Chapter Three | The Necklace

His first day didn’t end well. It was 5:30 in the afternoon when they left the cemetery. They were supposed to be having their so-called gardening till 6:00 pm, but Ms. Sung announced to them that there will be a meeting of administrators and faculty, so they’re excused and classes will be resumed the next day. They all went home right after, but some went back to the school with Ms. Sung, and one of them was Kimiko. He watched them get off the bus, while those who were going home, like him, remained seated. He went home perplexed by Kimiko’s coldness towards him. What did he do to make her glare at him like that?

By the time he got to the door of their rented house, he heard Chanyeol’s voice, talking to somebody. He sounded angry.

“And you call that ‘just friends’?” he exploded.

When he opened it, his housemate looked at him with creased eyebrows, his phone to his ear and a hand on his hip. Sehun excused himself and headed for his room as Chanyeol turned his back on him and snapped on his caller. He thought his Hyung might be having a fight with his girlfriend.

He put down his bag to his study table and sat down on his chair like he always did back in Japan after he got home from school. He stretched out both his arms above him and arched his back. He looked at the ceilings then crossed his arms behind his head for support. He closed his eyes and decided to clear his mind of that Kimiko-girl and straightened after a few seconds.

He remembered something and took it out of his bag.

The necklace—it was the chance for him to get a good look at it. It had a black leathered string, and a pendant made out of bone carved into a shape of a scythe. Its edges are too sharp Sehun thought he might cut himself if he touches it. But curiosity got him again and he touched its edges and he was right. It could make a cut if he’s not too careful with it. He put it back to his bag and thought about returning it to the girl he saw that morning if he ever sees her again tomorrow. She might’ve been using it for some voodoos or anything she wouldn’t want anybody to see.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the next room’s door. Chanyeol might be too pissed of his girlfriend. He once told him a story of him seeing that noona with some other guy in a restaurant he was working in. His hyung is a musician. He plays guitar, paino and drums and he also sings well. Every night he’s working on his computer producing music of his own composition. He’s been working as a part time singer in that restaurant for six months already, but he said he never told his girlfriend about that, and according to him, noona was more surprised seeing him there. She told him the guy she came with was her friend but Chanyeol had been suspicious about it ever since that day.

He was about to check on his Hyung when his door opened. Chanyeol told him he’ll be out till midnight and reminded him to lock the door. Sehun thought he was probably going to talk to that noona in person. He watched him leave like a tsunami, taking the keys to the house with force making the things around it fall to ground and he just ignored them. He sighed and locked the door to their house before he could forget to do so. He cleaned up Chanyeol’s mess and put them back to their places.

He spent his night just watching television. He avoided channels with news about his new school, and just watched cartoons or action movies.

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He couldn’t sleep. He’s been waiting for his hyung to come back, but it’s already 3:23 in the morning and Chanyeol still hasn’t come home. He opened his bag and took the new volume of his favorite manga he bought in a bookstore last Friday. But as he was reading, his mind was elsewhere. He just looked at the drawings and turned pages here and there.

All his classmates adored this Yukimura Kimiko, but did she ever look at them like that too? Maybe she’s just angry at him ‘cause he sat on her friend’s old seat. She’s probably used at seeing that Jong Hun-guy at that corner. But that would be too immature of her, wouldn’t it? Then again, he knew how mind can sometimes be irrational when it comes to losing a loved one. Maybe he shouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Besides, tomorrow he’ll be seeing her again. She might be back to her friendly face.

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That morning, he got u