"When you’re around someone so much, for so long, they become a part of you, and when they change or go away, you don’t know who you are without them."

            “Jinyoung. Jinyoung,” the girl to his right tapped his shoulder, “the teacher is eyeing you. Stop sleeping.”

            He mumbled and pulled his arms up from their spot dangling over his desk, “I got it, I’m not sleeping so stop poking me, will ya?”

            The girl made a face and reeled back, “god, you’re a pisser.”

            He shrugged and hunched back over his desk while the girl huffed angrily. She was only trying to be helpful, and he knew that, but he was still irritable from his dreams. It’s said you can only dream of faces that you’ve seen before, so he would have definitely had to see the boy before. Right?

            Jinyoung groaned into the cold wood of the desk. He was definitely going crazy. Every moment, every thought seemed to be focused on the apparition. Was there no way for him to get over this painful tugging and wretched itching at the very center of his core.

            “Class,” the teacher interrupted his thoughts, “we have a new student, as I said yesterday. Thought I’m sure most of you don’t remember.”

            The teacher sighed indignantly and swept her hand over to the boy standing timidly at the entrance, “this is… I’m sorry, what’s your name again, dear?”

            He stepped forward and raised his head slightly, “my name is Gongchan.”

            Gongchan? Why was that name familiar? The dream from last night had already mostly slipped away but he was pretty sure that was his name. Jinyoung pulled himself up, genuinely interested in his surroundings for the first time in a while. If he wasn’t so shocked he would have jumped right out of his seat.

            That face, his eyes, the slight turn at the corner of his lips… it was the boy from his dreams. Suddenly the tugging stopped as if the strings pulling at his heart snapped and sent the muscle plummeting into an abyss.

            He’d lost it. He was sure of it.

            No… he wasn’t insane, there was still that annoying scratch at the back of his mind like he’d misplaced something. The boy linked his gaze with Jinyoung and smiled, it probably meant nothing to him but it sent Jinyoung into another world. Minutes passed while Jinyoung tried to center himself, he completely missed Gongchan introducing himself and taking his seat. By the time he had regained control of himself the teacher had started the day’s lesson and Jinyoung was forced to wait a grueling seven hours to talk to the boy who had been causing him so much misery.

            Halfway through the first lesson Jinyoung fell asleep on his desk. Being faced with this unbelievable opportunity gave him some peace of mind, either that or it stressed him out so much he fainted.

            A soft tapping on his shoulder caused him to stir from his sleep. “Dammit, I told you to stop poking me,” Jinyoung swiped out to his right hoping to smack the girl’s hand away.

            His arm caught nothing but air and Jinyoung grumbled as he sat up, “what do you want?”

            A quiet voice stammered before speaking up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you… it’s just, class has been over for a while.”

            Jinyoung turned towards the voice and had to forcibly keep himself from jumping out of his skin. “You’re the new student,” he tried to play it cool, “thanks for the wake up call.”

            The boy smiled, reassured that he didn’t do something wrong, “yep, that’s me. Gongchan. You must be Jinyoung.”

            “Don’t look so surprised,” the boy laughed melodically, “throughout the lesson the teacher kept berating you and trying to wake you up.”

            “Oh, yeah. That sounds about right.”

            The boy continued to linger around his desk, fidgeting away from Jinyoung’s gaze until he finally gave in, “ok, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m still not familiar with the town. Could you, maybe, help me get home?”

            Jinyoung burst out laughing, “you sound like a fair maiden in distress.”

            The boy blushed and frowned at him, “I-I am not!”

            “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll walk ya home.”

            Gongchan pouted but followed him out of the school and into the neighborhood. They slowly made their way to his house, stopping often so Gongchan could remember the route. The house was normal, simple, except the front lawn was littered with lilies of all kinds.

            Jinyoung stared at the house in awe, “that’s a lot of flowers.”

            “My mother loves them, especially lilies. She says they soothe the soul,” he grinned and ran his finger along one of the delicate petals, “a kind for every ailment.”

            Jinyoung stooped down and smelled the flower, it was a soft smell, sweet but not sugary. A beautifully clean smell. “Your mother is a very wise lady,” Jinyoung glanced back at the boy. Gongchan was staring at him slightly flushed, shaking his head he replied, “was. She was a great woman. My father and I keep plenty around in her honor.”

            “I’m sorry to hear that.”

            “It’s ok,” Gongchan grinned warmly, “we’ll leave that for another time. Thank you for taking me home.”

            “Right, see you tomorrow,” Jinyoung waved after him. For the first time in a long time he wasn’t fearing the dreams he knew would come that night.

~The next day~

            Jinyoung sat at his desk tapping his foot anxiously, the bell rang five minutes ago and Gongchan still wasn’t there.

            “Hey,” he tapped the girl beside him, “where’s the new kid from yesterday?”

            She shrugged and turned her attention back to the lesson.