half·tone /ˈhafˌtōn/ noun:
1. a reproduction of a photograph or other image in which the various tones of gray or color are produced by variously sized dots of ink.

“Have you been blacking out at all lately?”
“No…”

“Have you been having any unusual head pains? Even the smallest annoyance?”

“N-No…”

“You still have that stutter I hear, don’t worry. That should go away with time.”

“Oh… Okay…”

“Do you still have frequent memory losses?”

For a moment Hae Ri thought, what would happen if she said yes…?
“N…No…” She lied.

It was… snowing outside. Soft fluffy flakes drifted from the grey sky and tinted the grass white outside the window. It wasn’t even December yet and it was already the second snowfall. Hae Ri gripped the warm mug in her hands, the sight of snow made her feel much too uneasy…

As the snow fell, she watched the fellow students shuffle through its wetness down in the campus. A few students picked up the little snow they could get and packed them into snowballs, only to have them fallen apart midair. Female students huddled together in their cliques and gossiped and giggled at the boys running around. It was so easy… so easy for everyone to love the snow. Hae Ri always wanted to love it as well…

But how can you ever love something you hate so much it makes you want to break down…? Gently she placed her forehead against the cold glass, letting the chill seep through her skin and to her skull. What would Hae Ri be like if she was like other girls her age? Would she be popular at school, would she have lots of friends…? Would she… have Yoo-

The sound of the door unlocking quickly startled her, the coffee in her mug sloshed around and nearly splashed onto the floor. A rather tired and sloppy looking Stephanie walked through the door, kicking her heels off at the wall and staggering around for a little while until she saw Hae Ri staring at her.

“A-Are you just getting home…? Where were you…?” Hae Ri asked, a bit concerned with the way Stephanie looked. Stephanie would never be seen by anyone in such a state! She cared too much for her appearance… Her hair was matted and tangled in some spots, her clothes hung at awkward angles on her body and her makeup smudged a little.

“What does it look like?” Stephanie snapped, “I was out drinking with YoonGi and I stayed at his place.” She huffed and nearly crawled up the steps to her bed… Didn’t she just go out drinking with him? At this rate she was going to become an alcoholic…

“Okay… W-Well do you need anything? Did you eat breakfast…? I can go run to the cafeteria for you, I don’t have class till noon…” Hae Ri frantically stuttered, was there anything Hae Ri could do as her friend? Friends took care of each other… Right? Stephanie took care of her forehead so she needed to make it up to her somehow…

“No, it’ll just come back up later anyways…” Stephanie sighed as she peeled off her clothes from last night. Hae Ri was never one to complain and took what was said to her… But even she couldn’t help but think that was way too much information to share with her.

Minutes passed in silence until Hae Ri could hear Stephanie’s soft snores as she slept… Her eyes wandered out the window again, watching the snowflakes fall and even gather on the window. Slowly she leaned her neck forward till her nose nearly touched the frozen glass and let out a long tired sigh, the glass fogging up a small area. There was no time wasted as her fingers drew through the translucent canvas…

보고 싶어요…

After a few seconds her fingers swiped through the words as she turned away from the window.

Hae Ri watched as her fellow classmates walked around campus with their fancy expensive cameras hanging from their necks or shoulders. Most of them just gathered in groups and chatted while only a few actually took the time to take pictures for their assignment… Secretly she often wondered what the classes average was on projects, it couldn’t have been very high. Very rarely did the other students turn anything in. But this behavior was contagious, even she found herself wondering around and forgetting her responsibilities.

It wasn’t long until she had seated herself at one of the stone benches that dotted the school grounds. The snow had stopped falling and just like that her spirits were lifted a bit, but it still clung to the ground… It was too cold for it to melt right away. If it had started snowing… How many more days were left? Her eyes peered up at the dark grey sky, was it going to snow again?

Days were passing by, soon they’d be into December and it’d only be a matter of time before she’d get that depressing call… Just thinking of it now made her mood drop instantly. Hae Ri hated that call, the one telling her it’s time to come back home for the time being. The black hanbok the pretty white flowers she was forced to carry, she hated it all… She hated the rivers she cried every year, as it never truly got easier. Time… Doesn’t heal all wounds does it… No matter how much time went buy, it would never get easier…

Minutes upon minutes passed… Which quickly moved into an hour of just staring at the sky. Slowly her eyelids began to droop… It was like all the energy she had drained from her body and soon she had fallen asleep on the bench… Just like YoonGi had.

“Umma and appa are dumb! I wanted to stay and halebeogi’s!” A young Hae Ri screamed from the back seat of the car, “Dumb dumb dumb!”

“Now Hae Ri… That isn’t nice…” Her mother chuckled back, and her father gave a tired laugh.

“We couldn’t stay there, it would be rude!” Her father chimed in, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

"Yah... Wake up already...!" A hand grabbed her arm, shaking her furiously, "What are you? You sleep like a rock!"

Hae Ri's eyes popped open, slightly blurry from sleep. Her hands balled up and slid her glasses up as she frantically rubbed at her eyes. Did she really fall asleep out in the cold like this...? How embarrassing!

"Jeez Hae Ri... Why do I always find you in weird situations?" The deep voice sighed. They knew her name...? Did a teacher find her!? Please don't be a teacher...! Then again... What teacher used her first name and what teacher always found her in 'weird situations'... Wait, please don't tell her it's...When she pulled her fists from her eyes and blinked a few times she froze. 

"S-S-Sunbae...!?" She gasped, a teacher sounded a thousand times better now that she was staring up at YoonGi, "What are you doing here...!?"

"Why are you asking me that? Why are you asleep outside when it just snowed?" He sighed, "Are you looking for an incurable illness? Are you already sick?" 

"I-I-I was in the middle of class...!" Her stutter what becoming ten times worse than normal and her cheeks flared up, "S-Sunbae, are you okay enough to be outside...?"

"Huh? What are you going on about?" He chuckled and grabbed her arm, pulling her too her feet. He was touching her, this was not okay. Her heart beat picked up a bit as she stared at the strong hand that tightly grabbed her arm, "Oh, yeah. Sorry." YoonGi apologized and let her go.

"St-Stephanie told me you two... Went out last night to drink. I-I just assumed you... Maybe had a hangover too." She bowed quickly as a late greeting. A few moments passed and nothing was said... When she peeked at him he wore a rather blank expression except when his nose twitched as he tried to prevent his nose from running. Was he not feeling well...? Why wasn't he answering? "S-Sunbae... Are you okay...?"

"Ah, yeah sorry!" He smiled brightly, his eyes squinting shut in a rather adorable eye smile, "I'm okay, thanks for worrying about me! I didn't drink that much so don't worry." His hands dove into his pockets as his cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, "It's pretty cold out huh? I can't believe it's already snowing!" 

Hae Ri stared at him intently, what a weird shift in his mood... Was he really okay? It wasn't her place to pry, it's best to just forget it and be on her way. Surely class was long over with by now, "Are you sure you're okay...?" Hae Ri asked, just to be sure. If anything happened to him... 

"Yeah, I'm good. Come on, I'll walk you back to your dorm." He smiled and nudged his elbow in the direction of the female dormitory, "If I just left you out here I'm sure someone would have my head..." Hae Ri's eyebrow lifted in curiousity at the last statment. Surely Stephanie wouldn't care if she was left out here... What a strange thing to say.  

“I’m home…” Hae Ri sighed as soon as she entered the dorm, her feet already dragging against the floor boards. Why was she suddenly so tired? She even got plenty of rest outside… Maybe falling asleep on the bench wasn’t the best idea. Was she getting sick maybe? Curse this cold weather…

“You’re back?” Stephanie called back from her bed, her nose shoved into a magazine, “There’s something on your desk. You know YoonGi’s roommate right? He dropped that off for you.” She lifted her leg to point towards the black bag with her foot. She must have been feeling better from this morning if she was talking and moving around so much.

YoonGi’s roommate…? Hoseok…? Did YoonGi deliver her message for her? B-But why would he… leave something for her? Quickly Hae Ri pressed the back of her hand to her cheek, it felt too warm for comfort… “Hoseok left this for me…?” Hae Ri asked as she made her way around the small wall, standing in front of her desk… Why would he leave something for her…? It didn’t make sense.

“Oh yeah, that’s his name. Hope you don’t mind that I took a look. I was curious since rarely do you talk to anyone enough for them to give you a present…” She sighed, “It’s just a dumb scarf, don’t you already have like a billion of those?”

A scarf…? She only had one… her maroon… A loud gasp was the only noise in the room as she quickly dove her hand into the bag to feel something soft and warm. When her hand pulled out of the bag she held onto the same maroon scarf. She had completely forgotten that she had let Hoseok borrow it that night.

Please, you should wear this… It’s cold outside…

Nervous smiles and rosy cheeks…

A feeling of affection…

So he had it with him all this time… Her fingers dug into the familiar fluffy fabric. Why did Hae Ri have to be so forgetful of everything? The fabric pressed into her nose, but instead of the smell of the outdoors it was masked by a manlier scent… A faint scent of cologne. Did he wear this more than that night? Hae Ri’s cheeks turned red once again… What a weird guy… As she pulled the rest of the fabric from the bag, a folded up piece of notebook paper was caught in the frizzy yarn.

Her eyes stared at it for a long time, what was with those boys and folded notes…? Quickly she plucked it from the scarf’s hold and quickly unfolded it, expecting it to be similar to YoonGi’s… But she was wrong, it was a considerably longer note unlike YoonGi's one worded one.

I’m sorry that I didn’t give this back sooner…

YoonGi told me your message.

Please don’t be, it was my fault.

I’m sorry that I can’t tell you I’m sorry in person.

Hopefully this is good enough for now! kekeke

~Jung Hoseok

It’s like something lodged itself into that she couldn’t swallow. Something had to be wrong in the universe, this much good luck… Hae Ri had never had this much luck to have had so many people show kindness to her. A bad feeling swirl inside her stomach, first Stephanie then Yoongi, and now Hoseok... Kindness didn't come without a price for Hae Ri, something was going to come to tilt her karma again. Her fingers gripped onto the paper so hard that it crumpled it slightly, this feeling… It was the same one she had when she read YoonGi’s note.

Without much thought she quickly folded it and shoved it into her bag, right next to YoonGi’s note… 

A/N:

Has anyone noticed something different in the past few chapters?

It's something really suttle in Hae Ri's character!^^