＊myungsoo's story

 may sixth twenty ten 

Although a classmate had just died, school still continued as if nothing happened. The atmosphere in the class, however, was drastically different. It was as if a tense silence hung over the room. No one dared to say anything about Sooji, not even to express their sadness because no one wanted to speak. It was a period of silence that dragged on for the whole day. Jinri and Jieun didn't even bother to harass Jiyeon today. 

Finally, school was over. I would've wanted to go straight home, but I had to finish up some club-related work. Walking down the quiet hallways - it seemed like every student wanted to get home today. I finally reached the club room and as soon as I stepped in, I realized that the atmosphere within this room was...suffocating. It was tense and dreary, and if air could be stale, this was it. Maybe the whole school was affected by the news of Sooji. 

That's when I heard it.

The familiar sound before Sooji was taken to the hospital.

Deep, constrained breathing.

I immediately stiffened and glanced around the dim room. I don't know why, but I felt completely scared at that moment. I even started to think that I was the one who was breathing that way due to my nerves. Placing a hand on my chest just to double check, I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that it wasn't me. Walking towards the small office connected to the Literature Club's main "lounging" area, I noticed that the door was ajar. Pushing it open, I saw the slouched figure of Sunggyu. His back and shoulders moving with his heavy breathing.

"...Hyung?" I asked carefully.

At my voice, his body jerked up and he turned to face me. In his hands, I saw the cover of a familiar notebook.

"Is that..."

Before I could finish my sentence, Sunggyu closed the book and placed it in the drawer. "I found it on my desk. It seems like Sooji dropped it on the day of her...accident, and someone gave it to me thinking it belonged to the Club..." Sunggyu murmured.

Gathering up some courage to face my stern hyung, I walked over to his desk and placed my hand on the handle of the drawer. "I want to read it."

Immediately, Sunggyu roughly slapped my hand away from his desk. "No." He said firmly. His words surprised me. Considering the force of his action, I thought he had suddenly fallen into some kind of angry rage, but he stood quietly in front of the drawer. He seemed to notice how shocked I looked, so he decided to explain himself.

"It's just not worth looking at. The story is warped and strange. The grammer, tenses and even spacing is just all over the place. It's just disappointing. I don't want you to be exposed to that kind of stuff. It might affect your writing." He said, finishing his sentence with a light hearted laugh. With this, he shooed me out of the room.

I was still a bit lost at what he said. But I didn't have much time to think about it when I noticed Sungyeol staring straight into my face.

"GYAHH." I let out a loud gasp, causing Sungyeol to burst out into fits of laughter.

"Did you forget I was in this club too?" He asked, patting my back as we made our way out of the dreary room and into the school's hallway. 

There was a comfortable silence between Sungyeol and me as we walked slowly down the hall. Reaching the door that led to the courtyard, a gust of fresh air blew in as we opened the doors together. This was enough to bring a smile onto our faces. The school was definitely tense and suffocating, and going outside seemed to be the solution. I felt like I was finally able to think and focus properly. Then I remembered what that notebook reminded me of. 

"Sungyeol. Do you believe curses exist?" I asked. I knew it was kind of sudden and totally random. It was obvious Sungyeol thought so too, but his surprised expression quickly shifted into one of contemplation. 

"Hmm. Maybe." He replied nonchalantly. I stared at him, prompting him to continue.

"Well. If someone wrote 'DIE MYUNGSOO', on the walls of the school, how would you feel?"

I kept quiet. Honestly, I wouldn't care. Sungyeol seemed to notice this and he rolled his eyes. 

"Okay, how about this, if a girl saw the words 'DIE' in front of her locker, how would she feel?"

"Probably scared...and shocked...because someone wants her to die." I replied quietly, wondering where he was going with this.

"So, someone hates her to the extent that they don't want her existing in the world." He replied. "But you know, writing three letters on a person's locker is pretty easy to do."

I nodded lightly.

"So what if someone took the time and effort to make a straw doll, find strands of hair, or whatever they need. And then take a hammer and slam nails into it?"

I shivered at that thought. "Then they must really hate the girl."

"Yeah, I don't know if curses exist. But all that hate towards one person, can't be good right?" 

Sometimes Sungyeol's insight really surprised me. For a guy that was usually so childish and energetic, I often forgot that he was pretty...intelligent. 

"Why did you ask anyway?" The taller male asked, playing with the straps of his bag.

I paused wondering if I should tell him about the notebook and my thoughts about it. What if he thought I was some kind of nut job? But hey, this was Sungyeol. He's told me some pretty weird stuff before.

"You know how Sooji was reading Jiyeon's notebook before she died right? I mean, isn't that strange? Sooji's perfectly healthy. I see no reason for her sudden hyperventilation..." I said, choosing my words carefully.

At this statement, Sungyeol began to laugh. "I know your nickname is L and all... but there are no such things as Death Notes." 

I punched his arm lightly, just realizing what I said had sounded just like that anime. "I know! I just meant...that notebook. It's strange. I can't knock off the feeling that it's ... weird." 

"Well, Sunggyu read the book right?" He asked with a cheeky smile that told me he was eavesdropping on my earlier conversation with Sunggyu. I replied with a quick nod.

"And he's fine, right?" Sungyeol asked again. Once again, I nodded giving him a weary 'yes'.

"So, you're probably just overthinking it. Relax."

I sighed. He was right. I had to just relax. Just because Jiyeon was scary, it didn't mean she was some kind of witch.

"Oh! Wait here a sec. I forgot something in school." Sungyeol suddenly piped up, and without waiting for my response, he dashed into the school building.

A few minutes later, he came running back out.

"Let's go home." He grinned, whacking my back with his bag.