He entered the classroom and spotted her. She was already seated. He saw her facial expression. It seemed like she had not sleep the previous night. He sighed. He could guess what had happened to er. It was not the first time she attended class with that depressing face. He slowly approached her.

“Hey SooAh… you’re early today,” he greeted her first.

“Hey Jae…” she flashed a weak smile at him. As expected, he knew something was not right about her. On normal days, she would give him sarcastic answers.

“Should I guess what happen? Or… it already happened?” Jae asked. It had become a common question.

SooAh tried to hold on to her tears as class was about to start. Mr Park would find fault with her again if she cries during his lesson. Jae took out a packet of tissue paper from his backpack. He passed it to SooAh and apologized, “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked anything. I’ll be careful next time.”

“Hmmm… I just have no luck with guys,” SooAh sighed as she wiped her tears away.

Then… what am I? A girl? Jae thought to himself.

__________

“That’s all for today,” Mr Park ended his three hours of theory class a little early that day. He left the classroom first before his students.

The students could enjoy an hour and a half break before the next lesson. Jae nudged SooAh who was daydreaming. He noticed that she was not paying attention during lesson. Luckily, he took down some notes and made a copy for SooAh too.

“Should we go to the cafeteria to grab something to eat?” Jae asked.

SooAh shook her head. She had no appetite to eat.

“Should we go to the library to read comics?”

SooAh shook her head. She disliked the quietness in an enclosed area.

“Should we go to the stadium to look at hot dudes doing sport?”

SooAh shook her head. She was afraid that she might fall in love with someone again.

He became tired and impatient. He looked around the classroom and it was empty. Only Jae and SooAh were left inside the classroom while other students had left to enjoy their break.

“Just do whatever you want!” Jae felt irritated. He kept his belonging in his backpack. He walked out of the classroom leaving SooAh alone.

__________

Am I doing the right thing? He wondered.

What if she does something stupid? He was worried.

He cancelled his plan to go to the cafeteria and made a decision to go back to class. Food matters to him but his friendship with SooAh was way more important. They only had each other since none of their classmates could understand them, the weirdo duo.

“Shin SooAh?” he entered the classroom but she was not inside. The classroom was empty. Jae panicked. SooAh could not go missing with that kind of unpredictable and unstable mental state of mind.

Did she go to the toilet and drown herself in the toilet bowl? Did she go to the Chemistry Lab to drink some chemicals? Did she go to the rooftop to jump down?

Jae was really worried. He took out his smart phone from his pocket to call SooAh. She did not pick up the call.

“Come on Jae! Think! Where could she be?” Jae continued to try calling SooAh.

“Urgh! I thought I could rest when I was at the rooftop until I heard someone crying loudly. I got o irritated that I left,” he heard someone complaining to her friend as she walked pass him.

Without hesitation, Jae rushed to the rooftop. He knew who his schoolmate was referring to.

__________

There she is. Crying again…

Jae approached her. Truthfully, he was not pleased to see SooAh in that condition. He was frustrated, “Ya! It’s not your first break up! Why are you so affected by it? What have he done to you for you to be behaving like this?”

SooAh did not answer him. She kept crying. Jae let out a sigh. He knew he could not stop her from crying. He sat down beside her, “Fine… Lean on me… I’ll lend you my shoulder for today. You’ll feel better in a short while.”

Jae slightly turned his head to look at SooAh. She was still crying. He left out a sigh again.

Why must this happen to you again? I hate to see that beautiful face of yours being covered with tears. Why did you choose a difficult love when you already know that you’re going to get hurt again?

It seemed that it would take a while for SooAh to stop. Jae was getting tired. He needed to talk to her. He cleared his throat, “Won’t you just forget about him? Don’t cry like this anymore.”

“Maybe it turned out to be better for you to break with him. Everyone knows it only difficult for you. Don’t worry SooAh, you’ll meet someone even better than him and your other ex-boyfriends,” Jae added.

__________

SooAh wiped her tears. She began to say something after crying for a long time, “I thought he can understand me.

No SooAh… no one understands you better than I do.

“I thought he was the perfect guy for me.”

If you look at your side and give me a chance, I’ll be that perfect guy for you.

“He captured my heart so well that he took advantage of me.”

I am the only one who is unable to reach your heart till today.

“When will I meet someone who can accept me for who I am?” SooAh asked.

Jae shrugged, “I don’t know man… Please don’t meet just anyone this time. Whenever it’s hard on you, just look for me. I’ll lend you my shoulder to lean on just like today. It may take a while to heal that heart of yours and I promise it won’t hurt you.”

“Thank you bro! You’ve always been my best guy friend,” SooAh finally smiled.

Jae flashed a weak smile too. It was an expected answer form SooAh but he still felt disappointed. No matter how hard he tried, he knew it was impossible for SooAh to open her heart for him.

He could not blame anyone else but himself. It all started with a comment he made, “I want to have a little sister just like you.”