ung Hee shifted uneasily on her chair. She has been looking pretty uncomfortable since the last few periods. Without getting herself caught by the curious stares of students and teachers that were starting to burn her skin, Jung Hee had done practically everything she could think of doing to keep her mind occupied and concentrated: she had shifted around her seat until every part of it became warm because of the constant touches of her , she had attempted to write everything that came out from the teacher's mouth on her notebook (yes, everything), and she even chewed practically everything she could find around to put into . Though yes, none of it did any good for her. Not with Jung Chae sitting there throughout the hours and staring at her continuously like that.

No, it wasn't like she didn't like being looked over, earth no. It just didn't feel comfortable somehow. I mean, any normal human being would feel the exact same uneasiness anytime they'd be stared at unblinkingly like how Jung Chae was doing toward her sister now, wouldn't they? Of course they would. So did Jung Hee. She was a normal human being after all.

Tch, normal, eh? It has never crossed her mind anymore that she was anyone 'normal' here. At least not in this world, nor in this lifetime. Who knows if she might be normal in her previous lifetime, or in her next lifetime, but fate sure didn't even give her a chance to be one in this lifetime, particularly. Her sister might be, but not her.

She was not normal. At all. At least from her point of view she was.

It has been really well over a while since Jung Hee had noticed her abnormality. Even before her sister's death. Though she had little to no idea of what it should be, she knew that she had a slight sign of that mental disorder doctors call by the name 'paranoia'. Only slight, though, so it didn't really surface that much in her personality, but annoying enough to get her easily scared at practically everything. Especially now.

In the past, with Jung Chae and Jun Hong continuously hanging around never anywhere far away from her, Jung Hee could even say that she could no longer remember that she had a disorder. She could easily and comfortably strip off every stare and every bad words she heard about herself — both in the real world and in her vague imaginations; it was almost as if she had never suffered from paranoia after all. All thanks to Jung Chae and Jun Hong. Mainly Jung Chae though. Jung Chae was the only one who knew that she had paranoia, and day by day, she would be her knight in shining armor, protecting her from literally everything that might cross her path. That was exactly why she had always hung around Jung Chae and Jun Hong only during her whole lifetime; Lu Han as an exception.

But now?

With Jung Chae leaving her, Jung Hee could swear that everything around her, everything she saw, were plotting against her sanity. She knew that if this goes on, it would eat up her right mind, causing her to go crazy. Literally. Because with her sister gone, so did most of her courage and shield went vaporing away with the wind. Sure, there's still Jun Hong, but since he wasn't exactly aware of this condition of hers, she could expect him to do anything at all.

'RIIIIIINGGGG!!!!!!!'

Oh, the joyful, joyful noise of that bell. Taking the meaning of dismissing the classes at the end of the day, no wonder almost all the students in the school instantly cheered in overloading joyfulness that the busy school day was now over. Jung Hee's class was not an exception.

But despite the noise that rang all over the place, buzzing through every room and halls that existed inside the building, Jung Hee felt trouble hearing it. The sound of the bell — however loud it was — didn't seem to ring the same way through her ear, and into her head. All Jung Hee heard was an annoying buzzy sound that just stuck inside her head like a brain-eating bee was actually inside her ear lobes, invading the inside of her completely.

Jung Hee bit her lower lip as she started to stuff her books and writing utensils back into her bag, her mind drifted everywhere but the thing she was doing. Somehow, Jung Hee felt a stinging pain marching on the surface of her brain, which had become quite and odd feeling to her who hasn't been able to experience the particular pain for quite a while. No, it wasn't migraine nor cancer; it was her paranoia. As soon as the class has been dismissed, she had heard the nonchalant chatters of her classmates who probably still felt quite weird with her lonely presence without the chirpy-chattery Jung Chae who used to stuck with her like a sore thumb all the while. This, Jung Hee had found her way of understanding. Though, she seemed to be desperately lost when it came to the meanings of those ordinary nonchalant talks she had been hearing. Actually, any normal people would find the situation quite... normal; only those classmates who had been missing their friend, psh; but to Jung Hee, it didn't seem to sound that way. What she heard were so vague and blur, but enough to constantly disrupt the sane mind she had effortfully able to put on as her mask. Call her abnormal, give her weird and disgusted looks, whatever you want; but just hold her words, that you'll never be able to directly feel the exact burst of pain, the fear, the loneliness, the whole process of your brain being corroded and made bitter by the fear nobody else noticed exploding inside of you, and the feeling of having to surpass it all by yourself even when you don't even have an inkling as to what you were supposed to do or where you were supposed to go. Suffering isn't even enough to cover the edges. The pain, kid, the mental pain that may seem innocent, but has a cumulative effect that is highly damaging. In addition to that, as the pain increases, each instance cuts a little deeper which eventually becomes a sore, taking only the most magical miracle to heal. That's paranoia: a harmless-coated demon with the ability of making one suffer so much they'd choose to end up their own life without the disease even bothering to cause any physical damage; a veiled hell's reaper in itself, destroying a human being constantly even as we speak. But hey, all the way with all that and you won't understand a thing even though you might think you do. After all, you have felt NONE of it exactly, so there is no possible way for you to understand, right? Nobody does anyways.

Not even Jun Hong.

Somehow, it had Jung Hee wincing as the thought passed through her head. It probably just felt a little weird; after all, Jun Hong was always the one who stuck with her against all odds (aside from Jung Chae), and now Jung Hee finds herself in an extraordinary position in having that whole-life friend of hers possessing absolutely no idea of the major thing that happened to her. May it be the paranoia, or that other stuff. The boy now, after all, was soundly doing the same thing she just did — tidying his stuff up for school dismissal — without even doing a single flinch of expression. A part of Jung Hee died down at the moment somehow, realizing that she now had one and a half less people to care about her, as Jun Hong didn't seem to be bothered much right now regarding his hardened expression. Not even when she was Jung Hee.

Without her consent, Jung Hee accidentally caught Jun Hong's gaze. Normally, it would do nothing; but now? A lump of burden and fear clung onto Jung Hee's heart as she met Jun Hong's sharp orbs. She knew why, but she just didn't want to tell why.

It didn't take long for the lump to out all the contains of Jung Hee's heart and mind until her consciousness reached a limit of blackout, which explained how she swiftly turned her back from Jun Hong without another word and fled away, to anywhere but the width of his sight range. This had left the latter boy confused and blank, wondering what he had done wrong, or simply what happened to Jung Hee. After all, this was the first time he had seen her running away from him like this. I mean, of course, what would you expect? Jung Hee had grown somewhat weirder following the death of Jung Chae. But still...

The girl however, though having realized her particular 'weirdness' for quite some time now, had no time for any more realizations right now. As she fled along the busy hallways once again, in the speed no just-recovered human would ever able to match, the girl was struggling to control her corroded mind as her steps became lighter and faster, the upper front row of her teeth sank into the flesh of her lips, causing it to turn swollen and way redder than how it was supposed to be. Her gaze was empty and her sight was nowhere near an HD capture, but the presence of the figure half-floating above the ground beside her was helping her enough.

Jung Hee never knew her destination, but as soon as she finds a dark and secluded corner of the school building, she immediately stopped her feet and went inside the darkness, roughly throwing her back to the cold and humid wall as her body gradually sank lower and lower, nearing the ground and trembling in depression and fear. Both her hands were cold as ice, though her head wasn't in the shape of noticing it enough as the cold skin of her palms swiped her unguarded knees, following her motion of pulling both her legs closer to her pounding chest.

Soon after, the beads of warm liquid that she had effortfully held in all through the school hours began to flow down her fair cheeks. The whole day she had been facing today was just utterly dreadful and painful at the same time, so horrible that she hadn't enough vocabulary in her dictionary to describe it. No, she wasn't just talking about the paranoia that was getting worse inside her following her sister's physical leave, but also the loneliness and the mental pressure she had been enduring all throughout each and every minute she would hear more and more bad words about her and also her sister, recalling how she would've been able to ignore them if only her sister was here, and most of all, recalling how she now realized how much she missed her sister's presence beside her in this moment, particularly how she needed the other Jung girl.

While the girl she was referring to was now floating lower before putting one of her semi-invisible hand on Jung Hee's black hair, caressing it with utmost empathy a wandering soul can give to her twin sister.

***

While Jung Hee was intoxicated and trapped inside her own matters in mind, her best friend, Jun Hong, seemed to be trapped in his as well. Though he tried as hard as every other day to look all cool and unbothered by anything around him, one could clearly tell that his mask was slowly failing to hide his facades as of today. It didn't matter how many lazily taken careless steps he had taken, Jun Hong couldn't help but to let the slightly troubled lump in his chest resurface to his expressions, creating a few wrinkles on his fair and young forehead.

Oh he's good, alright. Everything's just peachy. At least to his pushing mind it was.

He just wasn't sure if someone else also is.

Jun Hong rolled his eyes. Hey, wasn't sure isn't the term, kiddo. Judging by the way Jung Hee just plainly ran out on him just now, as sure as hell would probably represent the situation very well. And I don't even care if that last sentence rhymed somehow.

So that's a trashed out mind for you; it kept going to and fro in circles of a never-ending cycle, resulting in the never-ending search for sensible answers. No matter how hard you try, it would all just end up useless and thrown away down the drain before you even know it. The only thing you can do about it was wait for a decent amount of time to pass until your mind is cleaned once again and ready to think more clearly.

Jun Hong, however, didn't seem to get the memo; proved by the way his forehead wrinkled even more by the minute, signaling that he was deliberately forcing his messed up mind to think straight. Which was impossible as how we have just learned it. At least in his particular condition in this particular timing.

It was obvious enough for one's eye to see all the overlapping layers of bad thought and feelings the boy was keeping inside his head, piled up to a depressingly tremendous mountain. There was definitely worry there, mixed with fear, and another part loneliness, and if you'd just look hard enough, a slight bit of another feeling just might be visible: confusion.

To some, it might be odd: Jun Hong? Confused? Tch, as if it was legal to put the two words together in the same sentence... But what we see isn't always how it actually was, after all. For all we know, Jun Hong has always been confused. About his life, his feelings, his thoughts, everything. He questions everything; though he never really got any answers to any of his questions. It was just a matter of how well you'd pay attention to what he conveyed through his words, actions, and expressions. In which sadly, has ever been done by only no one.

And as of right now, the source of his confusion was that particular mute girl he had been trying to protect: Jung Hee.

Oh, and speaking of the devil, where did she disappear to again?

Jun Hong blew a ball of steam to the semi-cold early spring air in frustration.

Really Jung Hee? Now?

Honestly spoken, Jun Hong had never expected Hee to walk out on him like that. Not after the mysterious 'sorry for everything' sentence she uttered just this morning that he still needed a LOT of explaining to hear about. And certainly not after she made him question everything in deep confusion one more.

In daily basis, Jun Hong would boldly admit that his questions and confusions never got him anywhere but stress and more questions.

But today... Well, let's say it's a miraculous exception; a rare gift from The Almighty.

Without him noticing, Jun Hong's feet were now taking him on a destination-less stroll around the school, the building that he had heard — too many times already — was a fruit of his grandfather's hard work for a few long years that he never bothered to count. Tch, yeah, why should he anyway? It's not like his grandfather ever bothered about anything that involves him anyway.

Almost invisibly, Jun Hong scoffed. A small, sarcastic smile graced his lips as he started laughing inwardly. He was laughing at himself. He was laughing at himself because suddenly, he had found himself so pathetic, so pitiful. Though he knew more that he didn't deserve anyone's pity at that, but just sayin'. Heck, even through all, he didn't even deserve to feel his own pity, moreover cry about such things.

But one can never obtain a heart's cry, however well they can hide visible tears.

And that seemed to be the case for Choi Jun Hong as well.

Easily, he can always point out those things that always made his heart cry silent sobs, mostly when he was alone in his 400 meter squares room, all caught up in the deepest and darkest of nights: his pathetic life, his workaholic parents that he hadn't seen even through phonecalls in who-knows-how-many-years, his authoritarian grandfather that always looked down on him like royal trash, and now, the absent of one of the two girls he had always relied on through his darkest days, dragging the other girl to the edge of the same dark hole her sister had fallen into. And of course, the was an et cetera behind those.

Jun Hong really felt like crying. His heart has been torn into milions of pathetic tears too many times already.

Tch. Strange, isn't it? He could almost hear the pathetic sobs his stupid heart made...

Wait, those sobs didn't come from him.

It sounded more like a girl's voice; and last time he checked, he didn't seem to have grown any s on his chest or anywhere else.

So... where did the sobbing sounds he was hearing came from?

A shiver went down Jun Hong spine as he frantically moved his vision to every angle possible, searching for the source of the mysterious sobs. It was creepy. As creepy as hell. No, creepier.

Jun Hong eyes' size decreased a little as his gaze finally landed on a dark, cornered space of the building that he hadn't notice before.

Bingo.

As slow and as quiet as possible, he went a little and a little closer to the darkness, massaging his fists to get ready for absolutely anything that might come or even jump his way. I don't know; monsters, perhaps?

Time felt like forever for Jun Hong as he creeped nearer and nearer. His whole body was now filled with goosebumps as the sobbing sounds he had been hearing gradually grew louder, piercing through the limbs of his chest like a thousand knives. Jun Hong didn't know who was crying, but one thing that he was sure of was that whoever it was, they sounded pretty desperate and trapped; much like Jun Hong himself. If anything, as for now that was probably the most sensible reason as to why Jun Hong somehow felt a sense of familiarity between the desperate sobs.

Unknown to him, there was in fact a way, way more radical reason to that aside from a mere similarity between what the both of them were feeling.

With a fe more steps, the boy can now perceive a clearer view of the mysterious girl that had evoked his curiosity only a while ago. Of course, she was nobody he'd need to be curious about. A soft wind blew a few strands of hair from Jun Hong's fringe as his steps came to a sudden halt, moved by a despicable phase of shock, caused by what was now displayed only a few meters in front of him.

Jung Hee.

Tch, of course, what was he thinking? In this drama life of his, of course the only person that would come out in a mess as severe as this would be Jung Hee. He should've known better; it was Jung Hee all along.

Still, it succeeded in injecting a dose of feromon into his head in the shape of shock, and fear.

Because it was still Jung Hee.

Jung Hee, once in all her beauty and glory.

Jung Hee, now nothing but a mess of tears and sorrow.

And Jun Hong could not bring himself to bear with that.

Unconsciously, a hand that belonged to Jun Hong slowly raised up, to the sobbing girl's direction. The movement was evoked by the sudden urge he had to console her, or just be there right next to her in general. Don't ask him why, because he wouldn't know the answer any better than anyone else in the universe. All he knew was that he wanted to accompany her through her tough phases and console her, assuring her that whatever it was that made her cry, everything will eventually fall back into their rightful places and that everything will be alright. He wanted to do wipe her tears dry, regardless of the fact that she was technically a rightful property of another man. None of it mattered now. Not when Jung Hee was in the condition she was in right now: desperate and alone. It just didn't add up for him.

But little did Jun Hong know, that Jung Hee was not alone. She has never been alone.

Seemingly, this was the day that he would see that.

As weird as it seemed, out of nowhere, Jun Hong's corneas suddenly perceived a glimpse of an almost blurred figure, right there beside the crying Jung Hee. Jun Hong was amazed. Though in a blur, the girl was visually  glowing. Literally. Was it because of her beauty? He did not think so. Still, in all her glory in an all-white attire, Jun Hong could almost trace out all the fairly sculpted figure that somehow felt... familiar to him.

But it was only when the mysterious girl lifted up her head that Jun Hong finally realized how familiar she was.

As their gazes met, he was left frozen in steps.

No, it can't be....

"Eodum sogeseo deullineun jeolgyu gongpoe jillin sesangeul-..."

For Jun Hong, the frozen world around him felt like they had just broke and fell apart as his ringtone pierced through his eardrums.

Oh for Pete's sake, what now?

An inaudible grumble escaped Jun Hong's tongue as he fished out his phone from his pocket, diverting his eyes from Jung Hee and the mysteriously familiar girl in the process. His expression changed as soon as he finally found out just who in the world called him in the particular time. The number of wrinkles displayed on his forehead increased as he read character by character of his caller's ID.

Detective Cha.

"What in the-..." he whispered to himself. Why would Detective Cha call him? As far as he recalled, his business with the respectful police officer was as over as the world war. So what now?

Still, he decided that it wouldn't hurt him taking the chance to press that green phone sign, and so he did.

"Yes, Detective?" he answered, slowly lifting up his feet to farther his distance between him and the still crying Jung Hee just so she wouldn't hear anything that would probably hurt her. Jun Hong had been well aware that the girl had grown far, far more sensitive after-... oh, you know.

"Ah yes, Jun Hong-bun, it's been a while," out come the heavy voice of the Detective, still exactly as nice as how Jun Hong had remembered. "How have you been?"

Jun Hong rolled his eyes. "Still alive, apparently," he answered lazily. "Anything I can do?"

"I see you are a very straightforward person, Mr. Choi," praised Detective Cha "though yes, I happen to need you back in the office,"

"Right now?"

"As soon as possible, yes. And as far as I calculated, school should already be over by now, am I not right, Jun Hong-bun?"

Urgh. "Alright. Be there in half an hour,"

"Beep"

Jun Hong sighed. Here we go again. He thought as he started another walk further, to the school's now empty parking lot, and to his motorcycle, still grumbling about how annoying the fact that his business with the police was not over when it was visibly one of the bottom lister of the thing's he'd like to do.

For a split second, he stopped. It didn't occur to him why, but he suddenly had the urge to turn around, to Jung Hee. Though, as the rotation of his head reached a limit of 90 degrees, something inside him told him not to. Or was it something outside him?

Jun Hong shrugged. Whatever.

***

As Jun Hong's steps took him further and the image of his back became smaller and smaller as he drifted away, a pair of eyes were secretly glued onto his every move. With an unreadable expression on her features, the pair of wine colored orbs were now staring a hole on the boy's back with a sharp, yet soft ghostly gaze, making everything that was going on inside her head impossible to see or guess, however literal the phrase 'we can see right through her' implied on the situation.

One thing we can clearly see though, if only we can actually get a clear visual of the girl, was that the look she had on her face regarding her long-time best friend's presence just now was far different than how she used to look at him.

And I didn't mean that as a good thing, one way or another.