Chapter 1:A NEW BEGINNING
Seoul, South Korea.
The city was already awake before the sun had completely risen.
Cars moved along the busy streets, students hurried toward school, and enormous screens displayed advertisements for the newest K-pop groups.
Among the crowd was Kim Ha-rin, holding the straps of her backpack tightly.
Today was her first day at Hanbit Arts Academy, one of the most prestigious performing-arts schools in Seoul.
Ha-rin stopped outside the enormous school gates.
“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “Just breathe.”
She had dreamed about studying music for years. But she had never imagined that her first day would make her this nervous.
As she walked through the gates, she immediately noticed something unusual.
Almost every student seemed to know each other.
Some were carrying dance shoes. Others had guitars, microphones, or folders filled with music sheets.
Then Ha-rin heard screaming.
“THEY'RE HERE!”
She turned around.
A black van had stopped near the main entrance.
Seven boys stepped out.
The crowd immediately surrounded them.
“It's them!”
“It's the Seven!”
“Jiho!”
Ha-rin stared.
She had heard about them.
They were Hanbit Arts Academy's most famous trainee group, NOVA7.
The seven members were preparing for their official debut.
Their leader, Jiho, walked ahead calmly.
Behind him came Minjae, Hyunwoo, Taesung, Jaejun, Seojin, and the youngest member, Doyun.
Ha-rin tried to move away from the crowd.
Unfortunately, someone bumped into her.
Her notebook fell to the ground.
“Oh!”
Before she could pick it up, someone reached down and grabbed it.
Ha-rin looked up.
It was Seojin.
He handed the notebook back to her.
“You dropped this.”
“Thank you.”
Their eyes met for a brief moment.
Seojin looked at the notebook, then back at her.
“You're new.”
Ha-rin nodded.
“First day.”
He gave a small smile.
“Good luck.”
Then he walked away.
Ha-rin watched him disappear into the crowd.
She shook her head.
“Focus, Ha-rin.”
She had come here to study.
Nothing else.
---
Later that morning, Ha-rin entered her music classroom.
The teacher looked at the attendance sheet.
“Kim Ha-rin?”
“Here.”
“Welcome to Hanbit Arts Academy.”
Ha-rin smiled.
But before she could sit down, the teacher made an unexpected announcement.
“This semester, students will participate in a major school performance competition.”
The classroom immediately became noisy.
“And,” the teacher continued, “the winning student will get the opportunity to work directly with one of the school's trainee groups.”
Ha-rin's eyes widened.
That sounded exciting.
But then the teacher added:
“There is one important rule. You will not choose your team. The academy will assign everyone.”
Ha-rin suddenly felt nervous.
She had no idea that this competition would completely change her life.
And she certainly didn't know that by the end of the semester, she would discover a secret that NOVA7 had been desperately trying to hide.
A secret that would begin with one anonymous message.
And that message was already waiting for her.
TO BE CONTINUED…
