“Go out with me.”

“No.”

And that was that. Hanbin sulked. How could she flat out reject him with just one word? He'd been cross and had stormed off instead of asking ‘why.’ That being done he was no longer at the bus stop where he'd asked his chauffeur to collect him, a mundane issue next to the mortifying rejection he'd been subjected to. It had been awful. She was awful! In fact everything, including the puppy staring at him with large brown eyes, was awful. He chased the mutt away lest it make fun of him. Hanbin was in a foul mood, so foul that he walked all the way home, a journey that took him a grand hour after which his legs collapsed under him.

As for Yowon, she didn't give much thought to the issue that'd startled Hanbin to the core. There was no time to dwell. After getting the bus home she barely had time to change out of her uniform, swallow a few morsels of dinner without tasting it before she gathered the necessary materials for evening classes. Those classes were spent in rigorous training for final exams with short breaks between, enough time to gulp juice and a small fruit. The hours were long and ruthless. After classes she found her car and was given further notes to review. Yowon bit her lip as she flicked through them. Her mother continued to chatter about the latest developments in education. Yowon picked up something about exclusive private tuitions before zoning out.

Her night was spent with textbooks. There was a ton of material waiting to be learnt. The only rest she got was when she'd nodded off. This golden moment was disrupted by the ringing of her alarm clock. Morning came just like that. She'd barely pressed snooze when the door open and a booming voice told her it was nearing time for school. That made her jump from the desk, squint at the clock and make a beeline for the bathroom, commencing her morning routine which was no different from any students, except maybe the part where she crashed her shoulder into door on account of being groggy. She left breakfast, deciding to pick up a coffee on her way. Now mind you, she was neither earlier nor later than usual as this routine was a daily occurrence. She was as early as always for school. On this specific day there was no strawberry milk to greet her. Nothing. Slightly disappointed to see it go, she looked around expecting Hanbin. However Hanbin didn't appear and wouldn't do so until lunch time.

At lunch too, Yowon was absorbed by books until shouting penetrated her concentration. Hanbin was harassing someone for money. She rubbed her temples. The noise made them ache. She gathered her belongings and silently got up to leave. No words were exchanged between them as she left but Hanbin could have sworn there had been eye contact. He cursed aloud and threw a final punch at his victim, knocking the poor soul to the ground. Coins rolled out of a pocket but Hanbin didn't care. His concern lay elsewhere. He stalked after her waiting till they were both far from the cafeteria and before they arrived at the library before intercepting her. Yowon was spun round to face him. “I hope you fail your exams.” She didn't comment, simply shrugging his hand from her shoulder.

Hanbin’s jaw clenched. His hands formed a fist that shook with ebullition. She didn't even bother to speak to him. Did she think she was better than him because she was smart? Because she studied? Was that it? Well then, he decided he would beat her at her own game; he would beat her in a test and then see if she still acted smug.

He didn't leave for home. Instead Hanbin opted to attend classes. In those classes he paid attention and even took notes. The first thing he noticed was that everything that came out of the teachers mouth sounded like gibberish. What the actual f***k was algebra? If Hamlet was such a procrastinator how did he become a famous playwright? If science was meant to be logical why it lack that very understanding? How were kings so great when they couldn't control their government? Why was economics more of an alphabet soup than math? Why the f**k were NASA looking for life on other planets when they should have been creating tampons for volcanoes? And why couldn't he read his own handwriting?!

Every second of every minute of every hour was maddening. The teachers didn't have answers for his questions either! How were they academics if they couldn't explain things to him? They were ‘snobs,’ he decided. They definitely didn't like him, telling him to 'read his text books' but answering the questions of other students. It was discrimination! Like that his whole day was wasted over ink and paper and senseless knowledge. By the end of it Hanbin questioned why they said education was ‘precious.’ His brain wanted to gag. In fact he might have given up had he not spotted Yowon with a book in her hand. It riled him up. Again he decided to put up with this world of study. And that's what he would do once he got home and stuffed his face with food, he would run to the roof with a stack of books.

If anyone who knew him saw him then they would never recognize him on the roof of the night club with a book. Laying his homework aside he began from the beginning, chapter one. However reading word for word, sentence for sentence was not for the lazy. Hanbin only saccaded his gaze across the pages, looking for useful things to write down and abandoning jargon. It was tough and he nodded off too much but as for all things he had a solution… sort of. He only set an alarm for every couple of hours in case. His strategy may’ve be called immature, which it surely was, but Hanbin was not diligently examining all his subjects, only one, the one that was scheduled to be tested soon. The others could wait until they too had to be tested. He was hoping to raise his grades this way. He'd seen the most pathetic wimps do well at school and he was much better than that lot!

Despite his efforts he eventually grew bored and tired. Yawning, he wondered what Yowon was doing. Probably studying, he imagined and sighed. His brain was packed to the brim. Thinking he'd studied enough he wanted to relax his room. When he entered that place though music was thumping from the walls. Unfortunately his room wasn't soundproof, a sad feat for those who lived in clubs. There was whooping too, which meant a wild party was in full swing, also meant he wouldn't have a peaceful night. Hanbin groaned. Stomping his feet in frustration he crossly chose to go out for air. Throwing off his uniform he switched into much comfier clothing, a track suit.

He left the busy club for chilly air that stimulated his senses. Glad to be away from things he gulped fresh air and for the first time that day he smiled. Mood elevated, he forget his fatigue and chose to jog around the area. Unexpectedly the vicinity was anything but quiet, being the prime location for clubs, motels and the like but being a weekday, it was quieter than usual. When Hanbin had gained a considerable distance he saw one of those apparitions that made him stop. It was Yowon arguing with someone. He blinked. What a queer sight it was to see her argue. Hanbin pouted. He didn't like these phantoms. Nevertheless, ignoring the sensible part of his brain, he approached the scene he imagined came from his head. He was planning to tell them to ‘get lost,’ but Yowon was quicker to utter the words and Hanbin was fast to act. He stopped the dude from hitting her, twisting the fellows arm and as coolly as he could, growled, “Hands off.” Protests were futile against his punishment. After Hanbin was sure he'd intimidated the worm he ditched the ugly thing and snatched Yowon’s hand, taking her with him.

She didn't speak a word. This only confirmed the fact that she was not real but a figment of his imagination. Strangely enough she felt real but she couldn't be. If she was real she would have been quick to abandon his company, something she hadn't done. He dragged her through crisscross paths and alleys until the scenery changed into a pedestrian walk and main road. They sat on the a bench at a bus stop where Hanbin poured his feelings into a heartfelt confession, more to himself than to her, trying to make sense of things aloud because she was only an apparition and would soon vanish while the real Yowon would be in some evening class. The ghost actually had the nerve to fall asleep during his confession! He hadn't droned that long! Hanbin pouted. This was not fair. His brain was picking on him too. This was all the evil work of alphabet soups created from witchy spells in Lady Macbeth’s cauldron, as supervised by NASA.

He muttered a few quotes as if they were anti-hexes and decided to wait until the hallucination passed before seriously considering a visit to a competent doctor. Perhaps the one who served his parents could cure him. Hanbin pondered the name. It was something related to water: Dr. Sand? Dr. Fisher? Dr. Fin? Dr. Duck? Dr. Quack? Yes that was him, the guy with y tattoos and purple hair. He seemed like a sensible guy. As he thought all this, Yowon’s head began to tilt uncomfortably. It was hard for him to watch so he scooted next to her to rest it against his shoulder. He imagined he saw a flicker of a smile and stared deeper into her physiognomy. She was prettier asleep. There were no glares aimed his way, instead she was perfectly serene.