XXII

“I can't erase your smile
Although it does grow faint as time goes by
If we can see each other some day
Then I will tell you, I'm sorry”

“The long-time memories, the beautiful times
The memories of you and me that embraced me
It will faintly remain and shine on us
Then I can really tell you, goodbye
I loved you so much”

Eric Nam
(x)

She sat down on one of the steps, playing with her fingers in the dimly lit staircase somewhere located in the back of the school. Sitting there by herself gave her time to ponder over her problems and clear her thoughts. An exhausted sigh escaped her lips. Barely half of the evening was over and yet, she was ready to collapse.

There was something tugging at the back of her mind. She wouldn't be Rina if she didn't do something against the rules, right? After all, making it through the evening without causing a speck of trouble would be rather suspicious and she didn't want anyone thinking in such ways. What kinds of problems should arise was the question, you see.

Rather than making it blatantly obvious by taking an old trick from the book, why not do something that would have a legit reason behind it? Violating Woohyun wouldn't do much and blaming it on the fact that she got annoyed at him wouldn't really work out. There goes the engines in her brain once again.

Why was she putting so much effort into this?

She still couldn't figure it out.

All the thinking made her even hungrier. Pursing her lips, Rina stood up and went down towards the cafeteria. The halls were dimly lit, only a few lights humming on as she passed through. It would be a lie if she said that she wasn't the least bit creeped out.

I mean, come on, what was this kind of scene? The Walking Dead?

Singing in a soft voice under her breath, Rina turned a corner and saw the doors to the lunch room up ahead. There was a vending machine at the end of the hallway next to the doors filled with different types of snacks. Rina felt her back pocket, checking to see if she had any cash on her. She pulled out a ₩2,000 bill, thanking the Lord that she had forgotten to take the money out from her pocket. She was contemplating as to whether or not she should also buy something for Woohyun as she jogged towards the machine. Shrugging, she reached the vending machine and started to examine the foods that the machine contained.

Nothing healthy, just simple things to snack on.

Just as she was about to insert the bill, the machine started to rumble. Rina's eyes rounded in surprise as she jumped back, startled. Slowly stepping backwards away from the vending machine, she left out a small squeak before dashing back towards the sleeping quarters.

She slid the door open with a bam, trying to regain her normal breathing pattern.

Woohyun, being a light sleeper, awoke with a gasp. He eyed the panting girl, his eyebrows creasing inwards. He took notice of the crumbled up bill in her clenched fists. "Did you steal that?" was the first thing he asked.

Rina stared at him as if he had just grown an extra head. "Bro, this is my money." she stressed, sliding down to the floor with all the energy out of her.

"Did something happen to you?" Woohyun asked, his voice coated with concern.

Not wanting to come off as a coward, Rina furiously shook her head in denial. "Hell no! Everything's perfectly fine!"

There was a knock on the door which only made Rina's heartbeat fasten even more. She swore that everyone was conspiring against her no doubt. Before the two could make any noise, Professor Yeon slid the door open. She quickly glanced at Rina before setting her eyes upon Woohyun.

"You, come with me." she pointed.

Confused, Woohyun pointed at himself. "Me?"

Professor Yeon nodded with her lips pressed into a firm thin line.

"What about me?" Rina spoke up.

Pulling Woohyun out the room, Professor Yeon replied, "Just stay here."

Hah, since when did Rina Kim ever listen to instructions? She scrambled up from the floor and was out the door faster than one could blink. The thing was, the professor and Woohyun were nowhere in sight. How they were able to disappear that fast, she had no idea. Where could they have gone that quickly?

Sighing in defeat, Rina went back into the room and laid down on Woohyun's sleeping bag.

The smell of vanilla and Old Spice immediately filled her senses, making her slightly nostalgic. Before she knew it, her eyes became droopy. She fell asleep.

Someone whispering in her ear caused her to jerk awake. Her arm jutted outwards, hitting whatever was in the way. A grunt was heard before Rina decided to pry her eyes open, revealing a curled up Woohyun. She gasped, crawling over to where he was lying in pain. "Ayo, are you okay?" she asked.

He managed to slightly nod with clenched teeth. "P-Professor Yeon n-n-needs you," he groaned, "and please, don't hurt me anymore."

Her eyebrows creased, feeling rather guilty(and mind you, that was a rather rare feeling for her). God, is Mother Nature going to hit soon? Biting her bottom lip, Rina slowly scooched away before standing up and exiting the room, leaving the pained Woohyun behind.

Outsite the door stood the old hag with a straight face. Her eyes fell upon the teenager. Without a single word, Professor Yeon spun around on her heels and walked away. Rina was left in a state of confusion. Shrugging, she followed behind her. The old hag lead her through several corridors and passageways that she never knew even existed(and in a very quick pace, might she add). That was probably how she had disappeared with Woohyun so fast before.

They stopped in front of a door; plain and wooden.

Professor Yeon turned to her. "Get to the other side of the room without touching any of the squares." she simply instructed, flinging the door open.

Rina was puzzled once again until she looked at the floor of the room. It was not furnished and the tiles were the only things that existed within the area. There was a large circular tile in the middle of the room amongst the square-like tiles and that was it; there was nothing between Rina and the door on the other side of the room besides the tiles. She wouldn't be able to make it by jumping because it was a rather large distance between the circle and where she was standing at that moment.

She sighed, dwelling upon the matter until she looked at the floor once more. With a soft chuckle, she strode across the room and walked through the door on the other side.

Needless to say, Professor Yeon was sort of impressed as she sat with her legs crossed on the leather chair in the second room. "You figured that one out pretty quickly," she stated the obvious.

Rina rolled her eyes in annoyance, scanning the room's interior design. "Just get on with it, woman."

She could tell that the teacher was having a very hard time holding back from lashing out at her with strings of fluent curses and she applauded her for that control.

"Why do you want to take the final exams?" Professor Yeon suddenly asked, throwing Rina off guard.

The girl blinked several times before answering, "To graduate and get into college, of course. That's what everyone wants to do."

"Is that really it?"

"...no," she replied with a small pause, "I want to make my parents realize something."

"Does that mean that you have no interest in this area whatsoever? You're doing this all for the sake of your parents, even as to taking this 'horrendous' study camp?"

There was silence. Rina had no idea how to answer that question.

"I—like music. I always have, ever since I was little. It was the opposite with my sister; she was all brains and academics. I had no special interest in those things, though I was an excelling student."

"And what about now?"

"Science is like a quiz from God; it's something that humans will never be able to fully conquer. It makes me—curious."

Professor Yeon nodded at each of her answers. "Let's go eat now and we'll start on lessons afterwards."

Rina cleared , straightening her posture.

"How do you feel now?" Professor Yeon murmured, almost making Rina miss the question.

Her reply didn't come right away. "I guess you're not that bad, old hag." she smiled slightly, heading out the door first.

Professor Yeon was amused. Rina was an interesting kid after all.

Woohyun looked up from his book as Rina came into the room to fetch him for dinner. "Oh, that didn't take you long." he commented.

Rina shrugged, leaning against the door frame. "It's time to eat," she told him.

As if he had been told the best thing in the world, Woohyun threw his book in the air and spread his arms wide open towards the ceiling as though he was praising God. "Thank the Lord, I am starving!"

The girl couldn't help but stiffle a small giggle at his ridiculous act. "Honey, you may want to hurry up before the old hag finishes all of the food." she laughed, impatiently waiting.

Woohyun jumped up from the floor and literally flew towards where she stood, looping his arm around hers(which looked rather gay). He grinned, his cheesy, greasy smile which made RIna want to claw her eyes out because it was just that cringe-worthy. Rina pushed him away from her, making her way to the stairs to go down to the cafeteria.

Woohyun pouted, letting out a whimper before running after her. "Yah!" he whined, his voice oozing with aegyo, "wait for me!"

Rina almost threw up on the stairs.

After they ate, Professor Yeon taught the two main points that they should look out for on the exams and key components the tests would be focusing on. It was all a bit boring, but nonetheless rather useful. There was going to be an evaluation where a panel of judges were to watch you carry out an experiment and not only the experiment itself but one was going to get graded on the manner in which the experiment was carried out.

They were both trained to keep calm and collected and to have a clear mind with no jumbled thoughts. Rina more or less found the lessons interesting in one way or another. You know, más o menos. It wasn't all that boring and she actually found that what the old hag was teaching the two of them was going to come in handy.

Professor Yeon didn't pile a bunch of desk work together for them to do, which was another good thing. She just talked and talked, though they both actually listened.

Time flew by without Rina noticing it.

It wasn't that bad.

The study camp wasn't that bad.

Professor Yeon dismissed Woohyun and Rina, telling them that in the morning, they'd be given practice exams to do so they shouldn't stay up late. She was a lot nicer towards them, freaking Rina out a bit. She was probably bipolar or something.

Back in the room, Rina watched as Woohyun prepared to go to bed. Oh, how boring. "Hey Woohyun, wanna ditch?"

He looked at her in surprise, his eyes as wide as saucers. "You're crazy! Why would you want to break out of the school?"

"My God, Woohyun," she sighed, "isn't it getting stuffy in here? Don't you want to visit Granny Ji Jin?"

It was a very tempting suggestion indeed.

"W-We'll get in trouble, Rina-ah." Woohyun squeaked.

Rina scoffed. "And since when did Rina Kim ever care about getting in trouble?" she mimped. "We can just dwale before, oh, I don't know, we get caught?"

Woohyun slumped his shoulders; he hated being stuck in such a dilemma.

Rina yelped, laughing as she spun around in circles. She ran around the empty streets with the largest smile on her face. She had never felt so free before. The bus stop was up ahead, a single light post illuminating the glass box so that she could just slightly make out its shape. She ran at full speed towards it, sliding to a stop in front of the bench. She sheepishly smiled, turning back to see an amused Woohyun.

"Are you that happy?" he wondered aloud, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded a bit too enthusiastically. Woohyun caught up to her, stuffing his hands into his pocket. He looked up, staring at the stars with glistening eyes. He breathed in awe, the steam swirling in a ribbon-like manner as if they were rhythmic gymnasts.

"It's a bit cold tonight isn't it?" Rina mused, slightly shivering.

Woohyun noticed and, by instinct, stepped closer to her. Rina saw but decided not to say anything about it. They waited like that, standing in silence until the bus came. Even the bus ride was silent, but they liked it like that. It was a peaceful silence that engulfed the atmosphere between the two where they communicated through their thoughts.

Woohyun was supportive when Rina saw Granny Ji Jin again for the first time since the accident. She felt really bad and was on the verge of tears as she held onto Granny Ji's cold wrinkly hands. Woohyun could only squeeze Rina's shoulder, making sure she realized that he was there for her.

"Everything will be alright," he whispered in reassurance. She knew he wasn't just referring to Granny Ji Jin. Maybe he was right—maybe, one day, she'd learn to smile brightly again; one day, she'd forget.

The memories would fade away and she'd start anew.

When the flowers start to spring up from the dead ground, when the sun's rays melt away winter's sorrows and first love's lament—maybe everything would be alright.

Woohyun left the room to leave Rina and Granny Ji some privacy. Without him by her side, Rina felt empty. There was only a space next to her that used to be filled with his presence. She didn't want to admit it but she had become dependent of him; she had become used to having him beside her. She traced Granny Ji Jin's aged features with her eyes, creating small talk with the still body.

There was never an answer.

She tried for an hour, hoping the old woman would stir ever so slightly.

It was time to go but Rina didn't lose hope. One day, there would be an answer.

One day, Granny Ji Jin would be able to answer the most important question of all.

They didn't get caught when they arrived back at the school however, Rina wished they did for some reason. Woohyun noticed there was something off about her: the fake smile, forced laughter, and corny jokes. There was something wrong with her.

Before she went to bed, she folded a paper crane.

Woohyun peeked over at her notebook as she jotted something down after the last crease was made.

999 more to go.