the story

author's corner

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY, CAMPUS 

—  beijing, china; 21.7, 17:30

  "And I say to you; goodbye!" A whirlwind of papers and annoyance that was characteristic of the young man coming through the door announced his arrival, and as Shin Hyunwook banged open the door to his shared room with his roommate, Zhu Zhengting didn't even bat an eye on his perch on his bed. 

  "Who offended you this time?" The brown-haired companion asked, typing away at his laptop while balancing a cup of coffee dangerously on his other hand.

  "Oh, just another professor," Hyunwook tossed his jacket onto his navy bedspread, before ruffling his hair and collapsing onto said bed. "The bastard didn't even teach me; I don't know why he suddenly decides to pick an argument with me. And here I am trying to finish my thesis on time. For god's sake, it's the end of term!" 

  "And that's why people love you so much, Hyunwook," Zhengting replied absent-mindedly, squinting at his screen through his glasses. "Because of your wonderful personality." 

   Hearing that, the offended boy somehow became more offended, and whirled upon his friend, about to spew forth another torrent of words to show his anger, when the third inhabitant of the room jumped into his hands.

  "What's wrong, Persephone?" Instantly, the tension bled out of the boy's shoulders, and he wrapped his arms around the feline, assuming a coaxing tone as he ran his slender fingers through her silvery fur. The cat merely purred, and waved her paws around, which immediately caught his attention.

  "What's that on your paw, hmm?" Hyunwook inspected her paw carefully, and noticed a scroll strapped to it, with hints of red...stuff peeking out.  He detached the scroll slowly, and balancing his pet on his arm, Hyunwook unrolled the parchment to reveal a red rose, which fell to his feet without notice. Then he read the scrawl scribbled onto the coarse paper, before a curse tumbled out of his lips. 

  "Something the matter?" As Zhengting turned around to look at his roommate, the boy was already in another whirlwind, tossing things into a duffel bag, then grabbing his coat and running out the door, promptly shutting it shut behind him. 

  The Chinese boy sighed, and snapped his laptop shut. While he was mostly accustomed to his roommate's constant coming and going habits, Zhengting was still surprised at Hyunwook's ability to vanish into mid-air suddenly and appear in his bed a few days later, and he was especially curious as to why he had to vanish so suddenly. Eyeing the piece of paper still left on the floor and Persephone purring at it, Zhengting stooped and scooped everything up, cat, rose and all, giving the flower a delicate whiff before inspecting the parchment carefully.

  Your presence is immediately demanded at Diamantes.