Please don’t be sad

Baby, you’re much prettier when you smiled

Don’t put on that sad face

When I see you, my heart aches so much

Tapping her fingers to the rhythm, Kira continued reading the reports on her tablet. Even the shaking of the car with every turn it takes couldn’t disturb her from what she’s doing. From time to time, she would shut her eyes for some seconds. She’s been having those bloody migraines and they’re pissing her off. Because of the crazy pain, she decided to stop reading. With a sigh, she sat back and blankly looked outside the window.

“Young miss, are you okay?” Mr. Yoon, their family driver, asked as he looked at her through the mirror.

Kira pulled her earphones and gave him a lopsided smile. “I’m fine. I’m just having these migraines lately.”

The old driver looked at her again and Kira knew that he’s worried. Mr. Yoon has been with her family for years – even before she was born.

“You need to take some rest. How many hours did you sleep?”

She chuckled and covered her eyes with her hands. “Sleep’s not really in my dictionary. The evaluation’s not making me sleep.”

Mr. Yoon just nodded. He understands the hardships that Kira’s going through. Being the only remaining heir of their family is giving her too much responsibility for her age. Her life’s been following your usual dramatic plot in movies. Her mother died right after she was born while her father passed away because of a heart attack. At the young age of nine, she was in the full custody of her grandfather. And at that age, she was taught all of her duties in their business.

Her grandfather is the founder of Mirae Enterprise which owns chains of department stores in the country and with her as the only child of the family, she’s expected to continue the business and that is the reason why she’s subjected to many evaluations. Mirae Enterprise have many stock holders and some of them are already talking about how effective of a leader Kira will be when she steps to take the position.

After a few more minutes, Mr. Yoon stopped the car in front of Daehan Academy. “You don’t need to come to pick me up this afternoon. I’ll just take the bus,” Kira stated as she opened the door.

“Are you sure young miss?”

“Yes. Besides, it’s Hyun’s birthday. As far as I could remember, you promised that you’ll celebrate it as a whole family.”

The man smiled at her while nodding.

“And please give my gift to him,” she said while pointing at the paper bag sitting on the passenger’s seat. “It’s not every day that a sweet kid like him turns 10. Drive safely Mr. Yoon,” she continued, closing the door before waving at their family driver.

As she turned around, she spotted her friends who were walking towards the main building.

“Yuna! Jimin!”

The two turned to Kira and waved at her as they stopped. “You colored your hair red?” Kira commented while touching Yuna’s hair. The latter smiled brightly.

“How is it? It looks great, right?”

“Totally. You look smoking hot,” Kira replied and the two laughed at her reaction.

Coming from an influential family made Kira’s life harder rather than easier. When she was in grade school until middle school, everything she does was monitored and everyone around her was checked out. Those led to a difficult process of building relationships. It was hard for her to make friends. Yuna and Jimin were the first friends she made when she entered high school.

Despite their different tastes, Kira taught herself to adapt to their ways.

“So did you go out with that guy who asked you last week?” Jimin asked Yuna and the latter just rolled her eyes. Kira’s already immune to such topics. If they’re not talking about boys, they’re talking about fashion and the likes.

“No way. He’s such a loser. Did you know that her mother is a vendor at the fish market? Yuck. I wouldn’t stoop down that low. I have my taste in guys.”

Kira frowned internally when she heard that. That’s what she doesn’t like about her friends but what can she do? She doesn’t want to say anything because she’s afraid that her friends will leave her.

“I told you so. And hey, I heard that Minyoung’s being asked by that basketball player from class 2,” Jimin stated and Kira could see where the conversation’s going.

Minyoung’s a cute classmate of theirs and truth be told, Kira finds her attractive. Yuna and Jimin don’t share the same thought. They think that she’s just a sly fox who is acting cute and vulnerable when guys are around to attract them.

“Seriously? She’s such a player,” Yuna commented and the two laughed.

“Don’t you think so? Kira?” Yuna asked and Kira just stared blankly at her.

“Huh?”

Yuna and Jimin stared back at her before bursting into fits of laughter. “You’re really funny Kira. Come on, we’ll be late for class. Teacher Go will act like an again if we’re late by 5 minutes,” Jimin said while pulling Kira by the hand.

They’re the first friends she made when she entered high school and there’s no way that she’ll break that friendship even if that would mean that she would say yes to whatever they say.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

The space is opening from the bottom up

A persistent call inside a strange darkness

Then I saw you, who resembles me

I’m you and you’re me

Bobbing his head with every beat, Jongin grabbed the can of green spray paint. He first looked at the wall which he has been working on for the last 10 minutes and smiled. He looked around, checking if the building’s owner was there. When he was sure that no one’s there, he continued spraying the wall.

The music was suddenly cut off when his phone started ringing. Someone was calling him and he let go of the spray paint before fishing his phone from his pocket.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” his mother asked and he could hear the sound of plates clattering in the background. He thought that he should really be on his way home to help his mother with the dishes. He’s sure that the restaurant’s fully packed with people eating their dinner.

“I’m on my way home,” he lied.

“Come quickly. Buy a kilo of onion and garlic on your way.”

“Okay.”

When the line died, he quickly picked the spray paint and started finishing what he’s doing. Suddenly, he heard some footsteps approaching. Scared that it would be the old, short-tempered building owner, he quickly grabbed the 5 cans lying on the ground. When he lifted his face, a girl was standing right in front of him.

He cursed in surprise.

“You scared me. Why are you standing there like a ghost?” he asked and the girl just stared at him without answering. Her eyes went to the graffiti written on the wall. The black cat with a white spot on its right eye came out of nowhere and purred as it walked around the girl. With a small smile, she crouched and carried the cat in her arms.

“Hey! What are you doing there again!?” a man’s loud voice called and Jongin gasped, letting the cans fall in shock.

He looked back and his eyes widened when he saw the owner of the building with a stick on his hand. Jongin hurriedly picked the spray paints.

“Grab that one!” he said to the girl and she did without asking why. “Run!”

“Huh?”

Jongin could hear the old man making his way towards them and he cursed under his breath. He stood and looked at the girl. “Run!” he repeated before grabbing her by the hand and pulling her into an escape.

“Come back here!” the old man yelled as Jongin and the girl kept on running. He could feel his legs giving up on him when they made their 4th turn around the block. He spotted a shaded area and without any hesitation, he pulled the girl with him and hid there.

He could hear his heart pounding and he was already out of breath.

“How can he run so fast as such old age?” he asked himself as he wiped his sweat with his shirt. He looked at the girl and she was also catching her breath.

“Why are you here?” he asked when he came to his senses.

“You’re asking me why? You’re the one who grabbed my hand and pulled me here.”

“Right. My legs’ killing me,” he stated while grunting. He stood and opened his bag before stuffing the spray paints inside.

“Were you vandalizing that wall?” the girl asked and Jongin shook his head quick