“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Seri’s tone sounds demanding, as if she had the right to know, which she didn’t.

“Why do you ask?” We stopped in the hallway, and the other students passed by us.

“What do you mean why? I want you to tell me,” she nudged me on the elbow, and I flinched.

“Why now, Seri?”

“You’re obviously not fine, and I’m always here, you know.”

My eyebrows just met each other, words unable to roll out of my tongue. This wasn’t her territory to walk in.  There were bounds. I liked my relationship with Seri because we didn’t step over lines; we were stable even though we were distant. And now she was demanding to know.

Yes, there were times when I felt lonely, but that was how I roll: alone; alone never once equated lonely. There was a difference.

There was something in me that brewed mad. It felt like I suddenly lost my privacy, my personal space, and having Seri so close was just suffocating.

“Leave me alone,” this was my limit, and I was sure I’d regret ever saying it. Her dark brown eyes locked with mine, her eyebrows furrowed. She then opened to say something, but nothing came out. And without looking back, I left her in the hall way.

I closed my door on her, and I could breathe again.

And I only realized then, that I push people away, even when they’re so close to picking my locks.

What was I afraid of exactly? Who was Byul? Who am I now? I wasn’t sure.

I pushed open a wooden door, and the daylight from the top of the stairs looked like my peace. Only it wasn’t, because when I took the last step, I spotted Mr. Dong sitting on one of the chairs, eyes directly on me.

I stopped frozen on my tracks, like a deer in the headlights, eyes questioning, though what the question was, I didn’t know.

“Byul,” he motioned to the seat across him, blond hair glowing under the sunlight.

It felt like I forgot how to walk, and as I took every step to the chair, my heart raced as Mr. Dong’s eyes stayed glued on me, and I tried my best to not look at him back.

“Byul,” his voice was a call that brought me out of my head.

“Sir,” my eyes stayed on the pen in his pocket.

“Where are you looking at?” there was humor in his tone as he waved a hand in front of me, and I lifted my gaze to meet his. His eyes looked lighter in the sun, as if there was light in his head, and I thought maybe there was. Mr. Dong seemed to alwa