nepenthe // p.jisung

Nepenthe

Nepenthe~ It's something wonderful. A word to describe the thing that makes you forget grief or suffering. He was my Nepenthe...

   She dragged her feet across the road with her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets. Jisung saw her walking down his road yesterday as well, about the same time, with her earbuds in. Her head was lowered down to face the pavement.

    What's her name again? Jisung thought. Akina.

   He didn't remember the most about her. He never had a class with her last year because she was in eighth grade while Jisung was a freshman, and so far this year, they only have one class together: last period study hall. However, Akina is never in there because she's always busy helping in the library.

   Jisung noticed something about Akina, even though he hasn't seen her all that much. He noticed her fake smiled. He noticed the way her face forces a smile, but how her eyes show a different story. There was something wrong with Akina; although, Jisung was the only one who seemed to notice.

   Akina kept walking, not aware of Jisung's presence. He stayed still on his couch while looking out the window behind it, waiting for her to move passed. He could see why she would walk this road. It's peaceful; no one really drives on it. There's a creek a little ways down from Jisung's house that he, sometimes, would visit.

   Thinking about the creek gave Jisung a craving to see it, but he would risk running into Akina.

   It's not that he didn't like her, he just didn't know her. He's never had a conversation with her. Jisung and his friends were the people everyone in the high school knew of since they were a part of the basketball team. He wondered how a conversation had never sparked once between them as he thought of the times they've bumped into each other.

   It wasn't much, but last year he remembers Akina dropping her pencils. Jisung was passing and picked them up for her. When he met her eyes with his, returning the pencils, he could see a certain glimmer in her eyes that he didn't see in them anymore. She even placed a real, warm smile on her face then.

   Come to think of it, she only started to distance herself from everyone the end of last school year. She even missed some school. Early this year, Haechan, ones of Jisung's close friends, asked one of her friends when walking down the hallways where she was, since he didn't see her in his drawing and painting class most of that week.

   Her friends hardly knew. They said she wasn't feeling good, but that's as far as they know.

   Jisung just guessed she was out because of some flu if she wasn't feeling good. Though, on and off over a month and then the beginning of the next school year doesn't make it add up.

   One part of Jisung wanted to talk to her; find out what was going on, but the other half told him not to move. She doesn't even know him. Then, that was it. Akina had disappeared from Jisung's view.

   With a small shrug, Jisung left the couch and retreated to his room.