As I walked home, I kept remembering the moment when I somehow ended up saving a stranger's life instead of looking for a way to end mine. It was strange... The moment was rather brief, yet it has been stuck in my head ever since I began walking back home. This feeling felt so mysterious, it was something new that I have never experienced before.
"Shion? Come on down for dinner before you continue your revision!"
My mom called out to me while I was lost in my own thoughts. I tried to shake off my thoughts and went to have dinner with my family. My mom asked, "How was school today, sweetie?"
"I... It was great!" I had to lie because I did not know what my parents would do if I were to tell them the awful truth. Will they disown me for being useless? Will they cause a huge scene about it...? I don't know... there were infinite possibilities but I did not want to think about it.
She smiled, "That's nice to hear. I'm sure your studies are going well so far?" I nodded, "Yes, mother..."
She chuckled, "That's good. Keep it up, alright?" I nodded in silence before eating a spoonful of rice.
~
The night went by fast, and it was yet another new day. I woke up from a sleepless night and stared at myself in the mirror.
"Sigh... another day of facing those assholes..." I sighed.
I walked to school with heavy footsteps, wishing that I did not have to go back to this horrendous hell but I had no choice because I must graduate from here. Looking down on my feet, I kept walking and tried not to make any eye contact with anyone. Throughout my high school life, the only thing I could remember at this point would be my own feet because I always looked down and not at anyone's eyes.
Not to mention, everyone told me not to look at them because I am just a worm in their eyes and my existence was pretty much redundant in this place called school. Once I settled down on my seat, my teacher, Mr. Lee Jaeyoon came in. He smiled, "Alright, quiet everyone. We have a new classmate that would be joining us from now on. All of you better be good to him, okay?"
He looked towards the door and signaled for someone to enter. As I looked towards the door, my eyes widened and the pencil I was holding dropped onto the ground.
I... It's him!?
The guy whom I saved yesterday... he is my new classmate!?
He bowed and introduced himself to the class, "My name is Kang Chanhee..." The girls were suddenly quiet as they stared at him like a prized possession. He looked around the class, and his eyes widened a little when he saw me. He walked towards my desk and picked up my pencil, placing it on my desk before he spoke.
"I guess we meet again," He mumbled. I nodded, "Y... Yeah... We meet again..."
It was an awkward silence between the two of us, and we were literally just having a staring contest between each other. Just then, Mr. Lee broke the silence by clearing his throat, "Erhem, is everything okay, Mr Kang?"
He said, "Yes. Everything is okay, sir." With that, he just sat down on the seat next to mine casually without even letting Mr. Lee decide where he should sit. Mr. Lee chuckled, "Oh well, I guess you can sit there for the rest of the semester. Alright, be prepared for your math class. I shall be off now."
I turned to look at Chanhee and my brain was flooded with mixed feelings. Many questions started surfacing in my head as I looked at him. However, the main question was...
Why did he transfer to my school?