soul switch│ j.jk ✔

s e v e n

[   p r e s e n t     t i m e   ]

a good six years have passed since taehyung suddenly left.

i tried my best to search for him but i always hit a dead end. i never knew where he went, what his reasons were for leaving, and why hadn't he told me anything about his departure.

i tried searching for him through facebook which was one of the most accessible social media but no profile popped up with his name. even in twitter, instagram, and snapchat. there wasn't anyone on the internet whose name was ‘kim taehyung’ with the familiar cute and handsome face i so got used to.

rather sad, but what can i do?

i gave up on searching for him but my feelings for him never changed.

it even deepened as the years flew by. the memories i held onto was what made me decide to never give up on him.

sometimes i would just sit down and think back to what happened during my elementary years. what made my years rainbow-like and the reason why it was tinged with monochromic colours.

my childhood days would have been happy memories now if not for kim taehyung.

if only kim taehyung stayed.

“do you think the uniform will suit me?”

ever since i went to highschool, i've been a loner for a few weeks because of my longing for taehyung. i wanted a friend like him. but i couldn't find one. he was irreplaceable and that's an objective fact. no one can replace taehyung. but a few weeks later, someone started talking to me and befriending me. eventually, i started to like her company and ended up being friends with her. i opened up to her about my elementary years as well as what happened with my very first friend.

“why wouldn't it? anything suits you, eru.” clover answered as she busily swiped through her phone.

today's sunday and tomorrow will be our first day as senior high students. clover's with me in my room checking if my uniform's okay. i feel like it doesn't. it felt weird trying it. it felt weird just by looking at it.

“oh, please. no more sugarcoating. i know i look like someone who's trying hard to cosplay an anime character.” i said with a sigh as i looked at my reflection at the oval-shaped full-body mirror. i frequently ran my fingers through the familiar fabric, sometimes raising my skirt then twirling around. the uniform somehow looked similar—no, scratch that—it is a uniform that resembled japanese highschool uniforms, complete with the tie, the collar, the sleeves, the length of the skirt, and the socks. it was a breath of fresh air for me as most of my uniforms since elementary and junior highschool looked almost the same.

this—the japanese-anime-shoujo-romance-styled uniform—was something new for me. it was a bit awkward all because of the length of the skirt, but i'll surely get used to it in no time.

clover looked at me and rolled her eyes.
“you know i don't sugarcoat anything unless you say so. but yeah, no sugarcoating, it suits you. you're like an anime character that came to life.”

that's what they always say when they meet me. that i resembled an anime character. why the fuck not, anyway? i'm half-japanese, after all. oftentimes they would ask if i was pure-blood japanese and i would answer casually with a shrug, “half-bull, half-shit.”

usually, i get compliments like, my eyes were too ‘japanese-like’, my smile was too sweet and that i looked like i was feigning innocence and that i was faking my smiles. there were times (especially when i entered highschool) when girls from my class almost poured boiling oil to my hands because of how good they looked and how soft they felt.

deep down, they don't understand what i'm feeling and saying.
‘what's the point of these warm and gentle hands if taehyung won't hold my hand with his?’

“okay, thanks for complimenting me.” i said as i flopped down on the bed and looked straight at the ceiling i painted to look exactly like the skies on an april night; filled with twinkling little lights, and a lonely moon. it wasn't remotely near picasso's or michael angelo's nor van gogh's works of art but at least it had the ‘midnight air’ and ‘starry sky’ feel to it. and i was more than glad that it looked like the night sky rather than a black ceiling carelessly painted with black, white, gold, silver, and ash gray colours.

another sigh escaped from my lips.

“if you're thinking about school tomorrow, you better not. i already have a prediction that it'll be a day full of surprises. not sure in what way, though. let's just hope for the best that it'll be a good start tomorrow.” clover said that made me sigh yet again.

“everything happened so fast, you know,” i exhaled, lifting my hand up, looking at the bracelet taehyung gave me years ago, “one moment we were having so much fun in highschool and the next thing is a big slap on the face to wake up and be matured idiots that will soon face the brutality of senior high.” the bracelet glittered as i moved my wrist around. the charms or roses dangling around, gave a satisfying clink for a few times and again, like what always happens, i felt like i was reverted back to my happy childhood days.

i closed my eyes and held the dangling rose charms with my left forefinger and thumb. i smiled as i remembered the day taehyung gave this to me. it was an unforgettable moment and it still feels like it was just yesterday.

when clover went home and i have changed into my comfortable pajamas, i sat down for a moment, and thought about everything clover told me.

i sighed as i closed my eyes and ever so slowly was i lulled to sleep.

“hope for the best, huh.”