https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88b0rrpcLXE

"Welcome to mi casa."

I laughed as my friend opened the door to his home. "Thank you, kindly." He gave me a brief tour around his apartment.

"And this is my useless housemate. Hey, say hello to our guest." I faced the chubby boy and bowed as he rudely waved his fat hand at me without turning from his computer. His room was filled from ceiling to floor with anime posters, and his sheets had printed anime characters on them, with the addition of his Japanese body pillow. I glanced at his pinky out of instinct.  The string was cut. I scoffed softly, mumbling.

"Of course."

"Did you say something?" I looked at the taller boy to my right and shook my head.

"No, but thanks for the tour. Speaking of tour, I should really get going. Midterms are coming up, and I'd rather not fail this time." A scoff was heard.

"Psh, what do you mean 'this time?' You've never failed!"

"I don't know what fail means to you, but I'm pretty sure a 54 out of 100 is not considered a grade A."

"Eunji, that wasn't your midterm grade. You got an 87."

"And in what world is an 87 out of 100 considered a grade A?" I gave him a challenging look. He rose his arms up as if in surrender.

"Hey, I was just trying to prove that you've never failed your midterms. Never would I ever believe you if you said you got higher than an 89!"

"Peniel, that's mean!" I hit him on his arm and he laughed.

"Just joking, just joking! Geez lady, you're strong! Well, I really need to study as well so off you go go~" And I was pushed out the door.

"Wait!" I yelled right before he closed the door. The door opened slightly greater.

"What?" I glanced at his pinky before shaking my head.

"Nevermind. Bye!" And with that, the door closed completely. Letting out a deep breath, I turned around, leaning against the closed door. 

A cut string.

I didn't understand. He wasn't a weeb. He wasn't a stalker. He wasn't different in any negative way. He was normal. He was funny. He even dated a lot of girls previously. So why was his string cut?

Things like this really messed me up. I looked at the cut string hanging loose from the crack of the door. It wasn't the usual mesmerizing red. It wasn't even the suffocating red. It just looked...dull. The shade, so dark it almost resembled black, hung loosely as if it had no life. It dragged against the ground, unchanging, just dull.

I looked at my own pale hand. I looked at my own bland pinky.

"Maybe if I stare hard enough, a string will grow." That's not how the strings work. Nothing happened; my pinky remained colorless. I sighed, letting my arm drop against my side, and ventured home. 

The subway reached my stop, and I stood up, ready to leave. When the doors opened, I walked out slowly, taking my time on my way back home. I usually tried to get home as quickly as I could. Seeing red strings all around me wasn't really comforting. So many of them tangled, so many of them glowing. Just, so many of them. But today I walked slowly because I was trying to find any reason not to study. And of course, I didn't really think much of the strings because my mind was full of studying. That's when he crashed into me. I fell onto the floor with a tall boy seemingly around my age on top of me.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" He stood up quickly and reached out a hand for me to grab. I took it and stood up.

"Yes, thank you I am fine. Why were you running?" He gave an apologetic look.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm not really late for anything. I just really like running. Also I'd like to get home as quickly as I could." I laughed. A weird lad.

"Don't we all?" I looked down at his pinky. My eyes widened. "Your..." He looked down at his own hand in curiosity.

"Do I have something on my hand?" I shook my head.

"No, no I'm sorry. What did you say your name was?"

"Oh! I'm Sungjae." His hand approached me once more. "Nice to meet you!" I gave it a brief shake before letting go.

"It's a pleasure meeting you as well, Sungjae. Have a good night!" I nodded slightly as a bow before walking away, only to be stopped again.

"I hope to see you again, Eunji." And he began to run away once more. And it didn't occur to me that I hadn't mentioned my name at all, as I was too busy thinking about his string.

A string I had never seen before.

His string, cut, but full of life.

a/n

short update cus I know where I want this story to go but I don't know how to express it #imdumb

(Comments are appreciated)

-K.o