The Thin Air Around You
-ANONYMOUS





There were certain people Taeyeon avoided bumping into at a lonely bus station on a Saturday evening, where a flickering street lamp was the only source of light around. People like Mr. Lee, the creepy janitor from school with the limping leg who was always carrying huge hedge trimmers around or actually anyone who could possibly turn out to be a wanted serial killer.


Taeyeon moved closer to the street lamp, feeling a little less paranoid under the weak light while her surroundings were swallowed into darkness after the sun finally vanished from the horizon. A quick glance on her watch told her that the bus should have been here ten minutes ago and she let out an exhausted sigh at the bus’ delay.


She wouldn’t have let herself being talked into volunteer work at the school library if she knew that it included arranging books after a new system every weekend, Taeyeon had to arrange them by the color of covers today, and dealing with a strange librarian who smelled more like cat than a cat itself.


Being a tree prop for the drama club suddenly became by far more appealing than her work in the library.


A pair of headlights appeared around the corner and the bus finally arrived moments later, coming to an immediate halt in front of Taeyeon. The door opened and the girl began to rummage in her bag to get her pass but there was a friendly nod from the driver who recognized her being a regular passenger and she got on the bus after thankfully nodding back.


As usual, there were only few passengers on the bus at this time of the day. An elder man was dozing off in one of the back seats and a teenage boy dazed out of the window while rock music was blaring loudly from his headphones.


Taeyeon picked a random seat in the middle section of the bus and tiredly rested her forehead against the window, leaving a greasy film on it while waiting for the bus to finally take her to the well-deserved weekend. But the door opened once again, instead and a female figure, the hood from her loose sweatshirt was pulled over her head, boarded the bus in the last minute, continuously thanking the driver for waiting. She wobbled around with a duffle bag draped around her left shoulder as the bus left the station at last and made her way to the middle section as well.


“Taeyeon?”


She looked up to the girl with the familiar voice and faced a friendly smile that was accompanied with a pair of crescent eyes. The girl pulled her hood down and revealed her face. “Hi, Taeyeon."








And then there were people Taeyeon absolutely didn’t want to meet alone anywhere, at any time of the day.


People like Tiffany Hwang, for example, whose presence always made Taeyeon feel a little breathless. It was like the air was thinner around her or something, and Taeyeon was now trapped in her breathlessness, with Tiffany occupying the seat next to her and pulling that eye-smile move on her that made her want to scream for an oxygen mask.


Tiffany was like one of those friends you add on Facebook, just because she was friends with your best friend. They were in the same clique but they hadn’t moved past the