October 8, 2009

Today, Yoongi comes to school with a bruise under his eye and a slight fever.  No one notices until one of the teachers finds him passed out at his desk after school ends, and they have to call his parents to pick him up.  Please make sure he gets to the nurse before then.  And whatever you do, make sure that they don’t call his parents.

<:>

            Yeoreum observed her seatmate as he walked into the classroom.  Sure enough, there was a blotchy purple area under his right eye.  By then, she had come to hesitantly accept that the letter was from the future, though she had no idea how it was even possible.  The letter had accurately predicted the weather that entire week, even when the weather reports said otherwise.  As Yoongi sat down, Yeoreum opened to say something, but one glare from Yoongi shut her up fast.

            “Yeo~reum!” Minji came in.  “I brought you lunch today!”

            Yeoreum smiled.  “Thanks, Minji-yah.”  She took the homemade lunch from Minji, placing it carefully next to her backpack.  

            “I’m glad that you were able to accept my token of kindness,” Minji said, glaring at Yoongi out of the corner of her eye.  “I didn’t have to make this for you, but I did it because I cared about you.”

            “Minji-yah,” Yeoreum replied, embarrassed.  “Please stop.”

            “Our Yeoreum is just too kind,” Minji sighed.

            At that moment, Mr. Kim walked into the classroom, clearing his throat.

            “Let’s eat lunch together, okay?” Minji asked.

            “I’d like that.”

            Minji smiled before taking her own seat.

            “Today, we’re going to be starting off with something a little different to help you all de-stress,” Mr. Kim announced.  “It’s somewhat of a passion of mine, so if I get off-topic, it’s your job to get me to focus, okay?” He grinned.

            “Yes, sir,” everyone replied.

            “Good.  Does anyone know what a parallel universe is?”

            Yeoreum sat up straight, and her eyes widened.  The letter talked about multiple universes too.

            Kim Seokjin raised his hand.  “It’s a theory that there are universes just like ours out there somewhere.”

            “Excellent, Seokjin.” Mr. Kim smiled.  “To put it simply, space is huge.  Some could even argue that it’s infinite.  14 billion years ago, the big bang happened--”

            “Haru haru!” someone sang.

            Mr. Kim chuckled.  “No, not that Big Bang.  This big bang is the reason that we can see each other.  Since it happened, light has been travelling, and the extent to which we can see in the universe makes up the one that we know.”

            Yeoreum looked at Yoongi from the corner of her eye.  He seemed to be normal, with the exception of the bruise under his eye, and stared off into the distance as he always did, fiddling the ring on his finger.

            “But if we assume that the universe is infinite and that light is still travelling,” Mr. Kim continued, “it’s possible to assume that there are universes co-existing with ours, though we are unable to see them at this time.”

            “Do you think we’d all exist in a parallel universe?” Minji asked.

            Mr. Kim paused.  “I believe so.”

            “Would we be the same as we are here?”

            “Perhaps so.  Perhaps not.”

            Yeoreum raised her hand.  “Would it be possible to reach one if we went into outer space?”

            “Perhaps.” Mr. Kim smiled.  “It’d probably take a while, but perhaps.”

            “What if--”

            “I suppose that’s enough about that for the day.” Mr. Kim turned toward the chalkboard, writing “MATH” in big letters at the top.  “I hope you’re all as excited for parallel lines as you were about parallel universes!”

            Everyone groaned.

<:>

            “Min Yoongi.” Mr. Kim called out.

            Yeoreum glanced at her seatmate, who had shifted his position into one with his head down on his desk.

            “Maybe there’s a sleeping bug around that area,” Mr. Kim said.  “Since both Miss Han and Mr. Min seem to have fallen asleep at their desks in this past week.”

            Yeoreum reddened.

            “Please try waking up Yoongi, Yeoreum.”

            “Okay.”  She gently poked him with her pencil.  He didn’t stir.

            “You can do better than that, Yeoreum.  He doesn’t have cooties.”

            A chorus of snickers ran around the classroom.

            “Okay.  Sorry.” She shook him, and she was surprised to feel how warm he was.  “Um...Mr. Kim?  He feels really warm.”

            “Warm is good,” he replied with a grin.  “It means that he’s alive.”

            People snickered again.

            “I think he’s sick…”

            Mr. Kim’s smile fell and turned into a look of concern.  “Really?”

            “I think he might have a fever…” she trailed off.

            “Okay.  Who will take Yoongi to the infirmary?” Mr. Kim looked around the classroom.  Everyone looked away, some put their heads in their books, and others out the window.

            Seeing that no one else was willing to do it, Yeoreum raised her hand.  “I will.”

            “Will you be able to manage?” Mr. Kim frowned.  “Do you want someone to go with you?”

            She shook her head.  “I’ll be fine.”  Wrapping Yoongi’s arm around her shoulder, she stood up, only to stagger under his weight.

            “Are you sure, Miss Han?” Mr. Kim frowned.

            At that moment, Yoongi opened his eyes, glaring weakly at Yeoreum.  “What are you doing?”

            “You’re sick,” she replied.  “I was going to take you to the infirmary.”

            “I can go by myself.  Mind your own business.” He yanked his arm off of her shoulder and stalked out of the classroom.  Immediately, the classroom was abuzz.

            “How rude.”

            “Yeoreum was just looking out for him, and he treated her like that?”

            “No wonder he doesn’t have any friends.”

            Mr. Kim held up his hands.  “Class, calm down.”  Turning to Yeoreum, he smiled.  “Go with him.  Just in case.”

<:>

            Yeoreum walked a few steps behind Yoongi, who seemed to be really unstable on his feet.  Wordlessly, she caught up to him and wrapped his arm around her shoulder again.

            “What the--didn’t I tell you I could go to the damn infirmary by myself?” he snapped, yanking his arm off of her yet again.

            “Yeah,” she replied, grabbing his arm again.  “But just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.”

            He didn’t reply.

            “If you were sick, you should’ve just stayed home--”

            “Like hell I would,” he spat.

            Her eyes widened, and she immediately regretted speaking.  “I’m sorry.”

            “Don’t talk if you don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered.

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Stop that.”

            “Huh?  Sorr--”

            “Stop apologizing.” He looked away.  “It’s irritating.”

            “Okay.”

            They stopped in front of the infirmary, and Yeoreum opened the door.  The nurse, Mrs. Ahn, stood up and gestured toward one of the beds.

            “What happened?” she asked.

            “I think he has a fever,” Yeoreum replied.

            Mrs. Ahn grabbed her thermometer and placed it in Yoongi’s ear.  “38 degrees.  You’re right.  We’ll have him rest here, and we’ll call his parents--”

            “NO!” Yeoreum exclaimed, suddenly thinking of the letter.

            “Why?” Mrs. Ahn asked, startled.

            Yeoreum paused, trying to come up with an explanation that didn’t make her sound crazy.  Luckily for her, Mr. Kim walked in at that moment.

            “Ah, Mrs. Ahn, good work as always.” He smiled.  “Could I talk to you outside?”

            “Sure.”

            Mrs. Ahn shut the door behind her, leaving Yeoreum alone in the room with Yoongi.  Is it okay to leave?  Should I stay?  He’s resting, so it’d be weird if I stayed.  But would it be rude to just leave?  The letter didn’t say anything about staying with him…

            “What are you looking at?” he mumbled, eyes closed.

            “I...nothing.”

            “I hate it when people stare at me.  Leave.”

            “I...hope you feel better.” She bowed before turning on her heels and leaving Yoongi in the infirmary.