Paper Cranes and Fireflies

“Maybe the plot in the fairy tale is a lie that adults told…”

“The new transfer student from Korea is very smart, a genius, even.”
Wang Junkai could not believe his ears when he heard that the new transfer student would become a
threat to his position as the top student in their school. Baffled, he was more than willing to go on a head-
to-head fight with that new girl.
Much to his disappointment, the new girl was not as smart as he believed her to be. Standing at a fairly
short height of 156 cm with that goofy smile on her face, Junkai was pretty sure that Eunchae was just
another neighborhood idiot.
However, eventually, Junkai would find the new girl being so tangled with his own life and vice versa.
Eunchae, willing to find herself a friend, ended up joining a club wherein the members would go on a
different quests each week in order to enjoy their youth.
In a world where everyone seems to be so different from one another, one might just find the similarities
between paper cranes and fireflies

“But it can calm me to sleep until dawn.”

“Do you know what makes paper cranes and fireflies different?”

“Because they don’t have anything to do with each other…?”

“No, one is busy trying to fulfill wishes while one is busy glowing to amaze people.”

“What does that even mean?”

“But do you know what makes them similar? They are busy trying to make someone else happy.
Everyone excluding them. We’re no different.”
Chapter 1:

“The beginning and the ending are just the same.”

The hustling and bustling of one of the best schools for secondary level in China was nothing new, even
the shining sun was a witness. Yinghuo Academy, built in the early 1990s in Chongqing China, had been
long respected for its quality education and excellent students. It was no surprise that the students were
on their way to that school as early as six in the morning.
“Get out of the way, please!” A boy who was riding his bicycle in its maximum speed yelled. Despite his
look of innocence that was caused by his wide smile and big puppy eyes, his black necktie was loosely
tied around his neck while his white long sleeve polo shirt did not look like it was even ironed. His navy
blue long sleeve blazer was nowhere to be found as it was kept inside his bag. However, he was wearing
his nameplate where his name was properly written—Wang Yuan.
The said boy let out a sigh of relief when he stopped his bicycle on his usual parking. Frantically, he
jumped off of his bicycle after it was parked properly. “Why are so many people still gathered around
when they’re all late already?” He asked himself and was about to dash towards the school building when
someone grabbed his wrist to stop him.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” Yuan turned to see who that person was and found his friend looking at
him with judging eyes. His friend was so different from him, calm and collected. He was wearing his
uniform properly and did not look like he was worried about anything.
“Qianxi! Great, we’re both late on the second day of classes.” Yuan flailed his arms, his eyes showed that
he was worried. “My mother is going to reduce my allowance.”
Yuan’s friend, Qianxi, frowned upon hearing the former’s words. “Late? What are you talking about?
Classes starts at 7:30.” Qianxi stated. “It’s only 6:07. Even I had just arrived.”
When Qianxi’s words registered in his mind, Yuan could not help but to let out a loud gasp. “I sacrificed
my breakfast!” He pointed at his wristwatch that was on his left wrist accusingly using his right hand. “I
sacrificed my wheat noodles and scallion pancake for this.”
Qianxi chuckled. “What? Did your watch stop? Why didn’t you look at your phone or alarm clock?”
“My alarm clock is broken and I forgot to charge my phone.” Yuan reasoned out. “Now, I’m just really
hungry. Look, I’m going to go to the convenience store for food and come back here right away.”
Without even waiting for Qianxi’s reply, Yuan ran towards his bicycle and mounted on it.
“Fine,” Qianxi sighed. “Do what you want.” He muttered to himself, watching as his friend cycled out of
the school. That kid was never normal after all. Left alone, he started walking towards the entrance of the
school building.
“E-excuse me!” An unfamiliar voice called.
Out of reflex rather than curiosity, Qianxi absentmindly turned to the owner of the voice and found a
short female staring at him with a worried pair of eyes. Her eyebrows were knitted together as she slowly
walked towards him. She was not wearing the school’s uniform. Instead, she was wearing an oversized
carnation pink hoody and a pair of black jeans.
Qianxi looked around only to see that everyone else was not paying attention which meant that the
female was indeed talking to him. “Me?” He asked, pointing at himself.
Looking shy, the female nodded. “Yes… I am lost and I need to go to the principal’s office. Do you
know where that is?” She asked, her voice was soft yet she sported a wide smile.
“Oh…” Qianxi paused for a moment, thinking of a way to describe the office. “From here, just walk
straight and turn left at the first corner and walk straight, you’ll see an elevator. Ride it to the second
floor. Upon arriving at the second floor, turn right and you’ll see the sign.”
“Thank you.” The female grinned, bowing a little as a sign of respect. After saying that, she immediately
left, letting her long wavy dark brown hair to bounce as she walked.
Without giving much thought about the female, Qianxi started his journey towards his own destination—
the music room in the highest floor of the building.

The sound of the guitar being strummed echoed throughout the music room. It was followed by a deep
yet sweet voice of a boy. Even so, in the middle of it all, he stopped strumming his guitar and singing to
let out a sigh of frustration and to lean his back onto the couch. He was a boy with handsome features—a
pair of round doe eyes, a sharp jawline, heart shape lips, and high nose. Anyone could tell that he was
famous with girls. However, he was neither smirking or smiling. Instead, his eyebrows were connected in
a deep frown.
Just then, the door opened, revealing Qianxi. “What’s with you, Junkai?” Qianxi asked the boy—Wang
Junkai. “You look so frustrated again.”
“I can’t think of a song.” Junkai replied, setting his guitar aside. He then turned his attention back to
Qianxi who casually plopped himself on the smaller couch. “Yuan is not here yet? Why am I not
surprised?” He sneered at the absence of their friend.
“He actually arrived already because his watch is broken, he thought that he was already late. He just left
to eat.” Qianxi explained for Yuan—their friend who was always late. “Back to the original topic. It’s the
second day of school but you’re more worried about our music rather than your own grades.”
Junkai chuckled however it was halfhearted. “I am Wang Junkai, I was sitting on the top since
Kindergarten. Why would I worry about my grades now? However, our music is very important. We
cannot continue our band without a song.” He reasoned out.
“And members.” Qianxi pointed out, chuckling. “Since the seniors graduated, there are only a few of us
left. How do we recruit new members?”
Junkai sighed. “Who knows? Most of the boys are too scared to tryout because they thought that we’d eat
them alive. Girls, on the other hand, are willing but those with talent are too shy to approach us. Let’s just
continue with the three of us.”
“Four, you mean.” Qianxi pointed out.
As if on cue, the door burst open, revealing a boy around Yuan’s height. He was grinning from ear-to-ear
yet he looked like a nice student with his neatly fixed school uniform. “Good morning, Yiyang Qianxi!
Good morning, idol Junkai!”
Qianxi chortled upon hearing the boy’s given nickname to Junkai. “Idol? That’s a little…”
“Idol Junkai do not mind that nickname though.” The boy retorted, almost pouting. To ask for
confirmation, he even turned towards Junkai. “Right, idol?”
Not wanting to break the boy’s heart nor wanted to accept the nickname, Junkai could only let out a soft
chuckle and smile. “Good morning to you too, Liu Zhihong. What brings you here so early in the
morning, don’t you usually come later than Yuan?” He asked, an amused smile was still on his lips.
The boy, Zhihong, rushed towards Junkai’s side as if for guidance. “I went to visit Teacher Huang early
in the morning to make a severe self-criticism for not doing any of my summer homework.” He whined.
“I mean, is it right for a teacher to suddenly call his student early in the morning just to scold him? Plus, I
barely got any sleep because he gave me an extra homework last night.”
“If you did your homework in the first place, this would have never happened.” Qianxi stated.
“I know that but he did not need to threaten me about my position as the head of the classroom monitors
in this school.” Zhihong complained.
“You are the head so you should be the one setting the example. Who voted you as the head again? They
should have just given Yuan the position. Even if he’s a real foodie, he at least does his homeworks and
never pass it late.” Qianxi decided to tease the newcomer even more.
Junkai could not help but to let out a chuckle. “Zhihong, let me guess, you really don’t want to leave your
position as the head because girls find it cool, right? You also have no plans of leaving either Tennis
club, Badminton club, Swimming club, or Chess club, right?”
“As expected, idol Junkai is the only one who understands me.” Zhihong then proceeded to embracing
Junkai with all his mind. “If I were a girl, I will marry you!” He declared.
Junkai gulped. He knew that the boy was weird. Still, despite that, the latter never failed to surprise
everyone around him. “I get it, I get it.” Junkai tried to pry himself off of the said boy but to no avail.
“My point is, how can you manage to join four clubs while being the head of the class monitors? Not to
mention, you’re our drummer.”
“Idol, idol…” Zhihong chuckled, slowly pulling himself away from Junkai. “I’m a genius drummer just
like how you’re a genius student. I can still manage looking for girls in the clubs while being a cool head
of the class monitors and a genius drummer.” He dreamily said, caressing his own head.
“His confidence is scary.” Qianxi commented.
“I know.” Junkai did not hesitate to agree, watching their friend with a baffled expression.
As dramatic as Zhihong’s entrance, the door burst open. It revealed the grinning Yuan who had around
three plastic bags in his hands. “I have arrived!” He cheerfully announced. Although he looked confused
for a moment, he continued to smile. “What were you guys talking about?” He asked. “And Zhihong is
here this early!” He gasped as if a miracle had unfolded in front of his eyes.
“Don’t underestimate me.” Zhihong protested.
“He met Huang in order to make a self-criticism for not doing his summer homework due to his own
laziness.” Qianxi explained indifferently.
“Don’t tell it like that!” Zhihong whined but he was, as usual, ignored by the rest.
Yuan shook his head, seeming disappointed. “I should just take away the monitor’s position.” Yuan
joked. “Or ask someone else to replace that boy’s position.”
Zhihong huffed. “I am doing a great job! I help out the teachers a lot too. I even help in checking the
papers of the students from Korea.” He boasted. “I checked fifty percent of the almost two hundred
examinees and stacked them from highest to lowest. I even found someone worthy to fight for the
position of the top student. Though I am on idol’s side, the girl will be a very tough competition.”
“Competition?” Junkai visibly froze. He had not heard of that word for a long time. He never had any
competition since Kindergarten. “Repeat that. You didn’t just say ‘competition’, did you?”
“What do you mean by that? There will be a smart girl from Korea?” Even Yuan sounded so surprised.
“Will she be Junkai’s classmate?”
Zhihong shrugged his shoulders. “I guess so. I just saw her test paper and the teachers were talking about
it so I eavesdropped a little. I heard that the new transfer student from Korea is very smart, a genius,
even. They said that she was continuously part of the special awardees. They talked about how she can be
idol Junkai’s greatest rival.”
“Impossible.” Junkai muttered, denying it to himself. Nonetheless, deep inside, he was threatened.

Born to be a handsome, talented, and intelligent guy, Junkai was everyone’s idol. He was at the best in
everything. Still, he could stop himself from worrying about the existence of a new student even as he
took his seat on the third row, just one chair away from the window.
“Are you okay? You look pale.” The guy who was sitting on the chair on Junkai’s right side asked.
Being not the friendliest guy, Junkai could not help but to glare at his own classmate. “Why don’t you
mind your own business, Huang Renjun? Do I look I’m scared to you? Do I seem insecure just because
of a random transfer student that I haven’t even met?” He asked, sounding so annoyed.
“Now, now, don’t get too excited. You’re temper is really scary.” The said classmate, Renjun, gulped,
looking a bit frightened. “Wait, you have also heard of the new student? It’s the talk of the seniors. It’s a
bit terrifying to hear that someone else could be at your level. Are you really not scared of being robbed
your title as the top student?” He asked.
Junkai frowned a bit. Renjun’s question had him thinking even though he would not like to admit the
truth. “Right. Why would I be so scared of someone who never appeared in front of us just yet?” He
confidently asked, leaning his back on his chair comfortably. “By the way, how did you hear of the new
transfer student? It wasn’t announced yet.” He could not prevent his frown due to confusion.
“Zhihong is the head of the class monitors yet we really can’t trust him to shut his mouth. He posted
about your new rival in WeChat and it became such a hot topic for the students. Although there are many
transfer students, he emphasized that one of them is on your level.” Renjun narrated. “No matter what, I
am on your side, Wang Junkai.” With a dreamy look on his face, he firmly nodded his head.
“But we have never met his alleged rival so we still cannot tell.” The student sitting in front of Junkai
said, smirking as he faced both Junkai and Renjun.
Junkai smirked back. “Are you threatened, Chenren? That you’ll fall to fourth place?” He teased. “Don’t
worry, I don’t care about the new student. I don’t like listening to rumors. If the new girl is as smart as
me, I'll face her head on.” He did not shake one bit at his own declaration.
“I wonder how she looks like though.” Renjun said when Chenren turned his attention away from them.
“Does she look like a nerd? Or does she look like a respectable heiress? If not, a very feminine lady? I
mean, I doubt that intellectual girls are cute.” He wondered. “Look at Chunhua, the smartest female in
our level. She is very scary yet very timid. She is not cute at all.”
“I don’t really care about how the new student would look like. When is she coming anyway?” Junkai
asked because he could not stop himself from doing so. He could not help himself. He was not looking
forward to the arrival of the new student yet he was excited to meet her. He wanted to see just what kind
of person his new rival was and if she even deserved such a big title.
Renjun tapped his chin, seeming to think about it. “If I’m not mistaken, she’ll come by tomorrow.”
“What kind of great student misses the first two classes of the academic year?” Junkai scoffed. He was
convinced, there was no way that he would be worried about the existence of the transfered student.
Right, he was not even worried. He was not bothered at all.

A teenage female walked out of the school building of Yinghuo Academy with a big smile on her face.
Clad in her oversized carnation pink hoody and a pair of black jeans with her long wavy dark brown hair
was let loose, she did not look like a hardworking student at all. One should not just another base on their
appearance though since such a student could have been a genius—or not.
Tripping due to her own feet, the female almost female fell despite wearing a pair of sneakers. She was
just a little lucky that no one was there to judge her except for the school guard who seemed to be
stiffling his laughter. Although embarrassed, the female sent the guard a wide smile and laughed a little.
“Hello, Mr. Guard! I’m the new transfer student, Kwon Eunchae, Korean-Chinese. I am looking forward
to working with you.” She shamelessly introduced herself. “Have a nice morning!”
The school guard laughed then nodded his head. “You too, Ms. Kwon.”
Grinning, the female student—whose name was Eunchae—waved at the guard as a sign of saying
goodbye before walking away. Her smile never left her face as she walked in a hurry. She was enjoying
the view of Chongqing and the air that was hitting her face. For a moment, it felt so magical that even she
could not explain.
With a dreamy look on her face, she pushed the door of a cafe open. She let her eyes wander for a little
while as if feeding them with the view. Her smile grew even wider in satisfaction because of the fact that
the theme of the cafe was heavily based on paper cranes.
“You look so creepy, Kwon Eunchae.” Upon hearing a familiar voice speak up from behind her, Eunchae
could not help but to turn around and grin at the owner of the voice. The owner of the voice was a
female, just a few centimeters taller than the 156 cm Eunchae. Her hair was tied in a neat ponytail and
she was wearing her red-colored school uniform.
“Bai Shancai!” Eunchae exclaimed, throwing her arms around her friend. “What are you doing here?
Aren’t you supposed to be in your school?” She asked, her voice was loud and high pitched due to
extreme excitement. “Did you cut classes? That’s not good.”
Eunchae’s friend, Shancai, looked around, noticing how many turned to them because of Eunchae’s loud
voice. “Lower down your voice, would you? Let’s sit down before you bombared me with question.”
After saying that, Shancai dragged the shorter girl to an empty seat.
“You did cut classes, huh?” Eunchae asked, sitting down on one of the chairs.
Shancai rolled her eyes then took her seat across Eunchae. “When I found out that your grandparents
decided to let you study here in China, I was excited. As much as I was excited, I was scared when I
found out that you would be studying in a different school—let alone at a top school where I failed to
enter to. I was told that you would go there today and coincidentally, I saw you leaving from the school
so I followed you. I will just skip classes.”
“So, you followed me because you were worried! Thank you, Shancai.” Eunchae smiled softly, looking
so touched with tears forming in her eyes. She and Shancai had been friends since middle school in
Korea, being both Chinese, they got along pretty well since it was Shancai who helped Eunchae in
learning the language. However, because of Shancai’s parents’ job, Shancai left to China two years ago.
“Still a crybaby, I see.” Shancai sneered. “You shouldn’t be a crybaby since your school isn’t just any
other school. It’s a tough competition. The Fireflies is going to have a proper debut this year but they are
no joke when it comes to academic subjects, I heard.”
“Fireflies? Why would fireflies debut and study?” Eunchae foolishly asked, looking so dumbfounded.
Looking annoyed, Shancai hit Eunchae’s forehead. “I am not talking about the insects. I am talking about
the four teenage boys called ‘The Fireflies’. Your school is not just known for intellectual students but
the talented ones too. Last year and the year before that, a band called ‘Universe’ was very well known.
However, due to the graduation of most of the members, they disbanded and there were rumors about
‘The Fireflies’.”
“Ah…” Eunchae nodded her head. “Should we order the food now?”
Shancai deadpanned. “Kwon Eunchae, let me finish my story first, okay? The rumored leader and oldest
member of the band is Wang Junkai, lead guitarist but also an awesome vocalist and rapper. He’s the top
student since he was in Kindergarten. He’s also really famous with boys and girls alike. I think that he’ll
be your classmate since he’s also in twelfth grade. The second member is Wang Yuan, eleventh grade.
He’s the main vocalist and plays the keyboard but the rumors say that he switched to guitar now because
of lack of members. He’s a real foodie. Next is Yiyang Qianxi, also in eleventh grade. He’s the bassist
and can also rap and sing. He’s the coolest and the calmest one. Lastly, we have Liu Zhihong, eleventh
grade and the youngest. He’s in charge of drums. He’s all right despite not being as famous as the first
three boys.”
“Why are you telling me these things?” Eunchae could not stop herself from asking. Then, she gasped
when an idea hit her. “Don’t tell me, they’re so famous and girls would bully anyone who come near
them. Do they also give red cards?” She naively asked, her eyes were wide in fear. “Will I end up with
one of them but not after facing his evil mother and the wrath of the other girls?”
“What are you talking about? I just want to gossip.” Shancai rolled her eyes. “Stop watching dramas and
start sorting out your own life. Plus, I’m just telling you about the band because you like singing and
playing instruments, right?”
Eunchae shook her head. “But they’re all boys. They might not accept girls.”
“They actually do accept girls but no one seems to be good enough. I want to join too but then, I am not
from your school.” Shancai let out a sigh. “Join for me, okay? You have a big advantage because you can
play different instruments. Those boys can play almost anything.”
Eunchae pouted, thinking about what her friend just uttered. She wanted to have a peaceful academic
year which simply meant that she wanted to get rid of anything that would pester her. “I’ll think about it
but I don’t really think that I am good enough.”
“Just try it. You don’t have to pass the audition or whatever test that they’re going to have. At least you
tried.” Shancai said.
“When are they set to debut?” Eunchae asked. “They will be competing with other schools’ bands,
right?” Her eyes widened in excitement. All of a sudden, she wanted to join a band that would be able to
compete with other school. She could care less about winning, she cared about the memory.
“That…” Shancai trailed off. “That won’t be possible.” She continued. “Yinghuo Academy had long
stopped joining band competitions. I think it’s because the band members are more focused on their
music. Come to think of it, they only release one song last year and performed once.”
Eunchae pouted. She suddenly did not like the idea. “Why create a band that will only appear once?
Never mind, I’m not joining. I want to create many memories with my band members if I were to join a
band.” She firmly stated, even nodding her head once as if to emphasize her point.
Shancai let out a chuckle. “That’s what I thought. Now, let’s order. Your treat.”
“Why is it my treat?” Eunchae whined, pouting even more. “I just arrived here in China. You should treat
me as a welcoming gift.”
“Look at this girl. I skipped my class for you.” Shancai pointed out, smirking as she flipped the menu that
was placed on the table.
Eunchae stuck her tongue out then smiled. Even if she were the one paying, she did not mind that much
because as of the moment, she was happy. It was like the opening of another chapter of her life and all
that she needed to do was to enjoy it as much as she could.
Chapter 2:

“The beauty of that day’s luck—to be suddenly graced with happiness, lucky.”
She was a bit stupid, Eunchae was well aware of that and became even more aware of that as she stood in
front of the bus driver, her head was hanging low and her lips were jutted out in a pout. The rain was
pouring outside and she forgot to bring her umbrella so she had no choice but to ride the bus. Yet another
problem arose.
“I’m sorry but I cannot let you in if you don’t have enough money.” The driver spoke in a cold voice,
without a hint of sympathy at all.
Eunchae regretted letting Shancai leave her alone. After hanging out for almost the whole day, it was
finally time for Shancai to run an errand for her mother.
“If you don’t have money then get off.” A female student from the middle part of the bus complained.
“We don’t have all day to wait for you. It’s already six, we still have a to study at home.”
Embarrassed, Eunchae was prepared to get off when another she felt someone standing behind her.
“Some of your money fell.” The stranger said.
Confused and lost, the female turned to face the stranger. The latter was tall and handsome and naturally,
the female was much more facinated by that than the bills in the stranger’s outreached hand. “Eh?”
Eunchae dumbly asked when the stranger took her right hand and put the money on her palm. “this isn’t
mine.” She informed the stranger.
“It’s yours. It fell earlier.” The stranger coldly stated before turning away from the female and walking
over to an empty seat as if nothing happened.
Eunchae could not stop the smile that was growing on her lips. She might be a fool however it was not
enough to trick her. The stranger just ‘saved her life’. “Thank you!” Eunchae exclaimed, facing the bus
driver and handing him the bills. “I have enough money for the fare now.” She grinned cheekily before
bowing politely and making her way to the empty seat at the back.
It was a simple act of kindness of the stranger that lifted up Eunchae’s mood even more. It was because
from that moment, Eunchae found a reason to look forward to going to Yinghuo Academy the next day—
it was that stranger whose name, according to his name tag, was Wang Junkai.

It was a little pass seven-twenty in the morning and Junkai was seated on his assigned seat, tapping his
fingers on his desk impatiently. The sun was shining so brightly outside yet it was raining in Junkai’s
heart. It was the day that he was going to meet the female who had the title “Junkai’s rival” despite not
appearing in the school before. He would be lying if he were to say that he was not a bit shaken. Still, he
wanted to prove everyone that he was the forever unbeatable Wang Junkai.
After what seemed to be forever, the bell finally rang, indicating that it was time for the students to settle
down on their seats. On normal days, Junkai would not mind it and just continue to sit down in a way that
was very unlike a model student. On the contrary, it was no normal day. He abruptly straightened his
back, pretending to be a very responsible student. He wanted to intimidate the female.
He cleared his throat, hoping that his actions were not too obvious. After all, he did not want to look like
a desperate noob. Just then, the door opened, revealing their female teacher who was on her late thirties.
She was smiling warmly as usual but the boy could not care less about it. He cared about the next person
who would enter next.
Junkai braced himself (along with few others who were anticipating of the arrival of the new student),
waiting for a girl with thick eyeglasses and braided hair to enter through the door. However, she never
did. Instead, a girl with a dorky smile followed the teacher. Contrary to Junkai’s expectation, she was just
a female with chubby chipmunk-like cheeks, a pair of big doe eyes, and cherry red lips. She let her brown
wavy hair to sway as she stood in front with confidence.
She was pretty cute, Junkai had to admit. And the boy had never felt so disappointed in his entire life
since he was prepared to battle with her—she looked like a fool to him, to be honest. Junkai knew that
judging people through their appearances was not a good trait so he did not want to let his guard down —
except it crumbled down itself when the female stumbled down because of nothing.
Almost the whole class had to stifle their laughter in order for them to not be scolded.
The new student gave them a sheepish smile before bowing deeply as a sign of respect as if nothing
weird had happened. “I’m Eunchae, Kwon Eunchae. I am a half-blooded Chinese from Korea so I am
looking forward to studying here. Please take care of me!” She cheerfully greeted.
The others could not help but to clap their hands as if the female just made an extraordinary speech.
“Ms. Eunchae, you can sit beside Junkai. Over there.” The teacher pointed. “Junkai, please assist your
classmate.” She kindly smiled towards Junkai’s direction.
With a sigh, Junkai nodded his head. He got worked up for nothing. His new classmate was not worthy of
the hype about her. Sure, she was pretty but that was about it. He was so into his victorious thought that
he did not notice that someone already occupied the seat on his left side.
“Junkai,” The said boy snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called. He turned to his
left and saw that the girl, Eunchae, was grinning at him. “You might not remember this but last night, you
were the one who paid for my bus fare, right?” Eunchae asked, her eyes were twinkling.
Junkai paused for a moment before nodding his head as a confirmation. He could barely remember
helping out another person then he recalled giving out money to a pitiful teenager. So, it was actually the
girl that he was so afraid of? He wanted to chuckle. He knew it—of course, no one could beat Wang
Junkai’s high IQ. “You don’t have to think about it.” As coolly and confidently as he could, Junkai
turned his attention back to the whiteboard.
“Okay…” Eunchae pouted like a little kid and faced the whiteboard as well to listen to their teacher.
“Now, let’s see what you do know about Mathematics.” The teacher announced in a very excited voice as
if it was the most exciting thing. The complaints of the students were all ignored by her as she scribbled a
Math problem on the board. “Come on, this should be very easy for you.”
Watching as the teacher wrote the Math problem, Junkai braced himself. He wanted to be the first one to
answer—not because he was pressured or anything, instead, he desired it just for bragging rights.
“What is the value of ten factorial?” The teacher asked, the sly grin was playing on her lips.
Junkai took out a piece of paper, ready to scribble and to solve it by himself without the use of a
calculator.
“3,628,800?” Because it was quiet as the students were trying to find the answer to the question,
everyone heard the whispers of a certain new student—and they were all dumbfounded, including Junkai.
When Eunchae noticed the everyone was looking at her way, she looked around in panic. “Is it wrong?”
She asked the teacher. “I really did not solve it. I just remember it.” She denied.
The teacher’s smile grew wider. “It’s not wrong. In fact, that’s exactly the value that I was looking for.
Now, isn’t this fun?” She asked the other students who groaned in response. “Do you also know the
answer to this question, Eunchae? What is the square root of 3 to the square root of 2 power times the
square root of 3 to the negative square root of 2 power?”
“It’s one.” Eunchae replied, smiling confidently before frowning. “Or was it three? Ten to the third
power?” She scratched her head. “It seems like one but it’s not like one.”
Junkai stared at the female in disbelief. She seemed to be a fool but at the same time, she seemed to be
smart. “Your first answer is correct.” He mumbled.
“Is it?” Eunchae’s eyes widened, facing Junkai. “Whoa, Wang Junkai just told me that my answer is
correct. I can die peacefully like this.” Junkai was taken aback due to the fact that the girl did not even
bother to hide her giddiness as she covered her blushing cheeks.
Junkai felt someone tapping his shoulder so he turned only to find Renjun looking at him and Eunchae in
disbelief. “I think that she’s a weird one.”
“I know.” Junkai nodded his head in agreement, sighing.

“One day, a person went to a horse racing area. Instead of counting the number of humans and horses, he
counted 74 heads and 196 legs. How many humans and horses were there?” Junkai asked Yuan and
Qianxi when the three of them were chilling inside the music room that was especially reserved for them.
While Qianxi and Yuan occupied the large black leather couch, Junkai was sitting on the stool near them.
It was their lunch time yet the three had nothing better to do but to stay at that place while eating their
snacks.
Qianxi threw Junkai a judging look. “Why are you suddenly asking us that Math question? Yuan is
allergic to that, he’ll have panic attacks later.” When he said that, he earned himself a playful punch from
Yuan.
“It’s just Math! I won’t die from it.” Yuan whined before turning his attention back to Junkai. “Anyway,
why are you asking us that? Go and ask some Math genius from your level or you can ask Qianxi only
since he might be good at that. I dislike Math.” He uttered.
“I’m serious, guys, so, cooperate and answer the damn question.” Junkai hissed, sounding so annoyed.
Qianxi rolled his eyes. “Did something happen? Today was the first day of the rumored brilliant student,
right? Is that why you look so annoyed?” He asked his friend, worry was absent from his voice.
Junkai groaned. “She’s actually a fool. I mean, she is an idiot at most times but she suddenly becomes
smart and beats me in answering the questions from our teacher. The question I asked you is quite easy
but who answers such questions in five to ten seconds?”
“I still don’t get why you’re angry.” Yuan commented. “If she can, then, let her be. Are you afraid that
she will take away your position as the smartest student in your grade level? I never knew that my friend
is such a coward.” He grinned teasingly, earning himself a glare from Junkai which he gladly ignored.
“More importantly, we have a band to fix and songs to write. Why don’t you just use your time in
looking for new members?”
“Let’s survive with just the three of us.” Junkai uttered.
“Actually, there are four of us.” Qianxi corrected.
“Right, four.” Junkai nodded his head, not really sounding convinced. “Zhihong never left.”
“I guess it’s time for me to come clean.” Qianxi said with all seriousness. Both Yuan and Junkai looked
at him expectantly. They probably knew how manipulative their friend was despite looking like an angel
all of the time. Qianxi let out a heary chuckle, enjoying his friends’ nervous faces. “Don’t worry, it’s not
something that bad.” He denied.
Yuan shot Qianxi a look of annoyance. “Can’t you go directly to the point for once?”
“Calm down, calm down. All I did was to make an announcement that we’re looking for a new band
member through Zhihong.” Qianxi confessed. “We are in dire need of a new member if we want to make
a decent band. With Zhihong disappearing all the time, Yuan finding ways to escape just to buy food, and
Junkai being grumpy every single day, I doubt that we would be able to write a good song.”
“Fine.” Junkai let out a defeated sigh as if knowing that there was nothing that could be done to convince
his friend. “But we go by my standards.” He tried to make a deal.
“No way.” Yuan shook his head, denying the words of the eldest. “Might as well disagree with Qianxi.
Your standards are impossible to reach. Even us barely passed.”
Junkai rolled his eyes. “We should choose the best for our band. Listen to this, this isn’t impossible at all.
One, the new member should be able to sing.” He said and the other two boys nodded as if saying that it
was already a given. “Two, the new member should know how to play at least three instruments—bonus
points if it’s the piano, bass, drums, or acoustic guitar—really well.”
“You really are against the idea of having a new member, aren’t you?” Qianxi inquired. “Much to our
luck, many students here are like that. We at least have a chance to find a new member so stop trying to
mess things up by setting up more absurd standard.”
“The new member should also know how to compose and write songs.” Junkai added, ignoring Qianxi’s
unnecessary comments. “I wouldn’t add more because if we are all satisfied with one of the applicants
then we’re all good.” He stated firmly, sounding like a leader he was born as.
“I have a question.” Yuan unnecessarily raised his right hand as if he were in the middle of a recitation.
“When is the audition going to happen?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed.
Qianxi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “This Saturday, three days from now.” He replied
indifferently. “I don’t see why we should not do it as soon as possible. I want to go on our weekly trips
again without worrying about the applicants.” He explained.
Yuan snapped his fingers. “Right! It will be good if we go to a trip with the new member. It would
strengthen our friendship and relationship with one another.” He urged. “I am suddenly excited. I’m so
tired of going to a trip with just the two of you and occassionally, Zhihong would tag along.”
“Speaking of that guy, where is he?” Junkai asked, changing the topic so that he would not have to agree
or disagree with Yuan’s suggestion. “Is he looking for girls to date again?”
“I heard he was tasked to cater all the new foreign students and tour them around despite his lack of
knowledge in English language. I think it’s because the new students are all good in Chinese.” Yuan
explained Zhihong’s absence. “And also because most of the new students are from Korea and learned
Chinese since such a young age. Come to think of it, Junkai’s rival is also from Korea, right?” He asked,
a teasing grin was forming on his lips as he looked at the eldest.
Qianxi chuckled, finding things too ridiculous.
“She is not my rival. I don’t even feel threatened by her.” Junkai argued. “I’m pretty sure that she does
not see me as her rival either. She’s just a strange kid sitting beside me.”
The three boys were not able to continue their conversation because the door was pushed open and they
turned to see what happened. The culprit surely did used all his strength just to coolly enter the room.
“Can’t you just enter like a normal person, Liu Zhihong?” Yuan asked, annoyed because he just got a
shock of a lifetime. “We are talking here like some civilized people.”
Zhihong walked over to the three. “Calm down, Wang Yuan. How can a guy be so much of a scaredy
cat? You have to learn from idol Junkai.” After addressing his words to Yuan, he turned to smile at
Junkai. “Isn’t that right, idol Junkai?” He asked, his smile never faltering.
Junkai smiled awkwardly, not wanting to hurt Zhihong’s feelings. “Just don’t do it again.”
Yuan rolled his eyes, grabbing the pillow that was placed beside him and throwing it towards Zhihong’s
direction. “Well, your idol was also surprised because of your ridiculous entrance. Try to arrive here like
a normal human being at least once a week and I’ll try my hardest to understand you.”
Zhihong yelped when the pillow was aimed at him. He turned to glare at Yuan. “Being beyond normal is
what makes me different.” He reasoned out.
Qianxi snorted, finding the whole ordeal funny. “Anyway, why are you here already? Aren’t you
supposed to assist all the new students during the lunch break. You still have more than thirty minutes
left.” He pointed out the matter.
“Bailing out on a monitor’s duty, huh? How saddening.” Yuan chimed in.
Qianxi chuckled while Junkai just could not help but to shake his head in amusement. “It’s not the first or
second time that he did it anyway.” Junkai commented.
“I am not that kind of person!” Zhihong exclaimed. “The only reason why I abandoned my duty and gave
it to my assistant is because of a student who is slowly getting into my nerves! She has became my
number one rival. But idol Junkai is mine.” He declared.
Yuan looked at Zhihong in disgust. “That’s disgusting. You just confessed your undying love for him.”
“I’m so sorry, Zhihong. But I am not into guys.” Junkai looked at Zhihong apologetically.
Frustrated, the youngest boy shook his head. “I don’t mean that! I don’t mean it that way. It’s just that
idol Junkai is my idol and I am his number one fan. However, just earlier, a girl kept on asking about idol
Junkai and about how much she admires you because you are so nice.”
Qianxi let out an amused chuckle. “In short, you are frustrated because someone is trying to steal your
position which is being Junkai’s number one crazy fan?” He inquired.
Zhihong frowned. “I am not a crazy fan, I am his protector! I am not going to let that foolish girl go
anyway near idol Junkai. I mean, what kind of idiot falls down because of nothing and not just once but
three times! She even walked into the glass door.”
“Who is the girl that you’re talking about?” Yuan asked.
“Her name is Kwon Eunchae.” Zhihong huffed in response. “Idol Junkai’s rival.”
“Eh?” Qianxi and Yuan chorused. “His rival likes him? Why?”
Junkai glared at the other two boys when they asked for the reason. “Eunchae might be a bitt interested in
me but I don’t think that she likes me, don’t get too excited.” He stated. Of course, Junkai was not stupid
he felt Eunchae’s gaze during the classes earlier that day and the girl did not even bother to hide the fact
that she found Junkai handsome. “I think it’s because she’s new to this surrounding.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Yuan nodded his head, agreeing on Junkai’s statement. “I agree, there’s no way that she’ll
like him because of his personality. But if she says that she likes him and it’s because of his face, I might
just accept it.” He said.
“You mean, you’ll let her like idol Junkai?” Zhihong asked. “But that’s unacceptable!”
“What is it to you?” Qianxi asked. “Anyway, even Junkai does not mind.” He added. “I really am
interested in meeting that girl now. She’s not only his rival but also his admirer. It’s absurd yet funny.”
“Are you going to tease me now?” Junkai deadpanned.
Qianxi and Yuan looked at each other, eyes full of mischief. “No way.” They replied but they spent the
rest of the lunch break teasing Junkai about the new girl anyway.

After school, Eunchae got too hungry so she headed to the nearby convenience store to buy something to
eat. She did not know that watching someone and admiring that person was actually quite tiring. To be
honest, she used up all her afternoon to admire Junkai’s figure. It must have scared the guy because he
ignored her existence and fled from the scene. Eunchae could only pout as her eyes scanned the snacks in
the convenience store. Junkai must have thought that she was such a freak.
Turning her head to the side, she saw the familiar image of Junkai walking inside the convenience store
with two other boys. Even though she wanted to greet him, she just chose to sulk in the corner, hiding
away from his eyes. Sighing, she took the nearest bread and headed to the counter to pay.
“That would be five yuan.” The female in the counter said.
Eunchae nodded her head. She put her right hand on her pocket to take out her wallet but the gasped
when she noticed that it was not there. “Hang on for a second.” She told the cashier, turning around to
look for her wallet. To her surprise, her pink wallet appeared in front of her face along with someone
whom she was admiring. “Junkai!” She exclaimed, not even trying to surpress the smile that was forming
on her face. Gratefully, she took her wallet. “Thank you so much.”
“Wow… she really likes you.” One of Junkai’s friends shamelessly commented from the side.
Upon hearing that, Eunchae pinked in embarrassment and so did Junkai who was just as embarrassed.
“Just hurry and pay.” Junkai told Eunchae who followed anyway. “Then, leave.” He ordered.
Eunchae pouted but did not complain. Instead, she nodded her head. “Yes, take care on your way home.”
She told the lad before turning to the said lad’s friends. “You too, Junkai’s friends. I’m Eunchae by the
way, it’s nice to meet you!” She introduced herself. Feeling Junkai’s scary glare, she gulped before
waving her hands. “Goodbye!” She said before running away—hiting her head on the glass door and
tripping twice in the process but she did not stop and continued on her way.
“His glare is so scary but my heart beats faster.” Eunchae hit her head. “He’s so awesome.” She sighed.
As she walked, she saw a poster on her way—abandoned on the street. Having a deep sense of
responsibility, she picked it up to throw it away. “Eh? Fireflies Band auditions? Not limited to gender and
race as long as a student of Yinghuo Academy?” She gasped. She felt like the heaven was on her side.
She found a way to get closer to Junkai and at the same time, be a member of a band.

“Among billions of people, I still met you.”

Chapter 3:

“To be honest, I’m a bit afraid—this new surrounding and this unfamiliar space.”
“’Nice to meet you’ —I practiced this so much. Even now, I feel like my heart is going to burst.”
Eunchae’s grip around the strap of her pink backpack tightened when she noticed how the cat was staring
intently at her from the other side of the street. She could feel herself shaking as she started breathing
profusely. Her insides were churning and she knew that she was already beyond terrified. Tears formed
in her eyes as she pleaded to the cat in her mind. Losing all her rationality, she started screaming and
started to ran away.
As she ran towards the direction of their house, screaming, she refused to look back and to check if the
cat was following her. Even by seeing the familiar house from a nearer distance, she could not help but to
scream. Panicking, she pushed the gate open and immediately locked it when she managed to come
inside the house. She was panting as she leaned on the cold black gate.
“Is everything okay?” An old lady came out of the house, worry was painted all over her face as she
looked at Eunchae’s direction.
Holding back her tears and forcing a big smile to form on her lips, Eunchae shook her head. “I just got
really hungry so I rushed back here. Then, I squealed in delight, grandmother.”
That response of her earned her a hit from her grandmother. “I got scared, thinking that something might
have happened to you.” Her grandmother nagged, hitting her head. “Go and get changed. Eat after you’ve
taken a shower.”
Smiling goofily, Eunchae nodded her head and saluted her grandmother. “Yes, ma’am!” Letting out a
dorky laugh, she quickly vacated the place—not forgetting to place her shoes properly on the shoe rack—
and ran to her bedroom that was located on the second floor.
As expected from someone with a bright personality as hers, her room was colored in a bright shade of
pink. Her furnitures and dressers were all white while her bed sheets and pillows were in lavander color.
Stuffed animals were all over her bed as if waiting to be cuddled by her. Various musical instruments
were also found inside her room—a keyboard was placed at the corner along with a purple acoustic
guitar, red bass guitar, and a xylophone. The dorky smile never fell off of Eunchae’s face until the
moment she closed the door behind her. She sat on her bed and removed her long black socks, revealing
her bruises on her legs.
“When will these things heal?” She asked no one in particular, sighing. Not bothering to remove her navy
blue blazer and not caring if her skirt got crumpled, she lied down on her bed. She was pouting as she
reached for her pig stuffed animal. “I feel so sad.” She talked to the animal as if it would reply. “I mean, I
got to a good school. Not only it is one of the best schools, it is known for having the best school uniform
in China.” She chuckled bitterly. “But I am…” She paused and then let out a sigh, not wanting to finish
her sentence anymore. She sat up and shook her head, setting her stuffed animal aside. “Let’s not be like
this, Eunchae. Let’s be happy.”
Gasping upon remembering the already forgotten poster that she kept in her bag, she hurriedly pried her
backpack open. The navy blue colored poster was staring right at her that she could not help but to smile.
“I want to join the band and be closer to Junkai.” Eunchae grinned softly. For some unknown reason, she
felt like she had found something interesting in her new school and she was willing to explore it.
“Compose! Ah, I have to write a new song fast!” She urged herself, hurriedly taking out a notebook from
one of her drawers and giggling in excitement. She just found something to be excited about.
Eunchae let out a yawn as she descended the bus. She stretched her body, feeling too lazy to go to school
despite it only being there for merely a week. It was a Friday, the day right before the auditions for the
Fireflies band, but she was already losing her hope to pass despite the fact that she already had a song
prepared. For the past days, she had been trying to make friends but then, everyone seemed to have their
own groups already—even Junkai who appeared to be a loner during class hours but actually got tons of
acquaintances and his own group of friends.
The female’s admiration to the guy remained constant in spite of the fact that he would usually give her a
cold shoulder and ignore her annoying existence. She still admired his kindness and politeness towards
everyone including herself.
“Yawning while walking to school. Surely, idol Junkai won’t find that attractive.” Someone cackled.
Eunchae did not need to think twice to know who it was. For the past days, she had been aware that
someone else was admiring Junkai almost as much as she did and that person was no other than someone
named Liu Zhihong. She turned to face the said male only to narrow her eyes at him. “What do you
want? Go away.” She snarled.
“I bet idol Junkai had never even looked towards your direction.” Zhihong feigned a sympathetic gesture,
earning himself a harder glare from the female which he blatantly ignored. “Lucky me, I am on the same
band as my idol. Unlike you, you are his rival even.” He teased.
Eunchae flared her nose in annoyance. She knew that the boy was straight and so was Junkai—although
she could not be too sure—however, she still did not like the fact that Zhihong and her were admiring the
same person but the boy got more privilage. “I am also joining that band of yours!” Eunchae declared.
She was about to argue more but she cut herself off when Zhihong’s words finally managed to sink into
her mind. “Eh? Rival?” She asked, confused.
“How stupid are you? Didn’t you know that everyone sees you as idol Junkai’s competition? He also
thinks that you are his rival since I heard that you are so good in recitation. And in Mathematics which is
my idol’s favorite subject.” Zhihong stated, fixing his already fixed hair just for effect.
Eunchae gasped even though things were not completely sorted out in her mind just yet. “That’s a fatal
mistake of mine then. What do I do?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. “I cannot let him think
that I am a threat towards him. President of classroom monitors, help me.” She held the boy’s arm.
Zhihong, as if enjoying Eunchae’s dilemma, shook the girl’s hand off of his arm. “No can do.” He shook
his head. “Oh, look at the time.” He looked at his nonexistent wristwatch. “I better hurry now.” After
sticking his tongue out, he hurriedly fled away from Eunchae who already had a grim expression on her
face just from the thought that Junkai must have hated her.

“Eunchae, do you know the answer?” Their Mathematics teacher, like the other days, directed her
question towards Eunchae right away. The latter, however, shook her head instead of coming up with a
guess that would most likely be the correct answer. “Pardon?” The teacher asked, a bit taken aback due to
the fact that her most enthusiastic student’s behavior.
“I don’t know the answer.” Eunchae replied, looking down in shame. She actually knew, not because she
was a genius or anything of that sort but she just happened to answer a similar answer like that before. In
spite of her knowledge, she decided to keep quiet because she believed that Junkai had already started
hating her. It was not just because she admired the boy, it was also because she did not want to be loathed
by anyone around her. She let out a sigh, looking out of the window to let her mind wander.
“Teacher…” Eunchae heard Junkai calling for the attention of the teacher, making her pout a little. That
must be how he was before she came and maybe, he liked it that way better. Whether she were in Korea
or in China, she was still very burdensome, huh? Heaving another sigh, she rested her head on her table
as she let Junkai answer the questions written on the glass board.
“Eunchae, don’t sleep on my class.” Eunchae almost let out a loud yelp when the teacher spoke in a stern
voice, making some of her classmates snicker. In a painfully slow manner, she lifted her head and smiled
at the teacher who was glaring at her. She could also feel her classmates’ gazes at her—even Junkai’s
who was writing something on the glass board. “Why are you sleeping? Is my class boring?” The teacher
asked, her voice was stern.
Eunchae opened her mouth to explain but no words came out because she did not know what to say so
she hang her head low in shame instead.
“She is not feeling so well.” Eunchae’s eyes widened when she heard someone explaining for her instead.
Still wide-eyed, the female met eyes with her savior—Wang Junkai. “I think her head is aching or
something.” The male continued, breaking the eye contact to face the teacher.
The teacher’s expression visibly softened. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” She sighed, turning to
Eunchae. “Do you need to go to the clinic? No, never mind that question, go to the clinic. Wang Junkai,
accompany her.” She commanded.
“Me?” Junkai voiced out but gave in anyway.