Voiceless Cries

Chapter 15 : Obliquely

 “Did you know that rocks absorb water?”

Someone was telling a very ‘interesting’ fact to her friend. Jiyeon was drumming her fingers on the table, waiting anxiously for the time to speed up. At the same time, she was listening to these magnificent tales the people behind her were sharing. It was the last lesson of the day, and the teacher was not in class. She had a ‘very urgent’ meeting to attend and gave the class some exercises to practice on. Trusting that the class would be very quiet, she had left a few minutes after she entered.

But the class, after all, was not very trustworthy and the volume gradually increased. Jiyeon doubted that anyone was doing the work the teacher ordered them to.

“So?” Her friend replied.

“It’s supposed to be an interesting fact.”

Jiyeon imagined the girl pouting at her friend’s lack of reaction.

“Oh, wow. It’s the most interesting thing in the world.” Her friend remarked, sarcasm clear in her voice.

There was silence coming from them. Another minute later, the girl started again.

“Did you know when a volcano doesn’t explode for years you call it an extinct volcano?”

“Then what happens when the extinct volcano explodes?”

Jiyeon shook her head. She could not imagine how dense her classmates could be.

“Then, it’s not an extinct volcano anymore. It’s an active one.”

The bell finally rang and Jiyeon began gathering her things. As she stood up, she took a glance at the back of the room. The last two seats were empty. They were usually occupied by Myungsoo and Sunggyu but today, both of them were absent.

Could they have ditched the class together? But when she thought about it, she rarely saw Sunggyu with Myungsoo these days. And Sunggyu had not approached her for days. Could something be going on?

Jiyeon walked out of the class, her mind rapid with those thoughts. Then, Sunggyu came into her vision and she smiled at him. Sunggyu smiled back in an intelligible hastiness as he walked over to her.

“Hi Jiyeon.”

He spurted in a somewhat alarmed voice and waved at her. After Jiyeon waved back, Sunggyu walked past her. The wind of his urgency swept her and her lips curved a frown as she looked at his back. He did not even engage her in a short conversation. Well, at least he said ‘hi’.

Jiyeon walked on towards the clock tower. The alcove of the clock tower –the entrance—was located at the back of the clock tower: the wall that was not facing the fountain. Jiyeon took the back route so that she could reach the alcove without passing the fountain. She was clutching a file to her chest and the papers that inhabited the file were slowly spilling out. Jiyeon laughed at how carelessly the papers were arranged in the file and tried her best to support the papers from falling. 

As soon as she stepped out, Jiyeon let the warm breeze caress her skin. She made her way towards the clock tower. Her attention was caught by the flowers that were blossoming in the spring air. They spotted the once bare landscaped in a spectrum of bright colors.

But as she neared the clock tower, she could hear muffled voices drowned against the sound of flowing water. It was like a busy market on the other side of the clock tower. Someone was shouting orders and she could hear things being dragged around. Jiyeon quicken her steps to see what was going on behind the tower.

She stepped around the corner and was confused by what she saw. People were rushing about bringing carrying things here and there. There was some platform which looked like an unfinished stage on one side of the area and a group of students were trying to hang what appeared to be a banner. The fountain seemed to be the centre of everything. The students scurried and revolved around it.