03 / 21 / 2015

His backpack hung from his back, and as usual his head faced the ground. Chanyeol mentally counted the tiles after each step he took, to distract himself from the hushed whispers coming from every direction of the hallway.  He accidently bumped into two girls, they quickly said sorry and darted to the other side of the hallway.

Chanyeol pretended he was blind and deaf to it all, but their stares burned holes into his skull, and their words carved deep lines into his heart. “ This place is so suffocating and these people are disgusting.” Chanyeol muttered to himself.  

He walked over to the cafeteria doors, a mixture of multiple voices mushed together in one, filled his eardrums.

“ I can’t believe she didn’t freakin give me that mark! ”

“ Dude, she’s damn hot… hook up.”

“ My family’s going on a cruise this summer! “

The upbeat voices, the normal lives, the smiles. “I hate it, I hate it, make it stop!” Chanyeol wanted to yell out but his voice got stuck in his throat. He covered his mouth to prevent him from hurling, and then he sprinted right out the big glass doors.

He leaned his back against the brick walls, and slowly chanted “ 10, 9, 8, 7…” until his breath resumed to normal. Slowly, Chanyeol took out his earphones and placed them in his ears, letting the music flow from one ear to the other. His legs, still shaky from the episode, walked its way to the only place Chanyeol feels at peace.

A little hill, torn in its middle are four stairs which leads to a murky stream. No one comes here, why would they? This unappealing stream leads to a sparkling lake, just one block away. Beside the lake, there’s a line of cherry blossoms that have started to bloom, their branches hanging slightly towards the water, and here lies simply one short cherry blossom tree. Its trunk covered in moss, giving it an abandoned look. Who would want to see this, when beauty lies just ahead. No one except for three people, Chanyeol himself, the person who took the effort to build those concrete stairs, and the random girl plopped onto the grass decorated in morning dew.

The girl’s hair was tied up in a messy bun, loose strands still hanging down onto her face. On her lap was perhaps, a sketchbook. Chanyeol watched her skinny hand hover above the paper, her index and thumb holding onto the graphite pencil. Chanyeol closed his eyes and heard the sound of graphite hitting paper amidst of the subtle movements of the stream.

“ Hey! Remember me.” the voice cut through the peaceful noises, causing Chanyeol’s eyes to flutter open. A familiar pair of green eyes stared at him, hidden behind thick glasses.

“Ah, it’s the glasses isn’t it?” The girl asked as she slide the black frames off her face. “Tada! I’m the girl in the rain, from yesterday.” she moved her fingers up and down, mocking the movements of raindrops.

“ Cool.” Chanyeol answered back flatly, completely uninterested in the girl in front of him. The girl got up and sat down right next to Chanyeol, causing him to shift over.

“What do you want?” Scowled Chanyeol.

“ I just came over to do a proper introduction. I know my first impression probably wasn’t that great… But hey, I’m Alina Clement and I’m a freshmen at your Uni.” Alina offered her hand for a handshake, but Chanyeol didn’t take it.

“Hi, and I’m none of your business.”

“Wow, your a tough shell to crack.” Alina said in a friendly way.

“What are you even doing here?”

“Oh nothing much, just sketching this lovely scenery.”

“Lovely scenery? There’s nothing lovely about this useless stream, and ugly tree. If you really want to draw something, just walk ahead and you'll find a big lake and a bunch of cherry blossoms, you can't miss it." Chanyeol directed, actually trying to be helpful. There was a pause of silence, as Alina collected her thoughts.

"Ever read the ugly duckling? Sometimes the ugly and the withered, turn out to be the most beautiful." There was a distant look of peace written on Alina’s face.

"I don't think everyone would agree on that." Chanyeol replied back.

"Because society nowadays, only sees the outer beauty in things, not its true beauty which hides on the inside. "

Chanyeol snorted "Please, you sound like an old lady." Alina giggled at Chanyeol's comment, but he remained his straight, cold expression. After a long minute of silence, Alina decided to break it by asking Chanyeol a question.

"So what do you like to do in your alone time?”

“Nothing.” Chanyeol answered, unamused.

“Oh c’mon, anything you like. For example, I like drawing, writing, oh and listening to music!”

“I like it when you shut up.”

“Gosh, I was just being nice.”

“No one asked you to be nice.”

“Well I don’t care if anyone asked, I do as I like. I’m just here trying to be your friend and yo-” Alina was cut off by Chanyeol’s big hand which covered her pink lips. She stared at him in surprise.

“Enough.” Chanyeol was tired of Alina’s never ending blabber. But suddenly, Alina bit Chanyeol’s hand making him grimace in pain.

“What the frick?!” Chanyeol called out. A pattern of teeth marks were displayed on the edge of his palm.

“Sorry, just a reflex.” Alina said mockingly. Just as Chanyeol was about to argue, his phone started to ring in his pocket. He took the phone out and answered in a flash. Alina heard a voice coming from the other line, it sounded like a woman, she only said about 2 words, and Chanyeol shot up. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and dashed onto the streets. Alina called out Chanyeol's name repeatedly, her face scrunched up in worry. But Chanyeol didn't look back, not even once; he ran far away until he banished into the trees.

Suddenly a chilly wind picked up, making Alina shiver. She hugged herself with her arms as she said to herself, "Please God, please make whatever happened, better..."

...

Chanyeol's eyes were red from trying to keep in the tears, his legs were about to give up on him but he still ran, the wind whipping through his hair. A picture of a fragile lady, smiled softly back at him in his mind.

"Mother..." He called out helplessly.

A/N: Hiii, I got some news! I'm going on vacation, and taking my laptop there isn't very convienant. So I won't be updating for an entire month :( I'm so sorry, but as soon as I come back promise I'll be back at it byeee hope everyone is having a good day <3