7

The deafening sound of the students’ voices slapped her as she stepped into the full cafeteria. Students were clustered around tables, giggling and smiling. Anguish and melancholy engulfed her. She let out a bitter smile. If only she was normal.

She trudged towards her usual spot and was halted when she saw it was already taken. True she had been late that day. Her eyes calmly scanned for any empty seat but had seemed to fail.

Within the periphery of her vision, she saw Myungsoo with Sunggyu trotting beside him, chatting away like a machine gun. Her heart jumped at the memory of their connection the previous day, how they had interacted wordlessly. She felt his heart soften when his fingers caressed the keys and the way their playing unite them together was still vivid in her mind. Her eyes twinkled as she walked over, in hope to dine with the man who had showed her joy and salvaged her from her wrecked life.

But as she neared him, he did not approach her, nor did he acknowledge her. He walked pass her as if she was nonexistent; as if her body had disappeared into thin air. His face was shadowed by the mask of steel and his impenetrable eyes were shielded with ice. Her heart plummeted, fallen into deep ruins. Dismay colored her face as she realized how stupid she had been. He had a reputation to carry. No matter how close they were, she could not approach him as a friend, and neither would he.

-------

“I noticed you had been disappearing every time class ends. Where did you go?” Sunggyu’s voice was full of curiosity.

His intense desire to know Myungsoo’s whereabouts had left him staring hard at his friend, as if that would dig out all the answers for him.

“Not your business,” Myungsoo said as he swung his bag on his shoulder and walked off. Without turning back, he waved, “See you tomorrow.”

Sunggyu stood immobilized. His curiosity was getting the better of him and he wanted to follow. Maybe the rumors were true after all? But Myungsoo has his secrets of his own and he respected that. He should not intervene on whatever business he had. Sunggyu sneezed. Ah, stupid nose.  He stayed in that position until Myungsoo was no longer in his sight before he turned the other way.

Myungsoo jauntingly made his way to the clock tower, taking in deep breaths as he walked.  Savouring the moment, the fresh air and the view as if there was no tomorrow. He had felt more relax recently. He did not know the reason to his new found calmness but he had enjoyed it regardless.

Suddenly his nose itched to the extent that he actually stopped in his tracks. The urge to sneeze was so great that he could not curb it.

He sneezed. It was followed by more sneezing. Okay, he had officially caught a cold from that damned Sunggyu. He felt sick due to the constant sneezing that he had tried so hard to restrain. He was so mad at Sunggyu that he swore he would kill him if he was present.

He continued to walk, but was no longer jaunting. He had to stop once in a while to control his overly excessive sneezing fits. When he had finally reached he seated himself on the bench his back resting on the wood.

He was greeted by a playful playing that had tugged his heart without his consent. But it did not seem as if he was making any effort to push it away. He had willingly let her do anything with his heart. Her playing was getting more playful, pounding hard on the barrier that he had built all these years, inching nearer and nearer to the human flesh, nearer and nearer to his human emotions. He was made a slave and he did not hate it even though he knew he was played around.

Then, his head started throbbing, softly at first. But as time passed, it got more intense, as if a fist was hammering his head. Hard. It felt like someone was chewing, no – savouring his brain; tearing it away in pieces and feasting on it. Tolerating the pain in his head was next to impossible, but he forcibly attempted to push it down until breathing became a labor. With his head threatening to burst, he stood up.

As soon as he did, the world began to spin and his vision went in and out of focus. Grabbing the bench as his support, he walked over to the tree and rested his head on it. The hard, uneven surface of the wood cooled his head but did nothing to make it better. Yet, it made it worse. The throbbing was almost tormenting.

Driven with insanity, he began to scrape his head on the bark. Make it go. Make it go. Make it go. Alas, the pain did not. Now, he had another problem to worry about. He had scraped his forehead so hard, the skin opened, letting the blood flow out. He halted. Drained out of energy, he turned around to walk back to the bench but fell to the ground instead. He was breaking out in sweat despite the temperature and the agony in his head would not go away. The solid tree supporting his back, he rested his elbows on his knees and head on his palms. He tugged his hair hard and groaned softly.

Then, he closed his eyes and submitted to the excruciating pain.

Jiyeon stepped out into the real world and at once was embraced affectionately by the cold breath of winter. She pulled her coat closer to her skin to provide her some more warmth. Her eyes landed on the spot that had been his favourite spot since the first he had showed up into her life. Myungsoo was not there.

Her eyes frantically searched all over the area. The dim light from the fountain had given her some assurance in her search even if it had proved to be unhelpful. She was sure she saw him in school just now so why was not he here?

Her brain was wrecked coming up with numerous reasons for his absence. And none of it had soothed her heart.

Deciding to check one last time, she went to the benches and trying to find any sign of a man’s silhouette. After rounds of searching and scanning the vicinity without success she nearly gave up when she heard a soft groan. She spun around contemplating a check.

Curiosity overcoming rationale she gingerly inched towards the sound. Her hands were balled into fists; she was ready to strike should things go bad. Boy, was she shocked to see Myungsoo at the foot of the tree. His legs were sprawled on the floor with his back leaning painfully on the trunk.

She gasped. A sudden intake of breath: that was all that was needed for Myungsoo to realize that she was there. She felt his forehead which was covered with sweat and blood. Hot: his forehead was hot. Fever. Looking at the lethargic figure, she knew she had to call for help.

I’ll call for help. She said, silently praying that he would somehow hear her. She turned around and was about to walk away when she felt a tug on her hand.

“Don’t go.” He murmured.

She was put on a spot. She could see that he really needed help. But she could not leave him here alone either. With what little strength left he pulled her down. And she ended sitting beside him on the frozen earth.

The warmth from her body embraced him like the sun embracing the darkness with light. It soothed his pain and slowed his breaths. Half conscious of what he was doing, he leaned across and rested his head on the crook of her shoulder. Then, he spiraled into darkness.

Jiyeon stayed frozen in that position, not knowing if she should push his head away or just let him be. She forced herself to look in front, afraid to see what was held on her side. But alas, she could not stop herself from stealing a few glances from the corner of her. And before long she was staring at him. His dark hair was messy and wet from his earlier effort in trying to reduce his growing pain, yet his short bangs that fell just above his eyebrows were still in place.  In the shadows, she could not see his features clearly. But the dim light allowed her to notice his sharp nose and curved lips. He was devastatingly good-looking.

 She stared at the thick, crimson blood on his forehead. She had to do something about the open wound.

-----------

Myungsoo woke up to the cold that was biting through his skin. The pain in his head had subsided into a dull ache. Blood no longer cover his vision. He felt his forehead: it had been treated. So she left him after all.

He jerked forward but stopped when something moved beside him.  He turned. What he saw confused him. She was still there. Leaning on the tree trunk she had looked so peaceful. He lingered around for another few seconds not sure what to do with her.

  Then another breath of cold air slapped them, seeping through every pores on their bodies. She pulled her legs closer to her. She’s cold. He found himself said those words.

He slipped off his school coat and crouched down beside her. He carefully placed the coat on her hoping that it would give some sort of warmth. He stayed in that position for a while before getting up.

Walking through the all too familiar path his mind wandered.

The fact that he was not wearing warm clothing in that cold weather despite being sick did not seem to disturb him. He followed the trail down the road to his house hoping that his parents were not at home. Another series of cold wind whispered meekly to him while gently caressing his face. He shivered before putting his hands in his pockets.

Jiyeon stirred. She brushed her hair away from her face. The spot beside her was empty and left cold. The owl hooted softly, prickling her skin. The sound of crickets enchanted her ears. The full moon bestowed upon her soft light to make her see the night. Despite the splendor that surrounded her, she had never felt so void.

When she finally decided to stand up, she felt some sort of cloth slipping down her shoulders. Shocked, she grabbed it before it fell to the ground. It was a coat. A vague smile traced her lips as she recalled to whom it belonged to. It was a wonder how a piece of cloth could bind the threads of her heart and filled her to the brim. That piece of cloth had rekindled the life in her heart.

She went home that night, letting the coat envelope her in its comforting warmth.

-----

“You want him to quit his studies here halfway?” Mrs. Kim inquired, her voice curled with disbelief.

“He is the sole heir to the company. It is time we send him abroad to study,” Her husband answered.

“But in summer this year? That is half of his senior year. At least wait for him to finish his high school.”

“It was planned that he leave early this year. But due to some reasons he has to go during summer. It is a rare opportunity for a school as good as that one to offer a position for him. We have to take the chance.”

“But—“ she was cut short by her impatient husband.

“His studies in Korea will not matter anymore once he starts enrolling in that school. It is one of the best in London, dear. We can’t just let it go.”

Mrs. Kim sighed in defeat. Her husband’s words held some truth. He gave her a reassuring look. She was probably worrying too much.

“When are you planning to tell him?” She asked.

“No, don’t inform him yet.”

The door burst open and Myungsoo stepped in from the cold. Startled, both his parents looked at him in unison.

“Hi honey, just got home?” his mother greeted her only son nervously.

Myungsoo muttered some unintelligible words as his legs went up the steps. When he was on the landing of the third floor, he turned to the right. After what had seemed like an eternity he finally reached his room.  He fumbled with the door knob before finally able to open the polished mahogany French door. He slammed it close and plopped down onto his bed. He stared on the skylight trying to comprehend what had just happened.

How odd, since when did they start having intimate conversations at the lounge area? Something definitely must be going on. That, he was sure of.

What he did not know was that he would be leaving in five months.

------

A/N:

Okay, maybe I exaggerated on the headache part a little. Headaches aren't that bad right? Anyways, I got that scene from an anime 'La Corda D'oro'. If you haven't check it out, you should. It rocks!

So, I have an announcement. 

This is my last chapter before I go on a hiatus for around 1 month. :( I have exams in mid October and really have to do well on this one. I hope you guys understand how important this exam is to me and continue supporting this Fanfiction. Thank you, all subscribers and readers for your never ending support. I appreciate it soooo much.

I will update on early November. See you then,

-Faith