Sitting hunched over with her legs to her chest, Hyejoo traces the floor slowly; wires of her brain ripped out and jammed back together into a gruesome mess.

The night sky sends the girl chills through her window, while heavy eyes pull her head down into stubborn knees.

With every ragged breath Hyejoo's body aches. After a long moment, she attempts to get up, only for her vision to blur and legs to become weak, sending her straight back down to the cold wood.

The blaring silence is finally broken as a muffled voice calls for the girl.

“Hyejoo?”

She makes no attempt to answer, consciousness slipping away from her.

“Hyejoo?”

—

“Hyejoo!”

Eyes quickly opening, Hyejoo lifts her head and looks around, confused.

“Hey sleepyhead, I thought you died or something!” she turns to see one of her classmates Yerim standing at her desk, who’s staring at her with a concerned face despite her playful tone.

Hyejoo wasn’t very acquainted with the girl, usually only seeing glimpses of her in the halls or the back of her head in class. But every now and then Yerim would come up to her to talk.

“Oh sorry I must’ve dozed off,” she replied.

“Did you not sleep very well?” Yerim pouts, “Look, class is pretty much over already!”

Hyejoo simply shrugged off the question, leaving Yerim even more concerned than she was before. Just as she was about to ask further, the school bell that signaled for lunch rang, along with the sound of squeaking chairs and hurried shuffles throughout the hallways.

Although Hyejoo's mind was still fuzzy and all she wanted to do was rest her head back on the desk, she begins throwing her belongings into her bag with Yerim still next to her.

“What’s wrong? I thought you had friends to be with” Hyejoo asks. She had noticed the purple-haired girl was quite popular compared to her, always surrounded by a crowd while Hyejoo would usually be alone.

This being with the exception of her best friend Chaewon, of course.

“Well, I was thinking maybe we could hang out instead?”

Huh?

“You wanna eat lunch with me?” Hyejoo questioned with a puzzled look. The older girl only nodded, with a smile on her face that makes Hyejoo slightly blush.

She agrees with a simple “Okay” and Yerim can’t help but show her excitement. As soon as Hyejoo gets out of her seat Yerim grabs her hand and pulls her towards the door.

“Alright, let’s go!”