A shrilling sound breaks the silence of the morning. It’s one of those persistent buzzing that echoes against every corner of the room. He fumbles his hand around the nightstand, blindly swinging around to shut the alarm off. He smacks the square alarm clock a bit too hard, causing it to fall to the floor and yet even under the impact it still reads the time in thin green print:

6:00 a.m.

             Summer has passed by without pause and here it’s become early fall.

             September.

            Today marks the last first day of high school, and he’s dreading it already.

          His head throbs as he sits up in bed. A vein pinches tight against the surface of his temple and he groans in disbelief. Thinking, this has to be the perfect way to start the day.

           He tears through his closet quickly for the frumpy school uniform. Fresh from the cleaners, it’s encased in a plastic covering. The trousers are loose on his legs, cutting off right above his ankle. The dress shirt still warm, sliding on with ease as his arms press out the crisp lines.

It’s nearing half seven and he begins to worry about getting to school on time. Ms. Kim is in the living room when he comes down. She’s blasting music under the whirling sound of the vacuum.

Runny egg yolk drips from the corner of his lip and plops onto a toasted piece of rye bread. He chews quickly despite the overwhelming heat. After he slings the bag over the base of his shoulder, slips into his loafers and takes off.

                                                                                 —

          School is close by. Well, if you consider a 15-minute sprint ‘close’, then yeah he lives close. Soon Woohyun begins to see other classmates, as if they’re multiplying, all wearing that tacky uniform. And despite being a senior, they all seem unfamiliar.

Woohyun kicks a rock forward with the tip of his shoe. He watches as it skips over every crevasse of concrete. But with his eyes set on the ground, he doesn't realize he’s headed for a collision. He’s knocked back, first landing on his and then his head. He winces in pain, holding the back of his head with his hands.

Suddenly a shadow casts over him. It’s a boy wearing thick black frames. He’s hugging loose papers with one arm, his other hand is extended out to him. the papers spill out and they both scramble to grab them. Woohyun catches a few flying papers with his feet and hands them back to the other. His cheeks are rosy and his eyes wide as he frantically tells him it’s alright.

             “Don’t worry about this! You’ll be late!”

“ Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. This is the least I can do.”

The boy shakes his head.

“I’m the one who knocked you over, I should be apologizing.”

Woohyun handed him the last of the flyaways and the boy cracks a subtle smile.

“Thanks, and again, I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Woohyun hears the first-period bell sound and he turns on his foot to leave when the boy calls out to him asking for his name.

              “It’s Woohyun, Nam Woohyun.”

He calls his name softly but the wind carries it away far from his ears.

—-

                  “Nam Woohyun, It’s the first day and you’re arriving late already!”

Mr. Kang, a tenured teacher, stares him down from his tall wooden podium. He is critical and cracks stale jokes to make up for his lacking personality. Since Woohyun’s first year, Kang has been on his for just about everything.

          Woohyun can hear his discolored tweed jacket stretching as he leans over him.

                 “Take your seat.” He says, loud enough for the kids in the back to hear and then an “I’ll deal with you later” only for Woohyun’s ears.

Woohyun turns to face the class. They’re disinterested, not even half of them care that someone just walked in.

                   “Now!” Mr. Kang starts, “ I know it’s your first day back but we’ll be jumping in right away so prepare yourself!” 

Everyone groans.

                  “The first thing I’d like to address is our new addition to our class for the year,”

     Mr. Kang calls to someone in the hallway. The door slides open gently and in he walked. He stands beside Mr. Kang, his hands folded behind his back

                  “Hello, my name is Kim Sunggyu.”

      Woohyun begin to wonder if he’d just moved to the city. It seems kind of odd to get a new transfer in the last year. Looking at him again, Woohyun noticed his face was soft, something about how his cheekbones protruded and his creaseless eyes folded as he smiled.

The kids whispered, some girls gasped and snickered, but soon enough Mr. Kang called them all to attention.

“Don’t get too excited, he’s not a student. Mr. Kim here is preparing to be a teacher so he’ll be observing our class.”

            Huh?! He’s not in high school??

           Sunggyu’s wandering stare found Woohyun in his own state of shock but shifted after a glance. He smiles to himself and Woohyun questions his smugness.

           When the first period ends, the girls swarm Sunggyu. They bombard him with endless questions… useless questions. Woohyun, disinterested, wandered the halls. He headed to the gymnasium. He presses against the thick gym doors with all his weight. He loosens his tie until he’s able to completely slip it off his collar. He scoops up a basketball from a rack leaned up on the wall. The ball feels lighter than he remembers, but it’s been a long time since he’s played.

After a matter of minutes, He feels his chest tighten. He sits on the floor, the sweat dripping down his neck, hair clinging to his forehead. He in his stomach before exhaling a shaky breath in attempts to relax his racing heart. Undoing the rest of the buttons He lays back with his hands cushioning the back of his head.

He’s not excited to start this year. After only been here a mere number of hours and he’s already feeling anxious. All he’s really wanted is a place of security, but everywhere he goes he doesn't seem to fit in. His stomach’s whirling as new knots form. Sweat mixes with thin of tears. His lips part, exposing clenched teeth.His fingers are too slow in fighting any of it back.

“You okay?”

      It was Sunggyu’s voice. Woohyun recognized it. He hastily rubs his eyes dry. No one’s seen him cry before. Especially not a stranger. Woohyun looks to find him.. Sunggyu’s leaning over the railing up in the raised section for spectators on his right. He looks up at him with swollen red eyes and moist cheeks. Totally and utterly embarrassed.

“Hi.” He responds, sniffling.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“I could say the same to you, Mr. Kim.”

       He laughs because he knows Woohyun’s probably right. He brings his fist to cover his grin, but the crinkle of his eyes says enough. He definitely seems older, yet looks young enough to be in high school. His clothes are baggy and don’t fit well. But his cheeks suggested otherwise, they were rather plump and rosy when he smiled.

“Look, I have no right to intrude, but if you ever need someone to talk to about something I’m all ears.”

“Thanks.”

I had the format (indenting and all) perfect in microsoft word but this edit thingy is a reall pain with that. Unless im just a goof and dont know how to work it (which wouldnt surprise me lol).. Anyway i hope you bear with me while i try to format it nicely ( i might just go back after i finish the story and fix what i want but for now im just going to leave it (so i hope thats okay!!)  

PLEASE( IF YOU HAVENT ALREADY) READ THE SMALL NOTE ON THE FORWARD THANKS!!