“Krystal ah!” Sunyoung waved at her as she ran toward her with a tray of food.

                Krystal broke away from dazing off and smiled lightly. Then, she put down the fork in her hand.

                “Hey, what took you so long?”

                “Sorry! Something came up. Please accept my apology!” She bowed playfully. It was artificial as well, just like Jinho’s apology.

                Krystal couldn’t help but smile at her lively friend, the only friend that she could trust.

                “C’mon sit down quickly. I thought you needed tutoring for your next exam.” Krystal patted on the empty spot next to her.

                “Ah, yes ma’am!” She gave her a salute.

                Sunyoung took out a math book from her bag and flipped to a page.

                “I don’t get this part, and this, and this…” She pointed to the equations on the page.

                “In order to find this, first you do this…”

***

                A demonic mistress ran the orphanage. She probably still does, should be in her seventies by now. She was strict with the rules and never smiled unless it was out of wickedness. Overall, she was every child’s nightmare.

                There was a time when Sunyoung broke an expensive vase in the orphanage after ignoring Krystal’s warning to not run around. It was the mistress’s, who runs the orphanage, favorite one too. Early in the morning, a maid discovered the shattered vase and reported it to the mistress. She was so angry and that she ordered all the girls to line up in the hall and questioned them.

                “Tell me, who was the foolish child that broke the vase?” The mistress paced back and forth as she asked the girls. Sunyoung was shaking and her head was down. She was hoping that the mistress would never find out as long as she doesn’t open .

                “Is no one willing to speak up?” She yelled at the top of her lungs.

                She noticed Sunyoung’s frightened look as she passed her. She halted and looked down at her. Sunyoung’s face lost its color immediately.   

                “It looks like we found our answer.” The mistress looked down at the terrified child.

                “I did it.” A voice that belonged to Krystal claimed.

                The mistress turned away from Sunyoung and looked at her.

                “You said you did it?”

                “Yes, mistress, sorry, I was reckless.” She didn’t know why she took the blame, but she wasn’t afraid of the mistress. And she had to protect her best friend.

                Of course she received her punished, several whippings and cleaning the halls every night for a month before she could go to sleep. Every night, Sunyoung would open her eyes and listen to the scrubbing sound that pass by her room.

***

                “Ah!” Sunyoung snapped away from her trail of thoughts when something outside the lunchroom window caught her attention.

                Krystal looked up from writing and followed the direction that her friend pointed.

                Sunyoung was pointing at a girl outside the window. She was walking toward a guy leaning against the wall, a very pretty guy. Krystal noticed him first even though her friend was pointing at the girl. She wasn’t wearing a school uniform. She had a black cap and shades on.

                “She looks so familiar! I saw her somewhere on TV before,” Sunyoung said in excitement.

                “You probably did, she’s pretty.”

                “Argh, where did I see her…” Sunyoung began to think deeply.

                The girl outside finally took off her shades. Then, she talked to the guy who was against the wall. He straightened up and looked uncomfortable. But they seemed close.  

                “Ah! I remember now! It’s Heo Gayoon, the rookie star in CUBE Entertainment. Woah she looks prettier in person.”

                “Oh, I think I remember hearing about her.” Krystal lost her interest and resumed to writing down the equations on the page.

                “But I wonder what is she doing here?” Sunyoung stared curiously at the two people outside. “You think they’re in a relationship or something?”

                “Maybe. C’mon I thought you need help with this. Stop minding other people’s business.”

                Sunyoung glanced at the two beautiful people once more before her focus went back to the boring math equations.

                Gayoon put on her cap and shades before she stepped out of the van.

                “You sure you want to go in by yourself?” the manager asked.

                “Yes, I just wanted to meet an old friend,” she replied.

                “Make sure you don’t catch too much attention. It’ll be hard on me.”

                “Don’t worry. It’ll be quick.”

                She spotted Hyunseung in the school yard. He was leaning against the school walls with his earphones on. He looked up when he heard the loud clicking sounds created from Gayoon’s heels. He was surprised by her appearance.

                Gayoon stopped two feet away from him and took off her shades. That was when Hyunseung confirmed that it was really Gayoon in front of him.

                “Hey, it’s been a while.” She spoke first.

                “Hey.”

                It was awkward for her, maybe for him too.

                “I was just passing by. I thought I should visit.”

                “You know, you didn’t have to,” Hyunseung replied coldly.

                Gayoon forced a smile at his bitter remark.

                “I wanted to,” she paused. “You haven’t change.”

                “You changed a lot though.  I almost couldn’t recognize you.”

                “I’ll take that as a compliment,” she forced another smile and tried to form a small conversation, “So how is your mother doing?”

                “She’s put under mental rehabilitation now.”

                “Oh, I guess that’s better for her. How about your father…? Does he still…”

                “Please don’t bring that up.”

                There was a long moment of silence again.

                “I’m sorry.” She said it. That was what she wanted to say for a long.

                “For what? All you did was to follow your dream. And it was over a year ago. I almost forgot what happened if you haven’t reminded me.”

                “Hyunseung ah, I’ve never stopped loving you. I know I shouldn’t have done that to you when you needed me the most.”

                “Stop it already. You made it clear that day you left.”

                “I know, but I regret it now. I feel like I’m missing a part of me for the past year.”

                “It’s too late now. Sometimes you just can’t have everything.” Hyunseung turned around to leave but Gayoon held him back. “Gayoon ah, don’t do that. You don’t want a scandal already.”

                There were several students looking through the windows from inside the school building. Gayoon put on her shades to hide her face. She couldn’t do anything as Hyunseung walked away.

                “I’ll visit again soon.”

                She left quickly and returned to the van.

                “Everything okay?” the manager asked.

                “Yeah.”

                Then they drove away.

                “Krystal ah…” Sunyoung said in a low voice.

                “Hmm?”

                “How are things going between Jinho and you lately?” She studied Krystal’s face for an answer.

                “Everything’s fine? Why?” Krystal answered quickly.

                “Oh, just wondering.”

                “You’re acting weird these days Sunyoung.”

                “Me? How?”

                “Yea, you have been asking strange questions.”               

                “Ah, really?” Sunyoung scratched her head and tried to laugh it off.

                “When did you get that? The last time I saw, you didn’t have it on.” Krystal asked as she looked at the ring on Sunyoung’s finger.

                Sunyoung hid her hand suspiciously.

                “Oh that… um I thought it was pretty so I bought it off the streets.”

                “Really? It looks very expensive though. Can I see it?”

                “Heh, what’s there to see? It’s just a random ring. Class is about to start soon. I can’t be late for the exam. See ya!” Sunyoung stood up and rushed down the lunchroom.

                “Good luck!” Krystal yelled to her friend.

***

                The sound of the chalk screeching against the blackboard became more irritating and annoying. Krystal felt uncomfortable again. She felt like butter was being churned in her stomach. Bile was slowly crawling up her esophagus. Then, she felt a burning sensation as she gagged.

                “Professor, I think I need to go to the infirmary. I don’t feel so well,” Krystal stated loudly across the classroom.

                “You may go.”

                “Thanks a lot.” She left the classroom.

                “What’s with her these days? She’s like leaving the classroom all the time,” whispered a curious girl student on the other end of the room.

                “Who knows?” said another.

                “Okay quiet class!”

                “Yeh, professor!”

                Krystal entered the bathroom, but there were several girls at the sink chatting. They looked at Krystal for a moment. She left quickly with a word.

                The roof, she thought to herself, the roof should be empty.

                In her weak state, it took Krystal a while before she could beat the pressure of the wind against the door to the outside. A breeze of wind gushed in. She stumbled to a corner used the brick wall for support. The debris that she ate for lunch earlier pushed their way back out.

                Hyunseung, who happened to be around the corner of the walls, was awakened from his sleep by the unpleasant sound. He took off one of his earphones and peeked at the intruder. He noticed her face first; her cheeks were unnaturally pale, her dark chocolaty eyes, and her lips a soft pink color, ones that any guy would be tempted to kiss. The small droplet of sweats on her forehead sparkled under the clear, sunny sky. The breeze against her hair made her resemble no other than a Goddess.

                Beautiful.

                It was the first word that came to Hyunseung’s head. It was only after observing her face that he knew what she was doing.

                Vomiting.

                After she was done, she pushed her back against the wall and slid down to a sitting position. She sighed in a relieved tone and held her stomach.

                “It’ll get bigger.”

                Krystal was surprised to find someone else at the roof. She got up quickly to see Hyunseung appearing from the corner. Her face looked perplexed by his remark and surprised at the same time that he was the pretty boy she saw.

                “No matter how much you want to hide it, people will find out. It’ll get bigger,” he pointed at her stomach. 

                She looked down and placed her hand in front of it as if to hide something.

                “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said defensively before she rapidly returned into the building and slammed the door shut.

                Hyunseung, still outside, placed his earphones back into his ears. He shut his eyes wanting to go back to his nap, but the sudden appearance of the intruder couldn’t leave his head.