3 Change

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This time the sky was brighter. The cloudes whiter. The sea was unmoving and the seagulls were gone. They stopped flying near the shore.

Jiwoo's eyes shot open.

Did she unconciously fall asleep? Wasn't she drawing a moment ago...?

Her eyes were tired and heavy, making it difficult for her to read the hour on the wall clock. Her mother must've checked on her earlier, Jiwoo thought as she stared a bit at the orange beam of her lamp on the desk. She noticed the window was closed too, and outside the sky was really dark. Maybe more than just a moment ago passed since Jiwoo could remember falling asleep with the sketchbook in her hand.

The sketchbook...Did she draw something on it? The girl couldn't remember.

When she opened it she found the drawing she made some hours earlier, smiling a bit at how unrealistic and messy it looked. Jiwoo wasn't that much of an artist. She liked music and mangas more.

Some minutes later Jiwoo's mother came to her room and asked her how she was doing, not forgetting to compliment her daughter for her artistic skills and letting her know that dinner was almost ready if she felt well enaugh to come eat with her and her father in the living room.

For the first time in a while Jiwoo felt strangely calm and refreshed. As she got up from the bed and went to wash her face she could feel more vitality in her body. Her eyes were awake too.

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Heejin was blankly staring at the ceiling.

Her room was dark and the only source of light were the cars' headlights as they passed down the streets.

Haseul's words at the park somehow managed to get to her. Her friend's voice sounded so worried and lost, it was really strange of her to be like that.

She said that while they were making their way to school, Jiwoo unconsciously whispered to herself something about a dream she had and couldn't understand the meaning of. Heejin couldn't even remember hearing the girl saying anything about it, probably because she was too busy talking to the others and being loud.

At first she laughed it off.

She thought it was silly to take something like a dream so seriously, especially for a rational person like Haseul.

But then she remembered Jiwoo's eyes during lunch. They were empty and absent, almost as if she was seeing an entirely different world from everyone else. Why was Jiwoo even giving so much importance to a dream? Doesn't everyone dream? Was it a sad dream, then? Heejin remembered some times when she used to let herself influenced by certain dreams as a kid, but after a day or two she would completely forget about them.

Couldn't Jiwoo do the same?

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