Mirage

18

Looking at Haeun after all her secrets had unfolded felt different. It was something Sunwoo could not describe.

She never said it aloud before but the boy could have felt the pain she went through.

Sunwoo must admit that Haeun was a strong girl. How she could always pull up the corner of her lips in public despite the pain she hid was an admiration.

"Is...there something on my face?" the girl suddenly asked, slightly taken aback by the stare she received from her seatmate. "You've been staring."

Sunwoo secretly sniffled as he looked up at the ceiling, avoiding her gaze not to let her see his wet eyes.

"Who do you think you are to have me staring at you?" he chuckled bitterly, jolting up from his seat. "I'm sorry but I need to change for P.E. You're lucky that you don't have to take part."

He scoffed, dragging his feet lazily towards the door. He managed to meet her eyes briefly - they were wavered, in which Sunwoo felt his heart slightly broke.

In the gym too, when she sat alone at a corner, being accompanied with her journal, now only Sunwoo noticed the disappointment in her eyes. She might have been dying to join everyone, she might want to live her life normally but she could not.

She must have felt so devastated.

Sunwoo had been staring too long, not romantically - he told himself that, but anyone could tell that the stare was something. Had it not, he might have not stood there whilst his classmates were playing volleyball - not moving at all.

Everyone seemed invisible, the movement around him seemed too fast except for the girl he kept his eyes on.

She looked different.

It was then, a ball which was used by the female students rolling out of the court, it stopped not too far from Haeun's spot.

Sunwoo saw how she was too immersed scribbling her journal. He was sure that she did not ignore the ball on purpose, she ain't notice its existence.

"Hey Haeun!" one of the girls shouted, not even Haeun but also Sunwoo immediately turned around towards the source. "Can you please take the ball for us?"

Rude.

Sunwoo scoffed bitterly, the request itself did not sound sincere. Nonetheless, they had to be grateful that it was Kim Haeun. If it was him, he could not guarantee he would have helped.

However, something about Haeun's attitude today made him slightly furrowing his brows. She heaved such a great amount of oxygen. It almost looked like she was refused to help but was force to do so.

But still, she pushed herself up from her sitting, lazily walking up to the ball's position. For a second, Sunwoo was angry.

He got angry at the girl herself. Why must she follow everything people ask her to do when the reality was not like what it seem? If she refused to do so, why couldn't she say it out loud?

It was then, Haeun threw the ball towards the circle. But her energy level was too minimal to cooperate, the ball ended up fell midway.

Chuckles were then heard amongst the circle which did not go unheard by Sunwoo. Disbelief, he eyed them weirdly, when one of them spoke up.

"More harder, Haeun. You're no help!"

What had startled Sunwoo even more was Kim Haeun proceeded to pick the ball up again despite the obvious unwillingness clouded over her.

He could conclude that they were taking advantages on her.

"Hey!"

Even he himself could not believe what he did right now. What had he thought to yell like that? On top of everything, he was defending the girl he was once humiliated.

Life surely could be full of surprise.

Now, Kim Sunwoo got all the attentions as he made his way towards all the females. For sure he  had sparked a ruckus, but it was not like it was bizarre.

"You guys surely know how to complain but none could do better than her", he sarcastically scoffed, satisfaction filling him in when each faces were triggered.

"Sunwoo... stop it", Haeun seemed to know what would happen if she did not interfere. Nonetheless, he did not seem to care either. His orbs were shooting fire towards their classmates as if her voice was unheard. "Sunwoo...."

Something about Haeun's voice right now had urged Sunwoo to glance over his shoulder. It did sound pleading yet heavy, there was no way he would ignore it this time.

But, Sunwoo regretted it that he only checked on her now. Had he done that more earlier, he might have seen her pale face more sooner.

"You okay?" he bluntly asked and she was seen struggling even to lift her head. "Kim Haeun, do you need anything?"

Since he already knew everything about her, his attitude towards her strangely had changed without he needed to do much.

It was effortless.

Haeun felt beads of sweats forming all over her body for an unknown reason, her hands were cold, too cold despite the rising temperature in the gym.

Sunwoo's voice was echoing that somehow making it hard for her to give a reply. The last sound she heard was from the watch that was hugging her wrist, the light blinking was red.

"I..."

That was the last thing she said before she lost her balance, falling backward but luckily Sunwoo had secured her head from hitting the ground when his fast reflex once again made its appearance, catching Haeun's frame.

The girl was half conscious, her chest rising heavily everytime she breathed in, alerted the teacher to call an ambulance as soon as he was summoned.

"Kim Haeun, breathe!" Sunwoo shook her softly, glancing over her watch. "Your heartbeats are too low!"

It felt like waiting for someone's last breath to be released and Sunwoo hated that feeling. He desperately wanted to do something, he wanted to save her.

It was then, she reached for her phone inside her blazer's pocket, unlocking it with her fingerprint before he looked for Eric's contact. He definitely ain't never care if the boy was in the middle of a class or whatsoever, the girl in his arms was battling with her life.

"Eric, don't ask me anything right now. Tell me which hospital Haeun is registered in", right there, the said girl's body became lifeless, the reading on her watch dropped. "Haeun, open your eyes!"

The shout somehow had given Eric a scary idea about his friend. His mind went blank, unable to blurt anything out. Nonetheless Sunwoo brought him back to reality when he yelled again, sounded too desperate.

"I don't remember the hospital's name, it's not far from her new house", Eric gulped nervously. "She once said they're moving into that house because it's the closest to the hospital".