“Why is she at school?” Hyewon muttered loudly with disgust to Chanmi who stood uncaringly by her locker. Chanmi glanced over her shoulder to see Jangmi walking into the school, folding a rain soaked umbrella with Kwangmin close behind her, his hair completely drenched.

            “Why can’t she be?” Chanmi asked. Though she was there to witness what happened on stage she never thought that it would amount to anything serious. But that was just who she was, she always thought too little of things and never took anything too seriously—especially if it didn’t involve her.

            “I hear Youngmin Oppa is single again,” Hyewon continued to ramble. It was strange how after getting publically rejected twice she still had the courage to cling onto him. Chanmi had been rejected only once and that was enough to throw her into an anti social black hole. She had no intentions of trying again, so she didn’t want to know whether Youngmin was single or not. Jangmi passed Hyewon without even so little as a sideways glance, running hurriedly to her English class. Kwangmin and Jangmi split into separate hallways, him heading to the biology room.

            “Yah, I thought she was deaf. Why is she at school?” Donghyun ignorantly mused. He was sitting on top of a desk at the back of the classroom with Youngmin and the others. Their group looked significantly smaller now that Minwoo backed out, though he was also present in class. Donghyun never bothered to keep his voice down with the fear of her overhearing because from what he knew, she couldn’t hear at all.

            “Ignore him,” Minwoo sighed, trying his best not to look backwards to meet the gaze of people he once called friends. He wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t even know what a friend was. Their posy was the exact opposite of the definition of friends. Jangmi smiled, greeting Minwoo and took her seat beside him with her binder out and ready.

            “Did you do the homework?” Jangmi asked, trying to start a conversation. Now that Jangmi had a clearer understanding of Minwoo’s personality she didn’t mind opening up to him. He was a good guy and she had no problems acknowledging that.

            “Nah, I was busy yesterday; had stuff to tend to after visiting you.” He replied, blankly staring at his untouched notebook. There was not even a doodle on the pages. In truth, after visiting Jangmi ne and Eungyo ended up taking the wrong bus which took them to the opposite end of the Han River. From where they were let off, the sun was shining relatively brightly, though they were not quite sure where they were. Eungyo concluded that if they just walked along the riverbanks eventually they would get back to their neighborhood, and so they did—not that he would’ve done his English homework even if he had the time. Science was his calling. The fact that he was in this class was a mistake on his counselor’s part.

            “Were you okay after we left?” It was Minwoo’s turn to continue the conversation. Jangmi flashed back to the intimate hug they had in her room that night. The sound of thunder roaring threateningly outside made her only cling closer towards him, and though it was cowardly of her to hide her face in his chest she hated loud noises. She was always a quiet person, which explains why she freaked out during her tinnitus’ first appearance.

            “Yea,” She answered simply, not wanting to go into details of how her father woke up from the loud thunder and walked in on their little session in her room. Kwangmin left soon after, and she was surprised her father never asked any questions. He was just happy to see his daughter smiling. Youngmin watched the two enviously as they talked to each other. It just didn’t make sense to him. Like Donghyun said, wasn’t she supposed to be deaf? Jangmi was now sitting a few seats in front of him, scribbling in notes and chit chatting with his ex-best friend casually as if nothing had ever happened. Feeling slightly regretful, he turned his gaze back to the white board and tried his best to push unnecessary thoughts out of his head.

~~~

            At lunch time, the “loner” table that Kwangmin inhabited was no longer secluded in the school. He had Minwoo, Eungyo and Jangmi to thank for that. Everyone noticed that Kwangmin had more confidence when he spoke of things unrelated to science, and that he would initiate eye contact more freely than he usually would. Each day that passed he would become a tad more talkative, and the gray taunting clouds would slowly fade away. Though Kwangmin was only comfortable being open to those three specific people, he was surprised how much he changed ever since Jangmi’s accident. A few weeks passed and she had yet to experience the second encounter of tinnitus. Everyone assumed her case must’ve been very minor.

            “We should all go to the amusement park today after school. It seems like we might have a good chance with the weather and we can get discounted ice cream.” Eungyo winked at Minwoo, knowing that he worked at the Dip N’ Dots stand at the amusement park. There was a unanimous agreement, and so they all met up after school at the bus stop. Jangmi was standing happily beside Kwangmin when she caught a glimpse of Youngmin’s bright blonde hair in the blazing sunlight. It was gloomy this morning, but now in the afternoon the sun had finally become strong enough to show itself, though there were still storm clouds that lurked about. He turned around and exchanged glances with her. It had been weeks since they spoke, in fact, they had never said a word to each other ever since the break up. She wasn’t expecting an apology; she only wanted him to know that the way he was living was wrong. She knew she could never have the heart to despise Youngmin, but if he never changed there was no way she would be okay with being around him again. The fact is that he hurt her in a way she never thought he would, and seventeen years of history wasn’t enough to let it slide by. Before she looked away, she let their eye contact linger for an extra two seconds. His eyes were slightly sorrowful, his expression filled with disappointment and regret. If he actually felt those emotions then at least people would know he was human.

~~~

            At the amusement park, despite the bipolar weather every ride was overflowing with long line ups. There were so many lively children running about, bringing energy into an otherwise dead ghost town. Eungyo spotted the Dip N’ Dots stand and let her sweet tooth take over, pulling Minwoo along with her. Kwangmin and Jangmi had suspected long ago that they had something going on, though they never made it official yet. During the passing days, Kwangmin noticed how much more time he was spending with Jangmi as opposed to his biology notes, but he still didn’t want to bring his hopes up. Even if it happened nine years ago, he was scared that she would leave again, leaving him broken, empty and abandoned. Kwangmin had blanked out for a few seconds, forgetting to check whether Jangmi was following him or not. Turning back, he was alarmed to see that she wasn’t around. Instead, there was a growing crowd of strangers forming a circle a few metres behind where he had walked. As he pushed his way to the centre he heard the loud gossips of people wondering what was going on. When he could finally see past the shoulders of bystanders, he gasped.

            “Jangmi!” He called out, running to her side immediately as he held her up to avoid a hard collision with the cement floor. His right hand gripped her shoulder, allowing her head to lean against him. Her screaming stopped soon after, but her eyes were squeezed shut as her teeth gritted together.

            “What’s wrong with her?” One stranger asked, plopping a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

            “Did her water break?” Another more punkish looking teenager joked, high fiving his mischievous accomplice beside him.

            “Kwangmin! Jangmi!” Eungyo shouted, breaking through the crowd in less than two seconds and joining them in the centre. Minwoo was trying his best to send the crowd away. Jangmi did not want all this attention. When she finally forced her eyes opened, she could only see Kwangmin’s face, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to get her attention. She guessed that he was shouting her name; Kim Jangmi, but she had never practiced reading lips before so she wasn’t sure.

            “Geumanhae, Kwangmin. She can’t hear you right now.” Minwoo reminded, holding up his paper bowl of ice cream to her forehead to cool her down. Beads of sweat were dripping down her neck. Kwangmin stopped yelling immediately, still unsure of what to do. This was the second occurrence, happening approximately two weeks after the first. The gaps were relatively long for a tinnitus patient but her reactions to them were the most severe. When Kwangmin tried to stand up, he tumbled back downwards, his hands slipping so that Jangmi’s head made light but noticeable contact with the ground. His left ankle had been sprained in the anxiety of this mess and now Jangmi was unconscious. It would be bad to try to bring her to a hospital via the bus, but they had no one to rely on. Feeling desperate, Kwangmin ordered,

            “Minwoo, you have to call Youngmin.” Their mom was having an outing with her ‘gal pals’ and left the car and the car keys. Though both twins were licensed, it was evident only Youngmin could help them out right now. Without arguing, Minwoo dialed, listening to the ringing three times before it was answered.

A/N: I swear I make things more dramatic than they need to be x.x Sigh.... I have a lot to work on with my writing :\! Anyways, here's another update. I'm hoping to finish this fanfic before school starts this friday (Don't know if that's possible) but here I go (:!

Geumanhae - Stop