Wednesday, September 4, 2013              

I looked in the mirror. It felt weird wearing my own clothes and knowing I was going to school; all through high school I’d had a uniform.  Finally, I heaved a sigh and tore myself away from the mirror. I grabbed my backpack, tucked my phone into my pocket, and left my apartment. To be honest, it wouldn’t have mattered if I was late to class because I only came to this school to party. And it was close enough so that I could stay at home. Which definitely makes it easier to bring girls home.

                “Anyone you see interest you?” Sehun asked, craning his neck to see the students that were just spilling into class.

                “Not really,” I responded, not looking up.

                “You’re not even looking,” Sehun pointed out, and I heard the annoyance in his voice. I sort of felt bad, I would be annoyed with me by now, too, and yet everyone was pretty cool about it. I hung out with Suho and his friends, and they treated me really well, considering I was pretty much an to them.

                I straightened my back, looking at the girls in the room. Too fake, too much makeup, too ty, dyed hair... No girl in the room was even decent. I shrugged. “I dunno, I like long, straight, black hair, but no one keeps their hair natural anymore,” I explained.

                “Gee and who does that sound like,” Sehun muttered under his breath. “Wait, what about her?” he suddenly asked, pointing not very discreetly at a girl that had just walked in. She had long, bleach blond hair, but she wasn’t bad to look at.

                “Yeah man, go for it,” I responded dryly.

                “I meant for you,” Sehun sighed.

                “Are you color blind?” I snapped back.

                “Well if you wouldn’t be so damn uptight about every little detail about girls then—“ Sehun was cut off by the teacher beginning their lecture, and I was thankful for it. It just gave me a headache, thinking about it, listening to people talk about it…

                “Coffee break?” I asked Sehun as we filed out of the lecture hall. I was half asleep that whole class.

                Sehun shrugged. “Nah…I have another class in an hour and I didn’t get a long enough nap during that class. If I drink caffeine I’ll be up all day.”

                I laughed. It was fake, but hardly anyone could tell anymore. “Right, right. So wuddo you wanna do? When do the other guy’s classes start?”

                Sehun checked his watch. “Dunno. Let’s go over to Baekhyun’s. Hot tub?”

                I grinned. “Yes, please.” Baekhyun’s family was super wealthy, so he lived in a luxury condo with an indoor hot tub. Heaven on earth if you ask me… I pulled out my phone and dialed Chanyeol’s number. “Ayyo,” I greeted when he picked up.

                “What’s up?”

                “Baekhyun’s. You game?”

                I heard a faint commotion from Chanyeol’s end. Laughing, Chanyeol came back to me and told me, “Baekhyun says to stop going to his house without his permission.”

                “Tell him we say not to give his key out so freely,” I responded as Sehun and I to his street.

                Chanyeol laughed. “Yeah, we’ll be there in ten. Suho and DO have classes now. We’re bringing some girls.”

                “Jenmi? Was that her name?” I asked, trying to remember the name of the girls Chanyeol had brought last time.

                “Nah, you’ll meet ‘em when we get there. Speaking of which, you there yet?”

                “Walking into the building as we speak,” I responded as Sehun and I stepped onto the elevator.

                “Cool. We’ll be there in five.”

                “Mmkay, see ya then,” I said, hanging up.

                We entered his apartment like usual and stripped our clothes, heading to his spare bedroom where we all kept some extras. I pulled on my blue swim shorts and met Sehun back in the main area. Grinning, he was turning the dials so the conditions were perfect. We chatted a bit while it warmed up, then with a content sigh he slid his body into the water.

                “This…this…is nice,” he hummed, closing his eyes.

                I let the warm water swirl around me, and finally leaned back, also shutting my eyes. “Definitely,” I agreed.

                “Waahh, you’re place is so nice!” I heard a voice squeal as the door slammed open. I shot up to see Baekhyun and Chanyeol walking in with three other girls.

                “Oh! Oppa, who are they?” one of them pointed at us. Sehun was fully alert by now, and he sent a smirk towards them.

                “That’s Sehun, and that’s Kai,” Baekhyun introduced. “We’re good friends.”

                “Wow, Oppa has such good looking friends,” another of them cooed and Sehun winked at her.

                “Alright, you girls can go change, we’ll be out here,” Chanyeol said, ushering them into the bedrooms and bathrooms. Once they were gone Sehun instantly began to talk.             

                “Three? Seriously? Three?”

                Baekhyun shrugged. “Sorry. They were alone just the three of them.”

                “Aish, do you expect us to share or something?”

                Ew… “Eh, calm down, maknae, it’s fine,” I commented dryly.

                “Ehh?” Sehun asked, spinning to face me. Chanyeol and Baekhyun both took off their shirts as they joined us in the hot tub.

                “Yeah, calm down, Sehunieee,” Chanyeol said, playfully throwing an arm around Sehun’s neck.

                “Baby will be fine for the day,” Baekhyun joined in on the teasing.

                “Aish…” Sehun hated being called out on his age, and he let it drop. Before long the girls came back out, their names unimportant at the moment, and we went to talking, joking, and getting to know each other more. Finally, Sehun sighed as he looked at the time.

                “Damn, my class starts in ten minutes…”

                “Oh, Oppa~ don’t go,” one of them whined, pouting.

                The hell…she’s like two months younger than him…

                “Yeah, maybe I won’t…” Sehun mumbled.

                “Yeah! You’ll have more fun here,” another piped in.

                Sehun laughed. “Very true.”

                These girls were so fake. Squealing and calling us “Oppa” every two minutes… “Sorry, but I actually have to go,” I faked a sigh, standing up and shaking out my hair.

                “Whyy?” one of them asked, leaning forward dramatically.

                “Yeah, where are you off to?” Baekhyun asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

                I shrugged. “It’s not the summer anymore, I have stuff to do,” I answered vaguely.

                “Ah, Oppa, Sehunnie’s skipping his class, why can’t you, too?”

                “Sorry guys,” I responded easily. I went to change then slipped out the door easily, the happy couples too busy with each other’s tongues to notice me. I didn’t want to make it so obvious that I had straight-up ditched them, and I contemplated where I could go. Eventually, I looked up and realized I didn’t know where I was.               

                Aishh…what a hassle, I sighed, looking up at the lightly forested area in front of me. I glanced back at the busy city, cars honking and skyscrapers glistening in the sun. Then I turned forward, to the silence of the trees, the lazily shaded area, and continued my walk ahead. I hadn’t been hiking for long before I spotted a little clearing. The trees had gotten thicker, so it caught my attention. And when I stepped into it more, the sun gently shining down surprised me; somehow its bright rays spilled through all the trees illuminating and warming the small clearing. With a satisfied sigh I sat down, leaning against a rock. I turned my music on softly, setting my phone down next to me, and before long I slipped into sleep.

+++

                “I’m fine, I just want to go back to school,” she sighed.

                “Eunmi, look at me and answer these questions properly,” Dr. Baek commanded firmly.

                She rolled her eyes. “Dr. Baek where is this going to get us? You and I both know what happened, and we both know why. But I’m better now. I’m not stupid enough to try that again. I’m not their daughter anymore, and that in itself is reason enough for me to continue living. For him…” she murmured, telling herself not to let the tears fall, not in this heartless hospital in front of these doctors that her parents were paying. Not for long, she reassured herself. I won’t need to rely on them for anything for much longer…

                Dr. Baek let out a heavy sigh. “Eunmi, you’re still not…okay.”

                “I’m not some freak,” Eunmi shouted. “I’m fine. Look, school started today…and I just—I just—it’s my first year. I want to get back to school…” Sure, school was part of it. But mostly she was looking forward to her one special spot…

                Dr. Baek sighed. “You’re dinner will be coming soon. I’ll see you tomorrow, Eunmi.”

                Eunmi squeezed her eyes shut. Tomorrow. She hated that word. That meant she had to stay…stay here for another day.