The sun completely hides from everyone behind a thick blanket of dark blue as the trees below dances quietly with the wind, laughing a soft hymn. The birds sing happily as they hide under the trees’ green roof, laying on their nest to prepare for the upcoming search for food. Houses are still lighted with their own bright bulbs, greeting the fireflies that bless each doorstep with their calming presence. The air is silent and the moon stays up there, shining at everything down below, reminding everyone that amidst all these darkness is the tiny ball of hope that is enough to light up the path even in the darkest of nights.

The silence is broken by grunts and thumps coming from a fairly large apartment near a university, where in it resides a Child Psychology student, Lee Daehwi. Daehwi hates morning classes. He hates it when his small feet kiss the cold ground and the freezing breeze caresses his cheeks. He hates it when he steps out of the shower as his entire body and soul will shake involuntarily, deeming him unproductive and numb. He also hates it when the sun has still not risen and there he is, trudging around his room. And luck smiles at everyone but him because he has morning classes from Monday to Friday. All thanks to the Math and Economics class required for him to take.

He quickly dries himself off with a towel he has wrapped around his waist. The friction of the towel feels so good and Daehwi gets reluctant to stop the sensation before he decides against it because the wind threatens to freeze his chest. He then quickly opens his closet as he rummages the entire space for his blue shirt and dark pants. As soon as he gets himself prepped, Daehwi proceeded to the kitchen and grab the toast he had prepared before he showered, and then walks to his campus.

He questions his curriculum every time he sees it because, why does a student whose course requires art need to take calculus classes? As a matter of fact,  his best friend, Park Woojin, was keeping tally of how many times Daehwi cursed his Math, but then he stopped when he reached 111 because he knows Daehwi could go for a thousand; and that is a lot of leaves in his notebook to be wasted. Nevertheless, Woojin told Daehwi that it is not bad to have calculus classes because it is all about accurateness of your solutions and beautiful graphs, in which Daehwi’s lips curve into a small smile.

Daehwi enters his classroom and has already chosen his seat when he notices a boy entering the classroom. The said boy scans the wide room and nods to himself, which seems like he has already picked his seat, then heads to the last row. Daehwi cannot help but notice that the boy seems to be always looking down the floor, and it amazes him as the boy did not bump into anyone or anything as he made his way through. Just then, the professor enters the room and sends Daehwi straightening himself and scourging his bag for his notebook.

“Good morning, class. Let us start the day with a fabulous roll call, shall we?” Ms. Park says with a smile directed to almost everyone in the classroom. She then puts a finger on the upper part of the paper nad begins to start the call.

“Park Jihoon. Kim Jaehwan.” Both students shout ‘present’ but Jaehwan, being the extra he is, more like sings it. Everyone in the class laughed, including the boy Daehwi noticed earlier. Not that Daehwi is observing him. Not at all.

The list goes on and Daehwi is still not called as he experiences a temporary existential crisis. Did he really go inside the right class? He hoped so.

“Lee Daehwi, Bae Jinyoung” Daehwi shuffles on his feet and breathes the words ‘present’. His seatmate laughs at him, which sends his eyes rolling to the side. He just then realizes that he did not hear another voice other than him. He then whips his head around and his eyes landed on the boy seated at the last row, slowly standing up and meekly raising his hand.

“Cute” Daehwi puts a finger on his lips to prevent a chuckle to come out. He then faces the boy and curves his lips into a small smile as he watches his classmate’s eyes go slightly wide and mouth agape. The boy lightly shakes his head and gives Daehwi a shy smile in return. “Hmm. Bae Jinyoung” Daehwi mumbles under his breath as he clicks his pen to write the formula flashed on the screen. Needless to say, his Math class did go well.

Woojin dumps his tray on the table Daehwi is currently working on. The latter gives him a glare and Woojin just chuckles and proceeds to sit in front of him. The cafeteria is bustling with people and is full of noise as countless talking and shouting mouths fill the area. A certain voice tops all of the others, belonging to Park Jihoon, as the boy jokes with his friends and then letting out a high-pitched laugh right after. Jihoon is also known for being the source of the latest scoops related to everything inside the campus, good or bad. Daehwi frowns and ducks his head at the loud cackle filling the whole cafeteria. He shrugs and shakes his head as he slightly brushes his ear before glaring at Woojin again, who chooses to bounce his shoulders and munches a handful of fries.

“I swear Woojin; if the day when your ketchup lands on my papers happen, I am going to cut your hands off.” Daehwi says with an exasperated huff, stealing a couple of fries from his best friend’s plate. Woojin’s mouth falls agape at Daehwi’s action, causing the former to slap the other’s hand; resulting to some pieces to slip Daehwi’s hand.

“Hey, Lee Daehwi! Buy your own!”

“Consider this as payment for disturbing me, jerk. And please, keep your greasy hands off my drawings, will you?” Daehwi tells Woojin, not once raising his head as he tries to draw a straight line without a ruler.

Woojin uses the chance to take a peek of Daehwi’s drawing. His eyes widen into full circles when he sees a garden filled with minute flowers – and the flowers are very detailed. In the middle of the garden stands a man who stares down at the flowers with a smile on his face, arms reaching one of the detailed Irises.

Woojin tilts his head and curls his eyebrows. As far as he can remember, Daehwi does not really excel in drawing minute details like facial features, furniture details, and flowers. If he is to name one weakness of his best friend, it is his lack of patience and observation skills to actually draw minute details. Daehwi will either scrap the drawing or just draw outlines. He never, ever, completes details; that is why he wonders if something is up for Daehwi.

“Uhm, Hwi,” Woojin asks as he clears his throat. “You are drawing flowers.”

Daehwi raises his head, eyes flat into medium slits, insult evident. “Isn’t it obvious, dear Woojin?” He says with a roll of his eyes.

“No, look!” Woojin points at Daehwi’s paper, oil splattered against the contour of his fingers. “Your flowers are very on point!”

Daehwi gasps as Woojin’s finger come in contact with his paper, his inner self crying inside. He swats his best friend’s hand and covers his face with his palms. “How dare you Park Woojin! How dare you ruin my project!”

Woojin Daehwi’s hand on his face, in which the latter retracts his hand immediately and lets out a frustrated groan as he wipes his hand on a tissue paper. Woojin cackles and it takes Daehwi all of his energy to not curse at his best friend.

“Look dear Daehwi, your flowers really look alive! You hate drawing flowers, right?” Woojin questions with excessive enthusiasm and excitement in his voice. “If any more, I can almost see pollens!”

Daehwi looks at his best friend in disbelief, his eyes darting at Woojin, eyebrows meeting and mouth wide open. “Wow, are you saying I at drawing flowers?”

“Yes!” And Daehwi says in his mind that this is the last straw and decided to stand up and strangle Woojin. As Woojin sees Daehwi get up from his seat, he quickly rushes to the quadrangle, hoping for his safety from his best friend’s wrath. “I mean, no! Your flowers look pretty!”

Needless to say, the whole school witnessed Woojin strangled by a student with a blond mop of hair and Jinyoung, who had seen the whole skit, deems the attacker familiar. Very familiar.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bae Jinyoung walks toward his classroom with his head down, not bothering to look at his path causing him to bump occasionally; but he is too passive to care. He fishes his handkerchief from his pocket and wipes the sweat off his forehead. He occasionally raises his head to look at the room number above each door, stopping when he reaches the assigned room for his business class. Jinyoung takes a deep intake of air and exhales before turning the knob of his classroom door.

He spots Jihoon sitting at their usual seat at the back of the classroom, just enough for them to hear the professor’s voice and be unnoticed most of the time. He placed his bag at the table and buries his face on his hands, groaning afterwards. Jihoon glances at his friend beside him and chuckles.

“Why the grumble, Bae?” Jihoon asks, eyes going to the side where Jinyoung sits. The latter lets out another groan and shakes his head before putting out his notebook.

“Not your business, Park. Do not mind me.”

Jihoon cackles, too loud for Jinyoung, which earned the attention of their other classmates. Jinyoung sinks into his bag, attempting to hide his face from everyone.

“So, who is it then?”

“Who is who?”

“The reason why you did not sleep during maths.”

Jinyoung snaps up and looks at Jihoon with wide bulging eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, only to close it again, which looks like a breathing fish in Jihoon’s opinion.

“How did you know I did not sleep during my previous class?” Jinyoung whispers with a confused look on his face. Jihoon cackles yet again; Jinyoung looked like he just had been caught doing something illegal.

“As if you do not know me, Bae.” Jihoon says as he wiggles his eyebrows, sending a knowing look at his friend, who looks defeated as he sighs and buries his face in his bag.

“I just do not feel like sleeping during that time.” Jinyoung mumbles, voice muffled by the cloth of his bag. “I can not sleep during my subjecs, right? I need to pass.”

Jihoon lets out a high-pitched mocking sound, face contorted into a doubtful one. “Since when do you care about your subjects, Jinyoung? You ace all of them even without studying.”

Jinyoung is about to answer but he hears the front door opening, a sign of his professor entering the room. He blows air upwards to his hair, as he looks at Jihoon, who was, at the time, giving him a knowing look. You cannot escape from me, Bae. Jinyoung just shakes his head and turns his head towards the whiteboard, as he also attempts to shake off any thoughts about his previous class.