he classroom was anything but quiet. The Math teacher was still standing there just in front of the white board, scribbling some complicated formulas that the students were supposed to be learning about, although most of them clearly have lost their interest to do so and instead dedicated the time they were supposed to be using to copy their notes to play around with the friends across their desks and gossiping here and there. It wasn't like the teacher cared, though; he had apparently discovered ages ago that wishing for these students to keep quiet and listen to his lectures was useless, and that scolding them would be equal to suicide. He learned to just mind his own business and just do what he came here to do: scribbling notes on the board for those who actually want to copy it and ignoring those who didn't.

In the midst of the pool of those students who had absolutely zero desire to learn here, though, lied Choi Jun Hong. But instead of creating chaos or chatting nonchalant, useless talks among his friends, he was more interested in just gluing his head on the desk (or on the bag on top of his desk in this case), and drifting off to his personal lalaland. In this case, he had chosen the dreamland for his destination.

But oh who are we kidding? Of course he wouldn't be able to sleep. Not in this situation.

Jun Hong moved his head a bit so he was now still resting his head on his beloved desk, but was now facing the window, from where the sunlight was softly blazing through and the victorious cries of the soccer team who had just won a close game in the school's soccer field below the classroom blared. Jun Hong's back moved up and down rhytmically, signaling that he was still breathing and living, even though he would bet that nobody would actually care if he didn't anyway. Because hey, Jung Chae's gone and Jung Hee's too depressed to care; who exactly was he hoping to see crying at his funeral?

Tch, forget funeral. Even if he wouldn't have one when he dies later he wouldn't let a out a single complaint. He'd be more than satisfied to just earn that one thing that would make him eligible to be given a funeral for:

Death. He'd be extremely thankful for death.

I mean, just how many vantages could he gain from it, huh? He'd be able to meet Jung Chae, that's one, and he'd be able to escape all these problems he had to face in this lifetime. And must I say, those things sounded really appealing to Jun Hong's ears. So appealing that many times the thought of voluntarily disappearing from the face of the earth would cross his mind for a few milliseconds.

But why is he still alive and well now?

Well, the thing is, that every single time he had thought of taking the short road, images of Jung Hee in all her depression would fly into his mind, stopping him from doing anything stupid. All because he had actually seen how soulless Jung Hee could turn to after she had lost her sister who was also one of the two only best friend she had ever have. And although it wasn't for boasting needs, but Jun Hong was pretty much aware that right now, Jung Hee wouldn't bear to lose him too. Jung Hee needed him. And that fact alone has always been able to change more things aside from his original expectations.

Jun Hong shifted his head again; now facing the direction of the two empty seats in front of him.

Empty seats.

All of a sudden Jun Hong felt like his heart and all of the contents in his chest sank away just like that. Tch, so that's why people say that you never notice the filled spaces but you always notice the empty ones, huh? And these particular 'empty ones' just HAD to remind him of the stupid conversation he had with Jung Hee's fiance, Lu Han, over the phone this morning.

"Oh, Jun Hong-sshi? It's me, Lu Han,"

Jun Hong knitted both his brows together until they met in the middle. For a second he lowered his phone from his earlobe to double check the contact ID that was supposed to be written there. Sure he should; he had no memory of giving out his number to this Lu Han hyungnim after all, and not like he had any plan to anyways.

"Ah, Lu Han hyung," Jun Hong wrinkled his nose a bit at his own tone, which was an awful lot too fake for his liking. He could gag at himself, really. "Sup?"

Years of being aware of Lu Han's existence, not once had Jun Hong showed any signs of wanting to befriend the older. And now he's suddenly speaking in informal language? Talk about bipolar. Jun Hong could even feel the man in talks cringing way from the end of the line.

"Nothing worthy of your concern, I suppose."

Jun Hong raised his eyebrow. If this was 'nothing worthy of his concern' then why would Lu Han even bother to call him?

"I'm just hoping that you'd be so kind to help our Hee with her attendance today. I'm afraid she won't be able to attend class right now. Just saying,"

For a second there Jun Hong's mind clearly took its own sweet time processing what he had heard. Totally skipping the part where he was supposed to be annoyed at Lu Han's possessive 'our Hee' statement, it took one blink, two blinks for him to finally respond.

"Okay," he said as he made an attempt to blow his bangs. "Another doctor appointment? Yeah sure I'll tell the teacher that,"

He wasn't being sarcastic. He truly thought that Jung Hee was just going to another one of her regular checkups. No big deal. Or at least that's what he hoped she was doing. Because deep, deep inside, Jun Hong kind of got the hint from Lu Han's tone that the word 'regular' was not at all involved in this situation.

"Actually, Jun Hong-sshi, it's more like she is desperately in need of rest right now. Physically and mentally,"

Was it just him or did Lu Han purposely pressed on the word 'mentally'?

"What-... why should she rest? Wasn't the last thirty days enough already?" The train of questions continuously pouring like flood from Jun Hong's mouth wasn't of no reason. He was truly getting worried right now. "I mean... nothing happened right? Jung Hee... Jung Hee's okay... right?"

Truthfully, Jun Hong hadn't been sure himself with that last part. However badly he wanted everything to be alright, deep inside, the bigger part of him knew that something was wrong. Everything was wrong. The fact that Lu Han actually went through the troubles only to call him in broad daylight, and the dead silence that suddenly floated in their phone transmission, replacing the hints of heating rivalry that was present between their every word before; all of it was wrong.

"Right, Hyung?" Jun Hong's tone went up another octave as he desperately demanded a consolation from Lu Han, inwardly begging him to say that Jung Hee was alright, begging him to say that the momentary silence from just now didn't mean anything bad.

Unfortunately, the only thing he could hear coming out from his speakers was the sound of Lu Han sighing heavily, which made him even more scared and wondering what in the world had happened.

"I'm telling you this because you're the only closest person Jung Hee has left, Jun Hong-sshi,"

Why is it that before, Jun Hong had wanted so badly for Lu Han to at least open his mouth and say even one word to him, but now when the older finally did, instead of getting comforted, Jun Hong got even more terrified?

"Jung Hee... attempted suicide yesterday."

"AARGH..."

Jun Hong buried his face into the bag his head was resting on, muffling the supposed-to-be loud groan he was letting out as the memory of that phonecall came again into his mind. At this moment, that groaning really helped him release his pent-up frustration, taking away at least a bit of the stupid lump of burden weighing down on his heart.

With one last, heavy sigh, Jun Hong turned his head position to the side again, so his face was back to facing the window, fulfilling the need of oxygen his body was demanding to get since his act of burying his face to the bag was effectively cutting off his oxygen supply. A large, satisfying breath was taken after, once again filling Jun Hong's polluted lungs with fresher air now that he felt his chest had lost an effective portion of weight.

Not saying that his burdens have all gone away, though.

Jun Hong couldn't remember any crap he had said to Lu Han after the latter told him that Jung Hee had attempted suicide. One thing for sure, they weren't nice words. Well, what do you expect exactly? His freaking best friend of almost a decade had just attempted suicide and what did her freaking fiance told him? 'It's nothing worth of your concern'? I mean, hello and howdy do, but it's HIS BEST FRIEND. Attempting SUICIDE. What's not to be concerned about that huh? Huhh? Even when Lu Han assured him that Jung Hee was now relatively fine and just needed some rest, Jun Hong still simply just couldn't believe that even in moments as serious as these, Lu Han, of all people, was still thinking about his stupid possessiveness over Jung Hee even when the said girl have just had one of the darkest time of her life. Quote that.

Damn. Just thinking about it right now made his chest felt full with burdens again.

AISH.

What should he do to finally live a peaceful life, hmm?

Jun Hong blew a raspberry as he clipped his eyelids shut, trying to empty out his mind. Right now, there was nothing he wanted more than getting some sleep and hopefully some rest from this noisy class and all these drama, so maybe, just maybe, closing his eyes from the world would help.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick-...

"...-eriously love the nailpolish there! The colors are so-..."

"...-ould've seen that babe, dude! She was HOT! Like, her wer-..."

"...-can never understand this stuff! Hate hate hate math! Urg-..."

Nope. Closing your eyes isn't going to work, Jun Hong.

Stupid ears.

Should've plugged it first when he had a chance.

Ear plugs anyone?

Realizing that he apparently wouldn't be able to get any sleep anytime soon, Jun Hong's lids quickly snapped back open, revealing red streaks all around the poor boy's pupil.

If this was some sort of cartoon, there would be a sound of a glass breaking in the background as those tired eyes opened.

It took a few seconds for Jun Hong to blink a few times, readjusting his corneas to the light. Good thing it was quite cloudy outside so the sun wasn't really scorching through the windows that much. Soon enough, the boy had regained his normal eyesight back. Still refusing to shift his head anywhere but his desk, Jun Hong's gaze immediately fell to the big blue piece of atmosphere visible through the glass windows and the fluffy white lumps of cloud. Only one thing popped into his mind right at the moment.

"Chae..." he called her name ever so softly it almost seemed like a mumble. "You're up there, right? You're watching us, right? Me and Hee... and Lu Han Hyung..." He gotta admit, the aftertaste of saying that last part was much more bitter than how he thought it could be.

Jung Chae... watching over Lu Han... the guy she liked since forever. Now why did that feel so painful?

"Hee's so stupid, right? She's doing too many stupid things nowadays. So stupid that it seemed almost suspicious to me. Tch. Didn't she know you might get worried?"

A dark, sad look graced Jun Hong's gaze as it fell downwards. Something... just something inside him somehow just screamed that it was useless looking at the sky more. Like it was... empty, and that Jung Chae might be listening from another place...

"I'm not gonna lie, Chae. Your death still held mysteries I'm dying to unfold, and Hee... seems to know exactly what I want to know,"

Jun Hong's jaw clenched. So hard it was almost as if his jaw was about to get a cramp.

Was he really going to dig the truth out of Jung Hee? Jun Hong doubted he'd ever have the heart to. But with memories of Jung Chae now slowly coming back and overlapping everything inside his brain, he truly didn't know what tp believe anymore.

“Chae-yah, I’m sorry. I HAVE to find out the truth. I don’t care if anybody else doesn’t know the truth behind your death, but I have to. I have to… because… "

As Jun Hong's volume decreased, he pondered whether to continue of with his words or not. Sure, nobody in the class was listening, but... would Jung Chae do? It was something he had never spoken of before, not in front of anyone, not in front of himself even. Would he really speak it out now even when nobody was listening?

In the end, he decided that every secret would be revealed one day. He would have to open up about this to someone else one day. And when that day comes, Jun Hong could never imagine someone else he'd tell it to aside from Jung Chae herself.

So with a tone so soft, he whispered

"Because I like you…”

Little did he know, someone was listening. Only that someone wasn't really a human to begin with.

(Notes: okay so for everyone who can't seem to understand the situation, then let me explain, k?

So actually, all this time, Jun Hong has always liked Jung Chae. He never said he liked Jung Hee; it was always Jung Chae who said that because Jun Hong was so nice to Jung Hee when in reality, it was only because Jun Hong respected Jung Hee a lot. It has been a very long time since Jun Hong started liking Jung Chae, but he never dared to speak it out, even to himself, because he knew that Jung Chae liked Lu Han and because he didn't want to ruin their friendship so nobody knew about this. Although Jung Hee might just get a few hints from Jun Hong's behavior so she might know even without anyone telling her

I hope that clears things up :))