After her two-day ‘leave’, Jessica was sitting in her classroom, quietly thinking of Sooyoung’s outburst. Sooyoung was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, Jessica had found out that Sooyoung was unwell as well, and would be absent from school until his ‘contagious’ illness healed. Jessica didn’t believe that bull, after waiting for nearly a week for Sooyoung to turn up. Yuri was pleased that Sooyoung wasn’t there to irk him, and expected Jessica to feel the same. But in truth, Jessica felt guilty and worried for her classmate. Guilty because as she thought of what he said, she found it startlingly true and worried because she had wished for him to be okay, which he certainly wasn’t.

“What are you thinking of, babe?” Yuri had wounded his arm around her waist, his breath on her neck as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

“Nothing. I’m just tired, Yuri,” Jessica would say as she allowed, hesitantly, for him to stay in that position.

Jessica wondered what Sooyoung was doing, how he was doing, whether he had eaten enough, and if his eyes were in control. She thought of him when she ought to be sleeping in class and wasn’t interested in anything else but him when a topic was brought up. To her, she denied the idea that she was falling for him, and regarded her concern for him to be of an elder sister’s, although her heart said differently. Truthfully, she missed his warm smile, and his fleeting laugh which reminded Jessica so much of a dog’s bark. She missed his morning ‘hello’s and his casual grip on her wrist which made her head reel involuntarily.

As she sat in bed that night, hoping to see Sooyoung again tomorrow, she began to pray, to a god that she barely knew, that she would see Sooyoung again. The praying seemed to have an effect on her, and she slept soundly.

“I don’t know when I’ll see him again, Tiff,” that was the hundredth time Tiffany had asked her if she would see Sooyoung again and the reply was always the same.

She didn’t dare to hope as she made her way to class, hugging her books close to her chest. It was one of those usual mornings where Yuri would leave her to walk to class on her own, and sometimes be greeted by Tiffany, who would smile and ask a few questions. But that morning seemed different. She woke up feeling hopeful and took it that as her heart’s way of telling her that it was a good day to put her bets on something. Basically, her heart had been wired to feel good things on good days and bad things on stormy days. And yet, somehow, Sooyoung had always managed to upset the balance. He was able to make her bay days good.

From afar, she spotted the windswept, chestnut hair and the strong pair of arms folded on his desk. His eyes were closed, and he looked tired. His eyes were much lighter today, emphasizing his lack of control, and his skin was pale and sallow, paler than Jessica had ever seen. At the sight of him, Jessica picked up her pace and was breathless by the time she took her seat next to him. The teacher had not arrived yet and the students were in their own worlds in the classroom, just like how Sooyoung and Jessica were. She set her books on her table and snuck a glance at him, only to find him still fast asleep. There were purple shadows under his eyes and he really seemed ill. Maybe he had been during his absence. They remained silent throughout the entire period, both not wanting to say anything. Sooyoung slept for the entire lesson and Jessica spent her time watching him. As he yawned, Jessica noticed something strange about his teeth. His canines were considerably sharper and longer than an average person’s. They seemed to be filed down to the tip, but were well-hidden from sight. Jessica stared at his ‘kitten’ teeth and wondered if they were as sharp as they seemed to be. Finally, after a whole hour of dying, Jessica made the first initiative to speak up.

“Sooyoung,” Jessica began to say as Sooyoung opened one eye and looked at her lazily. “You’re finally back.”

Sooyoung stretched, taking his time to answer. “Hmm…a week seemed to be a short time.”

“Why were you gone for so long?” Jessica asked.

“I was not feeling well,” Sooyoung resumed to lower his head on his folded arms and closed his eyes, ready to doze off.

“Are you okay now? You seem…tired,” she remarked quietly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

Sooyoung yawned again, but didn’t answer her question. Instead, he dozed off, not bothering to stand up to greet the teacher who had just entered the classroom. He rapped on Sooyoung’s desk with his ruler impatiently. When that didn’t work, Mr. Shim reared his hand back, and the wooden ruler whistled as it sailed through the air, landing on Sooyoung’s desk with a loud snap. Finally, Sooyoung’s eyes opened and he peered up at the furious Mr. Shim. Being Mr. Shim’s favourite student, Jessica finally noted the perks she was obliged to during his lesson.

“Mr. Choi, I see you had a refreshing nap. How was it?” Mr. Shim asked dryly, sarcasm masking the words with venom.

“Is it really of importance, Mr. Shim? A nap would be more interesting than your dry lesson…sir,” Sooyoung replied, waving his teacher off.

“How…dare you,” the ruler whistled through the air again, this time landing on Sooyoung’s outstretched arm.

Jessica was about to cry out when she heard the ruler snap mercilessly. But instead of the loud cry of pain Jessica had expected to hear, Sooyoung only let out a hiss through his teeth. Normally, if he was well-fed, it would feel like nothing but a mere tap to him, but he wasn’t, and the ruler hurt more than he accounted for. The stinging pain shocked him, catching him off balance and he stared at the raw, red mark on his arm. Slowly, he looked up at the teacher with dangerous eyes. Despite trying to hold ground, Mr. Shim couldn’t help the fear that crossed his features. He could have sworn that he saw the red eyes of the devil in Sooyoung’s eyes and his armed hand fell to his side.

“Very well, then. Now that all of you are awake,” Mr. Shim’s voice quivered as he made his way down the aisle, to the teacher’s desk.

The moment Mr. Shim turned his back on Sooyoung, Jessica reached over, gently touching the red skin on Sooyoung’s arm. Sooyoung flinched as Jessica’s cold hands came into contact with his arm, but felt comfortable with it once he realised that she was using her hands to try to numb the pain.

“That must hurt. Come on, we should put some ice on that,” Jessica left him to wait at the empty classroom during lunch and returned with an ice-pack.

Sooyoung watched quietly as Jessica dabbed his red skin with the ice, careful not to allow full contact with the cold ice.

“That’s not right,” Jessica frowned. “The red mark should go away by now. Mr. Shim hit you really hard, didn’t he? We should tell the principal about this.”

“I’m fine. You tell on him for beating me, and he tells on me for sleeping in his class. Sounds like a fair trade.”

“I should’ve warned you about him. You haven’t got him for history before this. I guess your first class with him leaves an impression,” Jessica bit her lip and looked down.

“So says his favourite student,” Sooyoung teased.

“Hey, how did you know that?”

“I know you sleep in class all the time. Seeing that he does that for punishment for slumbering in class, and that you don’t have any red marks on your arms, you must have godly powers or something,” Sooyoung shook his head dramatically.

“I’ll give this a few hours to wear off. It should by then, if it doesn’t, then I suggest you file a complain and see a doctor,” Jessica examined the red patch.

“I’ll be fine,” Sooyoung insisted as something caught his attention from behind Jessica, out in the corridor.

Yuri was lurking around the classroom, pacing here and there like a restless tiger. His eyes darted back and forth as he looked for his girlfriend, only to find her with his loathed enemy. He glared at Sooyoung, who only stared back. Sooyoung knew this as a warning, but didn’t care. After all, Yuri was the only reason why Jessica got into a fight with him.

Reader’s Note:

Well, this is longer than I expected. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this long-paragraphed chapter!

Thank you for reading!

Yours Faithfully
Jazzign