“Here comes the sunrise," she said.

Streaked of gold and pink highlighted the layers of golden sheet proliferated above the silvery sea, splintering from aurora on the distant horizons. The golden medallion peeked through the orange crest clouds, illuminating the cylinders of flax-gold light smashing across the blue, emanating its warmest hue – a beautiful flame, indeed.

They were sitting on the beach sand lulled by the feeble flow of the tide as she transfixed her sight to the sky not knowing what to make of the vision that was unfolding right before her eyes while the big blue ocean waves were sloshing back and pummelling against the jagged cliffs nearby. The gust of the wind rustled through their hair as it fell loose down onto their faces – tousled, and tangled, making also the hairs of their skin bristled.

A cold, soft, and gentle on-shore breeze their faces, cutting through the stitches of their clothing, making her shivered as she ran her hand down on her forearms, stealing a glance at Minju right by her side with an enough gap between them who was hushed, benumbed and eyes shut ever since they waited for the sun to come forth as they settled themselves on the warm, golden sand.

“Here you are again, always closing your eyes,” she remarked, appreciating the facial features of the girl she secretly admired since ages.

Minju let out a soft chuckle as she remained still, indulging herself to the calming presence of the sea in their view as she took a deep breath of the morning ocean spring breeze gently touching her skin.

Silence.

“Aren’t you going to take a look? It’s the best part,” she recommended while staring intently at Minju, taking advantage of the situation as she couldn’t help but to appreciate the beauty of the girl sitting  right next to her.

Minju just shook her head, creeping out a soft smile.

She bit her lower lip to prevent herself from smiling too much even though Minju couldn’t see it, veering her line of sight to the golden horizon as she whispered.  “Okay”

Silence.

The faint taste of salt on the breeze gushed forth through their noses as they breathe in fresh air. The warm, golden sand left traces on her jeans, letting it kissed her toes as she hugged her knees close to her chest – for she couldn’t refrain herself from locking her eyes at Minju, wanting to ask her that same, old question from her deepest thoughts that was still left unanswered since ages.

She drew random circles on the golden sand with her finger as she engaged herself in a war inside her head if she should blurt out that question to Minju – she never desired to mar this thin on the ground moment they had right now, because for her, it was dear and splendid; but it’s like a venomous poison inside her mind that was killing every bits of her as time gone by and the only elixir was to have the grasp of truth upon it. She took courage as she freed a sharp sigh.

“Did you really do it, Minju?” she asked, breaking the silence between them as she felt her heart was racing in a haste for letting it out at long last.

But to her dismay, she was only responded by a...

Silence.

The truth was left in vain as she failed to unravel it for all she could hear were the small waves lapping at each other, crashing against the shore, trickling heedless onto the sand, washing the shiny, tiny, pretty shells by the rippling of the water – not even a single word uttered from Minju’s mouth, not even a slightest movement of reaction manifested from her face but all with her eyes shut still.

“Minju, your silence can’t protect you,” she persuaded as her voice began to crack, clenching her fist into a ball where few sands trickled through her fingers for this frustration was on the verge of getting the best of her.

Yet again, she was met no other than...

Silence.

“Are you still not going to say anything? Please say something Minju,” she uttered in a weak manner, clearing for her voice began to tremble as water occupied the corner of her eyes at the gallop,

Silence.

“Please,” she whispered under her breath as the stream of tears broke out from her tired eyes.

Silence.

“Please, I’m begging you,” she muttered.

Silence.

Like a thousand knives stabbed Minju’s heart from hearing the sound of pain and desperation from her but all Minju could offer was her comfort of silence – for it was for the best.

Like the waves that kept drifting apart but would always find its way back to the shore, flowing in the current of freedom and peace.

Minju wanted to be like the ocean...

Minju wanted to feel like that...

...even just for once.

Even just for today.

Free as the waves.

Free from the of her words.

Heaving a deep sigh, still holding her eyes shut as Minju freed her thoughts.

“Do you know why I always close my eyes?”

A brisk, frigid, dank spring breeze blew passed through her body, causing Minju to open her eyes, leaving her a bit nippy in her dark gray school uniform as she forgot to wear an extra layer of clothes to keep herself warm, feeling the gust of the wind tingling on her skin as she felt the familiarity of it, hunted by her nightmares trapped in her pitch black past with little to no intention of letting her mind free from the ceaseless chaos inside it. She remained stood, leaning her back against the pale, white, cracked wall outside of the tiny shed at her school’s rooftop building as she wiped a tear on her cheek that escaped from her eye with the back of her hand. She skimmed her surroundings, making sure no one was there to witness how miserable she was – and above all, to have an idea who she was.

Minju thought of starting the new school year as a second year high school student being invisible to every eye for she was living her life under the spotlight of baseless rumours wherever she went to – and she never spoke up about it which caused it to contaminate and to rot in the brains of her former classmates who judged her in an instant – in which it was not even proven if Minju was indeed guilty – without even considering all the good deeds, her exceptional intelligence and skills in her academics studies that brought glory to her former school – and they tore down the reputation that she built with her own blood, sweat, and tears throughout her academic years from her previous school just like that.

The sun was perching up at the sky, diffusing enough warmth as it compensated the cold spring breeze in the early morning. Minju took steps towards near the edge of the rooftop to catch a glimpse of the environment of the new high school she was transferred to; and it was not just an ordinary high school in Seoul, but it was also one of the prestigious and elite high schools in all regions of South Korea – wherein it was also the famous rival of her previous school in which these two schools were always at each other’s throat at the number one spot of being the cream of the crop in all aspects and being at the top among all high schools in South Korea when it came down to excellence in academics; but the vast distinction between the two was that both had different field of expertise in terms of technical and practical studies.

Minju viewed and scanned her surroundings from the top, comparing the architectural designs and structures of the two schools inside her head, and the differences were clear as a bell. Her former school was a Korean and Japanese international high school and was more leaned on modern contemporary designs mostly covered in crimson white colour overall with royal blue, and silver birch accents (representing the school’s official colours which was also embodied in their school uniforms), while the facade of this new school of hers, had gothic-style buildings and well-maintained garden (for it was also the oldest high school establishments in South Korea), with its official colours of dark gray, currant red, and gold which was also visible in their school uniforms – which was the only thing that made through Minju’s list on what she liked about this new school which was the colour of her new uniform which were dark gray coat and skirt, and underneath it was a red currant vest and white polo long-sleeves, and maroon with streaks of gold tone neck ribbon - because for Minju, the darkest colours were the brightest colours.

Her sight landed on the enormous gymnasium where the welcome ceremony was commencing as of the moment in which she obviously didn't attend even if it’s mandatory to all students based on the school’s handbook – which was why she’s at the school’s rooftop to begin with – as she got distracted by a loud inaudible voice from an old man speaking on a microphone that was coming from that establishment in which she couldn’t understand any single word, assuming that it could be the principal who was probably giving his speech of encouragement – or rather, false hope – to the students, as Minju always believed.

It's the first day of school and she intended to ditch all her classes for she knew too well that most people in this school were expecting to see her today, as rumours and gossips about her spread quickly in the blink of an eye like she became an instant celebrity when the students of this school heard about that bright and popular student from the top rival school transferred to their school - which was pretty big deal because this school rarely admitted transferees except if the potential transferee was outstanding in all aspects where it always created a big fuss and became a talk of the town at some point. How much more if the transferee came from the top rival school wherein these two schools were always on a brawl with each other?

But the main highlight why Minju easily created a buzz in the secret underground school website for students – where the students who had access to this website used fake names or usernames as they mostly talked about gossips, rumours, rants about the school system, and anything under the sun – as she became the hot trending topic there for they wanted to figure out about what happened which caused Minju to transfer school - because no one had a clue and everyone wanted to delve into it when it’s not their business to begin with. They also questioned why did the school admitted Minju because she might also destroy the school’s taintless image based on the rumours and gossips they had heard. Others speculated that Minju's father was a member of board of directors of this school that's why Minju got a free-pass and didn't need to visit the school beforehand to take the gruelling and excruciating entrance exams, and so on.

Minju couldn't care less as she let these people kept on speculating and let them jumped into their own unsubstantiated assumptions and conclusions of what it could be but neither anyone knew the truth except Minju herself, who remained silent as it would always be unspoken.

The only reason why she was in school today was to find a hiding place, and it didn’t took her long enough to find one which was the rooftop. And now her objective was accomplished, she needed to be quick on her feet to leave before someone else could spot her and dragged her to her classes in which she didn’t want to happen. Minju knew that she couldn’t skip classes for the whole year (even though she wanted to) but she craved to be in peace and to be away from the pry eyes just for today.

But first, she needed to take a quick whizz for she had a long walk to do off to somewhere else after she flee from this rotting hell, or rather, school. Minju picked up her backpack from the ground near the wall of the tiny shed where she stood up a while ago. She slung it over her shoulders as she went downstairs to the topmost floor where she saw the comfort room sign at the end of the corridor. As she navigated her way there, she walked passed by the student council room just right at the corner beside the staircase and saw a huge bulletin board beside its door. It piqued her interest as she took a quick stop and scanned every posting in it, and took photos of those tentative school events and schedules so she would have an idea which one of it she was going to avoid in the future.

Suddenly, she heard a loud clunking sound from a pair of high heels and a high-spirited hum from a woman at the staircase approaching up to the topmost floor. Minju cascaded in the state of panic for she could definitely get caught – she didn’t want to have that meet and greet with the principal just to eat his stern warnings for breakfast. The comfort room had a quite far distance from the student council room, she could run but there’s a huge possibility that she couldn’t make it there on time; plus, it could be noisy so that plan was out of the picture.

But luck was once again on her side when she twisted the doorknob of the student council room’s door – it was unlocked and no one was inside based on her assumptions for the curtains were spread out that dimmed the room. She quickly went inside and shut the door at speed but in careful manner so it wouldn’t make a sound. She hid herself behind a desk as she peeked through and watched the silhouette of the woman from the frosted glass window of the door walked by.

Her heart was racing for she was about to sweat bullets when the sound of the footsteps halted in the front of the bulletin board followed by loud pats which was deemed like she’s posting something on it. Eventually, the woman left after that.

Minju waited for the sound of the woman’s humming and footsteps to descend before she freed a sigh in a relief. She cautiously stood up, taking up muted steps towards the door as she cautiously opened it and casted a brief look outside the corridors, making sure she was alone once more. When the coast was clear, she walked outside the student council room to check what the woman posted on the bulletin board and read it.

"Attention to all newly-transferred students,

Please be advised that ALL transferees are REQUIRED TO ATTEND the one-on-one meeting for your full orientation in the Student Council Room. The schedule of your appointment will be sent via e-mail in your respective accounts in the School's Official Website Portal. The one-on-one meeting will be conducted by the Student Council President..."

Minju halted halfway through it as she saw the name of a certain person she once knew.

"... Kim Chaewon"

Minju dropped her sight to the floor as unwanted and unexplainable feelings and emotions gushed forth through her. Her initial reaction was to walk away as she muttered under her breath.

"We're not supposed to meet again..."

"...Because some things are better left unsaid."

As soon as her footsteps couldn't be heard, the student council room's door slowly opened as this person watched Minju’s back silhouette walking away from afar, whispering in a gentle manner.

“Kim Minju....”

a/n: Hello! So here it is! Tell me your thoughts about it if you can, I appreciate it so much (≧◡≦)

Thank you for reading! Stay alive and stay safe everyone! ♡

- aurora ♡