because he's not comatose in this universe.