"I'm Taemin."

Ji Eun wasn't surprised at the way the sound of the letters rolled off his tongue like magic. He seemed very proud of his introduction and was apparently waiting for Ji Eun's self introduction, even though she had already given one at the start of the school day. The birds that chattered outside the big window were probably discussing what to eat for brunch but it sounded like sing songy taunts to Ji Eun.

"Who do you like Ji Eun?"

"Him?"

"...But I like him."

It was almost funny the way the atmosphere of the classroom was so alike to her old school, in the way that curtains illuminated the room with the sun peeking through its openings, and rays of warm yellow blinked as the budding cherry blossoms outside waved hello.

When she didn't make any move to clarify her name, Taemin leaned closer on his chair (causing Ji Eun to edge away) and tilt his head with a small nod of his head. The soft pull of the chair echoed within the empty classroom, it rebounding from the chair to the blue walls and back to the two students. The whole delicacy of the situation made Ji Eun feel off and began to feel even more misplaced as the soft shadows of the branches outside stretched across Taemin's back like wings.

"And you?" He asked.

"I don't really get why you're asking me this. I've already said my name." Ji Eun stated, her confusion causing her to voice her thoughts without any sort of filter.

"Ok fair enough." Taemin shrugged, "What's your story then?"

"My story." Ji Eun raised a brow, the confusion slowly turning to curiosity like sand through a small hole.

"Why'd you transfer to our school in the middle of the year?" The boy played with the dust on the edge of the desk, subtly avoiding Ji Eun's side. "Well that's okay. You still have time to join our school festivals." He trailed off, "We have the sports festival coming soon and then midterms, which I'm sure you have no problem with."

"Huh." Ji Eun grunted at the comment.

"It's just that that book," Taemin pointed towards Ji Eun's book, "it's marked with all your handwriting. Seems like you love reading and the words you use when writing out your thoughts are really high levelled for a high schooler."

Ji Eun instinctively turned her body towards her book, cupping the air around it with her arms. She gave him a lazy glare and silently closed the book.

"Oh! Michael Verici!"

Her hands that smoothed the book down faltered and she looked up with questioning eyes.

"You know him?"

"Believe it or not!" Taemin smiled again when Ji Eun gave him her attention, placing his chin on his arms. "I really love his psychological books, but his recent romance story is unbelievable. I'd never thought he'd hit it that good."

"You've read it? How did you get it? I've looked for it in all the bookstores in this district but they don't have it in yet."

Taemin hid the amused smile that crept on his lips and for once maintained a straight face.

"I have connections with his publisher. My mom knows a friend, that knows a friend and blah blah blah. I was just lucky." Taemin gave a teasing arrogant shrug, stealing a glance at Ji Eun and almost chuckling when her face was obviously so jealous of him.

She nibbled her lip in envy, but she tried her best not to show it. She instead proceeded to put away the book and turn her body away in hopes the boy would go away.

To no avail.

"I could let you have the book for free."

Taemin jumped back at Ji Eun's sudden turn, her eyes wide and sparkly with eager excitement.

"Could I?!"

The two paused in time as Ji Eun's voice repeated itself in the class, birds chuckling at the sound, the soft wind from the windows picking up the curtains as if encouraging Ji Eun to raise her voice even more.

"I can't believe you."

"I told you I liked him, why would you do that to me?"

"I didn't do anything wro-"

"Ex-Excuse me." Ji Eun coughed, fixing her neat skirt with her head down and glasses out of place.

Taemin let the smile slowly spread across his face like melted chocolate as he reached over to  Ji Eun.

She flinched but Taemin's eyes caught her from moving away. Her breath caught in , her shoulder tensed up as Taemin's hand only moved closer. She could almost hear her late father say;

You may think that a person is one thing, but when you look into their eyes-

"I'm not so scary am I?" Taemin let out a soft laugh as he adjusted her glasses for her (which was a pretty difficult thing to do, Ji Eun believed), and he moved back smiling gently at Ji Eun. He let out a quiet chortle when she let out a shaky and inaudible breath, waiting for his time to speak.

you'll see the truth.

Ji Eun was sure that her father said this in a totally different situation, one that would lead to his death, but she felt that it could apply in this moment. She wasn't that sure of Taemin's character yet, but a sense of relief and the weight of burden was lifted from her shoulders at she thought that maybe, just maybe, this guy wasn't just asking her out of politeness or with some other twist.

Maybe he wasn't acting.

"So!" Taemin finally said as the tan brown curtains settled down, "I'll give you the book tomorrow yeah? It's great. You'll probably never let go of it once you start to read it."

Ji Eun gave a small and slow nod, the sense of uncertainty cracking at Taemin's loud and cheerful voice.

"In exchange,"

Ji Eun froze.

"tell me your story."

She looked up, careful to decipher the meaning behind his words, expecting a stupid bright smile.

He was, and then when Ji Eun made eye contact, he held it and the smile melted to a cold thin line, his eyes all of a sudden dark and inspecting. It seemed in that moment he was trying to figure out Ji Eun. Why, Ji Eun had no idea, but it felt wrong and it felt scary.

It felt wrong and Ji Eun thought that this boy had so much more than he was showing.

He was not lying, but he wasn't exactly the whole innocent and happy boy he played to be. His acting was sharp, it was well timed and it was well managed. He wasn't doing any evil with this ability, but technically he wasn't doing any good.

Ji Eun froze at the thought that popped into her head.

He was like her.

"What a ."

"Ew. She's looking at you that way again."

She quickly looked away, unwilling to let this still unfamiliar boy look at her like she was some sort of specimen and instead took off her glasses. She placed them back on after giving the lenses a lazy swipe with her shirt, ignoring the heavy gaze from Taemin.

Ji Eun let herself think.

What is the benefit of telling him her past? What were the risks? Why was she even thinking of the chance in the first place?

Ji Eun bit her lip, her lips red from the harsh bites.

Did she really want the book or was she just searching for a person that would help her?

That would hear her out?

In that case, would benefits or risks really matter if all she really did want was an ear?

She let herself think.

Then she didn't and she decided to tell a lie that was only partly true.

"If it's for the book, I'll tell you."

 

"I heard you came from Busan! How is it in Seoul compared to your hometown?"

The girl that sat across Ji Eun smiled brightly at the positive attention she was getting and shook her head, tugging her shoulders slightly upwards.

"It's not that bad, ya know? Just da same ol' same ol'." She brushed it off, waving her hand in an attempt to push away the attention.

"I thought you'd be a bit girly to be honest, when I heard your name." Another girl from the side jumped in.

"Yeah, especially with the way you look. You're so pretty!"

"Stop it ya guys! I'm not!" The girl waved her hands frantically, her expression wide and shy.

Ji Eun almost wanted to roll her eyes at the words she was hearing, but she let her friends bicker endlessly as she stepped forward and handed her phone to the new girl.

"Here's my phone, put in your number." Ji Eun said, "We're going to go to the karaoke tomorrow and hang out at the mall in town. Join us!"

"Really? Thanks!"

The phone made small click-clacks as slender fingers brushed over the screen.

"Jung Eunji." The girl read aloud as she gave the phone back to Ji Eun.

"I'll call you tomorrow." Ji Eun smiled.

She didn't really care whether this Eunji girl actually came tomorrow or didn't, but she thought why not?

It wasn't like inviting this girl would hurt her anyways.

 

"JI EUN!!!"

"You scared me."

"Ya don't sound like it." Eunji frowned, making sure to make a point as she crossed her arms over her chest, tugging her sweater over her hands.

Ji Eun scoffed as she stepped into the classroom, shivering at the cold temperature drop. Eunji smiled and leapt at Ji Eun, enclosing her into a tight and warm hug earning a groan from the latter.

"Hugs release endorphins, they'll make ya happy!" Eunji whined at the reaction, only hugging tighter, “An' warm."

"Yeah well, you don't." Ji Eun complained.

Eunji smiled widely at Ji Eun's invisible attempt at removing her and laughed happily, noticing the suppressed smile from Ji Eun.

The two wiggled further into the classroom still stuck together, waddling to their seats and shuddering at the cold touch of their seats when they both sat down. Ji Eun slipped out of Eunji's embrace and moved her chair to a more comfortable position, her shoulders glued to her ears. Eunji sat down in her seat right in front of Ji Eun's and leaned her chair against the front edge of Ji Eun's table.

"Did ya do yo homework?" Eunji asked, whirling around with her notebook, eyes wide and sparkling. The appearance of Eunji's notebook adjourned with messy scribbles, picture stickers with Ji Eun, doodles with Ji Eun, resulted in a disgusted facial expression from Ji Eun.

"I am not letting you copy my homework again." Ji Eun firmly snapped, flicking the notebook away.

"Ya don't have ta." Eunji grinned, rolling her eyes. "I did it yesterday!"

"You did?" Ji Eun gasped long and loud, now staring at the notebook like it was a lost treasure from the deepest and darkest of seas. "When did you have time to do it? We were texting all night yesterday."

Eunji shouted back in playful anger at the few taunts from male students who were listening onto the conversation, resulting in smiles of dumb happiness. Eunji rolled her eyes and looked back at Ji Eun, dangling the notebook in front of Ji Eun.

"I did it on Saturday." Eunji shrugged, "Mom said I couldn't go out with cha if I didn't finish all my homework an' finish ma test packet."

"You should have told me, I would've come over and helped with it." Ji Eun took Eunji's notebook which was shaking more dramatically in the air for attention and flipped it open, ignoring the first few pages that was bombed with stupid jokes and meaningless talk. The pages slipped quickly to emptiness and Ji Eun flipped back more slowly this time ending up on a fresh page.

Ji Eun shook her head with a small smile at the bickering shouts between Eunji and the teasing classmates, her eyes scanning the answers and mentally comparing it with hers.

"This one's wrong, but close."

Eunji's eyes flickered to Ji Eun and cried out in despair, her hands latching onto the sides of Ji Eun's table.

"Can't ya just praise me instead of trying to be a teacha!" Eunji pouted, her eyebrows furrowing downwards. "Ji Eun, you're too mean to me. I feel like I love ya more."

Ji Eun made a grunt, obviously irked by the cheesiness of Eunji's choice of words.

"SEE!" Eunji threw a hand up, "This is unhealthy for me, I'm going to find a new best friend."

"Aw c'mon, despite everything Ji Eun really cares for you!" A by standing girl laughed, "She's just a bit dishonest."

"I'm tired of it! Ya hear me Ji Eun? Tired!" Eunji tried to hide the smile behind her angry gestures, the whole class slowly turning towards the duo in interest.

"We all know that you guys are basically inseparable anyways, EunJiEun."

 

"If one of us wasn't with the other, it was kind of weird. Eventually, the nickname caught on and before we knew it, the whole school was calling us like that."

"So you had friends!"

Ji Eun shot an accusing glare at Taemin, who apparently wasn't really listening and was painfully focused on that fact that Ji Eun had only one friend. He pretended to gasp and proceeded to clasp his hand over his mouth, motioning gently with his free hand for Ji Eun's story continuation. His talking shield failed him though as curiosity seeped out and a question shot towards to Ji Eun.

"Why is this all past tense?"

Ji Eun stared at Taemin long and hard, wondering if he was being innocent or of he truly didn't know.

The dull, fake spark of innocence glimmered brightly, almost too excessively, making Ji Eun scoff. She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue in an arrogant way. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. If you want to  hear my story, I'd recommend throwing away that innocent facade you're making up. You can fool other girls, but you won't fool me."

Ji Eun felt better and more in control as she caught a gust of astonishment glint pass on Taemin's face and her back straightened, her uniform doing the same.

"I don't know why you're acting like that and it's frankly very unappealing." Ji Eun cocked her head, turning her body away from Taemin and towards the window. Her eyes trailed to the the two birds plus now a new one, much lighter in colour and smoother in coat. It was quiet, but the birds were each cocking their heads frantically at the new faces, making small hops to each other.

"Okay okay." Ji Eun could hear the smile in Taemin's voice and also the sincerity in it.

"I don't know why you're acting like that but I'm going to find out." Ji Eun turned around, making sure her eyes locked with Taemin in a threat, firmly pressing her hands palm down onto the table. 

She ignored the ways the birds started chirping softly, almost as if they were cautious of each other and their voices not as high as they were before. Still, their shrill songs trilled into the classroom, some people now walking past the classrooms, the end of lunch coming close.

"Please do."

Ji Eun tried to keep her hands firm and her eyes stern, but the way he smiled softly and very slightly, gave a rush through Ji Eun's face. She turned around quickly as natural as she could, her heart beats identical to the beats of the little hops the birds were making a few moments ago. She wanted to shake her head of the disgustingly cheesy thoughts that came into her head.

"Oh my god Ji Eun, he's too good for you."

"What the hell, did she just say she liked me?"

Ji Eun's heart beat slowed, her mind remembering the darkness, remembering where it should be. She felt relieved, to be back in the lonely and black world she was supposed to be in, the one she was placed in a year ago. 

Her trembling hands showed she didn't want to take the chance of failure in the bright world.

Then a screech of a chair being dragged pulled a surprised jump from Ji Eun, her head whipping to the source of the sound.

Taemin grinned, his body lifted from the chair and his hands on the side of it. He scooted closer, careful this time to not create such sound, all the while with a gentle smile resting on his lips.

Ji Eun stared, confused at what to do. She decided to adjust herself and flick the imaginary dust off her table, proceeding to tell her story.

When Taemin looked up, noticing Ji Eun's confused expression, he let out a warm chortle.

It sent warm bubbles full of            and Ji Eun frowned in disgust and fear, ignoring the thought vigorously.

Taemin's smile died down, noticing the dark way Ji Eun clouded her eyes and his smile turned more sharp. He leaned towards her, placing his arms and resting his chin on them on top of the table.

Ji Eun's table.

Ji Eun stared wide-eyed, her hands frozen in place.

"To see you better." Taemin smiled, the control in the atmosphere shifting to him, as the corners of his lips were sarcastic and devilish.

Ji Eun hated how she felt like she lost. She hated the way she wasn't the dominant one. She hated him and the arrogant way he actually was. She hated the way he could read her better than she could him.

...?

But why did her heart beat this fast? Even faster than before? Even lighter than before?

Why did he make her cheeks hot and chest swell in a weird way?

Why was is that she was flashed with a beam of the light, and she wasn't scared at all?

 

 

 

 

 

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