Ground-Zero: Restart

November 15th, 2017 / Incheon, South Korea

The voices around him faded as thoughts began to fill his mind. Where did that prick go? He was here a minute ago.

“Hey, I’ll catch up with you all later, I have some… business to attend to.”

“Hey, wait- Jaehyuk!”

He was already dashing around the corner, people stumbling back as he ran past.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Watch what? The next move or the previous one?”

This left the kid dumbfounded, and he continued running down the hall, picking up a few annoyed glares as he reached the stairwell.

“He’s gotta be around here somewhere…” he muttered, grimacing as his history teacher came stomping up the stairs. Jaehyuk sighed and inched his way into a crowd, staying outside of Smith ssi-ui peripheral vision.

His history teacher was by far the most mentally eradicating teacher in his entire school. His assignments were practically impossible, and Jaehyuk didn’t take “impossible” lightly.

After gliding his way through the halls and finding himself in the courtyard, he stops, breathing heavily from running, and furrows his brow.

“Well that wasn’t smart, man, I need to up my game.” He smacked his forehead. He’d probably be in the library, studying for that history exam. Why does he do all of that, when he can just copy off of the guy next to him?

Meanwhile, Soo-Yeon was, in fact, pacing back and forth in the library. Today’s the day. He thought, I’m going to do it. Afterall, what’s the worst that could happen? He says no, yes. I lose aura points, yes. I lose my life-long best friend. That’s the worst possible case scenario which most likely will not happen, right? Right.

He sat back down at his table and pulled out his textbooks, though he couldn’t focus one bit. His palms were sweaty and his heart was beating faster by the minute. “Calm down Soo-Yeon, calm down.” He said to himself, putting his head down in his hands and groaning, “This is humiliating and I haven’t even confessed yet..”

Jaehyuk slammed open the doors of the library, and all eyes looked towards the sound. He didn’t even mean to open them that loudly, but the teacher’s attention was already on him.

“Uh, didn’t mean to wow the crowd that much. Should I try my luck at acting?”

The librarians scowled and continued tapping away at their computers, muttering to themselves about “damn kids these days.” Jaehyuk shrugged it off and slipped his hands in his pockets, peering around the library for Soo-Yeon.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just looking for-” He started, but an uproar louder than his comment silenced him.

“SHHHHHH!”

Soo-Yeon perked up at Jaehyuk poking around the library. “Jaehyuk! Over here.”

He turned his attention towards where he heard his name. Of course, the most isolated part of the library is where he’s studying. I should have guessed. I still have a bone to pick with Eun-Seok, so I should make this quick.

Soo-Yeon stood up, pulling Jaehyuk into a seat before pulling him back up. “Sit, no stand. I want you to stand for this.” He mumbled. “Actually- Let’s go for a short walk.”

“Well, actually, I had something to say about that project.” He playfully jabbed him in the chest. “You already know the amount of work I’ll be doing. So, you’re up to the task right? You’d get extra credit and everything. Heck, I’ll even pay you. Just get this responsibility off of me.”

Soo-Yeon blinked. “What?- Oh- yeah I’ll do the the project but I just had something to tell you-”

“Yeah, mhm, thanks, I’ll pay you back, but I gotta go, you know that guy I was talking about?” He said, not really listening to Soo-Yeon.

“Eun-Seok? Yeah I remember you talking about him..?”

“He owes me an article, so I need to stop by his class on the way to free-period.”

“…Is that it? Okay, but can I talk to you for a second?-”

“Yeah, what’s up?” He peered down at him, slightly concerned. Soo-Yeon hesitated for a second before continuing. “Jaehyuk- I like you, I have for a while now..” He confessed, putting his head down.

His eyes widened and he looked straight ahead, continuing to walk, not saying anything for a moment, before breaking the silence. “Haha… good one, squirt. I’ll catch you next time- gotta get going. H-his class is right around the corner.”

Soo-Yeon stood there. By his library table, tears welling in his eyes. Did I just get rejected? I thought we had something. Whatever we had now I’ve ruined it I’m sure. He packed his books and shuffled his papers together, tears falling down onto his belongings. There was something else..as well. I don’t think I can even speak at this moment.

As soon as Jaehyuk was far enough away from Soo-Yeon, he slipped into a locker bay and leaned against the lockers in the corner, covering his face with his hands. “What the fuck just happened,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands. “Where’s Eun-Ae when I need her?”

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, regaining his composure and silently walking out of the locker bay like nothing happened. “Sorry Eun-Rat, you’re gonna have to wait.”

Ae-Su was just exiting the bathroom when she saw Jaehyuk muttering to himself. “Hey, what are you on about?”

“Ae-su? Oh, thank the heavens, you’re just the person I’m looking for.” Ae-Su has been friends with the two of them since the beginning of the school year. She was the perfect medium between them, holding them together. She was also the one Jaehyuk went to for advice in situations like this, not like he’d ever been in a situation like this before.

“What happened now?” She sighed, attempting to swing her arm around his shoulders.

“A lot happened. And do you mind? You’re short as hell, you’re gonna make me fall.”

“Hmph.” She crossed her arms and kept walking, elbowing him in the arm in the process.

“Uhh… where do I even start?” He scratched the back of his head and looked up, slowly letting out a breath. “Alright, I’ll just tell you what happened.”

“I’m waiting. Quit stalling and get to it.”

“Soo-Yeon confessed to me.”

Ae-Su’s eyebrows scrunched up, taken aback. “Um, what?”

“It’s gotta be just a little thing that happens, right? I mean… look at me. I wouldn’t be surprised if you liked me. A-anyway, It’ll pass over surely enough. I know he’s always been into girls, and-”

“You’re on your own for this one, buddy, my class is right here.”

He sighed, watching her walk away. “This is just fantastic. Aw shit, I forgot to grab Eun-Rat on my way out. Now I’m gonna be late to the press meeting. The world’s really out to get me today, huh?”

The next morning, Soo-Yeon’s eyes slowly opened. He stared at his ceiling, bags under his eyes, he pulled himself out of bed, stepping over the pile of tissues near his bed from crying. Usually, I’d expect a jumble of random thoughts from Jaehyuk over text. I feel too defeated to even lift my phone. He turned on his bathroom light, almost recoiling when he saw his reflection. Fuck. I look like a zombie.

He splashed some water on his face and slid into the shower. When he got out, he dried and brushed his hair, putting his uniform on and sitting down at his desk. His room was littered with half-packed boxes and rolls of packing tape. He rubbed his face in defeat and headed out his room and into the kitchen where his mother and sister were eating breakfast.

“Soo-Yeon, did you finish packing?”

“I’ll finish that when I get home, I promise Umma.”

“Okay, I just don’t want to be behind when the movers come.”

To this, Soo-Yeon nodded, opening the fridge and grabbing a little box of tteok-bokki, his eating utensils and putting both in his backpack. It’s just school, not death row.

What if Jaehyuk had told everyone. What would he do then? Maybe I should just disappear. Leave no trace of myself. Would that be easier?

Jaehyuk’s alarm blared, and his eyes shot open, slamming “snooze” and flopping back into his bed. He groaned and stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, looks like that history test just got a whole lot more interesting.

Rubbing his eyes, he pushed past his tiredness and sat up, his head pounding. There is something I want to look up though… He crawled out of bed and snatched his laptop off of his desk, walking backwards and shuffling back onto the bed. He peeled it open and clicked in his password. “Gosh, I can’t believe I’m actually looking this up.”

He took a quick breath and slid the cursor to the Goggle icon, tapping it open and pressing the search bar. “What to do after your best friend confesses to you.” He frowned and clicked the “enter” key, cringing at the loading screen.

“…hyuk..”

When it finally loaded, he slowly read the top result. “Make sure to mention the importance of your friendship. If you don’t feel the same with my best friend, first show appreciation for being brave in his confession and be very honest about-”

“JAEHYUK!” His sister, Min-Su slammed open his bedroom door, stomping into his room.

“HOLY FAWK-” He practically jumped out of his skin, turning his laptop screen away from her view. “Can you knock?”

“I did. Like fifteen times. What are you so into that you can’t even hear me banging on the door and calling your name?” She crossed her arms and walked up to his bed, leaning over to peer at his computer.

He leaned away from her, quickly closing his laptop. “It’s nothing.”

“Show me!”

Jaehyuk jumped up and slowly pushed his sister out of his room. “Why don’t you get some breakfast, hm? I mean, I’m sure there’s some coffee that’s just waiting for you to drink it. Right?”

“Umma said-”

“Nuh uh, nope, there’s plenty of gossip to go around downstairs, and I have to get ready for school, so see ya around!”

With one final shove, Min-Su was out of his room, the door slammed behind her.

That was a close one. I’ll need to hide my laptop somewhere. In theory, she’s the type to sneak into my room and find my search history. My password is literally written on a Post-it note on the bottom of my computer… she won’t look there, right?

“Jaehyuk! Out of bed, I said!”

As Soo-Yeon headed out the door, locking it behind him and walking towards the school, there was one thought on his mind; ‘Today’s going to be horrible.’

Even if Jaehyuk didn’t tell everyone about Soo-Yeon’s confession, how would he face him? Let alone sit next to him in class. The very thought of Jaehyuk glaring at him with condescending disgust scared the life out of him.

‘I may have lost my best friend.’