aurora | x1

03

03 — PUPPETEER

they shall be brave and strong, i will choose fate.

—

once again, another school day was to come, like any other day, sitting in a packed classroom, listening to the boss of the lesson repeatedly. yohan walked down the empty alleyway, breathing in the cold air; icy days like this were the best, it allows nature be at peace, the birds were singing, the wind was whistling and the winter berries fell to the ground. with earphones plugged in, the tired teenager moved past couples who were in euphoria, young children who had no clue what future came for them, parents' who tried to love but failed, elderly who had nobody beside them and those people like yohan - lost in memories. yohan strutted through the zebra crossing, looking at the old convenience shops that lured school kids everyday. he focused back to his journey to school and continued making going uphill. everyday more students would fill the school up, the school community was getting larger each week or maybe it was just a pointless vision? never was there a day where misbehaving pupils were not smoking or drinking alcohol behind the buildings. without too much in mind, yohan entered the school premises and started to proceed his way to his main class room. he opened the doors to a crowded room, with people sitting on the desks, talking about the latest gossip and the nerdy kids revised for their exams. all of a sudden, a boy appeared in front of yohan's face.

"hey! yohan-hyung!" hangyul exclaimed, waving his hand over yohan's hansome face. "you good? looks like you didn't have enough sleep." he said. yohan gently walked past and sat at his assigned desk then picked up his journal; hangyul quickly followed him.

"do you understand how much i prepared for this exam hangyul?" yohan sighed, opening a random page from his journal.

"yeah i can tell, you've got eyebags and seems like you didn't eat today, right?" hangyul asked. the other teenager ignored him and focused back on the journal. in curiousty, hangyul snatched the tangerine-coloured book from yohan's hands to see what he was reading.

"nothing is there." yohan muttered as he crossed his muscular arms. on the otherhand, hangyul flicked through the pages trying to look for something.

"give it back, why bother?" yohan asked impatiently.

"woah, looks who's in a bad mood today, huh." hangyul said loudly passing the book. "but why haven't you wrote anything in it? i've seen it in your bag so many times..."

"take it if you're talking about it so badly." yohan responded.

"sometimes i think you're going insane, you're never like this yohan-hyung, moody and all that. remember to call childline for help." hangyul laughed.

"hangyul."

"yeah?"

"yoohyeon asked for back up earlier." yohan whispered.

"what time?" questioned hangyul, lowering his voice.

"meet up with me afterschool, 3:20pm, at the park near the entrance of the school. they should be there."

—

busy crowds were shouting at each other like lions, people moved around the squeezed, narrow street attempting to reach for different sales. market places were just dizzying places to go, so many peculiar offers, so many parents and homeless people begged for change. seungyoun walked calmly around the lane looking at all the splendid items he buy; he lifted up scarlet rings and bought a few street food from stalls. the freshly-baked doughnuts' scent swam in the air, citizens being able to taste the sugary and sweet flavour it had, berries rolled off the tables and ran across the bumpy street, people stomping on the mercilessly with their fruity liquid staying attached to their shoes. sellers made their voices clear, luring students and elderly in, it was like a competition from side to side - they were as loud as bells. seungyoun stepped away from the centre of the market and leaned on a brick wall, he took out his sliver phone.