Park Sunghoon

Daehan Academy was not a school.
It was a kingdom.
A place where money spoke before people and where your last name could decide your future long before you graduated.

The test was in front of the main entrance.
Three tie colors.

Red: The Elite. Children of businessmen, politicians, and families who controlled the country. Nobody could touch them.

Dwelling: Regular students. Well-to-do families who preferred to stay out of it.

Blue: The scholarship recipients. Young people with enough talent to get in, but without the money to belong.

And among all the students there was one name that commanded more respect than that of the director himself.

Sunghoon.

He was not the student president.
It wasn't the best average.
It didn't need to be.
The rules changed when he spoke.

If he decided that someone should be left alone for weeks, it happened.
If he ordered that one student be ignored, the entire school obeyed.
Not because they were afraid of school punishment.
But because they were afraid of him.
He always walked accompanied by his elite group, 5 students with red ties who were as influential as they were dangerous.
Nobody looked directly at them.

Nobody questioned his decisions.
Until that Monday.
—
A new boy arrived at the school
The conversations decreased.

A boy got out of the vehicle; his blue tie stood out in the crowd.

"Another scholarship recipient?" someone whispered.
—It won't last even a month.
The young man took a deep breath before entering.

Sunoo.
The new student.
The scholarship recipient with the highest score on the national exam.
As she walked down the main hallway, she noticed something strange.

A student wearing a purple tie was carrying the backpacks of two elite students.
Another was cleaning someone's desk.
Further on, a boy was on his knees picking up leaves that clearly weren't his.
"What are you doing...?" Sunoo asked.
The student raised his head in fear.
—It's better not to ask.
Sunoo frowned.