Episode 6: Wei

Wooshin dusted himself up with a sour expression on his face. He stared at the door through which Doek Soong had just disappeared with distaste and was just about to go when he heard someone snickering behind him.

Against the wall on the opposite side of the door, far enough that Wooshin had missed seeing him but near enough that he could have heard the entire altercation, lounged a tall skinny boy - all arms and legs - wearing a black zipper hoodie over his P.E uniform, even in the hot afternoon sun.

“Like you can do better??” the red-haired boy nearly spat at him.

The grey-haired one seemed to ponder his question before answering, “Probably not.” and walking away inside the school without another word.

Wooshin just stood there, stunted.

“What’s up with that guy…” he muttered to himself, shaking his head before finally following him in.

*

Last period droned on slowly, followed by homeroom, and then finally the last bell rang, relieving them all of their misery.

Not that Wei really cared either way. School was nothing to him. He could’ve solved that science problem with his eyes closed, and show the teacher a thing or two in the process - if he had been paying attention. But it did not matter to him. None of it did. He refused to play at being a good little high school student the way the others did. The only thing that mattered was that girl, and how to make her trust him so he could pass his test. Only, he hadn’t figured out how to do that part yet.

She sat a few seats in front of him. Far enough that she did not notice him looking at her through his phone, but near enough that he could hear every bit of the conversation she was having with the girl behind her.

“Are you staying late again today?” her pint-sized, curly haired friend was asking her.

Doek Soong turned and gave a friend a distraught puppy face. Even making that face, she was pretty, for a human.

When Wei realized where his thoughts were going, he gave himself a little shake and looked down, pretending to be absorbed in his phone, as he always was. No one noticed the blush creeping over his cheeks because no one ever looked at him anyways.

“These stupid committee duties are killing me,” she was complaining, getting up and stretching as her friend was obviously getting ready to leave; half the class had gone already.

“Volunteer, my .” she barked, making the short one laugh. Then she smiled. It was pretty, that smile. Wei found himself staring at her again as she waved her friend goodbye.

One by one, every student in the class except Deok Soong exited the room and he knew he would have to leave as well or she would start wondering why he was still there. So, pulling his hood over his head and slinging his backpack over a shoulder, he launched out of his seat, making for the door. He was walking fast, and she moved so suddenly, there was no avoiding the collision.

“Oww!” she exclaimed as she fell to the floor - they both did - and his phone tumbled out of his hand, landing next to her.

He did not think she’d really been hurt that badly, it was more the shock of having someone bump into you suddenly, and as she opened her eyes again, they fell on his phone, and the picture that flashed brightly on the screen for an instant before going black. It was a picture of her.

Quickly he snatched the phone away and walked off. She thought she’d heard him mutter apologies on his way, but she couldn’t be sure. She was too stunned by the whole sequence of events herself to even try to formulate the words to call out after him. Had it really been a picture of her on his phone? Surely she’d hallucinated. Why would the class ghost be taking pictures of her? All day he just played games on that thing and never talked to anyone… it was just too weird.

She tried to put it out of her mind, getting herself up, and realized that the classroom was now completely empty except for her.

Letting out a big sigh, she spoke out, “Well, I guess I better get started…” and began pushing all of the desks towards the back windows.

Outside, in the hallway, the tall boy stood watching her through the long windows that ran the entire length of the inner wall. ‘I should have said something.’ he thought, ‘at least said sorry…’

He wondered what she was doing, debating if he should go out and help her, when he saw her pull a large, rectangular, piece of red fabric from a box at the front of the class and lay it down on the floor space that she had just cleared. What was she doing?

The she retrieved a folded sheet of white paper and a black marker from her bag and lay down on the floor with them. He walked closer to the window so he could peer at her. Minutes passed as he watched her draw the outline of her picture in black marker on the red fabric. Lost in her concentration, she never even noticed that he was there staring at her. He never moved a muscle either.

After some time, she got up to stretch, and walked back to the front of the class again. She brought back several canisters of paint and some brushes to her little spot and sighed deeply before resuming her work. He knew what she was doing now: she was painting the class flag for the Sports Festival.

He glanced up at the sky, through the double set of windows, and realized the sun was hanging low already. If she kept at it with the same pace, she’d be here all night, he thought. He should go help her.

He took a step towards the door. Wei did not like people. He did not voluntarily involve himself with people. And yet, if he was to pass his test, he would have to do just that.

He turned to look at her again. She really was pretty with that look of intense concentration on her face.

But what would he say? What would she do if she saw him showing up like that suddenly? Maybe she wouldn’t want his help…. But no, he should at least chance it, right?

He took another step towards the door, determined to at least go offer his help - somehow - when a short blonde head whizzed by him into the classroom.

Through the door window, he saw their class president start talking to her - flashing that blinding smile of his in her direction - and frowned. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but soon, Jinhoo was squatting down next to her and picking up a brush.

He should have been quicker.

Without a word, he turned around and left.

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