It was some big shock that people were once again watching me as I left school. People, even though they had seen the whole thing and heard what happened, still tried to say Oh Sehun had been romantically involved with me and that Taeyeon and I had gotten into a catfight over it. That was the most absurd thing I had ever heard in my life, right next to me being a e. People nowadays, just imbeciles.

I saw Tao with Sehun heading to his car. The latter looked fine to me, though he was wearing his gym clothes under his coat and scarf. I hurried my steps along when I caught one of Taeyeon’s friends watching me: I didn’t need to give Taeyeon more reason to hate me because I looked at her boyfriend across the parking lot.

The rain let up for today, but it was inevitable that it would begin again soon as April was nearing rapidly, Korea’s rainy season. Call me crazy, but I loved the rainy season. Despite the fact that I usually got soaked going to and from school, I loved being able to walk along in the rain. I had gotten yelled at once in the fifth grade for being soaked when I got to school and tracking mud in. Then I got sick and was yelled at by my mom. I grinned myself, looking up at the darkening skies while I stood around waiting for the bus to come. Though there was bustling going around all around me, I felt tranquil in these moments. In the big mass of people coming and going, it felt calming to be alone in the center of it all, just watching and never being seen in return. I never minded taking the bus or walking home, because I always got to have these moments.

I arrived home in time for dinner, but it was a dish that made me frown and say I wasn’t hungry.

“There’s ramen in the pantry then, eat that,” Mom said, sitting down across from my dad.

I frowned and shook my head, my hand resting over my protesting stomach. I just had no appetite, so I went to my room. The book I had fallen asleep reading was still lying on the floor. I grabbed it and re-shelved it, not in the mood to read it right then. Looking around my room, I realized there were several half-read books lying around. Some were fictional novels and some were ones for school and some were old English books that college students read. Next to more than half of those books were notebook pages with my scribbles on them, some of the books even had scribbles in them. The books weren’t half read because I was lazy, they were half read because I had read them over a second time to take notes on details I admired the authors for.

Before I even gave myself a chance to plop onto my bed, I grabbed a wad of clothes and took a very quick, very hot shower. Within minutes after I laid down on my bed, I was asleep. It was only too soon that my mom came down the hallway, banging on doors and telling me and my sister that we needed to wake up and go to school. I groaned and rolled over, knocking all of my pillows from the full size bed I had.

“I don’t need to go to school to be a hermit,” I said as loudly as my raggedy morning allowed me. I heard my mother scoff before going back downstairs.

Despite my words, twenty minutes and a piece of Nutella-covered toast later, I was on my usual bus, squished between a whining two year old and a old guy that clearly needed to hold off on the cologne. I coughed and held tightly to my school bag as the crowded bus moved along the busy highway. Still tired from not sleeping so well lately, I was close to dozing off when the bus came to a stop again. I knew this was the last stop before it ended up at the stop closest to the school. With a sigh, I sat up, knowing I needed to stay awake, and watched as more people boarded the bus. It was mostly the underage little rich brats that lived in the more fortunate neighborhood that the stop was near. One of the little idiots stuck his tongue out at me when he saw me looking.

I cringed as I turned away only to have the two-year-old shriek in my ear. I guessed I would have to deal with another headache throughout lessons today. To my relief, however, the guy with the stinking cologne stood and let an older lady take his place. Too bad she smelled like burnt toast and fish. Praying to the Lord for patience, I turned away and tried to breath through my nose only for my breathing to come to a complete stop when a frazzled, half-dressed, tired-looking guy stepped onto the bus, looking out of breath and annoyed to the lowest point in hell. Oh Sehun bowed to the driver whilst trying to get his blazer on properly without dropping his school bag and overcoat in the process. One of the kids that had just boarded laughed and pointed at him with his friends.

Utterly stunted, I looked around the bus to see anyone else thought this was absurd. No one seemed phased as Sehun moved to grab a handle before the bus began to move. He finally got his coat on right and fixed his scarf. His hair fell into his eyes, obviously having not been fixed at all. I awkwardly looked away, even though I wanted to stare and make sure that was actually Oh Sehun, my bully. Never had he been so late to school to where he had to ride the bus. Well I guess that made sense. Usually if he was late, he drove his car to school. Now it seemed he didn’t have that option anymore and obviously his friends weren’t going to wait around for him and end up in trouble also. Like they really cared.

The kid beside me began to cry again, attracting the attention of the newcomers. Before Oh Sehun could realize I had just witnessed his disorganized arrival, I hunkered down into my coat and buried my face into my scarf as far as it would go before holding my school bag up in front of me. Especially what I just saw and after what happened the day before, I knew he probably didn’t want to see my face. I ended up waiting until the very last minute to get off the bus when I stopped near the school, so by the time I made it to the campus gate, he was long gone.

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