A New Beginning

A Fresh Start??

Yechan marveled at the iron gates before him. He's finally here.

Years of begging and bargaining with his mother to pursue a career in music, and he finally broke her down. Kinda? She would still prefer he focuses on a more academic field, but he won her over – at least until he finishes high school. He probably has to fight a little bit more if he's going to try for a music academy in college, but that's future Yechan's problem.

Yechan unloaded his luggage from the cab with the help of the driver.

"Good luck out here," the driver said good-naturedly as he gave Yechan a solid pat on the back.

"Thanks sir," Yechan responded as he gave one last grateful bow. The elderly driver kept him in good spirits on the drive over and he hoped he could maintain it for the rest of the day.

He's only a couple hours away from home, but it already feels so different. The students here weren't in uniform and a lot livelier than his previous school. A little rowdy even, but that's alright. Just by the air alone, Yechan could tell that this place was different from what he's used to back home. Everything was louder, brighter, freer.

It's hard being the new kid, Yechan mused to himself.

As he walked across the courtyard, Yechan caught the eye of a lone student by the center statue. The orange-haired student was mumbling to himself as he jotted down lines on the notebook on his lap. He looked lost in thought, but he still looked pretty deliberate in sitting alone while everyone else was running around.

Is he writing poetry? Doesn't seem like it, he's going a little too fast. Alright that's enough, stop staring at him, you got enough things to think about...

Yechan let out a sigh as he set his luggage down to get a better look around the area. It is his new home after all. But just as his bags touched the ground, they're knocked over by an obnoxiously bright green basketball. Annoyed, Yechan turned in the direction it came from and saw three boys waiting for his reaction.

A slightly tanned, dark-haired boy in a denim jacket moved forward, "Sorry, bro" he said with a smirk. His eyes never left Yechan, hoping to get a rise out of the unfamiliar student.

He's probably the leader of their stupid posse. Probably the same one that threw the ball in the first place.

If you were really sorry, you'd get your damn ball, Yechan thought irritatedly while he stared him down.

The silverette behind the "sincerely" apologetic teen made a face as he shrugged, mocking in a way that seemed to ask, 'what are you gonna do about it?' While his other arm was draped lazily over the third culprit.

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do, shortie—

Let it go, they're not worth it. Is his friend recording me?! Yeah, no, bye. Hope you end up with a shitty video, pretty boy!

Yechan sighed resignedly for what felt like the fifth time in the last two minutes before grabbing his bags and continued on to the main entrance. He doesn't get his patience tested often, but apparently today was test-Yechan-day when he overheard the trio snickering behind him as he left.

While on his way up to the main building, Yechan noticed another group of boys antagonizing another student. He watched as one of the boys kicked the other's backpack clean off the stairs while the rest zeroed in on the poor kid as he tried to retrieve it.

Are all the kids in this school like this? I thought it was supposed to be a good school; it looks like they should be in reformatory instead.

Miffed and slightly dejected at his first impressions of his potential classmates, Yechan kept his eyes glued to the floor as he entered the building.

Alright fine. That doesn't matter, they don't matter. You literally begged your mom for this. You wanted a fresh start and you got it. The next student you see, you're gonna be friends with them. C'mon!

With a determined inhale, Yechan set his shoulders and looked up to find a dark-haired student perched on one of the windowsills in the main hall. Yechan watched as the other student stared blankly outside, earbuds in both ears, completely removed from the world. The title lone wolf never fit someone so well.

Yikes, maybe not this one...

Ahh, forget it!