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Monday came about much quicker than normal, Hyejin had found. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't worried about how fast time was passing by and how the days seemed to merge. She tried her hardest not to think about the fact that soon they will all be standing up on that stage and then going their separate ways. As she pondered on life after high school, she hadn't noticed the stares and whispers as she entered the school building. Hyejin wasn't normally the type to be self-conscious but the further she walked, the louder those whispers seemed to be. Confused, she walks over to Yongsun and Irene, hoping that perhaps they had the answer. 

"What's going on?"

Both turn to face her and flash her a sympathetic look. "Are you alright?" Irene asks.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hyejin replies looking from one to the other. She starts to grow impatient at the lack of response from either of them, "What's going on?" She repeats.

Yongsun pulls her over to a secluded corner whilst Irene stood in front of them, busying herself with unpacking her various textbooks into her locker but all the while blocking both of her friends from prying eyes. 

"There's a rumour going round..." Yongsun starts but slightly hesitates to continue.

"About?"

Yongsun cuts to the chase, "People are saying you and Namjoon hooked up in his bathroom on Friday night."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Are you joking?" Hyejin says with a incredulous look, "We were just chatting."

Her friend nods, "I know." She rubs Hyejin's arm in a soothing manner as an effort to calm her friend down, "It's stupid but people thrive off of this sort of stuff. It just makes their lives more interesting. Just ignore them." 

"It's kind of hard to when everyone is talking about it." Hyejin says quietly as she peers over shoulder at people who had been staring but quickly looked away at the last second. "Where's Namjoon?" She asks.

The brunette shrugs, "I think he has soccer practice, but I can bet he's pissed off about it."

Hyejin sighs, "Okay. I'll see you later." She turns and walks back out the front doors of the school. She could hear Yongsun calling after her and asking where she was going but at that very moment, she didn't even have the energy to reply. She just wanted to be away from her friends. Just away from people in general. Away from this school. All the feelings of her wishing she had more time in high school disappeared almost instantly. Right now at this very instance, she had nothing but hatred for this place and everyone in it. Well . . . not everyone. She had her friends but there were times she found herself envious of both Irene and Yongsun. Out of all these years at this school, the both of them were hardly ever subjected to being the topic of gossip and Hyejin knew it was selfish to think like that but right now she didn't care. 

As she turned round the corner towards the car park, she felt her lips quirk up in amusement by their own accord. There, crouched down was Wheein. She watched as the small girl took small peeks from her hiding spot, at the entrance of the school. Hyejin followed suit and crouched down beside her and whispers, "What're you doing?"

The girl yelps in surprise before stumbling back and falling on her bottom. 

Hyejin stands up first and offers her hand. Wheein obliges and within a second she was back up on her feet. 

As usual, the taller girl is the first to speak, "Ah, are you skipping school as well?" She asks.

Wheein's eyes darts nervously back and forth at Hyejin then to her shoes, her brows furrowed as if she was experiencing inner conflict with herself. Truthfully, Wheein's plan was to just skip homeroom because she did not have the nerves to face Mr. Barnes just yet. Her whole weekend was spent on replaying the memory of her crying her eyes out in front of him over and over, to the point she had made the courageous decision at 3 am this morning, to ditch homeroom. And that was after she wrote down all the pros and cons of ditching homeroom. By the time her alarm went off this morning, she had subconsciously snoozed it and ended up being late, hence skipping homeroom by default. But now she was faced with a new dilemma. Does she skip school for the first time in her life to make Hyejin think that she's not a total loser? Hm, maybe she should write another pros and cons list. But as Wheein's eyes met Hyejin's, she could tell that the girl was itching to leave the school premises and if she didn't answer within the next second, the girl was leaving with or without her. 

She nods (but she was screaming 'no' in her mind). 

Hyejin does little to hide her surprise, "Really?" 

"I've done it before." She says with conviction in hopes that the girl would believe her because the idea not skipping school at least once in her high school career seemed absurd even to herself.

Hyejin, however could see right through her, "It's your first time, isn't it?"

"Yeah I'm terrified."

Hyejin chuckles lightly, "Do you want to ditch together?"

"As in me and you?" She points to herself then at Hyejin, "Like, hang out?"

"Only if you want to... I was thinking of going to the beach for ice cream."

"I'd like that." Wheein says with a grin (She neglects to tell Hyejin that she's lactose-intolerant. But at this point she was willing to risk it all if it meant she could hang out with Hyejin for the day. If she had to eat a bit of ice cream then so be it. Hell, she'd eat through a whole tub for the opportunity.)

"Alright, should we take my car or yours?"

"I don't have a car."

"Oh, do you take the bus to school?"

Wheein shakes her head, "I drive a motorcycle." She points towards a vintage black motorcycle parked at the very end of the car park, "But I only have one helmet, so maybe we should take your car?" 

"Huh."

"What?"

"You get more and more interesting."

Wheein feels herself blush.

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Hyejin felt herself close her eyes and smile in content as the sea breeze hit her face. The two girls had settled on a quiet spot on the beach where the only vistors were brave seagulls who wanted a taste of their ice cream. However, her moment of bliss didn't last long when a worried Wheein broke the silence,

"Do you think they'd notice we're gone?"

"We'll be fine." She reassures her

"I should've parked my motorcycle somewhere else." 

She grabs the girl's shoulders and makes her look at her, "Relax. We'll be fine. Just enjoy this."

"O-okay."

The two of them settle into another silence. The only thing that can be heard was the sound of waves rushing to the shore and Hyejin couldn't think of a better place to forget her worries. The beach had always been her go to spot whenever she just wanted to get away from everything and everyone. She remembered her father use to always frequent the dainty ice cream shop with her and the both of them would just sit side by side and watch the waves. It had been a while since Hyejin came with someone else to the beach, other than her father. She glances sideways at Wheein who was busy trying to prevent her ice cream from dripping all over her hand but was doing a poor job in doing so. With a shrug, Wheein begins to her hand whilst the ice cream continued to drip. Hyejin smiles to herself and decides that her new friend was the perfect companion to watch waves with. Had she brought Yongsun, she had no doubt that her best friend would be too busy with screaming at the seagulls to enjoy the waves whereas Irene would probably complain about the breeze and how easily she could catch a cold. Her mind wanders to Namjoon, she imagines that he would be restless. The guy hated sitting in silence and would probably find something to talk about and while at times, she loved that about him, there were definitely occasions in which she just wanted to enjoy each other's company without having to chat. A pang of guilt hits her, the more she thinks of him. She had left school without sending a text or anything. She was so caught up in her own emotions she hadn't checked up on him. She digs her phone out of her pocket, only to be met with a string of notifications from him:

Hey, are you alright? [received at 9:30 am]

Yongsun told me that you were upset . . . [received at 9:43 am]

Don't worry too much, I'll find whoever started it and put an end to it [received at 10:10 am]

Yongsun says hi btw and that she hopes you're ok [received at 12:23 pm]

Oh and she can't reply to your messages, because she smashed her phone on Friday when she fell (lol suprise surprise) [received at 12:23 pm]

Sorry for the spam :p but I found out who's been talking . [received at 12:31pm]

Worry not. I'll see you tomorrow... just text me later when you get home :) [received at 12:32 pm]

She quickly writes out a reply saying that she's fine and that she'll see him tomorrow before quickly putting her phone back into her pocket. To be honest, she had only just begun to take her mind off of everything that was happening in her social life, going through her notifications would just serve as a reminder of what awaits her tomorrow at school. 

"So...why are you ditching school?" 

Hyejin internally sighs, so much for not thinking about it. "I just wanted to get away." She settles for that answer which was the truth to be fair. 

As if sensing her uneasiness, Wheein says, "If you want to talk about it...I've been told that I'm a good listener." 

Perhaps it was because Wheein was not in her social circle or maybe it was because the girl exuded an aura that was just pure and innocent, without a hint of ill intentions, whatever it was, Hyejin found herself telling her every thing that had happened on Friday, all the events that had eventually transformed into the form of that rumour that was spreading through the school like wildfire this morning. 

"I...wow, you definitely deserve to ditch school." Wheein says as she looks down at her hands before mumbling, "It makes my excuse seem silly compared to yours."

"Tell me yours." Seeing her reluctance, Hyejin adds with a playful shove to the girl's shoulder, "I told you mine so you have to tell me yours."

Wheein lets out a large sigh, as she starts to distract herself with the sand beneath her, "I had a breakdown in front of Mr. Barnes on Friday," She squeezes her eyes shut in shame as the memory pops back into her mind in an instant, "It was so embarassing." She groans

"How come?" Hyejin asks

"You're going to think it's dumb," The girl mutters

"Try me."

"Just..." She sighs as she pokes aggressively at the small hole she managed to dig in the sand with a small stick she had procured earlier, "All this talk about our futures and where we're heading after high school makes me nervous because I honestly have no clue on what I want to do with my life."

"That's not dumb." Hyejin states, "I'm sure there are others who feel the exact the same way but they're just better at hiding it I guess." 

Wheein looks at her with raised brows, "But you're not one of those people."

"I never said I was." Hyejin replies, her expression softens at the sight of the girl continuing to dig aggressively in the sand, "But just because I have a plan doesn't mean that I don't get worried about my future from time to time."

"Yeah...sorry I didn't mean to turn the mood sour. Can we talk about something else?" 

Hyejin nods her head in agreement, wanting nothing more. "Alright, so." She looks at her with a serious expression, "Pineapple on pizza, yay or nay?" 

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