“You just jumped off the roof?” Inhye asked the boy before her. He was an inch or two taller than her but his presence made him feel far more powerful. The girl wanted to step back but getting closer to the edge seemed like a horrible idea. Plus his aura felt cool and refreshing and rid her of potential sweat stains. Inhye stood her ground and stared straight into his eyes as he looked back at her and said nothing.

    “Yeah,” he said, not breaking eye contact. Inhye felt a bit annoyed but knew that this interaction could determine who would be in charge and she didn’t want to be submissive.

     “So how are you still up here?” she asked, wanting an answer. Also wanting to put her hands on her hips so emphasize how annoyed she was, but he was standing still and she felt the need to mirror him. The boy continued to look at her and raised his head a bit, as if he was sizing her up. She stood her ground and made sure her eyes followed his. It may be a new school and her mother may be having an emergency, but talking to a strange pale boy on the rooftop was an unusual experience and Inhye wanted to explore it fully. She found the rooftop on her own, so it could have been fate. The girl was willing to stand face to face with this guys for hours if need be.

    “I...fell,” he said, his head still cocked back but his tone unsure. Instead of raising an eyebrow, she mimicked him and also cocked her head back.

    “You fell, upwards?” she asked, saying her words slow and unsure the same way he did. If he was going to be weird about it then she could be weird too. The boy blinked a few times and slowly lowered his head back into its normal position.

    “Of course,” he said. The girl found him to be so interesting yet so annoying. She followed his action and slowly lowered her head back down as much as she could while still maintaining eye contact.

     “Show me,” she said. The boy didn’t move whatsoever so Inhye didn’t either.

     “No, you show me,” he said. It took all Inhye had in her not to huff and stomp her foot. What was this kid’s deal?

     “Show you what?” she asked, nearly shaking from how difficult it was to stand perfectly still and maintain eye contact. He was blinking so she could blink as well, but she could sense a neck cramp coming on. Or maybe that was her mind playing tricks on her.

     “How you fall upwards,” he said. With this he put a hand in his pant’s pocket. Inhye wasn’t wearing pants but rather a skirt, so she could only put her hands in her blazer pockets, which she did.

    “I can’t fall upwards. Show me how you do it,” she said, wanting to progress the conversation. He had two dark freckles above his right eye that were so hard not to directly look at. She had to maintain eye contact and hold her power.

      “Why?” he asked. Inhye pressed her tongue to the back of her two front teeth and held back her frustration.

     “Why did you jump off the roof?” she said.

    “Why wouldn’t I?” he said. Oh my gosh this is going absolutely nowhere. Different tactic.

    “What’s your name?” she asked.

    “Why should I tell you that?” he asked. Fine, play the why game, pale boy.

    “My name is Inhye, what’s your name?” she said.

     “Jaebum,” he answered. She couldn’t hold herself back from raising her brows with mild shock that he answered her question. Was it because she told him her answer first? Was it because she asked twice? Or was he getting as annoyed with her as she was with him?

     “Nice to meet you Jaebum,” she said. He stood there and stared into her eyes. She kept herself still and thought of what she wanted to know from him. He was some random boy on the roof who probably goes to this school but is unnaturally pale and is giving off a literal cold vibe.

    “Why did you jump off of the roof, and fall upwards?” she asked, doubting he would give her an answer but it was worth trying.

     “Why would I tell you?” he asked.

     “I wouldn’t jump off the roof because I don’t want to get hurt, so I’m never going to jump off of a roof,” she said.

     “Really?” he asked with a raise of his brow.

     “Yep. So why did you? Did you want to get hurt? Did you want to kill yourself?” she asked, and with that she realized that this question is pretty deep and somewhat personal. But you can’t just witness someone jump off a building then reappear a five seconds later as if nothing happened.

    “I did jump off the roof to kill myself,” he said. An actual answer, nice. But it still didn’t make all of the pieces connect.

    “So how are you standing right here? Are-” she asked but cut herself off. She was about to ask “Are you dead?” but then, oh god.

   “I’m alive. Are you?” Inhye asked Jaebum.

     “No,” he answered.