It was Friday of the first week of classes and Ji Eun was frustrated. They were having a discussion about their first lesson in Trigonometry, the subject before their PE class.

She somehow can’t manage what her teacher is talking about, something about numbers. Well…yeah.

Her notebook was full of unexplainable scribbles and this is what she did throughout the discussion.

Ji Eun excused herself to go to the restroom even though her main purpose is to escape this subject.

As soon as she got out, she covered her face by her hand and sighed heavily.

She made her way in the restroom with a depressed face and looked at herself through the mirror.

Her hair was slightly messy so she combed it using only her fingers.

She slapped her very own rosy cheeks and whined childishly. “Oh pixie dusts…that lesson gave my brain a fright.”

She shook her head and took a deep breath. “No…you can do this Ji Eun.”

Ji Eun stared at herself and closed her eyes. “Oh who am I kidding, I can’t do it.”

She groaned and dragged herself outside with a frown.

As she took some steps on the cemented floor, Ji Eun was whining quietly…the type that only she can hear. Ji Eun was so caught up in her depression that she didn’t even know that the lace of her left running shoes were untied. Before she even realized it, her right foot accidentally step on it making Ji Eun fell on her knees. Her elbows kept her upper body from falling flat on the ground.

Ji Eun sat on the floor, . She looked at her elbows and was shocked to see that it was bleeding.

Just as she saw the blood, she suddenly felt the pain and how it hurts a lot.

She just stared at it until her eyes became watery and in the end, she cried.

Myungsoo was on his way to his room when he heard a whining sound. He looked to his left and there, he saw a girl sitting on the floor with untied shoelaces…and crying.

He approached her with a wrinkled brow. “Hey miss is everything alright?”

Ji Eun looked at him with a red face and teary eyes. “Do I look like I’m alright?!”

She rolled her eyes and looked at the scars on her elbow again, ignoring the guy who’s standing right in front of her.

Myungsoo was taken aback at her response and saw the scar on her elbow. He then, saw her untied shoelaces. Well, he didn’t have to ask how her scar occurred.

He bent down to meet her and grimaced when he saw the scar. “Go to the clinic and let the nurse clean it.”

Ji Eun sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “They will heal this?”

He raised his brow. “Uhh yeah sort of,”

Myungsoo gave her a nod and stood up, leaving Ji Eun.

“Wait! Where’s the clinic?”

Myungsoo stopped from his tracks and looked at her. “It’s beside the Admission’s office. You want me to accompany you?”

Ji Eun pursed her lips and nodded.

~:~

Ji Eun was seated on a chair when the nurse wiped her scar carefully using a cotton with Betadine.
“OUCH! That hurts!” Ji Eun screamed with tears.

The nurse was somehow astonished at her reaction but she didn’t stop wiping the scar.

Myungsoo was standing across Ji Eun, leaning on the wall. He chuckled at Ji Eun’s expression making her looked at him with a glare.

“What are you laughing at?” Ji Eun said before sniffing.

Myungsoo just shook his head and took out his phone from his pocket, pretending he has his own world.

When Ji Eun’s attention got back from the nurse, He looked at her again and saw her grimacing as the nurse wiped it.

He huffed quietly, somehow finding Ji Eun childish. He remembered how Ji Eun cried as if she just got out from her mother’s womb just because of a small scar on her elbows. It’s okay for children to be like that but her? She’s already an adult for heaven’s sake! He recalled how red her face was and tears gushing out from her eyes. In this generation, girls cry like that if their boyfriend broke their heart but in Ji Eun’s case, she cried like that not because of a broken heart…it’s because of a small scar on her elbow!

The nurse fished out a single band aid from her first aid kit and carefully put it on the affected area.

She excused herself and went to the other room, getting a clinic form for Ji Eun.

Only the two were left in the room.

Myungsoo checked his watch and realized that he’s been gone for fifteen minutes in his classroom. He scratched his head and looked at Ji Eun who’s still looking at the band aid placed on her elbows.

“Hey uhh I need to go back in my class.”

Ji Eun stared at him and nodded. “Alright,”

He hesitantly twisted the door knob and looked at her again, who’s now busy with her scar.

He was somehow waiting for a ‘thank you’ when Ji Eun fixed her eyes on him.

“Aren’t you gonna leave?”

Myungsoo shrugged and gave her a nod. “See you around,”

He closed the door behind him, somehow disappointed at the fact that someone he accompanied for fifteen minutes didn’t even show gratefulness. Myungsoo just rolled his eyes and made his way through the corridors. They just go on like that, not even bothering to know the names of each other.

~:~

Ji Eun didn’t get to attend her PE class since she stayed in the clinic for one and a half hours. Actually, she had a choice to go back in her class now but she didn’t want to since she’s kind of tired and fortunately, the nurse who’s nice enough to her agreed and let her stay.

“It’s already time for snacks. You can go now.” The nurse stated.

Ji Eun nodded and wore her shoes, remembering to tie her shoe laces.

As soon as she got out, she found herself looking at the way to the school’s garden and remembered Luhan. She hasn’t seen him since she first met him. She tapped her chin and decided to go to school’s garden instead of the cafeteria.

As expected, Luhan was sitting on the bench with his black guitar. Ji Eun’s frustration somehow faded when she witnessed how the brightness of Sun touches his golden hair, making it shimmer and how it adorns his skin. These simple pleasures managed to enlighten her mood, making her lips curled up into a smile.

“Greetings, Luhan,” She said. Her heart felt a twinge just by mentioning his name.

Luhan looked at her and gave her a smile that Ji Eun somehow finds radiant. “Oh hey, Ji Eun…right?”

Her eyes glittered as her name slipped out from Luhan’s mouth.

She bit her lower lip and nodded.

Luhan patted his hand on the space beside him, beckoning Ji Eun to sit there.

Ji Eun, who has crimson cheeks and hammering heart quickly sat beside him.

He went back in strumming his guitar while Ji Eun was having a hard time to open up a conversation.

She clicked her tongue and fixed her gaze on him. “Do you always go here?”

“Probably most of the time but not always though,” He replied without looking at her.

Ji Eun nodded at his response. “You like the ambiance here?”

He inhaled deeply and looked at the Pine trees from afar. “I guess so…well, yes actually. This place somehow gives me this cozy feeling. If you know what I mean,”

Ji Eun related herself to what he said. She remembered her favorite place in Fantasia, under the Sycamore Tree.

“I know what you mean. It’s like this place manages to put yourself at ease and makes you think.”

Luhan snapped his fingers. “That’s it, bingo.”

“What kinds of thoughts do you think when you’re in here then?” She asked while her eyes are glued on the brilliant green leaf that slowly falls from the tree.

He shrugged. “Random I guess? Just some sort of letting my mind wander. But some of them are important though, but I can’t tell you.”

Ji Eun nodded when Luhan managed to say something again.

“How about you, why are you here?” He question, putting his black guitar inside its bag.

“Well…I think we’re the same. Places like this somehow help me to escape problems and pain.”

She responded, not mentioning that her main purpose why she came here today is to see him.

“Ahh, I can relate.” He said, stretching his arms.

Ji Eun looked at the flowers rooted from the soil that was covered by grasses. She noticed how they dance with the wind gracefully. “Do you believe that fairies are real?”

Luhan gave her a scrutinizing look. “I don’t know, you?”

Ji Eun just shrugged, aware that she needs to be careful when it comes to these stuffs especially if it’s about Fantasia. “Well me too. Do you even wonder how there are dewdrops on leaves every morning and how the seasons change?”

“Not that much, I just let Science do the thinking.”

Ji Eun chuckled at his response. “Water fairies are in charge when it comes to putting dewdrops on leaves and on spider webs. They wake up early every morning just to do those kinds of things.”

Luhan somehow found the topic amusing and childish but he continued to listen though.

Ji Eun stood up and picked a single pink flower before going back to her seat.

“See this flower? Well, they said that garden fairies turns to flower whenever they sense something dangerous.” She turned over the flower and touched the end of its stem. Her fingers touched its pink petals. “These petals are sometimes their hat or skirt. Their clothes are always made of leaves or flowers.”

Ji Eun continued on explaining while Luhan on the other hand looked at her as if she reminds him of someone. This sudden topic of Ji Eun somehow made him nostalgic.

Ji Eun sensed his intense stare and stopped. “Luhan, you’re eyes…”

“What?” He asked.

“They’re like black marbles surrounded by a vast white sky.”

Luhan laughed at her compliment since it was kind of descriptive.

“Thanks, wait, where did you get those stories about uhh fairies?”
Ji Eun flinched and bit her thumb, a movement that’s starting to be her mannerism. “Oh…It’s just a guess…”

“Okay well, you remind me of someone.” He stated.

She wrinkled her brow. “Oh really…who is it then?”

“Someone important to me,” He replied, looking at the blue sky with white puffs of clouds.

Ji Eun just looked at him, waiting for him to continue but unfortunately, his smile faded. “Nah, just forget it.”

Just before Ji Eun could answer, the bell finally rang. Luhan slung the strap of his guitar bag around his shoulders. “Bye Ji Eun, see you around.”

He gave her one last smile before turning away from her. Ji Eun somehow managed to think that behind those two black shining marbles of his and his radiant smile, there was something deep and unexplainable just beneath the surface. Like a story that was kept behind a façade instead of telling it to others. Then it hit her, every person has a story to tell. She shrugged the thought away and skipped to her classroom without even have the idea that her character is starting to learn and the beauty inside slowly flicked a light.