ー章.
a year or so had passed.
she was a senior now, officially. and as the senior year rolled in, her high school still seemed to be attached like super glue to the suicide of their beloved athlete, jeon jeongguk.
everyone was still talking about it. students were still grieving, coaches were upset that he let such an opportunity go to waste.
he was a swimmer, that boy. the schools best swimmer. he was on his way to olympic stardom, would be representing his home country of south korea. but now. the next park taehwan. now he was gone forever.
she often walked down the hallways annoyed with the school's intolerance to the situation. she felt sorry for them almost, that they were still so blind. no one had even questioned that maybe he might have been depressed. no one was questioning his mental health.
and she was beginning to think that's what drove him to his breaking part – because no one cared enough.
she often came home on days like these, tired. after school to her humble abode where her mother was stretched out, passed out in the bathtub, a needle in her hand and a rubber band wrapped around her arm.
she never told anyone about her mother. shooting horse. she didn't bother her. set her backpack down by the front door and made her way to her room. pulled off her school uniform and pulled out a magenta colored bathing suit. she put it on, followed by a cropped red, wool knitted sweater.
she had an exam coming up, not finals, but an exam. she wasn't a very good studier in terms of focus, but she always got a clear head whenever she had her butt resting on soft, wet sand and the bitter smell of salt filling her nostrils.
her mother would wake up soon, she knew that. but her soon and her mother's soon were two different soon's, and she was sure she'd be back before her mother came off her high.
so she settled down onto her bed, stared up at her ceiling fan as silence took took her to the deepest depths of her mind. zzzz! ー she grabbed her phone from beside her thigh, sat up as she eyed the notification.
a message from a stranger. probably had the wrong number, that was mostly always the case. she felt like there was no need to go into identity questions, so she responded as simply as she could.
unknown: you said to text you if you worship satan soooo, whATS UP THO
michi: sorry, you have the wrong number.
the person texts back almost immediately as she's too busy cursing herself out for ever writing such a stupid message on the bathroom walls. text me at this number if you worship satan – stupid girl.
unknown: are you sure?
unknown: you're kim michi right?
unknown: my name is jeongguk
she blinks.
unknown: i'm the dead boy.
