Chapter 46: Restart

|Narrator's Perspective|

          It was Wednesday three days from the school fire and from ignoring Jiyong and Dara. Whenever they would come by her apartment—which had been many times— she would lie and tell them she just needed space or she wasn’t feeling well. Dara was ultimately confused as to why her best friend was shutting her out, but she thought the better of it and managed to believe that CL just needed some space. Jiyong on the other hand knew something wasn't right, but no matter how many times Jiyong tried to get into contact with CL she would ignore him. He too thought he should just give her space . . .  for now.

          On Wednesday each individual student received a letter. The letter had stated that because of the misfortunate event that had occurred to the school, the school was in no position of running. Therefore each student would be transferred, for the time being, to another school. Not all students will be attending the same school.

At the bottom of the letter it stated where each student's new school will be. CL prayed that Jiyong and Dara ended up somewhere else, so she could start anew without having to worry about them.

          They were to start school the coming Monday, and when it came CL was more than ready. Jiyong had come by once more last night asking if she was alright but she didn’t respond hoping he would think she wasn't home or something and then leave. He had probably spent at least 15 minutes at her door before he finally gave up and left. After that she had spent hours crying feeling immensely guilty.
 

          Dara too was growing aggravated. She visited Jiyong and asked what he thought they should do and what could have possibly happened, but he like her had no answer. It was killing Dara from the inside. It has almost been a whole week and she hasn’t seen or talked to CL. All Dara could think was that something happened the day of the fire. Dara cried herself to sleep that night, her bags under her eyes a display of her lack of sleep. She just hoped her, Jiyong and CL were attending the same school, maybe then she could talk to CL and find out what's going on.

           CL opened her apartment door and glanced both directions just to ensure Jiyong and Dara were not there expecting her. She had woken an hour earlier just so she wouldn’t bump into them. She closed her door behind her and headed to her new school.

An Hour Later . . .

          Dara and Jiyong stood outside CL's apartment door eagerly waiting. Luckily the two were going to the same school, but they had no idea about CL. They patiently waited outside the door but as minutes past they felt a devastating ache in both their hearts. Jiyong was frustrated and confused. He didn’t understand why CL was doing this. Dara turned around to let a few tears drop. Jiyong placed his hand on Dara's back and steered her away from the door.

          "Hey no crying before the first day back to school" Jiyong said to her as he wiped away her tears, but Dara's tears kept coming. Jiyong sighed.
           "Dara . . ."
          "Jiyong I don’t get it though. What happened that day? Did we say something to her? Did something happen to her? I just want to know the answer . . . It’s driving me insane to not know what's making her shut us out" Dara muttered her frustrations.
          "I feel the same. Let's just give her this space for now and see how it goes okay. Maybe she'll come around soon". Dara nodded and the two walked their way to school. The two had never felt so empty as they walked without CL. It was a change that Jiyong and Dara hoped was not permanent.

An Hour Before (Right When Cl Left) . . .

          As soon as CL had arrived at the school  she was expecting it to be empty, but it looked as though a few basketball players had woken up early to practice. She walked on the pathway towards the basketball team, curious as to how good they could be. The school overall had a similar design to theirs so she kind of knew her way around as she walked towards the fenced court. She leaned against the cool metal fence and watched them play. She counted 12 of them. 6 of them were having a 3 on 3 while the others were just fooling around and laughing. She too wanted to laugh again like that. It had been over a week since she had talked to someone. Although CL didn't think she could laugh she was proven wrong when she did  . . .    

         The lot of them were standing around joking. They were making fun of a guy named Kyungsoo for his short height that CL had to chuckle as Kyungsoo cutely pouted and crossed his arms. She immediately realized her mistake. She had blown her cover as the guys all stopped to look up at her. Her cheeks blazed up as she the balls of her feet, trying to run the opposite directions. Suddenly she heard her name be called. Chaerin.

           There is only one new person who called her that now. It couldn’t be she thought. She paused a few metres away and turned around to see Kris. He was wearing a lose beater with shorts; his muscles and abs clearly showing. His hair was damp with sweat but CL had to admit he looked attractive . . . just like when Jiyong would play sports with her.

           "Chaerin . . . what are you doing here?" Kris wondered. She gazed up at him. He was a good two heads taller than her. She noticed that all his friends abandoned the court and were now lined up against the fence watching . . . It kind of freaked her out but also made her laugh a bit at their silliness. Maybe it's a good thing she met Kris here. At least she now knew someone at this new school.

            "I go to school here now." I told him. Kris's eyes opened wide.
            "