“I’m going to tell you your partners now.” The teacher called out.

Everyone was quiet immediately. This project was not one that could be completed with only mediocre effort, so every low-ranking student wished for one of the top students and the top-students wished for—well, they wished they could just work alone so no one could mess up their grades.

“Park Seo Hyun, you’ll be with Kim Soo Min.”

Seo Hyun, the class vice-president, raised her hand. “Excuse me, sir, but I don’t believe we have a Kim Soo Min.”

The teacher, stopped, blinked for a moment and skimmed through the roll call. Then, he glanced around the room while murmuring to himself. “But that doesn’t make any sense. The name’s right here.”

"Kim Soo Min? Can you please raise your hand?"

No response.

"Alright then, Seo Hyun-sshi, I'll have to place you in a group of three with Kim Eun Kyung and Go Yoo Na."

When the bell rang about an hour later, everyone was eager to leave and head home. The teacher, after answering the last few questions from a couple of students, quickly packed his papers into his backpack and took one last glance around. Pleased that nothing and no one was still there, he left the room, locking the door behind him.

He would not be pleased to find that he was wrong. It was really not his fault; anyone would have thought the same.

There was still one student in the room. Sitting in the back was Soo Min. She had not spoken nor moved for the past hour. She sat there for a couple more minutes, just staring at nothing in particular. Then, in a quite languid way, she stood up, grabbed her bag, and shuffled to the door. She had learned since quite a long time ago that the school doors were locked from the outside but never from the inside.

She stepped out and walked through the empty hallways. This was how it was every day. It did not feel strange to be alone. It was not particularly distressing to be unseen. She was not unpopular; even everyone knew the names of those who were ostracized.

Soo Min had managed to make herself invisible. Not magically or supernaturally invisible because her body was still physically there. She was just unnoticed. When she walked through the school in between classes, no one bumped into her. When she sat down in her seat in the back, no one questioned why she was there. It was though she was this nothingness that was there and occupied space but had no significance and was, consequently, unseen.

Park Soo Min. Seventeen. Physically, no one knew if she was attractive. Her bangs were long and hid most if her face--only and part of her nose were exposed. She wore no makeup and so her pimples, though few, were not concealed. Her black hair was kept natural, relatively straight but frizzy and obviously unfashionable. Her clothes were the same everyday: a t-shirt and sweatpants. She had stopped bothering to wear the school's uniform after her first few months when she realized that no student or staff member could really see her anyways.

Her expression was constantly apathetic. Even her stride was expressionless. She walked with neither gaiety nor sorrow. But if anyone did happen to notice her--although such an occasion was rare--he or she would have to note that this ghost-like girl had an aura of evil that could intimidate any observer. In short, she was creepy. Now, of course, anyone this "particular" is not without some eccentric hobbies and likes, but those characteristics will be delved upon later.

From the school, she would have to take the bus. It would stop at the park, where she would have to continue through the street markets before she could reach home. She knew how to drive and would do so, except she would have to get a driver’s license and that meant having to sit for a picture.

She hated taking pictures.

As she was passing by the market stalls, she felt a weird sensation in her stomach. But it wasn’t out of hunger. It was not a feeling of nervousness or fear either. It was just one of… oddness, as though something did not belong. She stood there for a moment, questioning herself and then looked down, placing a hand over her abdomen. What was this feeling?

“Sungyeol! Put that down” a voice to her left shouted.

“Aww… why?” A second voice, presumably Sungyeol’s, answered.

“Sungyeol! Urgh… just do it, okay? It’s-it’s not nice!”

“…But I’m not a nice person…”

And then she heard a scream. She finally looked up in the direction of the voices and saw a boy, who was a little older than her, holding onto a live pufferfish by its tail, knocking it side to side as it inflated. She heard whispers from the vendors nearby.

“I wonder what the old man did this time.”

“Well, he rips off his customers. Pfft… anyone could tell that most of his fish aren’t fresh.”

“But, why the ghost?”

Ghost? What were they talking about? There was clearly a—she looked carefully again. The boy, at first glance, looked alive, but now, he appeared to be slightly transparent, as were his friends.

He kept playing with his slowly ever-growing toy, cackling while ignoring the older boy who was still reprimanding him. Their presence was unnoticed by everyone else.

A third boy, however, had an odd feeling in his stomach. He felt as though he was being watched.

Impossible.

He turned his head and stared straight at Soo Min.

They both thought at the same time, “He/she can see me?”