'Hello,' Hye Jin wrote down on a clean sheet of her pad paper, 'My name is Kim Hye Jin. Who are you? Why are you on the floor?'

He stayed quiet, and Hye Jin waited patiently for an answer. She was now sitting down on her knees, comfortably smiling as she held the pad of paper and pen on her lap.

"... Kim Myungsoo," The black haired boy whispered, staring back at the young girl, "Because they can't come from behind and kill me."

Hye Jin's eyes widen once more, and she started writing again, 'Who will kill you?'

"The monsters," Myungsoo barely whispered. Hye Jin had to lean forward a bit just to catch what he said.

She started to write again on the pad of paper, but then stopped to think before continuing, 'Are they scary? Miss Lee once said that to make the monsters leave you alone, you just have to pray. She says that praying is like making a wish.'

"Why should I do that?" Myungsoo mumbled, "Nothing I do works."

Hye Jin smiled, 'Then I'll pray for you.'

Hye Jin followed Myungsoo around like a puppy. He didn't necessarily mind her company, but he wasn't used to it. Dongwoo and Hoya had left the campus at lunch to a party they invited Hye Jin to, but she politely declined it.

'Myungsoo-ssi,' Hyo Jin wrote as they sat together (as seatmates) in their last class together, 'Would you mind showing me around the area?'

Myungsoo carefully stared at her, taking a deep breath before finding out what to say next. He gave her a half smile and slowly nodded. "I don't know much of the area," Myungsoo informed her, "But I'll try to show you what I know."

Hye Jin smiled to give him a thanks as their class started. The history teacher had begun a lecture that Hye Jin took notes to, whilst Myungsoo fell asleep. It was a few minutes to bell when the class had begun to pack up and the Mister Kwon left the classroom to attend a parent teacher conference. Hye Jin turned to her seatmate and gently moved a strand of hair from his eyes before tapping his shoulder.

Because she couldn't talk, it took longer to wake Myungsoo, who shot up in cold sweat. He stood closer to Hye Jin as he lead their way out of the school building and towards a small shopping center nearby.

They bought a few snacks and drinks and settled at a small neighborhood park to relax.

"Hye Jin," Myungsoo spoke up, not taking his eyes off from the ground, where a pigeon was picking at a crumb, "Why do you want to pray for me?"

Hye Jin blinked, staring at Myungsoo before carefully phrasing her answer in her head before writing on her pad paper, 'When I used to live in the orphanage, Miss Lee would take me into a quiet room and I would sit with her and pray. She said that it might not work if I asked, but she said she wished for me to remember everything or for me to be able to speak.'

"Why can't you talk?" Myungsoo inquired. He listened to Hye Jin's pen as it scratched against the paper.

'They said I got in a bad accident.' Hye Jin answered, 'Miss Lee wants me to remember or to speak, because she thinks it's sad that I can't. Because I'm different.'

"Different isn't bad!" Myungsoo suddenly cried out, turning to face Hye Jin a desperate look, "I'm still me! I'm not bad! It's the monsters that are!"

Hye Jin blinked, nodding and smiling. Before she could write anything else, Myungsoo's hand wrapped itself around Hye Jin's neck. She stiffened and looked up to Myungsoo, who stood and bended slightly forward to have a comfortable grip on her neck. He wasn't suffocating her, but she knew this feeling already.

Something made her stomach turn, and her look molded into one filled with worry and concern.

Something bad was going to happen.

장 엔드 | Waking up would stop me