Remote

1. This awful silence.

Namjoon

It was almost in slow motion to my eyes.

They were murdering each other.

Before the final showdown, two officers had gripped their clothes by the collar. We couldn't do anything; even if we did, how could it benefit any of us?
The two men were taken away like plastic drifting off into the ocean's waves, meaningless to the people.

Things like this in the community rarely occurred. No body wants harm to be done, but at the same time, nothing interesting ever happens. Not even getting a 100 on a test. Not even having friends. Not even seeing someone for the first time in forever. I wouldn't know, of course.

School was something I actually looked forward to. The gathering of knowledge, the exploration of the unknown world ahead of us, the experiences us students can see and feel our own feelings without being controlled.
But even feeling something independently, I still felt a burden within me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew it was something many people do not commute about, which I assume don't feel as much.

"88."

It's not that I was experiencing mood swings or such, but something I felt was lacking. A part of my brain couldn't function while thinking about what this was.

"88!"

It's probably just a hunch, nobody gets this ahead of themselves while thinking-

"Kim Namjoon!"

I blinked, twitched, widened my eyes an eyebrows - everybody was penetrating me with their stare. Not to mention, the teacher called me by my first name? I normally wouldn't dose off into class!

"Yes, sir?" I said acting as if I was on task.

He did a subtle eye roll. "Don't ever make me call you by your full name, 88."

"Sorry, Mr. Win."

In this small, soundless area that a small, soundless group of people stay are called by numbers. The government didn't care about your name, so you just went by a number - unless you were a working adult, your working name would be your real last name.
My family's number's name is 88.

"Please be on task to where the rest of your fellow classmates are on the laptop, sir. I can see all of your tabs, and none of them are appropriate for this session."

I looked at him puzzled, but then glanced back to my screen only to see the college that I am applying for. This was a math class, not the counselor's office.

- 35 minutes later -

As soon as the bell rang, everybody got out of their seat silently, and towards the door. No extra conversations, no students lined up to the teacher asking a questions or "when was the homework assigned again?" It took we a while to pack up - I didn't like to rush in any state.

The bell's sound kept echoing in my ears. A ringing, beeping sound so ugly. Just now I am realizing how painfully annoying it is, standing in my seat. The silence around it and how nothing was conflicting.

Just like this society. The fight that happened earlier, how the only sound were the officer's stern yelling and heavy breathing due to the beaten young boys. God, I wished that I might've at least told people to go on with their being.

I'm just like the rest of the people who adapt here.
This awful silence that is taking over the people and world that we know of.

Thank you for reading the first chapter!! Its my first time writing a story like this on Wattpad, so please understand😂 Also sorry this introduction was sooo slow, I'm just trying to make a more dramatic intro to build on (for later on chapters😏😏)