The following day, Woobin reached school way earlier than usual. He usually wouldn’t be in sight until five minutes before class started, but that day, he was one of the first few people in class. This rare phenomenon had the other kids buzzing and crowding around him, wondering what it was that made him appear so early in class, but he just shrugged and joked it off. Part of him was too lazy to explain, and the other part of him didn’t want to acknowledge that it was because he was looking forward to what Jongsuk had in store for him.

Woobin didn’t understand his own excitement and curiosity. It wasn’t anything big but he found himself thinking about what the next two months was going to be like. He found himself looking forward to how he would turn out after the two months, and he was strangely confident that whatever Jongsuk had planned, it was going to work.

But, Jongsuk didn’t appear. When classes started for that day, Jongsuk wasn’t there. Jongsuk hadn’t called in sick, and Mr. Kang seemingly had no idea about why Jongsuk wasn’t in class.

Woobin frowned as he looked at the empty desk next to him. He thought Jongsuk had most probably just overslept and would appear in class soon. But he didn’t. By lunch, Woobin had already sent Jongsuk 3 text messages asking where he was but he hadn’t received any replies.

Woobin was worried. He had spent the time in class trying to recall if Jongsuk had said anything about cutting classes the night before, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall anything like that.

More than that, it was the first time he realized that it could feel this lonely just because his desk partner wasn’t in school that day. As if the lessons weren’t boring enough, without Jongsuk next to him, time moved excruciatingly slow. He wasn’t sure he was able to stay through the rest of the lessons that day. Before Jongsuk transferred over, no matter how boring the lessons were, Woobin managed to sit, or rather, sleep through all of them. But that day, he wasn’t sure he could do it.

Woobin contemplated cutting classes for the second half of the day and heading out to look for Jongsuk, but he didn’t know where to go to look for Jongsuk either. He realized he didn’t know where Jongsuk usually hung out, nor did he know where Jongsuk lived. He couldn’t call Jongsuk’s home because he didn’t have this number, and Jongsuk wasn’t picking up his mobile phone either. Woobin suddenly felt like he didn’t really know Jongsuk.

Woobin didn’t have his own lunch that day since he thought Jongsuk was going to prepare it for him, and he didn’t exactly want to eat the canteen food so he decided to pass lunch that day. He was about to head to the rooftop to catch some fresh air when he heard someone call him from behind. Woobin spun around, and saw another student walking towards him with a lunch box in his hand. Woobin furrowed his brows a little. He hasn’t seen the other student before and he wasn’t exactly in the mood to socialize.

“You’re Woobin, right?” The other boy said as he handed the lunch box over to him. “Someone asked me to pass this to you.”

Woobin stared, bewildered. “H-huh?”

“He said you forgot your lunch so he brought it for you…No idea,” the boy shrugged and went off, leaving Woobin behind, confused.

With his lunch box in hands, Woobin broke into a sprint towards the school gate. The only person who would be passing him a lunch box that day was Jongsuk. Yet, when he got to the gate, there was no one in sight.

Woobin dragged himself back to the rooftop. He didn’t want to go back to class yet, and the canteen was too crowded for his liking. He found a shady corner and settled down, opening his lunch box. A note was attached to the cover of the lunch box, which Woobin carefully took apart as he read the contents.

“Finish ALL of this for lunch and don’t go to the gym today. Go for a swim instead. And have some salmon and sushi for dinner. I’ll be in school tomorrow. – Jongsuk”

Woobin didn’t quite get what Jongsuk was up to, and he was rather unhappy that Jongsuk gave no explanation at all about his cutting school. Woobin didn’t think it was a simple I-didn’t-feel-like-going-to-school, but he had absolutely no idea what exactly it was. Jongsuk suddenly felt very foreign to Woobin.

As expected, Woobin saw Jongsuk lying on the table when he entered class the next day. He gave Jongsuk a hard slap on his back as he threw himself into his seat. Jongsuk winced softly at the slap and lazily looked up at Woobin.

A frown immediately formed on Woobin’s face when he saw Jongsuk’s face, bruises and cuts clearly visible on his pale skin, his lips slightly swollen and bruised.

“Wh-what happe-”

Jongsuk shook his head before Woobin could finish his question. “Nothing much.”

“You expect me to believe that with your face like that?!” Woobin looked in disbelief.

“I’ll let you know next time. Promise.”