mark stood blankly just outside seoul national high school.
earlier at five am, he was woken up by one of his roommates- jaemin. he was told to get up, fix his bed and follow them to the dining hall where they ate breakfast. after that, he was told to get ready for school so he showered and just went with the flow.
after showering, a new school uniform lay neatly on his bed. he remembered wanting to rip it and throw it away but it was such a surprise sucking it up and just wearing it. as soon as he wore it, he went downstairs to see the other kids bustling in excitement for another day at school while the others were practically dragging their feet to go outside.
mark was dragged by his roommates to go to school. apparently since this is the nearest public high school, this is where all the teens in the orphanage go. since they were old enough to go there on their own, only the little kids get to ride the van to school. it was an annoying trip as this guy called chenle and jisung were too loud and laughing like seals. he kept being teased by jaemin about his grumpy-looking face and the others were just talking casually and reminding mark what to do in class.
"so mark, where did you studied before going here?" asked jeno who was quiet all the time but finally had the courage to speak up, especially to the cold new kid, mark.
"around," mark said, refusing to answer. he doesn't want to bring up his life and he doesn't really think any bit of it is interesting at all.
"sister jinnie said mark lived in canada." a cheerful voice said, it was donghyuck and he was skipping as they walk as if he found a dollar on the ground. mark glared a little but ignored everyone when they all started looking interested.
"wow, i've never been overseas! is it fun there?" this loud kid chenle asked, smiling widely. before mark could react to anything, renjun turned to the kid and asked a question.
"aren't you chinese?"
chenle clicked his tongue, looking annoyed at renjun. "like i remember anything." the younger said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"you're chinese too, you know..." jeno stated. mark was getting an idea of what happened to chenle but he didn't really wanna pry and he's not even that interested.
"so? at least i remember being there." renjun said with a tone that annoyed chenle more, but the younger decided to stay quiet. he was not going to let renjun get on his nerves on this fine day.
"yeah whatever," jaemin deadpanned, it's so early in the morning and he wasn't gonna have one of renjun's bull. "so is canada great?" he curiously asked, changing topics and mark noticed donghyuck who was skipping in front of them stop and turn to him with a curious look as well.
for some reason, mark answered. "it's alright." he never expected that answer. heck, he told himself he wasn't gonna say shit but here he is, talking.
although what he said was very brief, jeno, the very quiet guy who just kept walking with them starts asking questions about a lot of stuff. like how was the weather there, were the houses nice, were the people kind and even asked mark to say some stuff in english and teach them as well. jisung and chenle really looked interested when jeno kept asking questions and mark tried to answer them all as short as possible but he just couldn't keep up.
at the back was a smiling jaemin who looked too happy seeing jeno and the kids trying to get along with mark and renjun was scrunching up his face, refusing to acknowledge the new kid. donghyuck on the other hand was listening to mark's awkward way of answering jeno's questions and happily imagining himself somewhere in canada and having fun.
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mark and the boys finally reached school with jeno, jisung and chenle still asking questions about mark. mark managed to dodge some that can connect him to his past and he so thankful when they finally reached school. jaemin told mark that he would be classmates with donghyuck and jeno because renjun and jaemin are on a different section. apparently, chenle and jisung are of the same age and they're two years younger than mark and the others.
when mark, jeno and donghyuck arrived at school, mark couldn't help but notice the other students giving them looks. in all honesty, mark wasn't even fazed by it but it seems like jeno isn't comfortable with it.
ah, it's because we're orphans, mark thought. looking over his shoulder, donghyuck didn't seemed bothered and mark figured that he must've have a strong mentality to handle this, either that or he's just so used to it that he isn't even bothered anymore.
even when mark feels how uncomfortable jeno is by the dirty looks that others gave them, jeno still chose to be kind and helped mark get to the office so he could have his schedule. their teacher, mr. kim had told donghyuck and jeno to get to class first because he will explain some stuff to mark first.
the usual stuff, locker number, typical class rules, etc. were explained to mark. he noticed earlier when they came in that even the teachers have some kind of prejudice over orphans like them. to say that it didn't insulted mark was plain bullshit, even if he was already used to getting dirty looks, he doesn't think at all that it's because he's an orphan. he has his own reasons for getting such looks back then but this? looking all disgusted just because of the mere fact that some kids in the school are orphans? that is disgusting.
mark almost jolted up his seat when mr. kim told him that they should get to class, he couldn't wait to get out of there.
when they finally entered the classroom, mark was told to introduce himself. he noticed that jeno was seated somewhere in the middle and donghyuck was at the corner, looking all smiley at mark as if he was signalling him to cheer up or something. donghyuck was probably just being his friendly self but mark doesn't think at all that these people who gave them such looks earlier doesn't deserve shit. he stood there, like it was his first day at the orphanage and said a short introduction that will probably give him a bad impression from the class.
"i'm lee minhyung." mark said, not even bothering to bow as a sign of respect.
and there it goes, some of their classmates were already looking away, some already giving him looks, some not even bothering to listen. he won't blame them though, mark thinks that there's really nothing special to talk about, especially with a bunch of strangers.
"thank you minhyung," mr. kim said while chuckling awkwardly. "minhyung just came from canada so i hope everyone will be nice to him and help him whenever he finds some class activities difficult, understand?" mark heard a chorus of ooh's when mr. kim mentioned canada but he just shook it off. a long and dragged 'yes' were said to answer mr. kim and he pointed him to a seat at the back beside donghyuck.
there was a mix of reactions as mark walks at the back of the class but he chose to ignore them and sit there quietly.
when homeroom ended and mr. kim left, some guy stood up and yawned way too loudly as if he did it on purpose. he then looked back and shot a look at mark, one vexatious look that he knew would give him real trouble at this school.
