You shield your eyes from the strong sunlight that penetrates through your eyelids.  Squinting awake, you glance around, trying to make out where you are.  And when you do realize, your eyes pop out in surprise.

Crap.  You’re in the hospital room.

And Lay’s waking up.

Somehow, you follow the impulse to run away from the room.  Quietly but as swiftly as you can, you slip out of the room and lower your head to avoid recognition from the sparsely populated corridors.  Just as you stepped out of the hospital, you backtrack and think; why were you running away?

Oh.

You’re not you.

You glance at the glass showing your reflection on the hospital’s building and step back as the unfamiliar person stares back at you.  Moving your hand towards it, you set your other hand on your cheek and realize, that it’s you.

You should admit; that this new self is way prettier than your old one.

Full, dark brown hair framing your small face, cascading down a little further than your shoulders.  Long legs, pretty fingers, along with, let’s say, a nice body.  A denim jacket with sleeves that stop just below your elbows accompany the loose, lengthy blouse you’re wearing, pulled together with black leggings and a yellow shoulderbag. 

“Damn,” You whisper in amusement.

But as your eyes fall upon the accessory you’re wearing on your neck, your smile disappears. 

The necklace.

You take the pendant between your thumb and index finger, and trace the lines with your polished nail.

“99 days, huh,” You breathe out quietly.

Your phone buzzes and you take it out, opening the text you just received.

Luhan [07.27]: Take the bus and go to school, kid.  You look great.

In reflex, you swivel around, trying to figure out where he’s spying you from.  Seeing nobody, another text comes in.

Luhan [07.28]: Don’t even try.  Catch it or you’ll be late, idiot.

You hear the familiar sound of a bus door opening and you rush in, smiling and bowing at the driver who tipped his hat at you.  Taking the empty seat beside the window, you stare outside, still searching for him.  You know that’s it is worthless to try to look for him, he’s a semi, anyways, so you sit back and carefully pay attention to the direction you’re going.

Curious, you rummage around your bag and pull out your wallet.  ID card?

Name    : Jung Aeri
DOB       : February 30th, 1991

Oh, nice, your age is still the same.  An address follows the list along with family members.  The last part had a simple hyphen after the colon.  As expected, you don’t have relatives.  It’s probably Luhan’s way of saying that you’re in this alone.

“Seoul University,” The driver announces as he opens the bus doors.

Luhan [07.57]: Get down.  You only have 3 minutes before you’re late.

Seoul University? That was (and is) your school! You squeal excitedly as you hopped off of the bus and text back a reply.

[07.58]: I love you, so much.

Luhan [07.58]: Pfsh.  Hurry.

You’re attending the same university as the one you did.  That means you can still see Lay, Kai, and everybody else! With a huge smile you were about to come into class as you always did, but you stop in your tracks and mentally slap yourself. 

“New student, new student,” You plant the words and walk over to the front office.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

You stop yourself before you could jump at the receptionist receiving you for a hug.  Yunji-unnie has always been a good friend to you. 

“Hi, I’m Jung Aeri and I’m a new student here,” You bow towards her and flash her a smile. 

“Ah, Aeri-ssi!” Yunji scrolls through the computer screen and clicks several things quickly and you hear the printer buzz as a piece of paper comes out on top.  “Here’s your schedule,” She hands it to you and explains what’s what and where’s where, things you already know but pretend not to as you nod your head at her explanation.  “Do you need a run through or—?”

“Nope, I can handle it,” You nod once again and grin at her.

“Well then!” She claps happily and shoos you away.  “Off to your classes now, have a good day, Aeri-ssi!”

“Just Aeri, please, and thank you!” You wave at her and as she waves back you turn around and go towards your first class of the day.

You make your way towards the familiar corridors and stop at room 201, the one where you will (or have always) have your Musical Terminologies class.  Knocking at the door, you wait until the teacher lets you in. 

The teacher, a.k.a Junghoon.

You bow at him but your face drops as you realize the grave look upon his face.  Glancing at the class, you notice the similar expression etched on everybody’s face. 

“You have to wait for a second, okay?” He says quietly and you nod, frowning in worry as he turns his back on you.  What’s going on?

“You’ve probably heard the news.  It just came in but, knowing her, it must have spread quickly,” He says clearly.  The class is dead silent and everybody lowers their heads. 

Oh no.  You know what’s coming.  It’s—

“Our dear, dear friend, Yoon Jihye, has gotten into a coma,”

You hear no gasps of surprise, only silence.  You look at the people in the class and notice that they’ve latched their own hands together, doing what you think is a prayer.  As you cast a glance upon Junghoon, you almost shed a tear as you realize that he’s doing the same thing. 

Crap.  I’m not dying guys, come on— You quickly lower your head along with them as it slams down on you like a ton of bricks.  In fact, yes, you are dying.  Don’t cry.  Don’t cry.  Jung Aeri, you can’t. cry.

“That’s it then, and let’s hope for the best to fall upon our Jihye,” Junghoon closes the little mourning session and turns to you.  “Now.  A new student is here!”

“Hello,” You deeply bow and hold it for a few seconds to compose your expression.  When you stand up, you have a smile back on your face.  You’re Jung Aeri again.  Not Yoon Jihye.  “My name is Jung Aeri,”

“Aeri-ssi,” Junghoon smiles and pats your shoulder before he points to a seat at the middle of the class.  “You can sit there,”

You look at the seat and notice, that Junghoon is pointing at a seat 2 chairs away from the window.  You clench your hands into tight fists as you realize; that those seats belong to you and Lay.

The day goes along and almost every class you attend mourns for Jihye (or your) coma.  It constantly reminds you that you’re here for a second chance and not for long.  That you’re here not as Jihye but as Aeri.  That you’re in some sort of a drive-thru.  Finish your business and then it’s going to be time for you to go. 

“Not a very fun day for you, isn’t it, new kid?” Someone says as you exit your last class for the day.

Looking to your left to meet his eyes, you smile at the familiar face.  “Kyungsoo-ssi, right?” You pretend to ask.

“Yep, although most people call me D.O but I’ll let a pretty girl like you call me Kyungsoo,” He jokes, making you laugh. 

“Nah, not really,” You flap your hand dismissively.  “Both for the pretty girl compliment—thank you for that, by the way—and for the fact that it’s not a very fun day.  I can understand,”

“I know the girl in coma,” He says, a melancholy smile on his face.  “She has a really pretty voice,”

“I’d love to see her,” You say, patting his back in comfort. 

“If her boyfriend didn’t ask her out in high school, I would’ve gotten to her first,” He laughs again with you.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” You ask as you lifted your hand in a wave.

“Sure, bye-bye!” Kyungsoo grins and walks away.

You noticed that you haven’t seen Lay and Kai for the day.  You need to stop yourself from crying when you realize that they must be in the hospital, forcing you to wake up when you can’t, because you’re here, being Jung Aeri.  You did that a lot today; stopping your tears.  Wasn’t easy, but you should get used to it. 

You feel like you’re playing with people; you know, being here as someone else but still being you at the same time.  It’s like you’re probing into their feelings nosily, but at the same time, you’d really like to know how they are without you.  How much do you matter to them? How do they feel about you? What do they have to say about you? Will they really miss you when you’re gone? If they do, will they miss you as much as you do to them?

Suddenly, a hard pang of pain hits your head.  You groan in pain and blink repeatedly, grabbing onto the tree beside you for balance as the world spins before you.  Your hands come to your mouth to stop yourself from retching as you slide your back down the tree and put your head between your knees. 

“What the heck just happened,” You mutter to yourself as you pull out your buzzing phone. 

Luhan [15.46]: So sorry.  Couldn’t make that part go away.  Really sorry.

There it is.  A drawback.  The sickness that clings onto you, the one that repeatedly posts sticky notes everywhere you go, saying; ‘You’re not actually living a new life, you know,’

You gulp down the contents of the water bottle you just bought and sigh as your body’s condition stabilizes itself. 

As you make your way home, you quietly set the thought into your head.

Focus, Jung Aeri.  Focus.