“HI CHAN!” a voice called out my name as an arm made its own way to wrap around my neck. just by listening to that energetic voice, i could already tell that it was my friend kevin.
glancing up at him, i saw a wide grin taking over his lips. kevin is always happy, this is really no surprise. both of us did our buddy handshake and walked to school together.
the little hike to school was nothing special, it's basically almost our daily routine to walk to school. it's better than taking a bus, at least we're getting some exercise.
“hey chan, are you gonna watch the game this sunday?” kevin asked, running towards me as he started walking backwards.
hesitation.
“no sorry, we have exams next week and i don't wanna fail so i'll just lock myself up in my room and study” i closed my eyes, just by thinking about studying makes me tired already.
kevin stopped walking.
“come on dude, stop overworking yourself up. that could lessen your lifespan you know?” he patted my shoulder and all i could do is try and put out a genuine smile.
how can i not overwork myself when i feel like everything i do is not enough for them. why can't they just accept me for who i am? is that too much to ask?
“you're spacing out again” unlike earlier, his voice was soft yet comforting. kevin was now standing beside me as he examined my face closely.
“chan” he tried catching my attention. i only hummed in response. “you look really pale. paler than usual, are you alright?” kevin placed the back of his hand on top of my forehead, checking my temperature.
i grabbed his hand and removed it away from my forehead. “i'm fine.” kevin didn't take the bait and let me sit down on one of the benches.
he held either both of my shoulder as he let me look at him straight in the eyes. there was silence that coated both of us, the atmosphere was as cold as ice.
“you're not fine” he insisted. i know him, he wouldn't stop unless he gets satisfied with your answer. kevin doesn't give up easily, he is persistent in getting what he wants but that's not gonna work on me.
luckily, i was saved by the bell. i patted his back and went to my classroom, leaving him behind.
i'm sorry kevin
AS EXPECTED, the teacher for their first period didn't arrive on time. she was already late for 15 minutes and the class was as noisy as a market place.
chan was about to lay his head on his desk not until they heard the doorknob click and swung open. they quickly ran to their proper seats and behaved, the total opposite of what they have done earlier.
“i'm sorry i'm late again class” the teacher set down her things on the table, fixing her slightly crumpled clothes while easing off her baby hairs aside.
“i had some errands to run and one of those errands is to transfer a student from class 10B to class 10A” chan's eyes were about to close shut but luckily, he refrained himself.
“miss lee hyejin, please come inside” the door opened once again and now revealed a girl around chan's age. she smiled and bowed, she looked cheerful.
“hello i am lee hyejin, please take care of me” the class cheered and a ruckus started to erupt. they wanted hyejin to be their seatmate making some students push the person sitting next to them to make the seat unoccupied.
chan didn't care one bit, he just wanted to sleep peacefully.
“miss hyejin, seat next to chan.” she pointed one of the empty seats. hyejin bobbed her head and made her way to chan's row. she set her things down and glanced at chan who was busily trying not to fall asleep.
she laughed.
“hi i'm lee hyejin, what's your name?” she introduced and smiled sweetly afterwards. chan turned to her direction and glanced down at her outreached hand.
he shook it slightly, “chan, bang chan”
a short yet straight forward response she got from him. hyejin really didn't think much of it and took out her notebook and listened to the discussion.
