Chapter Text
It was a pleasant noon, but the class was chaotic.
People played ball.. it wasn't even allowed.
—"Saheon-ah, catch!"
Thwack
...
I felt a pang on my head.
The class went quiet.
My vision went dark.
Somewhere in the distance, someone shouted my name.
Then everything disappeared.
***
Faint sounds of scolding were heard.
It was the school dean's voice, fairly recognizable.
My vision was still a bit blurry.. I think I passed out.
Despite that, I could still see the brown haired boy along with the others who had also broken the rules.
I caught him glancing through the window.
...
...
I stuck my middle finger up, cursing at him.
His face changed. The dean scolded him more for not paying attention.
I sighed out of annoyance. That guy had always been bad luck to me.
Walking out of the nurses office, the dean asked about my condition and demanded that they apologize.
Some annoyed, and some sincere, I let them be and warned to not do it again. But one hadn't even apologized and left with the others.
The dean didn't notice it and just left thinking it was resolved. It was annoying, but I can't really do anything about it.
***
I saw that guy again at the stationary store. This time, he was with his sister.
—"Saheon-ie, isn't this keychain cute?? Let's get matching ones."
The two looked similar, just that his sister was slightly taller than him.
Looking back at the textbooks I was carrying, I focused back to my agenda for the day.
'let's see..'
_____________________
What to buy:
[✓] English workbook
[✓] Science textbook
[ ] xxBrand pen
[ ] Mechanical pencil
_____________________
Just as I felt someone walking up to me,
I looked up from my small note, it was a face I was familiar with.
"Soleum-nim?? Saheon-ie, your friend is here. Let's greet him!"
And the one behind her.. didn't even look pleased one bit.
"...Greetings, nunim."
"Greetings to you too," she dragged the escaping Saheon back, "Now, you too."
"..Greetings."
"..."
The atmosphere went awkward, but his sister carried on.
"So how have you been? I've seen you've grown taller! You're even taller than me now haha!"
"—not like this little guy here, he's somehow stuck," she teased as she ruffled his hair.
His face reddened by embarrassment.
Though I have to say..
from the first year of highschool til now, his height still remained the same. It would be hard to not notice.
The moment I remembered that fact, I had to cover my face.
Somehow, he looked even more pissed.
I have no idea why he's still pissed at me.
"Haha.. noona, I think we should go home. Look, mom's calling us."
"Ah, is that so?? Sorry to say but I have to go. have a nice day, soleum-nim!"
"You too, nunim."
"..."
I still remembered that I used to like her.
But not anymore, well the feelings just faded through time.
I still remember that time I rejected her because I couldn't watch a horror movie.
Heck, that was embarrassing as hell. My friends even laughed at me because of it.
I sighed.
Forget it, it was a long time ago anyways.
I quickly finished my agenda and went home.
***
The room was cold as always. I felt a chill down my spine.
With the lights still off, it looks absolutely haunted. I turned the lights on immediately because of that.
Ever since I started living alone, life had been difficult.
Not in a "oh I have no money left for the day!"
It was rather, waking up at 3am just to see your chair casting a humanoid shadow.
I hated living alone.
I took off my school uniform and changed to casual clothes.
Then I turned the television on, the usual late-night talk show was airing. I enjoyed that show.
Letting the atmosphere of the 90's style American talkshow flow in, the room didn't feel as uncomfortable as it was before.
I wrapped myself up in a blanket and slept while both the television and lights were on. It didn't feel scary that way.
***
Again, the class was chaotic. Its like a routine at this point. Though, they no longer played ball.
I glanced at Saheon, curious on what he's up to.
'...'
'???'
He was.. studying?
I mean sure he does, he's literally a rank behind me.. but I've never seen him this calm, ever.
Usually he'd play around with the other guys and make some ruckus.
I rested my head on my palm. I kept staring at him. He was sitting right across me so it's easy to see.
'..!'
I got caught looking.
With his usual negative aura, he seemingly hissed (?) and turned his back away so I couldn't see what he's up to.
'..back to his shell he goes.'
He's definitely hiding something.