Promise; Lee Su-hyeok

009. Welfie

1110 words

"Three."

And I jumped. My eyes are still closed so I don't know if I made it or not. I think I'm dead. Mmm, probably.

"Did I make it or not? Am I dead yet?" AllI hear is some 'awwing' come from inside. "Look at you guys," Dae-su says. "Bare-su's got that W rizz."

I open my eyes only to be meet with brown eyes not even an inch away. "Oh my fucking Abraham Lincoln." I lean away and we both laugh, definitely not awkwardly.

"Grab onto this part of the rope," he gestures to one of the loops, "and I'll get off first since it's easier that way."

I hum and grab where he told me to, putting my foot in a different loop. He lets go of my waist and slides down.

I make sure he's off safely before heading down myself. The rope wobbles a bit and I struggle to make it steady. He made it look so easy, goddam.

"Close it," Na-yeon begs.

"I'm still out here," I remind. I swear, this girl has a problem with everyone. I beam when I reach the flat part of their window. "Floor sweet floor."

"Close it before they get in," she says, sitting at a desk. She stomps her foot, "Would you just close it already?"

Gyeong-su grumbles, "They weren't even inside yet. You want us to just shut them out?" He grabs my arm to help me get off the table and I mutter a quick 'thank you'.

She lifts up her chin all snotty like, "Is it a crime to want the window closed?"

"How can you be so selfish?"

She sighs, "I can't stand you, stupid welfie."

I instantly look up, "Did she just-?" I look at Nam-ra and Su-hyeok for clarity. "Did she just say what I think she said?" They both nod slowly.

Before I can say or do anything, Gyeong-su angrily pushes Na-yeon into the chair she was sitting on moments before. "What did you just call me?"

"Yeah, Gyeong-su!" I cheer, happily hopping up and down, "You finally grew a pair!"

"Hey, come on," Cheong-san pulls him back.

Na-yeon was in disbelief. "You just hit me?"

"Yeah. Call me that again."

"Hey, knock it off." Ms. Park walks over to them, "What's going on over here guys?"

"He just hit me."

"Only 'cause you called me a welfie," Gyeong-su defends.

Na-yeon scoffs. "Is it not true?"

"You just can't say shit like that," Cheong-san interrupts.

Ms. Park innocently asks, "What's a welfie?" She persists when we stay silent. "Tell me. What is it?"

"..."

"What's a welfie?"

"A person on welfare."

She turns around to look at Su-hyeok, "What?"

"It means, a person on welfare. 'Welfie' for short."

Ms. Park sighs disappointedely. "Na-yeon that was wrong. Don't ever say that again. And Gyeong-su. When you hit people, yourself the one who ends up losing."

I scoff, looking down at my dirty shoes. "I beg to differ." Nam-ra covers my mouth with her hand, "Be quiet."

Ms. Park sighs again, choosing to ignore me. "Gyeong-su. Do you understand?"

"No, I don't."

I lick Nam-ra's hand and she takes it away. I shuffle away from her. "Okay, but like, what about outside school? Is that rule still implied?" I ask Ms. Park, slowly.

Su-hyeok sighs. What's with everyone and sighing? He slaps my neck, "N/n. Shut up."

"Listen, we can't be fighting eachother in a moment like this. We don't know what's going on out there with those-"

Su-hyeok interrupts, "Are they zombies?"

"What about the other teachers?" Ji-min asks Ms. Park.

Yeah like the other teachers were soooo nice.

"Has anyone called the cops?"

Ms. Park assures her, "Don't worry, I'm sure someone already has I just don't have my phone on me, right now."

"We called them, but they're coming." Cheong-san states. "Neither the police nor first responders."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon. We just have to wait a little longer," Ms. Park says, trying to stay hopeful.

Wait. Didn't we have a phone? I look at On-jo, "Do you still have that phone on you?"

She looks down, glumly. "No. I dropped it when we were running."

I roll my eyes. "Can you believe this girl, I-sa-?" I stop myself when I don't spot her in the room. I do a full 360 and still don't see her.

Where is she?

I raise my brows, "Guys, where is I-sak?" Everyone avoids making eye contact with me and I begin to panic. "Why aren't you looking at me?" I raise my voice, "Where is she?"

Su-hyeok comes up from behind me. He puts his hand on my shoulder, "Gummi..."

I shrug his hand off and I lock eyes with Cheong-san and On-jo, "No. She isn't. She isn't, right?" But they still avoid answering.

Su-hyeok stands infront of me. "I-sak's gone, N/n." I shake my head. "You weren't even there. How would you know? You were with me the whole time."

"When we went into the science lab to hide," Gyeong-su starts explaining, "On-jo said I-sak's hands were cold. And then she got a nosebleed. Like Coach Kang. So, when she turned, Cheong-san had to throw her out the window."

I try to speak but my throat won't allow me to do so. All I can do is avoid eye contact with anyone. I can feel their eyes burning into me.

My voice unwillingly becomes much softer and quieter, despite me trying to seem moderately unbothered. "...Oh. That sucks. May she rest in peace."

I want to cry, so bad. I just... can't. I've gotten so used to not crying. At least not in front of people.

Call me cringey or cliche, but it's what I've always done to fit in with my group. It's not so easy to get rid of old habits. They die hard.

Just ask Su-hyeok.

Speaking for Su-hyeok, he blinks, "That's it?" His eyes study my face, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

I'm surprised he's that surprised. He knows what our rules were when he was with us.

I shrug, "What can I do?" On-jo scoffs, "Do you really not care? I-sak was always so nice to you, she was one of your best friends. Are you heartless or what?"

Okay, that kinda hurt.

Ms. Park frowns, "On-jo, enough."

"But Ms. P-"

"On-jo, everyone grieves in their own way. Leave her alone," Gyeong-su defends.

On-jo ignores him, and changes topics. "Ms. Park. Hyeon-ju's hand were cold too. So were I-sak's."

"What if all of this started with Hyeon-ju?"