"더 웃어야 해, 리사."

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A U T H O R ' S  P. O. V

"You sure about this L?"

"Yeah, just go ahead first with Mina unnie, I already told you why, Bam."

Bambam just chuckled, his cousin was really desperate for wanting to live in normalcy, he can't blame her though, being a known person other people has expectations for can sometimes be suffocating. His mind suddenly darkened at the thought of the Jeons, maybe it was an advantage for them that they unhesitatingly cut all their ties with them when the news about the accident spread.

Now his cousin doesn't have to worry about a thing, the people believes that they're gone, hence no one will bother to pry with their personal lives.

"Okay then, we'll go ahead, but if you need anything call me." Bambam directed a knowing look towards Lisa.

"Sure, and besides, I'm not a baby anymore, I can handle myself thank you very much," The brunette rolled her eyes, "See you when I see you." Lalisa waved one last time at Bambam and Mina with a smile before leaning on the school gate.

They were still pretty early for class, but there were already a noticeable amount of students roaming around the gigantic academy. So she did feel a little conscious when she felt some eyes on her as people pass by the gate, she thought that it was probably because she was new here. She did mentally thank her cousin, though she wouldn't admit it, because those eyes eventually diverted towards Bambam and Mina who continued to walk forward, probably already used to the stares.

If you're wondering why she stayed at the gate so that Bambam and Mina can take the lead, it was because if Bambam really is famous here, then she repeats; peaceful life no more. Though it turned out to be a good choice judging by the jealous and awe-struck eyes following the couple's figures.

It was a good start and Lalisa was in fact ecstatic, she's been homeschooled for years and even though the academy she is attending is far from normal, who cares? At least she's waving goodbye to the home tutors, piano lessons, vocal lessons, archery training, basically everything her grandmother could ever think of. Before, she only ever hung out with the maids, butlers, Bambam and Jieun. Now, she can create conversations with teens her age.

She thanked the Gods that a popular couple broke up recently inside the school, not because she dislikes them, but because all the attention was directed at them so no one really paid attention to her, she may even be invisible to others and she's extremely thankful for that. It's not that she thinks that they'll pay attention to her otherwise, but then again, she's read a lot of clićhe teen fictions.

Another thing that she was thankful for, is that two students actually approached her with warm smiles while she was organizing her new locker. One boy and one girl.

"Hi! You must be new here." The cheerful girl greeted with a bright smile which Lalisa returned to be polite. "Yeah, I actually am."

"Welcome to Kyeongsoo High! My name is Park Chaeyoung by the way."

"Nice meeting you, Chaeyoung, my name is Lalisa Manoban, but Lisa's fine."

Lalisa didn't know if her mind was playing tricks on her, but the two visibly tensed a little bit at the mention of her last name. Maybe she should've followed Bambam's advice of changing her surname after all, but she didn't bother to do so as Manoban was a little generic in Thailand.

She sighed in relief when Chaeyoung shrugged it off and plastered a small smile on her face before nudging the tall male beside her, who seemed to jump a little before smiling at Lalisa with his lips forming a boxy shape.

"Kim Taehyung, but you can call me V whichever you prefer, and I hope we can be friends with you, Lisa."

A good start indeed, it was going to take a few more minutes before her first class, yet she already made new friends. She even asked them why they even bothered to approach her in the first place.

Chaeyoung chuckled. "To be honest, at first we were a little hesitant to do so because you have this cold aura around you, but you looked a little lonely, no offense."

"None taken." Lalisa smiled.

"You should smile more, Lisa," Chaeyoung noted as Taehyung nodded his head in agreement, "You look prettier and less cold when you do."

Lalisa blushed at that statement, she wasn't used to other people complementing her as the only ones who did were her family and Jieun, considering the fact that she's been locked up her whole life.

"Aw, you're cute." Taehyung added, which didn't help Lalisa's blushing situation at all, this caused the brunette's new friends to laugh harder.

Lalisa actually expected these two to be popular, considering their godly-teir visuals, that or there really is just a lot of good-looking people in this academy. When Lalisa voiced out her thoughts, Chaeyoung and Taehyung cackled like she said the stupidest thing a person could ever say.

"We wish we were, Lis," Taehyung said. "But we're thankful with our current status, especially when you consider this school's unlikely petty dramas."

Lalisa's mouth formed an 'O' in understanding.

"So where are you from, Lisa?" Lalisa tensed at that question, she still wasn't ready to tell her friends her real identity, as they only met minutes ago, so she settled with the rehearsed lies Bambam helped her with to secure operation; protect thy identity.

"I'm a foreigner as you guys can tell, I was born in Thailand but my family moved to Daegu when I was young and grew up there, and now since I'm already a teenager we moved to Seoul recently." Lalisa answered, she was usually bad with lies but she has to do this.

"Hey! We are from the exact same hometown," Taehyung's face lit up, but then turned to a pondering look. "But why haven't I seen you before? There are only a few schools there, we should have run into each other somehow."

Crap.

Lalisa panicked, of all the birthplaces here in Korea, her new friend really had to be from the same hometown as hers. "W-Well, actually I've been homeschooled all my life, that probably explains it."

Finally her mind decided to cooperate with her.

"That explains why you're good at hangul, I mean I grew up in Australia but also moved back here in Seoul," Chaeyoung suddenly spoke in english, not forgetting to nail her aussie accent. "My bad, but do you speak english?"

I'm a heiress, Chae. "Yeah, I can." She responded in the same language.

Taehyung cleared his throat, catching the attention of the two "I'm still here you know."

"Sorry, Tae," Chaeyoung snickered. "I forgot you can't speak english fluently."

Taehyung rolled his eyes.

Lalisa grinned, so far it has been normal and nothing out of the ordinary happened, yet.

"Lalisa?"

The conversation of the three was cut off by an awfully familiar voice, Lalisa's grin grew even wider, she knew who's voice it belonged to.

"Jieun unnie!" The older girl smiled and engulfed Lalisa in a brief hug.

"Anyways, what are you doing here alone? Where is-" Jieun stopped mid-sentence when Lalisa shot her a knowing look, she quietly laughed at her mistake before mouthing a sorry.

"I meant, I hope you have a good first day, if you need anything I'll be around okay?" Jieun rephrased.

Lalisa rolled her eyes. "You said the exact same words my cousin said earlier, I'm not a baby anymore unnie." She whined, causing the older girl to chuckle once again.

"Whatever you say L, anyways I'll be heading to my first class, see you!" With that last sentence Jieun waved and smiled once last time before disappearing.

Lalisa waved back before turning to look back at her friends, only to find them looking at her in shock with their jaws hanging ajar. This caused her brows to connect in confusion.

"You guys okay? You look like you just saw a ghost." Lalisa snickered.

"Y-You're close with Lee Jieun?" Taehyung asked, still in shock for some reason Lalisa does not know.

"Uh, yes?" She was confused, so what if she talked to her unnie?

Chaeyoung placed both of her hands on Lalisa's shoulders. "Then why are you even hanging out with people like. . .us?"

"Uh, because you guys were actually decent enough to approach this lonely transferee." Lalisa pointed to herself, she still doesn't get why they're so shocked.

"Lis, Jieun-sunbae is basically my idol, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one, the feeling's probably mutual with the rest of the student body of this academy."

Lalisa then started to connect the dots. "You mean. . .she's famous here?"

The two both nodded eagerly as if they were educating a person who's been living under a rock her whole life, she has been after all, the only difference is that she's living under a mansion, not a rock.

"Well, I can't blame you," Chaeyoung starts to regain her composure as well as Taehyung. "You're new here after all, but you two do seem close, we figured she already told you."

"She might have left that little detail out." Lalisa mentally cursed both Jieun and Bambam for not mentioning this small detail. It's not that she wants to completely avoid them, she just wants to take things as slow as possible.

"But, oh my God, can I hug you Lis? I've never interacted with her before." Chaeyoung admitted shyly.

Lalisa chuckled at her cuteness but still proceeded to hug her first anyways, she can already tell that she'll be enjoying both Chaeyoung and Taehyung's company. She doesn't want the two of them to think that just because she's apparently close with a famous person, she'll abandon them,

She's not like that.

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"You should smile more, Lisa."

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I'm feeling better now compared to the past few days, so I said imma update cause why not?

Unedited of course.

But continue to stay safe and healthy everyone :) And thank you for 2k reads guys <3

Luv y'all

Author-nim outtt