Soojung was walking along a deserted corridor, her head hung low. It has been two days since that talk with the principal and she hasn’t arrived at a decision yet. Her cousin told her to join and take the first step to moving on but it’s just too scary, thinking about it. 

“But you know that at one point in your life, you should.”

The queenka shuddered at the thought. It has been three years and they’re at their senior year already. Who would have thought that the pain will still linger and affect her that much?  

She continued walking until she felt someone’s presence in front of her. She came to an abrupt stop.

“For a moment, I thought you’re gonna collide in me or something,” Kevin smiled. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Soojung flashed him a sad look. The greeting didn’t get through her, obviously. “Where are we holding the session?” She asked tiredly.

Kevin tilted his head as he tried to pay attention to how the girl before her looks. She’s still pale, and her cheeks hollowed a little. There were dark bags under her eyes, signaling that she hasn’t been getting enough sleep lately. Her shoulders slung dejected, like she’s lacking life. Her aura’s terribly down.

She looks so vulnerable, the kingka thought.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay doing this?” Kevin asked carefully. “I told the principal that I’ll try to convince you to join but if you really can’t, it’s okay, I’ll just find a way out of it.”

Soojung’s tired eyes flickered to the kingka’s. “Why are you being nice?”

She didn’t mean to sound repulsive. In fact, she didn’t sound repulsive at all. It was all just pure curiosity – something she had long wanted to ask, perhaps; something that had long lingered in her mind. She had been thinking about a lot of things lately, and letting out that question somehow would free her up some space for, you know, some peace.

Kevin shifted uncomfortably, taken aback. His hand flew to the back of his head as he scratched it in confusion. “I-I j-just thought that we could be real friends. You know, not just trapped in the library as detention partners and pushed by the circumstances to interact,” he admitted.

Yes, that’s what he had formulated after deciding that he wanted to help Soojung forget. For the last two days, he couldn’t remove the sad face of the queenka off his reverie. It’s haunting him, because he had never seen her in such state in the three years that they’ve been in Gyeonggi Science.