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The drive home is quick and painless. Well, kind of.

You've given yourself a headache from thinking so hard. You sit on the couch, not wanting to move; not wanting to breathe.

What just happened?

There’s not even enough energy in you to try and think it out, so you decide to call Sungji and tell her everything. After a couple of rings, a tiny voice yells “Where are you? I thought you were coming to get your crap!”

Vicious little mouse.

“Sungji, I need you to come over.”

You can tell this isn't what she wants to hear, and you prepare yourself. “You want me to bring your things? Lee Haeyeon, do I look like a delivery service?” she scoffs. The mention of your full name makes you hesitate a bit before continuing. “No, that’s not it. Something kind of weird happened.” You exhale into the speaker of the phone. “Just… Please.”

The last word is forced, and it sounds so desperate coming out of your own mouth. You’re sure now that Sungji has caught the hint and you can hear her rummaging around on the other end of the phone. “ETA fifteen minutes, okay?” is all you hear before she hangs up. Even after the call is over, your phone still sits comfortably in your hand next to your ear. Eventually, you move your phone onto your lap.

You allow yourself to sit completely still as your mind runs at a thousand miles per hour.  

If he was in the car, why wasn’t he hurt?

Why do I keep bumping into him?

How did he do that?

Who is he?

For Christ’s sake, I don’t even know his name.

And why—

There’s a loud knock at your door.

You tap the display on your phone to check the time - 12:15 pm. You wonder how long you’ve been sitting in the same spot. Trying not to seem too anxious, you take your time making your way to the door and look through the peephole.

Sungji is standing outside with coffee and sushi. You almost have to physically stop yourself from smiling at the sight. She knows you so well.

Just as you open the door, she bursts in and drops your backpack behind the door. She then places the coffee and sushi on the middle cushion, and finds her favorite spot on the couch: Right cushion. It’s kind of a thing you guys have; she sits on the right, and you across from her on the left.

“Okay. I’m ready,” she says as she kicks off her shoes and brings her legs up to sit criss-cross on the couch. As you take your respective spot, you spend the next half hour telling her everything to do with him.

The first time you saw him, the “near-death” stair trip, and the car.

At first, Sungji prepared herself for a hopeless romance story, or perhaps just a lengthy rant. But as the story progressed, she became more and more curious about the mysterious boy.

By the end of your story, the coffee had disappeared and only an unopened package of soy sauce remained.

You both sit in silence for a few seconds, until Sungji shifts in her seat a bit.

“So…” she begins. “What are you going to do?” She places her empty coffee cup on the table to the side of her, and turns back to face you. “I mean, you have to talk to him. And it’s not like he doesn’t know that you know about, you know, the whole disappearing thing.”

You play with your bottom lip again, the thought of talking to him making your skin crawl. You clear your throat, and look up at Sungji.

“You’re right. I guess I have to. I have way too many questions without any answers, and this is the only way I’ll get them.” You scratch your chin and laugh lightly. “It would just be easier if I at least knew his name.”

Sungji grabs the remaining piece of sushi and shoves it in . Cheeks full, she looks up at you, proclaiming, “Only one way to find out, right?”

Today’s the day.

You’re dreading it in some ways, but you also feel a sense of determination pushing you forward. It’s about time you find out what’s going on with… whatever his name is. But where to start?

You rummage through your locker, multitasking between trying to find your biology book and figuring out how to find someone that disappears. It’s like trying to hold air in your hands. You just can’t. How were you going to find him?

You decide to stick with every movie you’ve watched that includes this certain line about searching for someone: Let him find you first.

You puff out a breath of air aimed upward, and let a breeze lift your bangs from your forehead and spread across the top of your face. Just as you’re closing your locker door, another breeze hits you and goosebumps inch up your spine. You jerk your head around, eventually turning your whole body more than a few times to look for the source.

A girl at the locker next to you watches you carefully as she turns the combination lock, obviously trying to hurry and get her stuff so she can quickly move away from you. You lock eyes with her and your cheeks promptly turn a dark shade of pink as you slow to a stop. With a nervous laugh and an awkward nod, you trip over your heels and rush to your next class.

You end up five minutes late to your history class, and get an earful from your professor as he makes sure to emphasize the fact that “you are an adult” and that you should “sort out your priorities.” You sink down into the safety of your chair and try your best to avoid the eyes of your classmates.

“Everyone, turn to chapter eighteen of your book and we will begin to discuss Egyptian gods and their myths,” your professor says enthusiastically. You check the index to find the chapter you’re looking for and finally see that it’s on page 396.

“Three-ninety six, three-ninety six,” you silently hum to yourself. Upon arriving to page 396, you read the chapter summary and begin taking notes in your notebook. This chapter is split up into three sections: the first talking about different gods, the second talking about their myths, and the third talking about each of their downfalls.

One of the gods mentioned in the chapter catches your eye.

You push up at the rim of your glasses and squint at the words in your book; they read “Ra, god of the sun.” You skip ahead to the section on Ra, glancing up quickly at the teacher to check that he doesn’t notice you're reading ahead. You scan through the paragraphs, noting the section on Ra's downfall. To your surprise, there isn't any information about a downfall at all. According to Egyptian myth, Ra still presides over the earth and continues to this day to claim his throne as sun god. You again skip ahead in the chapter, but stop when a picture of an Egyptian wall painting appears.

It's a painting of a woman with a lioness head, and a serpent, sitting comfortably on top in the shape of a