"Of course! He needs to attend school like everyone else!"

"I don't think that's necessary. And it's dangerous. We're not in the very accepting part of the country."

"He is smart enough! Didn't you say it yourself?"

"He can be homeschooled. He gets the education no school can give him."

"He doesn't meet anyone his age! He needs to assimilate with kids his age..."

"He already have friends."

"Your colleagues doesn't count as friends. He's 15!"

"I'll think about it."

"He needs kids his age around him..."

The next day, Hong Dayoung stands in front of a class. His hair well-combed and an ID plate on his blue jacket uniform.

"Please introduce, yourself," the teacher in front gestures to him.

"My name is Hong Dayoung. Nice to meet you." Then he bowed.

The teacher points him to take a seat next to the window. He could hear the play happening in the school tracks, the chalk scratching the board, the soft chuckle of his classmates, the soft tap on a screen, and then a question thrown in the class.

He can see the spaces among the ink of his notebook when he writes. He could spot minute movement of his fellow students. The murmuring of the people around him weighs on him. Then a question thrown to the class.

Then the crisp sound of the bell.

The chairs scratched on the floor and the low thuds of books and stuffs being tucked away. The shrill screams and shrieks and the yells of the kids for different things.

Things blur and he finds himself leaning on a tree behind a building and gasping for breath. One hand on the tree and another on his chest as he tries to even his breathing.

"Are you okay?" a voice asks and he immediately jumps away from the tree and from the voice.

"Woah... woah... chill... I'm just asking," another boy raises his hands in the air as he stood on his ground ready for anything.

He scans the ed jacket uniform and the nameplate says that he is a year above him. He was still racing for his breath as he stood his ground.

"Dude are you really okay? You look white," the boy as he slowly approached him, with intention to help him in anyway.

"I'm fine... It's just... I can't breathe," he finally speaks and loosens up his own collar.

"Are you new? You don't look like someone I know," the boy said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Yes," he still focuses on his breathing until he can stand upright and bre