AERIN POV: 

When you got home, you felt completely defeated. Your mind was a mess and your heart was confused with conflicting emotions. *He didn't say anything* you thought to yourself as tears filled your eyes. It was a restless night with lots of crying and no sleep. You woke up with puffy red eyes and a disheartened spirit. You considered skipping school but you pulled yourself together, *I have nothing to be afraid about. I'm not sad..I'm not sad..I'm not sad* you repeated in your head. 

You didn't really have friends so there was no one to worry or ask if you were okay. You walked in to homeroom and took your seat and put in your earphones to distract yourself. After about 10 minutes, he walked in. Your eyes met but surprisingly, he was the first to look away. You couldn't read his emotions from his face but he simply walked to his seat without a word or another glance at you. Homeroom class started once the bell rang and Mr. Lee passed around some worksheets and your hands touched for a brief second until Jackson took the rest of the papers and passed them backwards. 

The week continued like that. No interaction and the distance between you two steadily grew apart. You never realized how lonely you were before. 

He was always waiting at your locker, bugging you to go to school together, and offering to take you out to lunch. You've always dismissed his suggestions and it often embarassed you when he teased you--you missed him.*I'm the one who told him to leave me alone...* you thought to yourself. 

He began to skip class more and more frequently and you wondered if he was doing it on purpose to avoid you. The relationship between you two wasn't so great but did he really have to go so far as to miss class because of it? You stared at his empty seat in homeroom and his absence was especially noticeable during dance class. *I'm just gonna call him...this is getting ridiculous! Is he a little kid? Why is he hiding from me?* you thought to yourself, getting angry for no reason. You stared at your phone and contemplated for what seemed like an hour before finally dialling his number. 

"Hello?" he answered in his masculine voice which showed ittle emotion. 

"Uh..hey..it's me." you stuttered suddenly getting nervous from hearing his voice. *Get yourself togther Aerin! Why are you getting all flustered!* You cleared your throat and took a deep breath, remembering the purpose of your call. 

"Where have you been?! Don't you know that exams are coming up? You haven't attended class regularly for almost a month! I know we had an argument but did you really have to skip class just to avoid me?  Do you hate me that,,,," you couldn't finish your sentence before he cut you off. 

"Aerin. I want to see you right now" he said softly

You were taken aback by his tone of voice. It was smooth and gentle but it signalled something else-- a longing. 

"Well if you want to see me so much, come to class bright and early tomorrow!" you replied saucily. You could imagine him snort at your response and you were anticipating a cheeky remark but instead, he let out a sigh. 

"Aerin, I'm leaving" You let out nervous laughter, hoping, wishing, and praying he was joking. 

"W..what are you talking about? Nice joke, you almost got me there..but you're gonna need to come up with something better than that to fool me"

"Aerin, I'm serious. I..I'm leaving tomorrow" 

You almost dropped your phone upon hearing his words.Those words hit you as you just froze in fear: he was about to leave you and you would be all alone again. 

"Where are you?" you asked trying to fight back tears and the endless amount of questions racing in your mind. 

"I'm at home but.." he said, but before he could finish his sentence, you hung up and ran to the nearest exit. 

It was 4pm, rush hour in Seoul city where all roads, streets, and subways were filled with people commuting. You ran to the subway station and weaved your way around the crowd. After about 10 minutes of saying 'excuse me' or 'sorry', you gave up and forcefully pushed your way to the platform. You were desperate to see him, but what happens then; afterall, you had no right to ask him to stay. 

You looked up at the screen and it would be 3 minutes until the next train. You fidgeted with your uniform, waiting restlessly. When the train finally arrived, a huge mob of people were waiting to exit the train and an equally enormous crowd had gathered to board. *Oh boy* you thought to yourself as you remembered why you walked to school instead of taking public transportation. You pushed your way onto the train and found yourself sandwiched between other passengers. The air was stuffy and it smelled of strong perfumes, bad breath, and B.O. 

*Just 6 stops, just 6 stops until I can get off this train* you repeated in your head as you tried to hold your breath. After about 25 minutes on the overcrowded train with strangers, you breathed fresh air as you sprinted up the stairs onto the street level. It had been a while since you came over to his place and it was hard to tell which condo was the right one. You walked around the neighbourhood, trying to spot any tree, light post, or store that you recognized. After about 15 minutes of wandering, you finally spotted a small crafts store you remember passing last time you were here. 

After walking for about 10 minutes, you saw a series of familiar towers and found the correct building. You saw the concierge and asked to be allowed up to Jackson's apartment. 

"Hello Miss, are you a friend of Jackson's?" asked the older man

"Uhm..yeah you could say that, we're classmates" you responded 

"How nice! Jackson rarely ever has any guests visiting him, you are probably the first" he said 

"Oh..really?" That saddened you a bit, knowing he lived such a mysterious bachelor lifestyle without any family near him. 

"I'm sorry, I've dialed up to his suite but there is no response. He may not be home at the moment" said the concierge. 

*Where could he be? Don't tell me he left already...* you panicked

"T..thanks for your help..could you let me go up anyways? I can wait for him upstairs" 

"Are you sure Miss? You can wait by our lounge area in the lobby" 

"No..no I would prefer to wait upstairs for him, thank you" you replied. 

"Not a problem, if you need anything, don't hesitate to come back to the lobby" he said 

Tears started to stream down your face while you were in the elevator. You hadn't thought of what to say even if you were to meet him. 

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JACKSON POV: 

*She finally called* you thought to yourself as she hung up. You couldn't conceal your happiness to know that maybe sometimes she thought of you, or even worried about you. It's too late. You knew that if you saw her, it would make you feel uneasy to leave her. You have spent the last 3 weeks forcing yourself to forget about her. *She doesn't like you..she doesn't like you..she wants you to get lost* you recited to yourself as to tried to cope with your feelings. However, you thought of nothing but her. 

*Ringgg ring* sounded your home interphone. You were in the shower and SeungHo wasn't home. *Who would it be anyways? You hardly had guests and since you were moving out, there would be no new packages for you. 

As you got out of the shower, your hair was still dripping wet when the interphone rang again. 

"Hello?"

"Oh! You were home after all. You have a guest waiting for you and she just went up not too long ago, she should already be there"

"A guest? For me? Who?" 

"Kwon Aerin, she said she was a classmate" 

You could hardly believe the words from his mouth when he mentioned her name. You hung up the phone in disbelief. 

*Aerin? She came afterall.* 

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NOTE: HELLO SUBBIES! Here's a small update to the story as an apology for my neglect and a token of my appreciation for your support. PLEASE EXCUSE ANY GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES I HAVE MADE! Will edit this later

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