~Ava~

As an exchange student I expected to be stared at but not as much as I am now. With dark skin, a short mohawk like hairstyle and a bit of fashion sense that is uniquely a mix of western with a hint of eastern; I have accumulated more looks than a celebrity walking down the street. Believe me I am not complaiming but its just a bit eerie, having people stare at you but not one of them actually coming up to speak to you. With a lack of friends at my disposal I have more than enough time to do my school work as well as wander into my own imagination. Since my courses are quite treacherous I spend a lot of my time in the library and at 2:45 pm everyday he walks through the door. After two months of observing him I have realized that he always has a different mark on his skin. The skin that glows like a pearly white, eyes that look soft yet oddly sad and lips that are, in my opinion, way too thick for his ethnic background but extremely appealing. I found his pressence alluring and as time goes by I become infatuated.

~Kyungsoo~

Everyday is the same and at times I wish that I didn't have to hide out in the library in order to get some kind of peace. Even though its quite and at night its too dark to be a library I rather stay here, in the silence, allowing it to consume me than to be at home where screaming, yelling and insults are thrown around like a volleyball during a championship game.

"What the is wrong with you huh?! How the hell could you be so dumb Kyungsoo! I can't believe a raised a man as weak as you, say something!" *punch* All I can see is blood dripping onto the floor as I lay there motionless. At the age of 7 I realized that if I stayed still when he hit me that he would just kick me a few more times before heading out of the door. Things were fine, my nice childhood memories deeply rooted within me until my 6th birthday. Until that night when my mother walked out of the door and never came back. "Kyungsooey." she would call out my name in such a sweet melody. But today was different, her smile wasn't as bright and her voice, oddly weak with a hint of strength. "I have to go away for a while okay. Your uncle will watch you until your dad comes home." She patted my back but when she finally leaned down for a hug I clung on to her. "Will you get me some chocolate while your out mommy? The yummy kind in the gold wrapper?" I did the best sad eyes I could muster at that age. She patted my head and said of course.

I never saw my mother again after that day. When I turned 18 I found out that she died yet I couldn't be mad at her because she left. She had to. If I was given the opportunity I would've left as well. Therefore as I peaked at her dead body at the funeral I realized how much older she had become, how sad she felt and the amount of guilt she must've consumed as every year passed by, as every birthday flew into the air like the wind without her getting any closer to coming back to save me. Its alright mom, I would have never came back either. I still love you. 

All over campus its the same thing each year, people welcoming one another with open arms, talks about summer break or staring at the new students who have arrived from overseas. While walking through the campus I am constantly bumping into people who aren't looking where there going. As I pick up my books I feel an odd pressence as more people have stopped to watch me but as I raise my head I realize that its not me their looking at but the foreign girl in front of me. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you." This girl says in almost perfect Korean, I can hear a hint of her American accent but with a voice that smooth and oodly provocative I can't help but stutter out a repsonse, "Its okay. No problem." I say oodly in english. She laughs and exposes her white teeth and as I quickly gaze over her I am baffled that someone can be so dark yet so beautiful and warm. I want to get closer to her, to me, she feels safe.