The concept was called Entropy. The natural tendency of systems to move towards a state of greater disorder. When the state of a system is more stable, it means that it has reached the state of maximum entropy. It was a process currently occurring at this very moment, now while the equation for entropy and Gibbs free energy didn’t exactly apply, the concept was painfully fitting.

“Hey,” Jay said as soon as he slipped into the seat next to mine at the middle of the lecture hall. We were having our first shared class today, and I honestly was not in the best mood to deal with him right now. Nonetheless, I smiled at him and returned his greeting.

“So did you read up on today’s reading assignment?” He asked.

I nodded, “Of course I did,” I replied, already distracted by the rest of the class entering the room. Specifically, the rest of the Wednesday Club. One of those things that were inevitable, and incredibly easy to do as a registration assistant, was to manage to get all your friends in the same class as you provided you were all allowed to take said class. Our class of choice this semester? Humanities 1: Introduction to the Humanities.

It was one of those general education classes you were required to take at any point in your stay here at the university, and the club decided to space out each class so we shared one every semester. You could say it was unnecessary, but it was greatly amusing wreaking havoc on unsuspecting professors. We weren’t exactly the best students in class, and by best I don’t mean in terms of mean grades.

Jay leaned further back into his seat and hiked his foot up the seat in front of him, “Let’s cut today’s class.”

I shook my head at him, “No, no, no. You already have three absences and it’s not even the middle of the semester, any more and you’ll be forced dropped out of this class and you can’t afford to retake any subjects any more if you ever plan on graduating with us.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah...if you say so. So, give me a run-down on what we were supposed to be reading for class. I hate reading.”

“Yes, I am aware of that fact.” I continued with a brief summary of the required readings, enough for him to actually have something to say should he get called on to recite in class today. Now, whether he actually listened to me and absorbed anything I have said to him, well...let’s just say that part of the exchange was already his problem and not mine.

“Renn.”

I looked up upon hearing my name, it was Ian, and in his hand was a paper bag of what I could only smell as food. I reached out for it immediately and he dropped it in my hands before taking the seat in front of me.

“Next time you need breakfast, Love, try calling your boyfriend and not me.” Ian teased, twisting around to face me.

I stuck my tongue out at him. He was not my boyfriend, and by he, Ian referred to Jay, who was not anywhere near being my boyfriend or anywhere near being anywhere near it. At all. If Jay realized he was the object of discussion, he made no indication of knowing or caring. He just sat there twirling his pen in his fingers looking bored as usual.

It was exactly the same way he looked when I first met him back in the second semester of our first year. I had to retake Math for certain reasons let us talk about at some other date, and Jay was in the same class as well. Actually, it was that one class that linked us all together in the first place. Junho, Junsu, Seulong, Nara, and Minji all went to the same high school, and the same went for me and Ian, Jay we met in this one class. Although meeting each other was inevitable. Jay was Junho’s roommate, and Junsu with Seulong, while I roomed with Minji. Let’s just say that fate or destiny, or whatever else you’d like to call it meant for all of us to find each other.

Of course that’s a very hopeful, very optimistic way to look at things.

Both adjectives I’d really not use to describe the current situation. For some reason, there was something incredibly off about today, almost like an evil foreboding of some sort. Like a lamp shade hanging over us warning us about a Chekhov's arsenal that we needed to backtrack on to move on to the next round of obstacles. I don’t know. Weird feeling as always.

The class went by as a blur to me with me not really paying as much attention as I should. Eventually I found myself waving goodbye to the Music majors, and Seulong and Nara who were off to the College of Science. They were both Psychology majors, though for Seulong, it would appear that it was he who needed help.

Junsu, Junho and I were off to the Bio labs over at the Life Sciences building a block away from the Arts building. Seriously, there were too many buildings in this campus, and it was not a fun journey in between classes.

“Renn,” Junsu said, pulling me by my backpack, “Stay off the street.”

Was it habit formation that I find myself walking too close to the road? Or was it the knowing that Junsu would be pulling me back like he always does? I didn’t respond to him as he positioned me in between him and Junho, and I stayed silent on my side.

“I still don’t get why we need to take up Plant Anatomy this sem. It has absolutely no significance in my would-be life.” Junsu drawled.

“Or so you say. Some of us actually find Plant Morpho-Ana to be interesting.” Junho replied flatly.

If anyone were to ask my thoughts on Plant Anatomy, I would have to say that I have no thoughts on it because quite honestly, I’m asleep for the most part of the class anyway. If not for Junsu and Junho feeding me the answers to recitation, I would have probably been thrown out of the class by now.

We rounded the corner, and just as we crossed the street Junho realizes we were going to be late for class and all three of us make a dash for it. It shouldn’t have to be an issue as it was always the same every time, but somehow, today was different, and that sense of evil foreboding finally manifested itself all over again.

As soon as we ran across the street, everything suddenly slowed down and my world suddenly stopped revolving around its axis and started tilting towards the opposite direction. Everything was lucid as time slowed and I felt lightheaded as my consciousness left my body to watch myself as we spanned the short distance towards our building. The sun was brighter than I remembered, and every detail was suddenly etched into my memory. From the dew on the grass, to the scratches on the rocks, and the missing details on the cobblestone floor, everything was planted into my memory. The air hung thick around me, and my heart rate was beating erratically in my chest.

It was over as soon as it begun, but it felt so much longer than that. Junsu had taken my hand in his as we crossed the street, and even though he had already let it go now we that were inside our building and walking towards our classroom, my hand was still warm. Warm as if he still had it in his. Warm as if his handprint was burned into mine. My heartbeat wouldn’t slow down, and I felt cold. I was shivering, and I just knew.

I’ve been caught in that moment.