{Jihae}

“W-who are you?” Baekhyun asks me, his doubtful gaze piercing at me.

“What the heck do you mean? I’m Jihae of course.” I answer the obvious. Baekhyun doesn’t speak. Rather he sits back on his chair and stares into mid-air. He looks as if a state of trance has overwhelmed him, rendering him speechless.

“Baekhyun?” I say softly. “Is your hand okay?”

He doesn’t utter a word and so I decide that the best thing is to leave him alone. I mean isn’t that what I’ve been doing ever since the incident? I can’t help but ponder over what might have caused him to suddenly morph into silence.

The obvious answer would be my birthmark. I’ll admit the uncanny coincidence is frightening to me, but Baekhyun reacted ten times weirder than I’d ever expect.

Just then I hear the sound of the chair’s legs screeching on the floor. Baekhyun gets out of his seat and walks over to the teacher’s table. He whispers something to Mr Kim and points at his injury. Mr Kim nods and there Baekhyun goes, out of the classroom. 

And as though time pauses, I’m stuck in my own world of perplexity. What in the world just happened? Baekhyun’s exit leaves me with millions of unanswered questions.

“Having your partner gone does not mean its break time. Get on with the assignment!” Mr Kim’s baritone voice calls me back into reality.

“Sorry.” I apologise.

As I blindly follow the instructions on the worksheet, I keep a look out for the door, wondering at which moment Baekhyun will walk through. Ten minutes pass, and another ten. Before I know it, chemistry lesson is up and I’m already packing my stuff into my bag.

I look over to my empty seat. Baekhyun’s textbooks are scattered under his desk. I quickly help him stuff everything into his bag and I sling it over my front as I exit the classroom.

Lessons are over for the day and so I head over the nurses office, hoping to catch Baekhyun there. His injury must have been pretty serious or he wouldn’t have been gone for that long.

“How may I help you?” The nurse smiles over at me.

“Erm I’m looking for Byun Baekhyun.” I answer.

“Mr Byun? The one that carried you here the other time?”

“Yea.” I nod awkwardly, trying to conceal the embarrassment within me.

“He left ages ago. He came here to get some ointment and left promptly afterwards after receiving a phone call.” She tells me.

“Oh is that so?” I try to remain indifferent. She nods in reply. “Okay thank you for informing me.” I bow as a gesture of thanks before I leave the nurses’ office, confusion swarming in me as I do.

Baekhyun left ages ago? Then where is he now? Why didn’t he come back for lessons or even to collect his bag? I can’t help but think my birthmark plays a part in this entire thing. Maybe even a big part.

I fish out for my phone, scrolling through my list of contacts before I finally see the name ‘Baekhyun’. To think of it, I’ve never called him before. We just text each other. Or at least we used to.

Ignoring that teeny bit of hesitation, I clicked on the ‘call’ button. “The number you have dialled is currently unavailable,” was the only sound that came out from my ear piece. Even after several calls, the same robot voice answers me.  

Maybe he doesn’t like answering calls. So I decide to leave him a message.

            Jihae: Hi Baekhyun its Jihae. Your bag is with me just so you

know.

Immediately after pressing the ‘send’ button, I regret it. I sound way too formal in my message. The past me would never have sounded like that. Did I actually think Baekhyun may have deleted my number?

A few minutes past and there is still no reply. This isn’t like Baekhyun at all. He’d normally reply within a minute or so. I suddenly feel anxiety rushing through my veins. What I am even worried about I’m not even sure. There is just this uneasy feeling swimming throughout me.

Without me knowing, I’m biting on my nails. I only stop when someone calls my name.

“Jihae?” It’s Luhan. “What are you doing standing here with two bags?”

“I-I…”

“Isn’t this Baekhyun’s bag?” Luhan raises an eyebrow. I nod in reply.

“Have you seen him?” I ask.

“Nope.” He says, crushing my hopes. “Are you looking for him?”

“Well yea he just suddenly left class like that.” I explain.

“Look Jihae about Baekhyun I think you should just avoid him.”

“Luhan if this is another of your nags again then I’m not one bit interested.” I reply nonchalantly.

“I’m serious. I’ve known him a year now and I’ve never seen him like that before.” Luhan adopts a serious tone.

“And so you’re just going to avoid him because he has changed?”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Why in the world would Baekhyun hurt me Luhan?” I’m shouting.

“Let’s just not take any chances okay?” He gives me sad smile. I don’t reply him. “You’ve already been through so much because of him.”

His words echo in my head. It’s all true though. Sleepless nights spent thinking about Baekhyun and his sudden change in attitude. Thinking of a valid explanation that will answer all the loop holes. Thinking. Just thinking.

Just then my phone rings. I don’t border checking the caller ID. I pick it up immediately.

“Baekhyun?”

“This isn’t Baekhyun.” The voice is sharp and rough. I get the feeling that I’ve never met the person before.

“Who are you?”

“You don’t have to know that. All you need to know is that if you don’t come to 50 Dongjae street in 30 minutes, don’t think of seeing Baekhyun ever again.” The voice coos.

“Why should I trust you?” I almost laughed. I’ve watched enough crime prevention videos to know that this is most likely a hoax.

“JIHAE!” My eyes widen. It’s his voice. “Jihae come and save me these guys have me!” Every single syllable was no doubt enunciated by Baekhyun’s vocal cords. It was an exact match.

“Baekhyun! Don’t hurt him!” I whisper over the phone, not wanting Luhan to hear any bit of the conversation. He mustn’t be involved in this in any way possible.

“Don’t worry Jihae. Just come in time and we won’t lay a finger on him.” He assures me. But the next sentence isn’t as welcoming. “Decide not to, and there’s no promise what we’ll do to him.”

“Don’t be rash!” My voice shoots up to a hushed cry. “I’ll be there.”

“Very well. We’re waiting for you Jihae. We all are.” And just like that the call ends, leaving me rooted on the ground for a few moments. I hear footsteps coming toward me.

“Hey you okay? Who called?” Luhan asks. I neither look at him nor give him any form of reply.

“50 Dongjae street,” I mumble under my breath. It is just around the corner. If I make a run for it I can make it just in time. Buses or taxis will definitely get caught in the jam at this hour. Just as I’m contemplating my next move, I hear his voice calling me again.

I try blocking out his voice but it still gets to me, “Jihae! Are you alright? You look pale as a ghost.”

“Just tell mom I might not be back for dinner.” I tell him before chucking both bags onto the floor and making a dash out of the school. I know Luhan will be responsible enough to bring the bags back home so I’ll have one less thing to be burdened down.

I think he’s shouting at me. There are words thrown at me but I can’t quite grasp anything. My mind only thinking of one thing. One person. Baekhyun.