Student made bulletin: In honor of Moon Jongup please wear black tomorrow.

Himchan looked at the piece of paper stapled to the notice board where meaningless flyers and club advertisements were usually posted. His lip quivered once more, threatening to turn into large tears streaming down his face. Jongup had died two days ago. He was walking through the park late at night, walking the puppy he had just gotten when he took a wrong turn and ran into a gang who didn't like the beautiful smile on his face. The neighbors heard the deathly howls of Jongup's puppy and called the police, but it was too late. There were already too many stab wounds.

Himchan was unsure how to react when he had received the news via school wide email at 3 am when he was studying for a huge test the next day. The first thing that had come to his mind as he scanned the words engraved on his screen for the nth time, was that the words 'Moon Jongup' and 'murdered' could never be in the same sentence. But unfortunately, they were, and Himchan broke down in tears in the middle of his dark room. Moon Jongup, his angel, his bright shining star, was ripped from his eyes and tossed up into the Heavens.
-

The black haired boy didn't know how to react to his classmates' death because quite frankly he had never really talked to the boy. Himchan had met, or well, saw Jongup on the first day of high school. His smile was the first thing that he had noticed. It was large and bright, and there was something weird about it. Not weird as in bad, but weird as in there was something inhuman about it that he couldn't place his finger on. Either way, he just couldn't help but stare, and stare, and stare, for two straight years.

Daehyun and Junhong had laid flowers out on Jongup's desk. They were daisies, and as Himchan had once recalled the brunette saying, were his favorite. The school was clad in black, and Himchan had made sure to fit the occasion, although he was not sure if he was even allowed to cry since technically he had barely even known the boy. He had only know his bright, alluring smile. Why hadn't he just stood up and talked to him when he had the chance?

Of course he had had chances to talk to Jongup. Many, many, many chances. Jongup was a nice guy, the type of guy that was nice to everyone, even Himchan. Maybe that was why the whole school had gone into mourning. Even the ones who Himchan knew had hated Jongup for being so popular could not help but hang their heads in grief. It made him wonder; if he died, would people pretend be hurt by his death, or not acknowledge it at all? He didn't like to think about the latter.

“Alright, class, class. I know we're all upset by what happened to...ahem...Jongup. But we must continue with the lesson. We'll take it at a slower pace then usual. If you do not feel like you can focus today feel free to excuse yourself to the bathroom or the office.” The teacher sniffled his nose and began to write today's lesson up on the whiteboard. Himchan tried to focus, tried to act like one of those other students who were hurt by Jongup's death but hadn't particularly known him. But something kept pulling at his heart. It was that boy's weird smile.

Was he gone? Was Moon Jongup really dead? The boy Himchan had watched for two years, always focused on his smile, had been murdered? Just like that, he was gone?

As he copied down the teacher's notes, he raspy breathing developed into deep sobs. His binder paper began to rip and tear as he tried to write over blobs of liquid staining the paper. His classmates were looking at him, wondering why the quiet boy was sobbing his eyes out. He hadn't known Jongup, so why did he have the right to cry so hard? All he had been fixated on was his weird smile.

“M-May I use the b-b-bathroom?” Himchan managed to croak out, shakily raising his hand.

“Yes, of course. Take all the time you need.”

Himchan tried to hold back the tears as he attempted to calmly walk out of the hushed classroom and rush to the bathroom. He punched open the door and collapsed at a heap at sink.

“D-Don't go.” He sobbed, “How can you be gone? Take me to where you are!” He continued to sob, no longer caring if anyone lingering in the hallways could hear him. “Theres so much I want to tell you, so many things I want to say to you. I don't think we've even had a proper introduction before!” He screamed up into the salt and pepper ceiling. “Jongup! Don't leave!”

Himchan buried his hands into his hands. He was in so much pain and grief he couldn't even take the liberty to stand up at the sink. He opted for lying on the dirty, damp, floor.

“Don't cry. Jonguppie wouldn't want us to cry.”

He carefully lifted his head out of his hands to see a tall, blue haired boy smiling down at him. It was Jongup's best friend, Junhong.

“I know I have no right to be crying like this...”

“No, you have every right.”

“I didn't even know him.”

“No, you did. And he knew you.”

“R-Really?” Himchan sniffled, trying to control his breathing so it wouldn't sound like he was dying.

“Yes.” Junhong's smile was sad. “And I'm positive that he wouldn't want anyone to be in so much pain over his death that they'd have to lie on the dirty bathroom floor.” He offered him a hand and Himchan gladly accepted it.

“Thank you...” He tried to dust off some of the dirt that was standing out against his black sweater.

“No problem. And Himchan...even though Jongup is gone, love him a lot, alright?”

“W-What?”

“Jongup may be dead, but I know that that won't stop you from loving him. So even though he's gone, I want you to love him a lot. Promise?”

“I promise.”
-

“Hi, I'm Jongup.”

“Kim Himchan...”

“Kim Himchan? What a funny name!”

“W-What?!”

“Ah, nothing. I'm just joking with you. I think your name is very pretty.”

“Uhh...thank you.”

“We'll be in the same class won't we? I'm glad. You're a pretty chill guy.”

“Thank you, Jongup. Even though you did make fun of my name...”

“I was just joking! You know we're cool.”

“Y-Yeah. We're cool.”