》...《

It was now the end of an eventful first day, and all the distressed girl could think about was getting back into her comfort zone and the urge to rant to a about how her day has been.

Stuffing her hands into her pockets she tried to emit as much warmth as she could, ryujin ambled towards the gates alongside her friends as she just listened to their conversations; even chuckling to herself as she listened to them joked around.

But they stopped after saying each of their 'goodbyes' and gradually dispersed from the school grounds, going home in pairs and even groups of four.

Observing her surroundings, Ryujin came to realise that only her, Jieun and Beomgyu were left standing outside– not minding the other youthful students passing by.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, take care!" Jieun eventually greeted them until taking off with light steps as she could hear the two say their 'byes'. Without facing them, she raised her hand and waved back; her silhouette becoming more smaller.

"Um, I'll go this way then." A voice trailed off almost like a muffled whisper at how peaceful her tone was.

Beomgyu fixed his eyes upon the girl that was standing in front of him. Breaking the ice with her sentence, he was met by her sheepish smile and watched as she started to disappear. Plodding a few steps as he went his way back home, he sighed deeply– ultimately getting room to clear his head from everything he took in today.

+×+

It was odd.

Odd as she seemed more distant and stronger than the regular person he would meet once he'd willingly close his eyelids at night.

Instead of being tough, she was rather fragile and was someone that had a pure aura surrounding that petite body of hers. It held a peculiar feeling as they were similar somehow but acted differently.

Nonetheless, only curiosity filled the boy's mind instead of doubt as he needed the time and space to discover the answers to his wish.

Call it abit juvenile that the innocent boy still held onto the perception that he'd get to meet her, but he couldn't let go of it after meeting Ryujin.

+×+

Beomgyu lowered his head, just staring at his shoes as he strolled down the smooth pathway– kicking a pebble out of his way. When a sudden gust of wind took him by surprise, causing for his focus to land on a familiar figure that he swore he saw earlier.

Gripping harshly onto her bag straps, Ryujin kept her head down not letting him see her cheeks– a hue of red forming from embarrassment.

Gosh, I went the wrong way!

A soft giggle escaped Beomgyu's mouth as he followed not too close behind the girl, who was striding to the bus stop, praying that the boy wasn't aware of her little mistake– unfortunately that wasn't the case as he overheard her mutter to herself of her going the wrong way.

Continuing to follow behind her, Beomgyu didn't seem to care how far away he was going to be from his home destination because his main priority was to atleast see her get home safely; not knowing she wasn't at all safe at home.

Once they took a seat in the bus stop, ryujin plugged in her headphones raising it unhurriedly. Tapping her foot, she maintained the beat of the music travelling through her ears but heard the boy initiate a conversation that she felt comfortable to dive into.

With a light smile, beomgyu felt proud of himself that he managed to get her to speak with him again. The reason was he really did want to get to know her– not just because she seemed familiar but also her voice underlined a soothing tone whenever she spoke, wanting to hear more of it.

"Ryujin do you have a nickname perhaps?"

"A nickname? Like?" –her head titled, bewildered at his question.

"Not sure, maybe something like S-"

Talk about bad timing, the bus had coincidentally arrived interrupting him from saying anything more. They both had taken a seat next to eachother; the irritated boy got on, not forgetting to give his stank eye to the bus driver– feeling abit guilty afterwards as it technically wasn't their fault.

The ride home was going pretty well as Ryujin even offered her earphone to him, which he enthusiastically took hold of with a contented grin on his face. Despite no words were spoken, they understood eachother through the song as the device connected them from ear to ear.

+×+

Ryujin felt more relaxed than ever as whenever she were to go back home, all she could think about were the close comments that would be spat at her. Growing up hearing the countless dismaying vocabulary, the unnerving hostility she'd face– she expected herself to become used to it. However, every remark, every word, every revolting sentence would only sink in deeper than it already had; causing for days to become intolerable that she would be so close to no longer wanting to breathe another day in this world.

Everyday was a war inside her head. A war that she felt like losing. The disturbing past she would always retrace made her despise her own mother but couldn't bring herself to do any harm to her parent so she bottled up her emotions and started to live her life living in an abyss of loneliness.

Shaking her head, she wanted to forget those broken memories and wanted to see life like others do. Wanting to fit in and be perceived as normal was a daily activity for her that she was unconsciously becoming numb from the pressure she had built herself in.

+×+

Until, a feeling of something laying on her shoulder lead for her to tense up from the sudden contact. She could feel his feather-like breathing fan the side of her face, his steady heartbeat could be heard pounding as the dark coloured strands of hair would slightly tickle her neck.

Patting his head, she let her finger outline his features and began to realise how much better he looked closer as she became to see the small details about him. His eyelashes were long that it would almost touch his porcelain–skinned cheek, his nose was high; as well as his glossy lips that were parted were more fuller at the bottom but thin on the top.

The boy moved abit from discomfort making ryujin panic as she didn't want to disturb him from his slumber– because she related with the temperamental feeling once someone had disturbed a good rest.

Opening his eyelids, he stared at her intensely, his eyes flickered around to analyse her expression. Ryujin waited still from his unforeseen movements, not minding the proximity they were in. They stayed like this for a few seconds, before Beomgyu gripped onto her hands leading them out, despite not knowing if this was the right way to her house.

Beomgyu suspected that the vibe circling round them would turn to ice even if the mellow songs were still playing in the background. So, he again spoke to her to get rid of the detached atmosphere. "Sorry for sleeping on your shoulder. I promise I didn't drool!"

"No, it's fine. What were you going to ask before we got onto the bus?" Ryujin internally laughed at his statement, not even having that thought in mind when he was asleep. As all she could think was how bad she felt about interrupting his slumber.

"Don't let your thoughts get to it, I forgot it anyways." –making up a lie that he had forgotten what he wanted to ask, Beomgyu convinced Ryujin to not think seriously about it; continuing to stroll side by side as their hands closely swung near one another.

The boy secretly had a gratified smile written on his face whilst the tense mood faded as the wind swirled past, taking in account each other's presence cautiously as they ventured home together.