Autumn of 2013

Going to college usually meant making new friends, gaining valuable knowledge, and going through thrilling experiences. I was looking forward to it a lot. Just kidding.

To begin, I'm Son Naeun. When I turned eleven, my dad passed away. A few months later, my mom married an old snob whose favorite hobbies were sleeping and yelling. Unlike him though, his son, Lee Taemin, was a gentleman. One tragic day, the old snob died in a car accident due to drunk driving. Unfortunately, my mother was in the car with him. Although he was only two years older than me, Taemin took care of me well for almost eight years. We were each other's last remaining family.

Even if we weren't blood-related, our attachment was undeniable. There was never anything awkward between us, at least of that my memory can grab hold of. Taemin said it was fated for him to look out for me. I refused to agree to this, of course, since fate and destiny were things I just didn't believe exist.

Now, I'll rewind to my wonderful college journey.

During the first few days, things went smoothly. I was never late to classes, never skipped my meals, and never spoke a word to anyone that wasn't an adult. Many peers approached me with friendly intentions, but I succeeded in ignoring all of them. To be truthful, I never wanted to attend college. Because Taemin and I had been living in a small town the majority of our lives, Seoul made me uncomfortable. The buildings were rowdy, the air polluted, and the people were especially noisy. It was a whole new world, one that I didn't like.

After listening to Taemin's constant reminder that sending me off to a good college was his lifelong dream, my conscience had given in. So here I was, quietly eating my lunch at an empty table and minding my own business when a guy slid into the seat across from me.

I was all too familiar with this. It was the same guy who had been following me around campus since the first day of school.

"Son Naeun! Eating by yourself again?"

Without waiting for a response, he continued. "I was just looking through my phone, and I realized I lost my number. Can I have yours?"

Disgusted, I quickly stood and went to the nearest trashcan to dispose of my food. This was rare for me. There was only a handful of things I like, including drawing, food, and Taemin. Throwing away perfectly good food made my heart ache.

Sighing I strapped on my backpack and went towards the cafeteria's exit. Unsurprisingly, a creepy girl was waiting there. A little introduction; she was flirty dude's girlfriend and also daughter of the school's chairman. The fact that she was glaring at me should've made me nervous. But I knew I wasn't at fault, and this might just be the reason I could get out of here.

***

"Naeun-ah, did you know it was my lifelong dream to send you off to a good school?"

"I got it," I answered lightly. I knew he was over being mad now, just disappointed.

As we came across a red light, Taemin turned to me again. "Explain to me the whole thing."

I hesitated for a moment before telling him. "Her boyfriend asked me for my number, so she got mad and bribed some students into telling the principal that I was selling drugs. The principal kind of doubted her, but he's influenced by the chairman, who is the girl's mom. No one was on my side, so I got expelled. The end."

Taemin exhaled loudly and pressed on the gas pedal. "You didn't do it. Why didn't you at least try to explain to them?"

I was sure Taemin knew how much I hated public schools. I therefore opted to keep silent and reached for the power button of the car radio. The song playing happened to be Infinite's "Back", causing Taemin to chuckle and hum along. For the rest of the ride home, we didn't mention my expulsion issue again. Because I knew Taemin, I trusted he would come up with the perfect solution to this.

***

"Naeun! Aigoo, I feel so bad for you but I'm so glad you're back!"

I tried to spuirm out of Soojung's embrace but it was no use, the girl's strength was past me. Heck, she even recently obtained abs. After full minutes of questioning and squealing, Soojung finally allowed me to unpack my lugguage and settle in. I was used to my eighteen-year-old friend's nonstop chattering and overly enthusiastic energy, thus no longer annoyed by it.

"The moment I heard from Taemin about what happened, I prepared cupcakes for a small welcoming party," Soojung said as she watched me organize my belongings. "Tell me if I'm being too cheerful, because it's supposed to be bad that you got expelled, you know."

A year after my parents passed away, Soojung and her mom had moved to our town, hoping for a more peaceful lifestyle. Soojung had ADHD and a slight problem with insomnia. Therefore, it was thought best if she got homeschooled. Soojung, being the energetic kid she is, hated her boring life. She thought I was her good luck charm. For right after we befriended, she was allowed to take singing and piano lessons, developing herself a new hobby.

Later that evening, Soojung got permission from Ms. Jung to have dinner with us. In the middle of preparing his favorite dish, Taemin realized we were short on tomato sauce and called me over.

"Run over to Shinee's convenience store and get some," he said, handing me a wad of bills. "Thanks."

I idly snatched my sweater and tucked in my sleeves. The cold weather made me lazy, but I subsequently went with Taemin's heavenly spaghetti in mind. Because it was Friday night, the store was crowded with rushing customers. I dashed to the appropriate aisle and took a can of tomato sauce. When I finally finished paying, I was in a hurry to get home. Stepping outside, I immediately found my path blocked by a small group of passerbys who seemed to be surrounding something on the ground.

Uninterested, I tried pushing my way through. Fortunately, many people began clearing out. As I hastily turned towards the direction of home, I paused in my tracks when a stranger's voice called out.

"It looks like he fainted. Should we bring him to the hospital or maybe the police station?"

"It's none of our business, we better go," another man responded.

I wasn't sure what made me turn around then, since I was introverted and usually preferred to keep out of unneccessary tangling situations. I slowly retreated to the figure lying on the ground and looked down carefully. He seemed to be around my age. And he was good looking. Very good looking, with a dark cascade of hair and almost perfect features. In comparison, his clothes, which consisted of a weird cloak, a sweater underneath, pants, and combat boots, looked raggedy and were covered with soot.

Already, my imagination was running with thoughts of wizards and Hogwarts. I shook my head and took a step back. The man was right, it was none of my business anyway.

***

"What took you so long?" Taemin asked, taking the tomato juice from me. "Did something happen?"

"No, nothing," I said nonchalantly, taking a seat next to Soojung. When the meal was brought out, she excitedly devoured hers and took seconds without hesitating. Soojung can be really cute sometimes.  For the rest of dinnertime, she and Taemin immersed themselves in an argument about global warming.

I unconsciously tuned them out and focused on the food, trying not to let my mind wander off to a specific subject about a specific guy who had fainted in the street.

When dinner was over, I volunteered to walk Soojung home. After the time when she got lost from following a dog at night, we agreed someone had to accompany her.

"It looked so lost and pitiful. How could I just leave it?" she had demanded. Lost and pitiful.

"Naeun, it looks like something's troubling you," Soojung said, swinging my arm with hers, "Something happened while you were out right?"

I just couldn't with this girl. She seemed bubbly and innocent at times, but she, along with Taemin, seemed to have the ability to read my mind.

"You usually love spaghetti, but you barely finished one plate today. Just spill it out."

And I did spill it out. As we were nearing her home, Soojung stopped and gave me her famous dramatic surprised look.

I stared at her. "What was I supposed to do? Drag him to the hospital?"

"I knew you were cold, but abandoning someone who's lost and unconscious is unacceptable," she pouted, "Since we're bored anyway, let's go back and help him. Please?"

My answer was immediate. "No way, it's late. You'll catch a cold." Unluckily, Soojung's pouting face didn't waver one bit.

***

When we got to Shinee's, I showed Soojung the spot where the dude was lying. I knew I wasn't mistaken.

"It was definitely right here", I mumbled.
"Then where did he go?" she whined. It surprised me how she could be so worried towards someone she haven't met once. After several minutes, we gave up and headed home. When I got back, I found Taemin asleep, as I was hoping he would be.

Lying in bed, I couldn't help but think of wizard dude. It wasn't the first time I've met someone in peril, but he stood out to me a lot. Probably just the abnormal clothes. The way he had disappeared so quickly, though, made me question if he was even real.