JI HYO POV:

We skipped lecture after talking back to the teacher and now the two of us are seated in the cafeteria in silence eating our lunch. Like delinquents. As I ate my meal quietly, ocassionally I looked up at him to see him eating slowly and gracefully. Every chew and every bite of his seemed so gentle and graceful. Unlike other guys who ate like they have been starving for years. After we ate, I didn't want to go back for lesson or do anything else. Instead, I wanted to get to know him better. The guy who had no money to eat in school. 

"Why do you eat so slowly?" I asked him. He looked at me, shocked. He looked around, seeming to search for answers. Finally he spoke.

"I was appreciating every mouth of food as it is my first time eating in this school." His tone was so sad but appreciative at the same time. 

"I am sorry," I apologised, feeling that I might have touched a sensitive topic to talk about. 

"It's okay. Used to it. People in other classes look down because they think I am pathetic. Your question was indirect at the very least." He looked at me, a different expression from just now when we were laughing. 

"Gary, I never meant that. It was just mere curiousity as to why you ate so slowly and even as a girl, I never ate so slowly." I giggled, thinking of what I just said. 

"Why you giggling? You think I am gay?" He suddenly laughed too, sacarstically asking me if I felt that his behaviour was so gay. 

"No... Just saying. Speaking of which, why did you call me a 'lady' just now?You were like 'give this lady a break'. Why?" I occured to me after my previous statement. He did not call me a girl. He did not call me THE model student. He called me a lady. Like a full grown matured young woman. And I liked the sound of it. 

"No reason?" He replied with a question instead. 

"Really. Why? I want to know why... even my good friend calls me girl. Why did you call me a lady?" I asked him more seriously now. 

"Because..." He spoke and I realised that I was holding my breath over such a small question. "You were not a girl in my eyes. To me at the very least. You were like a lady, young woman." His eyes met mine as that connection and statement lingered in the air. 

"Thank you! I am so glad I am not the typical and boring model student to you!" I liftened the mood by joking around. He smiled again. 

"Why did your brother seem so happy to see you?" He asked me now. 

"He was very close to me and he has not seen me for a while due to an overseas trip!" I told him. 

"Oh... Your parents?" He now probed further. I sniggered. 

"My parents... I will be honest with you, I don't know if it is bliss or torture that they are my parents or the fact that I have parents. I am being very honest with you now although I am sorry to say that..." I told him truthfully. 

"What are your parents like?" He asked now. "And it is okay. I am fine with it!"

"My parents are like super controlling. I enjoyed the piano but they took advantage of that and made me into like a piano geek or prodigy because I have the talent and passion for it. My brother, I think you know him. Joong Ki. He loves acting which is why he entered. My parents never forced him to join the arts school. But my parents forced him to join competitions although he just wants to be an actor and live his life. My parents are control freaks!" I told him, tears swelling at the back of my eye. I told my head to force it back and the tears did go back. 

"My parents... were different." He spoke about his parents and I was surprised. Really surprised. "They were modest people. They never really had much connections. However before they passed on, they planned everything out nicely for me. Where to stay, where to study and where to work where they will pay me. However that's the scary thing. I never knew how they passed on except that it was a car accident. It was like it was planned out nicely. Then news came to me that they were murdered for some information they know although it is useless now..." He shrugged, tears falling down his face. 

I reached out and offered him a tissue. He took it and wiped his eye. I looked at him with deep sorrow and regret. 

"We should go to the music room now. I know of a quiet room where no one uses it. They said that someone died in there in the past so no one uses it. Let's go!" He told me. 

Fear spread in my heart. GHOST! However, I followed him all the way. It was in a corner at a turn and it was the only room. He entered the room and switched on the lights. I was surprised to see that it was like a mini home with a sofa and a sleeping bag and a fridge with drinks. 

"Welcome to Gary's sanctuary in school! The rumour that this place is haunted was spread by me. No one ever died here. I was just selfish and wanted a free and quiet place to myself. Sorry if I scared you!" He told me jokingly and the weight in my heart lifted. I was so happy. 

"From now on, you can use this place if you want. Only Haha and Jong Kook knows. We can use it to compose our music. It is soundproof and there is a piano here. The school never bothered shifting the things." He laughed. He gestured to me to play. I sat down and opened the piano. Touching a few keys, I realised that it was well tuned. 

"I tuned it. I tune pianos for a living and I fix things as a living!" He said so casually. I placed my fingers on the keys and started playing. The sound filled my ears the way it did before. The way before I had to play the piano to entertain others. 

At that point when I looked at Gary, I saw a different him. The way he closed his eyes and laid back on the sofa so casually and carefree. The way he ate just now so elegantly. The way he laughed. The way he talked to me like I was another normal student. The way he carries himself with so much pride and love despite being alone in this world. The way he made me feel blessed and me. The way I felt like myself again with him. The ways...