"It's invented by the parents to say that we have to sacrifice ourselves through high school if we want to end up with a rich and handsome husband," stated Soo-Yun, pointing at them with her spoon.

"What does high school have to do with it?" asked Mi-Young.

"The Beast is high school."

"But the Beast is beautiful on the inside," Hyun-Jae pointed out. "Where's the inside beauty of high school?"

"Fun is the inside beauty of high school," replied Ah-Jong.

"That's not what they want us to think," said Soo-Yun.

"The Beauty falls in love with the Beast after they have fun together. If we just relax and enjoy life, good things are bound to happen. That's the message."

"Of course that's what you would get out of it, Ah-Jong," observed Mi-Young.

"Good things happened only because they had magic," replied Jun-Ki.

"Magic is real," said Ah-Jong, matter-of-factly.

"Well, the magic formula works if you write it down correctly on your CSAT."

"Jun-Ki," Yong-Jun admonished him, "why do you have to say that word on our very first day?"

The six of them were siting in the school cafeteria, having the first lunch of the new school year. As seniors, the "year of hell" was in front of them, culminating with the big moment of their lives: the CSAT. At the opening ceremony that morning, Principle Bong had made it clear in his speech: they were expected to study every waking moment and to make those waking moments longer than ever before.

Dismissing his friend with a hand wave, Nam Jun-Ki changed the subject.

"Ah-Jong, you went with Jan-Di this morning, didn't you?"

"Sure I did. She couldn't go there completely friendless, could she?"

"And you were a bit curious, too," chuckled Mi-Young.

Ah-Jong raised an eyebrow and gave an impish smile. "And so are you."

"Of course we are!" exclaimed Hyun-Jae. "So what are you waiting for? Tell us about it!"

"Yes," confirmed Soo-Yun, "we want to hear every itsy-bitsy detail."

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Ah-Jong put her chopsticks down and leaned over, taking her storytelling position. The other five heads gathered closer.

"When we got there, the street looked like a luxury motor show. And chauffeurs opened doors for what seemed to be normal students, but only at first glance. Once you get closer, you don't even have to see their perfect hair and designer jewelry. It's enough to watch how they walk: like Jo In-Seong or Han Ji-Min on the red carpet."

"I love designer jewelry..." said Soo-Yun dreamily, and Jun-Ki rolled his eyes.

"I love Han Ji-Min," replied Yong-Jun.

"But you wear designer jewelry," said Hyun-Jae, ignoring the boy. "Ah-Jong made those earrings for you."

"Excellent point! We have our own private designer. And I love how you did my hair, Hyun-Jae."

Hyung-Jae gave a proud smile, and then immediately pouted. "But how was Jan-Di? I already miss her."

"So do I," replied Ah-Jong, plaintively. "I hope she's not all by herself right now."

This year was the first since middle school that Oh Ah-Jong was going to spend without her best friend. She was still not used to it.

"What's with these faces?!" asked Jun-Ki, looking surprised. "She's lucky to attend such a school. She'll have better chances to go to a good college and do well in life. With her brain, she really deserves this. You should be happy for her."

"We're happy that she'll do well in life, Jun-Ki," answered Ah-Jong. "But we're sad that we have to stay apart and worried that she's there all by herself."

"It's Geum Jan-Di that we are talking about," said Yong-Jun. "Isn't she the toughest and smartest of us all? She can take 'em."

"Besides," added Jun-Ki, "she's only sacrificing some comfort for one more year, and she'll have her entire life to benefit from that. Like some other people should think of doing," he concluded, glaring at Ah-Jong.

As usual, he was too serious. Being in his final year of high school seemed to have aggravated his natural inclination.

"Steve Jobs said that you don't have to plan too much," said Ah-Jong, casually. "You have to follow your heart and the dots will eventually connect themselves."

"It's great that the dots connected for him. But there are even more people, whom you don't see on TV, who 'followed their heart', and whose dots connected into lousy jobs and penniless lives. Unless you're a genius like Steve Jobs, I suggest you take the more conventional path and study hard."

"But the conventional path is not infallible either. It's like with food. Following the recipe doesn't guarantee success."

The other girls laughed.

"Not for you it doesn't," said Hyun-Jae. "That was more than obvious last evening."

"Did you let Ah-Jong cook for you again?!" asked Yong-Jun, contorting his face in terror.

"We had a Special Start of School Ceremony last evening," explained Ah-Jong, unfazed by his expression. "It was for Jan-Di. But the drinks were good, weren't they?" she asked, turning to Hyun-Jae and grinning.

"Why am I even talking to you, Ah-Jong?" interrupted Jun-Ki. "I see that you won't even bother."

"Please don't be mad at me, Jun-Ki. I'll study. I promise."

"You've been saying that for the entire past semester."

"What can I do if I don't understand math, and if history is so full of things that happened, and half of the books we have to read for literature put me to sleep instantaneously."

"That's only because you don't know how to study," replied Jun-Ki. "Which is not surprising since you've never done it."

"But you learned both English and Japanese, right?" said Mi-Young. "You can learn everything else."

"Well... yes, but those were different. That wasn't study. You know how mom made me do it. Do you know of any cool movie in the math language? Or at least a good song?"

"I can make math lyrics for you, Ah-Jong," said Yong-Jun and declaimed, "It is the sad fate of the logarithmic function/ To look in the mirror and think it's exponential."

His classmates cheered.

"Wow, Yong-Jun, did you just make that up?"

"Did you study without telling us?"

"That has so many layers of meaning!"

"Thank you, my friends! Mi-Young," he said, coming close to the girl, "do you love me now?"

"Get lost," she replied, pushing him away.

Geum Jan-Di opened her lunch box, glancing around the school cafeteria. It was very different from what she was used to. The fanciest restaurant she had been into didn't look half as good. The students were all in uniform, but there could be no mistaking how well off their families were. It was enough to look at the glittering gems in their earrings, the branded watches around their wrists, and their hair styles that seemed to come straight out of glossy magazines.

She was eating by herself, which was another thing that she wasn't used to. At her old school, she was always together with Ah-Jong and all their friends. Lunches were relaxing and fun, unlike now, when Jan-Di felt all tense and shy.

It was great to be here, of course. She had worked hard to get this scholarship, and she was ready to work even harder from now on. But they had way more work to do than at her old school, and the level of all students seemed overwhelming. It was this fact, more than their money, that was making her feel inadequate.

She flipped back her pony-tail and started to eat, trying to pull herself together. She wasn't inadequate; she had proven her abilities and had received a scholarship at one of the best private schools in Seoul, hadn't she.

People were chatting around her and Jan-Di tried to focus on their conversations instead of her worries.

"Their hotel really is the best. And their spa is Paradise. I was an angel myself when I got out of there."

"What do you think about my new earrings? I bought them last week, on Champs Elysées."

"Très chic, Cho-Hee."

"I have a surprise. Dad convinced The Metro Boys to come and perform at my birthday party."

"It's obvious that she did it. Her thighs couldn't have become so thin overnight."

"And guess who I met in New Caledonia. So Iy-Jung! He was there with his parents and stayed at the same hotel as us."

"You should definitely invite Eun-Hee. We must have someone that we can make fun of."

"What was her mother thinking when she hired such an ugly model? You can't sell make-up with that."

"By the way, where are The Four Musketeers? I have been longing to see them all spring break." Giggles.

"The Ritz is like no other, of course. Paris is not Paris if you don't stay at the Ritz. The best thing about it is the class of everyone in that hotel."

Overseas vacations, naturally... Jan-Di had spent the spring break in Seoul. She had worked at her parents' tea shop in the evenings, but in the mornings, Ah-Jong had taken her on The Tour of Forbidden Places. Her friend had spent almost the entire winter vacation to prepare it. She had written a fake TV drama synopsis, chosen places where she was "considering" to film, and made fake KBS IDs for Jan-Di and herself. They pretended to be the assistants of a KBS director, looking for locations.

Ah-Jong's father had a stunt company, and she would often go with him on the film sets. One day, an assistant director had taken her on a locations hunt, and this was how she had gotten the idea for the Tour. After carefully planning it, she had made a brochure and given it to Jan-Di for her birthday.

Jan-Di couldn't hold back her smile when she recalled everything. She had been very nervous and very excited, following Ah-Jong to The Green House Hotel to see the luxury suites; to Goryeo, the most expensive restaurant in Seoul; to the Roof of the World café, where they had admired the view of the city and had even been served a delicious frappé, on the house. Here, Jan-Di had been scared to death during most of Ah-Jong's conversation with the manager. Later, Ah-Jong herself admitted that she had also been very nervous; but she had kept her cool, entertaining the lady with film set anecdotes and KBS gossip, some true, some invented. They had been chased away from a couple of places, but all in all, the Tour had gone better than expected.

She was half through her lunch when a tall boy with dark hair and handsome features entered the cafeteria, followed by three others, just as good looking. With their entrance, the level of noise increased, girls straightening their backs and widening their smiles.

"Finally, they're here!"

"I thought they would never come!"

"Oh, good! When I didn't see them at the ceremony, I was afraid they had transferred."

"No, I heard they missed the plane from Kyoto yesterday, that's all."

"Oh, why are they sitting so far?"

The four boys sat down at a table where three girls were eating. They all received the remarkable newcomers with pleasure and seemed overjoyed for being the chosen ones.

Five minutes later, the girl with the Parisian earrings suddenly decided that she had finished eating and got up, followed by her friend. They headed for the door, moving like two models on the catwalk. When they reached the boys' table, they stopped to chat. The distance was too great and the cafeteria too noisy for Jan-Di to understand what they were saying, but she could see the girls' smiles and carefully graceful movements. It seemed that Cho-Hee had addressed one of the boys in particular, and he was answering with an indifferent smile.

"Han Cho-Hee is moving fast," observed someone close by.

"Is she trying to make Gu Jun-Pyo jealous?"

"I've heard she prefers Kang Ji-Hoo now."

Apparently, these were the famous Four Musketeers as Jan-Di found out, and she was in the same class as them. By the end of the day, all that she could glean out of overheard conversations and the boys' behavior was that Gu Jun-Pyo was the richest, Kang Ji-Hoo the smartest, So Iy-Jung the most inclined to charm the girls, and Lee Woo-Bin the friendliest. The most popular could not be determined since they all seemed to have other students hovering around them in equal degrees.

Geum Jan-Di's parents, Moon Se-Gyung and Geum Seung-Jo, owned a small tea-shop in Dongdaemun-Gu, called The Spring Dreams. It was by no means a fancy place, but it was cozy and friendly and popular enough in the neighborhood and among students at the University of Seoul. A lot of the warm welcome that customers were perceiving was due to Jan-Di's mother, who managed the place and liked to talk to the clients and to find entertainment for them. Jan-Di's father was the "wizard's apprentice" as Ah-Jong liked to say; he was the one who combined the teas and made the wonderful cookies. Usually, after school and during weekends, Jan-Di was also there to help her mother.

After the first day of classes was over, Jan-Di got out of the school and waited in front of the gate. Only five minutes passed before she saw her best friend speeding along the road. Ah-Jong slowed down to give Jan-Di time to get on her own bike.

"Hello, main character!" she grinned when she was close enough.

"What is that?" chuckled Jan-Di.

The road in front of the school was narrow, so they had to ride in single file in order to leave room for the cars that took Seungcheon students back home for dinner. Curious, Ah-Jong followed them with her eyes, but there was nothing much to see since most windows were dark.

"So what am I the main character of?" asked Jan-Di as soon as they could be next to each other.

"Of the story about a cool, smart girl's first day at a new high school."

"There's no story, really," said Jan-Di, smiling.

"Huh! You're playing with me. But I will make you speak."

"And what do you want to hear?"

"Everything that went on with you today, but I can't ask any question right now. Hyun-Jae made me promise to wait until they can all hear."

"I guess I'll be very busy this evening," said Jan-Di and playfully rolled her eyes.

"The main character is always busy."

Not much later, the girls entered The Spring Dreams, where a great number of people were impatiently waiting for them. Beside Moon Se-Geong, three girls from her former school were there – Hyun-Jae, Mi-Young, and Soo-Yun. Of course, Yong-Jun had also come. He went wherever Mi-Young went, if he could. Ah-Jong's mother, Choi Sun-Hee, was with them too. She seemed to be just as curious as her daughter.

Jan-Di hugged her friends, more than usually happy to be among them. Though very tired, their eager voices made her feel that she was coming back to life. Soon, with a warm cup of tea and seven curious faces in front of her, she started to talk about her first day of school.

"I've missed you all so much!" she told them. "But the school is great, of course. Classes have only about fifteen students, we each have our own computer, and the teachers are the best I've had. The cafeteria looks better than La Cuccina, and the grounds are taken care of by a professional landscape designer."

Her mother was thrilled and proud. Even though Jan-Di had been granted a scholarship, it was only partially covering the expenses, so it was difficult to keep her there. But Moon Se-Geong was ready to make every sacrifice. Her smart and hard-working daughter was the pride and hope of the family.

After satisfying her mother with details about the classes, teachers, and school equipment, Jan-Di started to talk about what was more interesting to her ex-schoolmates: Seungcheon students.

"They are all children of some company owner or manager or great attorney. They wear expensive jewelry, spend their vacations in Paris or New Caledonia, get plastic surgery, and can't get over themselves."

"Short and meaningful," said Ah-Jong, "like only our dear Jan-Di knows how to be. But you know how we like long stories, so let us hear details. Did you meet anybody special?"

"I spent the day by myself. They kept us really busy," she added quickly, seeing the concerned expressions on their faces. "And I preferred it that way. I have to take a good look at them first before I make friends, right?"

"Right," approved Ah-Jong. "You can't be too careful about that. Then tell us if you saw anybody that you liked. Or just pick them out randomly and describe them."

"There's no escape from Ah-Jong's curiosity," smiled Choi Sun-Hee. "And since I'm a little curious myself, you have at least two of us you need to satisfy."

"Not just two, right?" said Mi-Young, turning to the others, who nodded eagerly.

"I'll tell you all I can. And if you'll think it's too little, just look at the bright side: you'll have more things to hear at our next meetings. One of the girls at the school is the daughter of Seon Kyu-Bok, the chairman of Lambda Group." ("Wow!") "She's frighteningly smart and she's preparing to go to college at Princeton. She only takes some of the lessons with us because she goes through a special program to prepare for studying in America. Then there is Han Cho-Hee, who's the beauty of the school – or at least so she sees herself. But she really is good looking; perfect hair, make-up and jewelry. She does her best. During spring break, she went to Paris and stayed at the Ritz."

"Oh, how well that sounds..." sighed Hyun-Jae. "I can't help but envy such girls who don't have to crave for anything because they have it all."

"Oh, that doesn't necessarily mean they are happier than you," replied Ah-Jong's mother, casually. "That's more a matter of luck than money."

"They are fools if they're not happy when they can have anything they want," said Hyun-Jae.

"I'm sure they can name one or two things they might not have," said Sun-Hee. "But what other classmates do you have, Jan-Di?"

"There are these four boys, known as The Four Musketeers, and who are the absolute favorites of the girls in this school. They are very handsome and quite conscious of that too. I didn't see them once without girls trying to get their attention."

The animation that she created was exactly what Jan-Di had expected, and she greatly enjoyed herself seeing her friends' interest reach new heights. The description of each was minutely asked for and given in small portions, designed to incite even more eager questions.

"Kang Ji-Hoo is very smart. Everybody says he's a genius who barely has to study to get perfect scores. Han Cho-Hee, that I just told you about, apparently has her eyes on him. So Iy-Jung is the ultimate charmer who doesn't think any smile to be wasted if it can draw a sigh from a girl. Lee Woo-Bin seemed to be the most approachable of the four. At least he answers equally friendly to all hellos, which can't be said about the last one, Gu Jun-Pyo, who earns the first prize for arrogance."

"Is he the most handsome?" asked Hyun-Jae

"He's the richest of all four. His parents own the Light Island Mall and some luxury apartments buildings, so he probably believes himself above most mortals."

"And what do they look like?" asked Soo-Yun.

"They're generally declared to be the most handsome in the school."

"But which one did you like the most?"

"Lee Woo-Bin is the nicest. And I think So Iy-Jung is the best looking. He has a nice smile that makes dimples in his cheeks."

At this, her friends sighed and giggled, making Yong-Jun roll his eyes.

"You're too blind to see real beauty," he declared. "Mi-Young, why are you smiling like that? Why don't you smile at me like that?"

"Which girls do they like?" asked Mi-Young, ignoring him.

"None of them seems in love, though they try to maintain a state of romantic dumbness in as many female students as possible."

"I'd love to see them," said Hyun-Jae.

"We can look them up on the Internet," suggested Ah-Jong.

The idea received enthusiastic approval, and a laptop was produced from the small office that Jan-Di's parents had at the back of the tea shop. Finding their pictures on social networks wasn't very difficult, and each in turn was declared to be the most handsome boy alive.

"I'm in love!" exclaimed Ah-Jong.

"With which one?" asked Jan-Di's mother.

"Luckily, I don't have to decide since I'll never meet them."

"How is not meeting them a lucky thing?" asked Hyun-Jae. "Jan-Di is the lucky one. Did you talk to them?"

Jan-Di laughed. "No, I didn't, and that's not likely to happen soon. They only pay attention to the most popular of the other students. A girl, who was probably not up to their standards, approached them and Gu Jun-Pyo said, 'Are you talking to us?'. And they all gave her a superior look."

"See?" said Ah-Jong. "That's why it's lucky not to meet them. In pictures they are nice and give us beautiful smiles."

"But Jan-Di, what if one of them likes you?" asked Soo-Yun.

"Each and every Seungcheon student would shudder to hear you say that," smiled Jan-Di.

The next day wasn't much easier for Jan-Di than the first had been. If any of the students took notice of her, it was with a sideway glance and haughty expression. Han Cho-Hee smirked when she saw her getting to school on a bike, then she said something to her group of girls, and they all laughed. Later, lunch was again lonely, with a couple of students throwing derisive looks at food Jan-Di's mother had packed, before turning to eat the specialties prepared by the school chef.

However, there was much to focus on since school work was more difficult than in the past. Subjects were plenty, lectures were intensive, and there was already a big pile of books to read and extra work to do. On top of that, Jan-Di had less time to study than the others because she had to go to her parents' tea shop early on some evenings and help them out.

She had managed to get permission to change her schedule. On some of the mornings, she got to school one hour earlier, and on Thursdays and Fridays she didn't join her classmates back to the study hall. Instead, she spent two more hours studying at home after the tea shop closed. Once she took the first test, she would have to get a high score in order to be allowed to continue like this.

The first week went by so fast, that Jan-Di was surprised to find herself approached by her best friend with plans for the weekend. Sunday was anticipated to be warm and sunny, and Ah-Jong had planned a basketball game. They were to be joined by Hyun-Jae, Mi-Young, Yong-Jun, and two other boys from their school. The plan was more than welcome after a difficult first week, so she was happy to leave her books for a few hours.

Exhausted but with a big smile on her face, Ah-Jong dropped on the bench near Jan-Di. She had just finished the two against two game, and their adversaries remained on the field, now facing another pair.

"I'm sorry we lost, Ah-Jong," said Mi-Young, sitting down on Jan-Di's other side.

"Oh, we were both tired, and those boys are too tall," replied Ah-Jong, taking a camera out of her bag. "When did they grow up so much?"

"A couple of years ago," replied Jan-Di, smiling.

"I can't believe how fast things are changing," said Mi-Young. "Here we are, boys much taller even than Ah-Jong, Jan-Di is at a different school, and we're only months away from the big day."

"Ugh, yes," grimaced Ah-Jong, rising from her seat to take pictures of the game. "This loom of the big day is starting to make its appearance everywhere."

"When they started their first lesson," said Jan-Di, "each of our teachers talked about it in the scariest terms. Though I think I'm the only one who is really nervous. The others seem very confident."

Mi-Young exclaimed with surprise at Jan-Di's fears, but Ah-Jong nodded with satisfaction.

"If you're nervous, then you'll do a good job because you'll be focused."

"And you're very smart," added Mi-Young. "You were the best at our school."

"I'm afraid I won't be the best at Seungcheon. I just hope I won't be the last."

"Seungcheon must be really frightening if you think that!" exclaimed Ah-Jong, sitting down again. "How much smarter can those students be?"

"They received the best possible education ever since kindergarten, and they've had heavy tutoring starting from before their ages had two figures. It seems to me that they are proficient in... well, everything!"

"But you got accepted there even without getting a single private tutoring hour. That's big, isn't it?"

"It is," smiled Jan-Di. "But now the game changed. I didn't think they'd be so good."

"We trust you," said Mi-Young. "Soon, you will surprise them."

Jan-Di just gave a faint smile and said nothing. It was her friends' expectations and trust in her abilities that were the most stressful. Now that she compared herself to her new schoolmates, she was afraid of disappointing everyone.

"Just focus well," said Ah-Jong, "do you're best, and it can only turn out well."

"I love it that you're such an optimist, Ah-Jong," said Jan-Di with a smile. "And you should also focus on studying."

"I know... I will. I mean, I've already started..."

"But you're taking it slow to avoid a shock, right?" laughed Mi-Young.

"My memory is slippery from lack of use. Information just slides away from it."

"Your memory is too full of things you don't need," said Mi-Young. "Information doesn't slide, it bounces off. Like from an overinflated balloon."

"Your memory is just fine," said Jan-Di. "You just need to learn how to study. Tonight, we're going to make a schedule for you, and I'll give you my notebooks."

"Thank you, Jan-Di, but don't waste your time with me. I'll get going, I promise. I guess there's no other hope now, is there," said Ah-Jong. She had a casual manner, but Jan-Di thought she looked a little depressed. "I should have started earlier, but I was so sure I wouldn't need college! My last hope was the arts high school."

Jan-Di remained silent and bowed her head. She was sorry for her friend and sensed her confusion.

"It's difficult to get in there," said Mi-Young, "and you didn't really have that much dancing training."

Jan-Di thought that was a little too harshly said, but she agreed that it was true. Ah-Jong's chances of being accepted hadn't been great, but her friend had insisted on practicing for the entire autumn.

"That's behind you, Ah-Jong," said Jan-Di. "Now you need to do your best."

"I will, of course. But switching from using my body to using my brain isn't easy. I need an adjustment period."

"As long as you don't take too much time adjusting."

"She won't," declared Jan-Di. "If she doesn't start to study, she's grounded. Tonight you'll make your appearance at The Spring Dreams, with a notebook in one hand and your wits in the other."

"Tonight?" asked Ah-Jong, looking slightly panicked and putting her camera down. "As early as that? I'll have to find my wits first."

"At nine. You can use the time until then to dust your books."

After she had played one more game, Ah-Jong left together with her friends. Normally, at least some of them would have continued the fun, but today, each went on their way, either to work or to study.

Promising one more time that she would be at The Spring Dreams that evening, Ah-Jong waved good bye to her best friend and headed to her mother's art school. She didn't feel like thinking of studies yet, so she planned to practice on the piano if Choi Sun-Hee wasn't in the middle of a lesson.

The school, called Raw Imagination, was in a quiet neighborhood in Dongdaemun-gu, not far from The Spring Dreams. When she reached it, she found her mother at the computer in her small office.

"It's not free, dear," said Sun-Hee after Ah-Jong had declared her intention. "Mrs. Im Eun-Jung is there with a pupil."

"Oh... Ok... Then can I help you with anything until they are done?" she asked, hopefully.

"There is nothing to do right now. You took care of supplies last week, and I got the books in order."

"Already? Is that why you stayed up so late yesterday? But I could have helped you."

"It wasn't really that much work. You have helped me a lot already... Ah-Jong," she continued, pushing her chair further from the computer to have a better view of her daughter, "you should spend your time studying. I don't want you to worry about our businesses anymore. I will help your father with the books and take care of mine. I've already hired a new drawing teacher, so I'll have more time for these things."

"Yes..." said Ah-Jong, hesitantly. "You're right. I will study. Tonight I'm going to meet Jan-Di, and she'll help me draw a revision schedule," she continued, trying to look more enthusiastic than she felt.

"That's good, dear! And have you talked to your homeroom teacher yet?"

"Not yet, but I will."

She didn't want to, though. She knew she had to settle her future somehow, but she didn't feel ready. Not only that, but she feared she had no chance of going to college, and she didn't want to have it confirmed by Teacher Yoon.

"When?" asked Choi Sun-Hee.

"This week. But, mom, we'll still go skiing next weekend, right?"

"We'll go on Saturday, but you have to promise to talk to your teacher about college and to start studying more seriously."

"I promise. But... only on Saturday?"

"It's better like this, don't you think?"

"Yes..."

"So you'll get serious about school, ok?"

"Yes."

"No more drawing cartoons while you're supposed to review for tests?"

"No. The only thing my pencil will produce will be notes."

"And no more cutting the self-study afternoons?"

"Oh... I've only done it for good reasons..."

"I'm not going to comment on how good they were, but you don't have so many reasons now. So no more cutting?"

"Yes..."

"I'll help you study, dear. And once you've learned how to do it, things will get easier. I have to leave you now. The painting class starts in five minutes."

"May I join it?" asked Ah-Jong quickly. "It will... put my mind in a scholarly setting."

Choi Sun-Hee smiled. "All right, you may come. Let's make a deal. You come to my painting class every week, and you may spend another two hours a week doing whatever else you want at home. But that's all. Ok?"

"Thanks, mom!" said Ah-Jong smiling and jumping out of her chair.

As school weeks went by, Ah-Jong started to get the unpleasant feeling that things had gotten very different from what they had been. Studying had suddenly gained in intensity. Increasing numbers of her classmates were preoccupied with the idea that high school was heading towards the most important exam in their lives, which was to decide the entire course of their future. Discussions at lunch were taking a more serious turn, and the number of hours spent in the study hall were soaring.

Ah-Jong herself joined this wave, but she was not getting on very well. Although Jan-Di had helped her draw a good revision schedule, she was already running behind it. Especially during weekends, it was very difficult to convince herself to study hard, except when her mother was with her.

As already planned, the second Saturday of March was spent skiing for the entire day to take advantage of the last snow of the season. On Sunday, she went out with her friends again, and then for another painting class at her mother's school. Afterwards, she prepared her books and decided that she needed a new strategy to study, so she spent the entire day reading about mind mapping. Studying was postponed.

During the next weekends, she tried to fall into a routine, but most attempts ended up with some new drawing or new idea for a necklace.

She decided to wake up one hour earlier every morning to make up for the lost time. Also, she cut her morning exercise from one full hour to only half. More at her parent's bid than at her own wish, the visits to the climbing wall that her father had for stunt men's training were reduced to only one a week.

Still, with all these efforts to upgrade her studying habits, her success was very limited. All the years of paying little attention to calculus or sciences were making it very hard for her to make sense of them.

The most useful result was that she got some new ideas for her accessories. She started to make math formulas bracelets and earrings out of wire, or buckles picturing chemical elements and molecule structures.

"Math is indeed very helpful," she told Jun-Ki one day, happy to have sold a bracelet to one of her schoolmates.

"You have no intention of taking this seriously, do you?" was his serious answer.

"I have the intention, but all I can understand about integration and differentiation is that they have some aesthetic value. Otherwise... look at this one: 'the improper integral is the limit of proper integrals as one endpoint of the interval of integration approaches either a specific real number, or ∞, or -∞.' It makes no sense at all!"

"That's because you don't study."

"I do, but still I can't understand it. I think I'll leave math and study history. At least words in the history book are properly put together."

History did seem to go down better, but after days of studying, she found that her memory had retained only what she thought funny, strange or otherwise interesting.

"Henry VIII had five wives, of which he beheaded two, and apparently, it was a pretty close shave for a third one, but he died just in time. Still, I found some very passionate love letters that he wrote for his first beheaded queen. It's the kind of romantic writing that we hardly see anymore. It's scary to see how insignificant a guarantee for a good married life are the hot declarations that start it."

"I hope that's not the only thing that you recall from World history," said Mi-Young.

"Well... I also know that Napoleon was saved by a dog after he escaped from his exile. If it weren't for that dog, Waterloo wouldn't be such a famous touristic destination. Isn't life funny?"

Ah-Jong and Jan-Di had a game they liked. It was called people-watching, and it meant sitting in front of hotels, at the train station, or in tea-shops and cafés and trying to guess what people did for a living, how their lives were, what kind of personalities they had. It had been suggested by Ah-Jong's curiosity and love of stories, but for Jan-Di, it was an excuse to spend a pleasant time chatting with her best friend.

"Do you see that boy?" asked Ah-Jong one Sunday, as they were sitting at a Starbucks in Gangnam-gu. "The one with spiky hair and a blue shirt. He thinks he's a future pop star."

"You can't say that just because of the way he dresses," replied Jan-Di, studying him. "See the girl he's with? She probably chases after pop stars, so he looks like that to impress her."

"That girl is his sister."

"What makes you say that?!"

"I've met them last year at Siwonhan when I went there for the dance audition."

"Cheater..." said Jan-Di, smiling and poking her friend with a finger.

"He took the exam with me," replied Ah-Jong, returning the smile. "I think he must have made it. He looks like he's fully prepared to give autographs."

"When you'll work in the media, you might meet him again."

"Yes," said Ah-Jong, not looking convinced.

Jan-Di watched her and became more serious. "Did you talk to Teacher Yoon?"

"I did. He doesn't seem to think that I have a chance to major in media. Actually, he doesn't give me real chances to go to college this year. He said my English and my Korean grammar don't make up for the rest of my grades."

"Did he advise you on how to get them up?"

"He recommended some private schools where to get tutoring. But I don't know. Mom just hired a new drawing teacher, and dad had to pay the hospital bill for one of his stunt men. Their finances are not in great shape. I'm thinking about some Internet classes instead. They are cheaper."

"Well, that's... also good. And I could ask my homeroom teacher to recommend some."

"Thanks! I could use some hints. But how are things with you? Did Seungcheon life get better?"

"I'm getting used to it... This style of teaching, with discussions instead of just lectures, is not very comfortable for me. I feel that I learn more this way, but... let's just say it's more tiresome when you're not one of the popular students."

"Are they still giving you a hard time?"

"Mostly Han Cho-Hee and Ku Ji-Won, her best friend. They despise all those who can't afford a vacation in Venice or a Louis Vuitton bag. Yesterday, when I opened your e-mail with the collage from our basketball game, they saw it over my shoulder and started to make nasty comments. And then, they conversed aloud about their weekend at the Johwa Resort and the tennis matches with President Choi's family."

"I'm sure they couldn't have more fun than we did," said Ah-Jong.

"I'm sure they didn't. They're too focused on their own images to have real fun."

"But you have Go Ji-Hyun now, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," answered Jan-Di, smiling. "She's so nice! I'm really glad that we found each other. Since she came to the school, I finally feel like I belong there."

"We're all grateful to her. Considering how it started, we feared that you would spend the entire senior year all by yourself."

"You've discussed it extensively, didn't you," smiled Jan-Di.

"Of course. We even discussed strategies. Yong-Jun suggested that we get the boys to make declarations for you in front of the school to show how wanted you were."

"Oh, no!" laughed Jan-Di.

"One per day. He calculated that they could be six altogether. They were even going to make poems."

"Those would have been six days from hell!"

"I'm glad that Go Ji-Hyun came and rescued you from such a prospect," said Ah-Jong, chuckling. "I would really like to meet her."

"Oh, yes, you must meet! I might be able to convince her to come with us one Sunday. But until then, I can show you some pictures."

At Ah-Jong's enthusiastic agreement, Jan-Di browsed through a few pictures that she had taken with her phone in the schoolyard.

"She seems really nice," said Ah-Jong. "And she's beautiful! Does any of the boys like her?"

"I haven't seen one yet, but she doesn't care about that. She's very serious about studying. Anyway, if those guys had any taste, they would like her."

"If they had any taste, they would like you."

"Then I fear that the boys at Seungcheon are all tasteless," laughed Jan-Di. "They probably like daughters of rich families. Imagine that!"

"Insane!" agreed Ah-Jong. "They should know by now that Cinderella is the one who's worth having."

"Maybe they can't get their hands on a magic slipper, hence their confusion."

As weeks went by, Jan-Di understood what a force and what a menace the Four Musketeers were at Seungcheon.

Whenever they entered a room, she could feel the change of mood. Even with her back turned and her eyes closed, she was still able to tell when one of them was around.

It was Gu Jun-Pyo that Jan-Di found the most intimidating. He was clever, as they all were, and he had a confident, laid-back manner that she was envying him for. He was fun and she would have liked him if it weren't for his arrogant and sometimes mean treatment of those who were not at the same level of popularity and social status.

One day, she and her schoolmates were sitting in the classroom and waiting for the teacher, when a boy approached the four and told them something. She didn't hear the words, but she saw Ji-Hoo and Jun-Pyo, who were the closest to him, lean back with matching grimaces on their faces. Jun-Pyo waved a hand in front of his nose. After the boy left, embarrassed, they whispered among each other and chuckled.

"'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet!'" declaimed Ji-Hoo.

"A word by any other mouth would smell much sweeter," added Jun-Pyo.

"The two of you are in such a lyrical mood," commented a girl.

"There's nothing like a breath of poetry," replied Jun-Pyo.

The next day, that boy found on his locker a note with a haiku:

"In your gentle words,

I swear I smell the sunshine.

Toothpaste would be nice."

The locker was full of small onions, which fell all over the hallway as soon as he opened the door. Laughing and jeering, the throng of students around him picked up the vegetables and started to throw them at him. Then, he was called to Principle Ahn's office, from which he came out pale and stuttering. For many days after that, he kept finding his desk full of either smelly things or dental care products brought in by various students. All in all, a real mess because he had a tooth cavity that had remained untreated and made his mouth smell unsavory to those brats' noses.

Others as well had to suffer the pranks of the Four Musketeers.

"What makes me mad is that I don't have the courage to tell them anything," Jan-Di told Ah-Jong while they were warming up for a jog one morning. "Nobody does. Actually, most students don't even want to because they think the jokes are funny. I have to admit, sometimes I couldn't help laughing at some of them, but the problem is that things turn out really badly for the victims. On top of having to suffer those brats' tricks, they are also in trouble with the rest of the students and sometimes with teachers and parents.

Last week, a girl spilled orange juice on So Iy-Jung's shirt by mistake. She was terrified when she apologized to him, and he was all charming and soothing, telling her not to worry about anything. He has a special way of doing that, and when he does, it's obvious you're in deep trouble. I wanted to pour all my juice on him to wipe those dimples off his face. What was the big deal, anyway? He has enough money to buy ten more shirts.

Now, the girl keeps getting her clothes dirty in the weirdest ways. She was eating when suddenly sauce blew out of her plate straight on her coat. All she did was try to cut a potato, but the thing just blew up, you know? Then, she sat on a chair that fell from under her because of a weak leg, and she pulled all the food on herself. At another time, in art class, paint came out of the other end of the tube, and her shirt sleeve looked like she had tried to cut her veins.

These things still go on. By now, it's not clear how many of them are inflicted by those four, how many by other students, and how many she inflicts on herself because she's too certain that something would happen. From what I hear, she also got in trouble with her parents for making a fool out of herself, and So Iy-Jung was the one who helped them find out. They went so far as to cancel her birthday party."

"That's the worst," commented Ah-Jong. "I would get revenge for something like that."

"The worst is that the girl likes So Iy-Jung. Even after what he has done to her!"

"Are there any girls that they like?"

"They like several and none. I don't know for sure, of course, since I couldn't be further away from their circle, but in the general gossip, they are always associated with one girl or another, though not often the same for two times in a row."

Hi guys :). I hope you like this Jan-Di and her friend, Ah-Jong. They'll get some action soon.

See you next chapter :).