Heavy rain poured that afternoon.  Raindrops hit the roof of the waiting shed like a million needles thrown from the sky.  The wind blew hard, creating a howling sound as it blew inside the corridors of the school.  The lobby was filled with students who were waiting for the rain to stop.

Tao stood by the glass window, looking outside.  Something felt wrong the whole day.  He had moments where he found himself dreaming while awake.  He would space out, then visualize himself in places he was sure he had never been before.  But they all seemed familiar to him.  It felt like he had been there before… that he has to be there…

But that new student… he has never felt that uneasy with someone his whole life.  He knew she did nothing to him.  But her eyes… her stare…

“You don’t have an umbrella?” Minseok, who suddenly appeared behind him, asked.

He looked at him, his trail of thoughts interrupted.  “I have one,” he answered, raising his umbrella.

“Oh,” Minseok said, looking outside the window as well.  “You saw this coming, too?  The rain..?”

He nodded.  “I didn’t exactly see that it’s going to rain.  I just… felt it.”

He looked at Minseok.  He wasn’t sure if he should talk to him about what’s going on in his head.  But he needed someone to talk to.  Someone who wouldn’t dismiss his thoughts as part of his addiction to online games or a delayed reaction of puberty.  He knew Minseok would be the best option.

“You don’t like her, do you?” Minseok asked before he could even open his mouth.

He nodded.

“I don’t like her, too,” Minseok said.

Tao looked at him, surprised.  He was pretty sure everyone in class liked her, especially Chen.

“Why are you so surprised?” Minseok asked him with a smile.

“I just thought I was being irrational,” he replied.  “…guess I’m not the only one…”

“Well… maybe we are being irrational.  But there’s something about her that’s just… different.  I couldn’t explain what it is, but she’s different.”

Tao looked at him, delighted to hear him say that.  Talking to Minseok was definitely the right choice.  But he’s still having second thoughts on telling him about his dreams.

“Is there something you want to talk about?” again, Minseok asked before he could even talk.

He stared at him with narrowed eyes.  “Do you have ESP or something?” he asked, making him laugh.

“C’mon, Huang Zitao.  I’ve known you for three years now.  Kris is not the only one who knows you well.”

Tao gave him a smile before looking outside the window.  “You’re interested in psychology, right?”

“I’m interested in a lot of things,” he replied.

“Well… I’ve been having dreams...”

“What kind of dreams?”

“Weird dreams…”

He paused, trying to think of what to say.  Now that he’s actually talking about his dreams to someone else, he figured he needs to be careful with what he’s going to say.  ‘Keep it simple.’

“Well… I’ve had the same dream for a month now,” he continued, fidgeting his fingers.  “There’s always this voice… a woman’s voice… talking to me about gods…”

“Gods?”

Tao let out a nervous laugh.  He knew he would sound weird, and that everyone who would hear him talking would think he’s a freak.

“What about gods?” Minseok asked, his voice higher in pitch than usual.

“The voice says something like… the gods need your help.  I don’t know what she’s talking about or who she’s talking to.”

Minseok stared at his face, trying to read his expression.  “What kind of gods do you think the voice is talking about?  For you to dream of the same thing for a month… that should mean something…”

“I don’t know,” he replied.  “Do you think this has something to do with playing online games?”

He gave him a shrug.  “Maybe.  Maybe not.  Aside from the voice, is there something else that you’re dreaming about?”

“There’s one more thing…” he said, recalling what happened that morning.  “I was in the shower this morning.  I kind of had a trance.  It was like I was brought somewhere else… to a different world.”  He bit his lower lip before continuing with his story.  “I found myself in the middle of a battlefield.  Then it went really crazy.  It was like I was in an end-of-the-world themed movie.  There was lightning and thunder.  Then an earthquake.  Then flood.  I thought I was going to die.  But then a bright light appeared.  There’s a man.  I think he was holding a bow… but I didn’t see his face.  It was just a silhouette…”

He stared at Minseok, waiting for him to say a word.  Moments passed.  They both stood in silence.  After minutes that seemed like hours for Tao who was so nervous that his friend thinks he’s crazy, Minseok turned around and walked the opposite direction without saying a word.

Tao stood still, embarrassed.  He knew it would end that way.  It was his fault for having high hopes that someone would understand him.  Now he would have to think of a way to fix the situation and save his face.  He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.  ‘So much for trusting a friend…’

“Don’t just stand there,” he heard Minseok say.  “You need answers, right?”

Tao stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Come on!” he called out hurriedly.  “We don’t have much time.”

* * * * *

“Tell me about your friends,” Aoife said as she walked down the stairs with Chen.

“My friends?” Chen asked, looking ahead.  “Well… they’re really… messed up,” he said with a laugh.

“They look fine to me,” she said.

“Yeah, they’re okay.  They’re fun to hang out with.”

“Tell me more about them.”

Chen looked at her, smiling.  “Is there someone you like among them?”

Aoife gave him a timid smile, making him laugh.  He felt a little disappointed, though.  He thought it was his chance to get a girl.  Maybe next time.

“Okay.  I’ll start with the weird ones.  The tall guy who’s always acting cold… his name is Kris.  He came from China.  Said he wanted to be a singer and a great painter someday.  He sings okay, but I doubt if he could make it to the art world.”

“That’s rude,” she said.

“Aniyo.  He knows it.  Next is Junmyeon, our class president.  One word to describe him.  Rich.  He likes swimming, too.  They own a huge swimming pool at home.  One time, he brought us there to hang out.  It was like I was in a big-time resort… with all the facilities and service crew.”  He shook his head, thinking of how rich his friend is.

“Next, we have Luhan.  Also from China.  He’s a soccer player.  A real sharp shooter.  Give him a dart, ballpen, eraser, or anything he can throw, he can hit the target wherever it is.”

“Sharp shooter, huh?” she said, looking at her shoes.  “Does he play archery too?”

“I’ve seen him do it once.  At Junmyeon’s yard.  He saw a bow and arrow there and played with it.  He’s not bad at it.  I mean, he did good, but that wasn’t his best.  The arrow landed an inch away from the bull’s eye.”

“Impressive.”

“Yeah.  We have Kyungsoo.  The guy with those big eyes.  We sometimes call him ‘owl’.  He may be small, but he’s really strong.  He punched me once on my stomach when he got mad at me.  I thought I was going to die!”

They landed on the second floor.  Chen was about to lead Aoife down the stairs when he saw his friends on the waiting shed from the glass window.

“Oh, there they are,” he said.

She walked to the window beside him and watched the guys.

“Baekhyun and Chanyeol,