Chapter 1

 

Jongin walked into his classroom that morning like he did every classroom on every morning. Except, inside he felt something different. This was April of his senior year in college. He sat at his desk that he seemed to outgrow over the last few months, not in size, but simply put, mentality. Coffee in hand, pen behind his ear, and a white button up shirt, with a disheveled collar, he seemed to become a man. But judging by his antsy and almost twitching legs, he so obviously was playing a part of the man he longed to become.

 

'One more month, and then I'm done,' he thought to himself. 

The thought terrified him and excited him. In one month he had a chance to try to become a real journalist. For just one more month he was a naive student.

 

The teacher, Mr. Choi Seunghyun, walked in the classroom a few minutes late as usual. He set his brief case down on the mahogany desk and carefully opened it, as if it was the most precious thing he owned. Judging by his wrinkled clothing and disheveled hair, it very well could've been.

 

"This last month if the school year you will be doing a project. This will be the closest thing to being a journalist you will get before you, hopefully, actually become one. This will be worth twenty percent of your grade, so I hope you listen to my explanation."

He gestured dramatically with his hands as he inflected his voice.

"YOU WILL...go out into the world around you....and ....FIND SOMETHING INTERESTING AND WRITE ABOUT IT."

 

The whole class nodded waiting for more, but after a few moments and their melodramatic  teacher sitting down at his desk reading the daily news, they knew there was nothing else to it.

After a few more moments the teacher's eyes peeked over his paper and a look of realization danced over his features as he lowered his newspaper.

 

He said, "By the way... Class is dismissed. I don't have anything else to teach..."

With a shrug of his shoulders and a swig of his 'mystery drink' (the favorites in the class claim it smells like alcohol, the party-ers and geeks claim its scotch) the class was off, everyone except for Jongin.

 

Jongin slowly stood up from his desk, took a deep breath, and didn't know what to do. He was excited for this project, but overwhelmed. This project was his life.

 

As his nonchalant teacher began to glance at him, Jongin began to leave the room out of fear. Not fear of confronting his teacher, or his teacher as a whole, but out of fear that he could one day be his teacher. An ex journalist, who could've been, but never really was, but in the present, certainly wasn't.

 

As Jongin began his walk home, he noticed something in the distance. There was a figure dressed in light colors, running toward him. He cocked his head to the side and squinted his eyes trying to see farther. Before he knew it the figure brushed against his shoulder. He realized the figure was a man, and he wasn't wearing light colors. In fact, he was wearing nothing at all. 

Gears turned in his head and it finally clicked. He refused to search for a story like he planned that night, because he simply just found one. He just had to catch it before anyone else. 

 

AND THIS IS HOW KIM JONGIN FOUND HIMSELF CHASING AFTER A MAN AT NOON ON A WEDNESDAY.