Hyun Ji's eyes fluttered open as her blurry vision slowly began to clear up. Bringing her hand to her throbbing head, she used her other arm as a support as she struggled to sit upright. Taking a look around, her surroundings appeared familiar and a moment later, it finally occurred to her that she was still in the toilet. She let out a relieved sigh. Hyun Ji was glad that no one had found her unconscious because that would stir up a whole lot of attention from everyone in school and Hyun Ji definitely didn't want that to happen.

Hyun Ji took in a few deep breaths as her heartbeat gradually returned to its usual rate. Her lungs no longer felt constricted and the numbness in her legs was already gone. Even so, her head was still throbbing from the aftermath of her passing out. Fetching her phone from her pocket, she did a time check. She was five minutes away from missing two whole periods of Mathematics. Hyun Ji wasn't worried of being told off by her teacher since her teacher didn't even know of her existence in the first place. Hyun Ji went through all measures to not have her existence known by her teachers because having her name called out in class was the last thing she wanted.Of course, the benefit she got from being non-existent to most of her teachers was that she could miss all of their lessons and they wouldn't even notice. 

Slowly bringing herself up to her feet, she held onto the sink as a support and stabilized herself. Hyun Ji stared into the mirror as her mind went adrift to the dream she had earlier on. It felt so real, as though it once took place at one point of her life but no matter how much she wrecked her brain, Hyun Ji couldn't recall going through such an incident before. Hyun Ji could remember every bit of the dream she had earlier on but the only thing she couldn't seem to remember was the image of the boy. Even in the dream, the boy's image seemed blurry. 

Hyun Ji was brought out of her reverie upon hearing the bell ring, signaling the change of lessons. Splashing water onto her face, she calmed herself down and pushed the dream towards the back of her mind. But she knew it would only come back to haunt her in due time. Heaving a sigh, Hyun Ji grabbed her sketchbook that had fallen onto the floor and took hold of the brown paper bag. Leaving the toilet, Hyun Ji disposed the brown paper bag into the bin.

She wasn't hungry anymore.

The hall was bustling with students taking their own sweet time getting to their next lesson. In due time, the discipline master was bound to blow his whistle as a warning for them to quicken their pace. Till then, everyone cherished the short period of time they had. Squeezing through the gaps between the students, Hyun Ji made her way to her Mathematics classroom. Her classmates were still inside, talking to one another as they made their way towards the door. It was easy for Hyun Ji to get to her seat ,unnoticed, since everyone was distracted in a way or two.

Grabbing her bag from her seat, Hyun Ji left the classroom by the back door and made her way to her next lesson which was a self-study period. During self-study periods, students were allowed to choose where they wanted to study: the student's lounge or the library's resource room, where teachers took turns to monitor the students. Hyun Ji always alternated between the two places and so she made her way to the student's lounge. Entering the student's lounge, which was still rather empty, Hyun Ji made her way to her usual seat right next to the window, at the back of the room. 

Hyun Ji took out her Mathematics notes to attempt at catching up on what she had missed during the two periods of Mathematics earlier on. However, no matter how hard she tried to put her focus into studying, the dream she had in the toilet was beginning to creep up into her thoughts. Eventually, she gave up trying and simply stared out of the window, letting her mind wander off once more. She replayed the dream in her head and each time, she tried to picture the boy but to no avail. Hyun Ji heaved a sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair. 

I already have a dream that constantly haunts me each day. I don't need another one making things worse.

Hyun Ji flipped through her sketchbook, stopping at the drawing she drew earlier on. It was an image of a swimming pool but it wasn't just any ordinary swimming pool. It was the very same swimming pool Hyun Ji kept dreaming of. It was the exact same scene, the main reason as to why she screamed. Hyun Ji stared at the drawing, staring at one spot. Right in the middle of the pool, was a figure.

Hyun Ji slammed her sketchbook shut and pushed it aside. If she had stared at the picture a second longer, she would've triggered the pain and she knew that.

≈♦♦♦≈

Jimin stopped talking upon realizing that he wasn't getting a single response from Jin. Turning to look at the elder, Jimin felt a tinge of annoyance raise within him, seeing Jin lost in his own field of thoughts. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jimin calmed himself down. He assured himself that everything would be okay. He turned to look at Jin again, who was still deep in his thoughts. Jimin couldn't fool himself.

Everything would not be okay. I don't care if it's intentional or not, I will not be ignored. Jimin thought to himself as he glared at the elder.

"You know, you should really give your attention to the person talking." Upon hearing Jimin's words, Jin snapped out of his thoughts and stopped in his tracks. The moment Jin turned to face Jimin, the younger replaced his glare with glazed eyes. Jimin tried so hard to hide his annoyance.

"Sorry, what did you say?" the elder asked with an apologetic look on his face. He hadn't realized that Jimin had been talking to him. Being deep in his thoughts, Jin had somehow blocked out his surroundings.

"I said, I won't be attending basketball practice today. My shift starts earlier since my colleague won't be around," the younger said. Jimin worked as a part-time barista at a Starbucks outlet located near his house. Knowing this, Jin nodded his head.

"Have you told Coach?" the elder asked to which the younger nodded. Jin flicked his gaze down the hallway and that was when something caught his attention. Or rather, someone.

Turning to Jimin, he said, "Hey, I'll be right back."

Without waiting for the younger's reply, Jin made his way to a nearby locker with his eyes locked onto the back of the locker's owner. On the other hand, Jimin was frowning at the older's back. The annoyance was evident on Jimin's face though Jin was oblivious to the younger's disapproval of his behavior. At that point of time, Taehyung, Namjoon, Hoseok, Yoongi and Jungkook approached Jimin. Upon seeing them, Jimin replaced his annoyed look with a straight face. The rest hadn't noticed but Namjoon did though he didn't call Jimin out for it. He didn't need to. Namjoon knew the reason behind it anyway.

"Where's Jin hyung?" Jungkook asked. The mention of the elder's name nearly made Jimin annoyed once more as he turned towards Jin's direction.

"You tell me," Jimin said. Following Jimin's gaze, the five of them grew confused upon seeing the sight before them.

Over at the locker, Jin stood next to the figure in hopes of getting her attention. When his existence wasn't acknowledged by her, he spoke.

"Can we talk?"

Hyun Ji heaved a low sigh as her grip tightened on the book in her hand. She was hoping he'd go away if she were to pretend as though he wasn't there but just like that morning, her hopes were crushed. Never the less, she continued to ignore him and put her books into her locker. Jin knew what she was doing but he wasn't backing down just yet. 

"Does it happen often? The pain, I mean," Jin asked, being the bold person he was. Hyun Ji tensed as her hand paused in mid-air. It was silent for a while as Jin observed her behavior. He knew what the answer was without the need for her to answer. Regaining her composure, Hyun Ji put the last book she had into her locker and slammed the locker shut. Without even glancing at Jin, she walked off. Jin hadn't expected her to react that way and it took him a second to register her response into his head before realizing that she was already leaving.

Calling out her name, his attempt in getting her attention failed as she simply ignored him so he decided to go after her. Meanwhile, the rest of his friends, who had seen their interaction, exchanged glances with one another and without even a single utter, they knew just what was on each other's minds.

"Hyun Ji," Jin called out once more but his calls had fallen upon deaf ears. 

"Hey, wait." Finally catching up to her, he grabbed her wrist and spun her around so that she was facing him. Hyun Ji was about to wrench herself free when he spoke once more.

"Why are you always trying to avoid me? Why are you so afraid of me?"

That got her attention as she tensed up once more.

"This morning, you shunned me when I asked whether you were okay. Earlier on, during recess, you shunned me again. All I wanted to do was help but you kept pushing me away. What's wrong with you?" He continued. Upon hearing that, Hyun Ji's eyes turned bloodshot and they were piercing right through him. Jin had hit a nerve and he knew it but he wasn't backing down just yet.

"I didn't need your help," she said with a particular edge to her tone. Jin frowned.

"You looked as though you were on the verge of collapsing! What did you expect me to do? Pretend as though you don't exist?" he said as he tried to keep his cool.

"Yes!" she said, raising her voice and stunning him for a moment. She hadn't intended on raising her voice. It just came out. 

Silence filled the air for a second or two before Jin finally spoke, his tone calmer, "You want me to act as though you're non-existent?"

Looking up, he met her eyes. His eyes were glazed, unreadable but at the same time, so fearful.

"Answer me, Hyun Ji." he said, his tone carefully controlled. Something about his tone was different and Hyun Ji could tell.

"Yes," she said. The silence dragged on before Hyun Ji spoke once more, "It'll make both our lives easier."

With that, she wrenched her hand out of his grip and strode off. This time, he let her.

Jin entered the school and headed towards the toilet. Along the way, he had crossed paths with his friends but he didn't bother to acknowledge them. 

"Hyung," Jungkook called out to him and was about to follow him when Namjoon stopped Jungkook from doing so.

"Don't. He's not himself." They were simple words but yet, Jungkook hadn't understood them.

Jin slammed his hands onto the toilet's door and went in. As he did so, he called out, "There better not be anyone in here or you'll get it from me."

Seeing that there was no response, he kicked the door of every cubicle open. The sound of the doors being slammed open formed a chain of echoes around the small toilet. Once he had confirmed that he was alone, he headed towards the sink and stared into the mirror. His face stared back at him but even so, he didn't see himself. He saw someone different. Someone evil. Someone sinister. Someone crooked.

His eyes showed fear but the smirk on his lips contradicted that. His breathing grew heavier. His heart clenched tighter. His hands were curled into tight fists. The fear in his eyes was replaced with anger at the very next second. 

He threw a punch towards the mirror, hoping it'd take away the image before him but his punch merely left a crack on the mirror. His knuckles were red but he didn't feel the pain he had caused to himself. He couldn't feel pain. Not when he was in that state.

Jin fought to overpower it. Jin screamed internally, in hopes that his screams would scare it away. Jin battled for survival. Jin countered its thoughts.

Jin was too weak. Jin lost the battle. No matter what Jin did, it'd always be stronger. 

Jin was afraid.

Afraid of himself.

≈♦♦♦≈

Hyun Ji stared out the window of the bus. Her gaze was directed at nowhere in particular while her mind was wandering on its own. She heaved a heavy sigh as she felt slightly guilty for shunning Jin. She couldn't help it. It was a forced habit. A habit she had mastered the year before. Pushing people away, that was what she often did. But she had her reasons. 

Reasons she had kept to herself. Reasons she would never share. Reasons people would never understand. Many people want to be known. Many people want to be noticed. Many people want to be recognized. But Hyun Ji wanted to be invisible.

No matter how much it hurt.

But it wasn’t all that bad being invisible. Nobody could hurt her. At least, nobody but herself.

A/N: Finally, I got the chance to edit Chapter 3. I've made a lot of changes to this chapter actually. Anyways, do let me know what you guys think of the new and edited Chapter 3! Feel free to ask me questions should you have any and oh, I'm friendly so if you simply want to talk to me, then shoot me a PM :)