I stared at the message for a few minutes longer, digesting every character until it got imprinted in my already mentally exhausted brain.

I like the way you write.

Being a university student who belongs in the Creative Writing department, I was a bit taken aback— and, admittedly, flattered—while reading that brief, straightforward line over and over again. People I knew said I could write, but only a handful of them remarked they liked my style.  I wanted to thank them, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I guess that was another reason why I tend to lean on writing even more: what I couldn’t express with words coming out from my mouth, I shout them out to a piece of blank paper, instead.

I bit my lower lip, and listened to the rhythmic pulse of my clock hanging on the wall behind me, together with the song playing in the background. It came from my overworked laptop. Finally gaining the guts to reply, I said:

Thank you for dropping by! I’m honestly flattered.

-Thunder

By the time I clicked on the ‘reply’ button, I felt a tinge of regret. I could’ve replied ‘wittily’, but I didn’t.

I like the way you write.

What about me? Do you like me?

I like the way you write.

I like you.

I like the way you write.

You can like me, too.

That was how I broke the walls standing between my online friends, anyway. In the internet world, I would transform into this outgoing girl who kept an unlimited supply of corny jokes and pick-up lines; I would be this certain girl who abused emoticons; I would be this…this hypocritical being who looked so strong and carefree but behind my avatar, the people who see my posts wouldn’t know about the degree of my fatigue, frustration and loneliness. But then again, Clover was different, because he found me out. But him? I could never point my finger as to what exactly made him become like that. I never had any difficulty reading people, but he was a different case.

He talked with simplicity, but his thoughts were complicated.

He was…simply complicated.

And I think that was what made Clover, Clover.

<:>

I noticed our words increased and our sentences became longer the more we talked, to which was strange, because we seemed to be going around in circles but it felt like we were having a new conversation with every reply we made. Despite the duration of our conversation, I couldn’t even scratch the surface of his very being, and it made me even more curious about him. To put it simply, Clover had the ability to pull people in, because he was iridescent.

I wouldn’t even realize we were exchanging mails for a while if it weren’t for the stinging rays of the sun, leaking through my red, neglected curtain. Many people wanted to see the transition between dawn and morning. I never found anything special about it, though, considering I kept on witnessing that so-called ‘illuminating’ event lately—and by lately, I meant month, after month, after month.

With a throbbing head and failing grammar, I bade him goodbye before turning my laptop off. I slumped myself on my unkempt bed, which was filled with scratch papers overflowing with hyperactive thoughts and metaphors.

Stupid thesis, I found myself thinking, before drifting off into a blank slumber. School would start in two hours, and I’d call myself fortunate if I managed to have an hour of undisturbed sleep. That was how I was, anyway. I was someone who could function for twenty-three hours straight; it was the least I could do if I wanted to keep up with my professor’s demands, you see.

<:>

I attempted to down the can of Red Bull in one go, but Sunggyu, a good acquaintance of mine, stopped me. He was the only one I could get along with because he was, all in all, neutral. I disliked people who took things to the extreme. I couldn’t figure out why, though. I’d simply get irritated if things were too loud or too quiet, and I found that excuse reasonable enough for me.

“Look at your eye bags, Hana,” he muttered with disdain. “Did you even sleep?”

I scoffed. “Me? Sleep?”

“Do you even take your sleeping pills?” he returned.

“I think I’m immune to them,” I replied.

Sunggyu sighed. “If you keep on doing this you’ll damage your brain.”

“Writers are supposed to be peculiar,” I pointed out. “If I damage my brain one day, I’d have peculiar thoughts.”

“But you already have peculiar thoughts,” he said.

“Good point,” I replied.

That ended our banter, and so it was quiet again. From where I sat, I could hear the faint, singing voice of Nell coming from his headphones. Sunggyu was a huge fan of that singer, and he could even imitate him if he wanted to.

It was July, and we were resting beneath a tree while sitting on a bench. The can of Red Bull cooled my warm hands down a bit, and the surprisingly refreshing wind dissolved the thickness of the humid air around us.

“You can sleep if you want,” he began. “Use my bag as a pillow.”

I turned to him, only to find out he was already propping his canvas backpack against his lap. He patted it with a grin, as if that would do the trick in enticing me. Sunggyu and I didn’t really hang out much. We were university students who belong in the same block and attend the same classes. We both noticed it, so we took it to our advantage. We’d go to lunch and breaks together, be partners in school projects and so on. That was all he was to me, though: a study buddy. We only met inside the campus, and occasionally outside if we had an assignment to do.

“No thanks,” I replied. “I’m okay.”

Sunggyu stared at me for a long time, and finally remarked, “You have trust issues.”

I beg to differ, though, because I shared my deepest secrets to a bunch of strangers I met online. It wasn’t because I didn’t trust Sunggyu. It wasn’t like that at all. If I had that kind of perception about him, then I would’ve walked away in a heartbeat. I just didn’t want him to get involved with my thoughts, because he was someone who brooded over things too much.

When the clock two, the veins in my temple felt like snapping and I couldn’t help but wince and rub my eyes to focus. My vision was already spinning, and my sensations started to get numb.

“Go to the clinic,” Sunggyu advised. “You won’t miss anything, anyway.”

And so with heavy footsteps and a shortening fuse of a temper, I headed straight for the clinic, which was always empty because Mr. Bang, the school nurse, liked to smoke on the rooftop every afternoon. With my vision starting to black out, I headed straight for the comfortable bed with the starchy, jasmine-scented cover. I inhaled the sweet fragrance, and I automatically shut down.

No questions, no buts.

It was already eight in the evening when Sunggyu woke me up. Mr. Bang was on his desk, filing papers and signing them off with his lips pursed tight. A cup of steaming hot coffee was beside him, and the aroma wafted off to where I sat, making me crave for one, as well.

“If you carry on being like that, Miss Pyo, you’d be anemic,” the school nurse remarked. “You may go.”

The both of us bowed, and like the other moments when I’d stay in the clinic to catch up with the sleep I missed, Sunggyu would walk me to the bus stop and wait with me. He lived in the university dorms located a few blocks away from the school itself, if you headed east. While waiting for the bus to arrive, he bought me a can of coffee from the vending machine nearby, and all I could say was a murmur of thanks.

Some people would say Sunggyu looked after me too much; some would even assume he was trying to pull a fast one on me. I believed neither of the two, because he was someone who loved to look after people, no matter what. In my eyes, Sunggyu wanted to feel needed.

The bus finally came in sight, and we gave each other an amicable wave of goodbye, with a rushed ‘See you tomorrow!’ because we were afraid the door might close on us.

<:>

You’re intriguing. You have a way with words and your posts amuse me to no end. I hope I don't annoy you, though, because I personally think I’m that kind of person.

-Clover

I think you’re witty. Very. Witty. Your replies are entertaining and I really am thankful you approached me first. Don’t worry. You’re not annoying…yet. I think you won’t be, though, because you’re interesting.

-Thunder

<:>

As far as conversations went, we only exchanged the same compliments with different terms over and over again, and like the previous night, it felt like a brand new topic all over again. However, truth be told, I was just a nobody named Pyo Hana, with the abnormally straight black hair and ashen complexion; I was a nobody named Pyo Hana, who was actually well liked in the virtual world.

Ha! Pyo Hana.My name never appealed to me. Not once. Not ever.

I could never bring myself to think I was ‘witty’ or ‘cool’ or ‘intriguing’.  No, because when it all comes right down to it, I—no, we, were just a bunch of lonely kids with internet connection.

glitteryyy - Aw, glory to God ^^; I thought about the title for a while but that was the best I could come up with, so I'm glad it somehow clicked ^^ Hm, is it? Hee. I did base it from my mixed experiences online, you see ^^ I'm attempting to incorporate everyone I became friends with or maybe even brushed shoulders with here in the net, and hopefully, weave it up the way I write stories ^^ And thank you, Jess, for sticking with me once again.
P.S.
Your writing intrigues me. :3

FlyingHigh - LOL I hope so ^^;

Min-Cham - I have a blog, too! Heh. But yeah, I tend to write my feelings in there, so in a way, it's like a  therapy for me. Hee. Don't think that your life is boring! Look around you. Bite an uncut pineapple. Smell rotten apples--okay, maybe not--but I think everyday is like a sitcom where random things just happen. I know. I've experienced it. LOL I become outgoing online, too! Maybe because I can be such a nervous wreck when it comes to face-to-face conversations OTL

Adorkablekpop - Aw, here's an update! And I hope you learn something from it--and that I learn something from it, too. Hee.

GinniePark - Hello again ^^ Thank you for the encouragement, and I really do hope this humble fic of mine will not only entertain people, but give them life lessons, as well. I'm not sure as to how that'll happen, but by faith, it will xD

iD0RKIE - Pfft, no ^^;; it's not epic at all OTL"""

hyukxin - You telling me that you're anticipating really encourages me ;~; thank you!

Shizine19 - Oh, musta na? Haha!

Chartreuse - You always have interesting user IDs, you know that? ^^ and glory to God!