“Since the rumour spread like wildfire, Aunt Hana thought it’d be wise to pull me out,” says Kai as he hops the ball between his hands.

Sometimes there would be balls and other fun equipment left out during the warm days so some patients would find it exciting to find objects to spontaneous play with. Kai had found the ball on the bench that they had propped their bags and coats on. Aiko stood with her hands out, ready to catch the ball whilst shivering with worry for the ball as it had already hit her in the face.

“So what school are you going to?” Aiko asks.

“I’m not really sure, I think it’s that one by the bridge?” He shrugs and throws the ball to her.

She reaches her hands out to catch it and falls to the ground in the process.

“Tunnel…” she questions as she pulls herself up from the floor. “Oh! Oh, is that my school?!”

Kai stands still, observing her little victory dance and smiles simply. He liked being with Aiko because though she had her own darkness, she was always a bubbly character that would brighten him up, he just couldn’t understand why she was always so strong willed to be with him at all moments. He didn’t like that it was hard for him to enjoy being happy, he didn’t like he wasn’t as charming and stable as other guys he saw on the street, he wanted to be more. But no matter what, he would be attractive to Aiko.

“I guess it is,” he says.

“That’s great, I can finally show you my friends,” she says.

Aiko and Kai have a short friendship since they met a year ago when they both entered highschool and the facility. Whilst their presence at the facility was dead, Aiko couldn't stop talking about Kai to her friends. Meanwhile, Kai was silent outside of the facility, texting Aiko or hanging out with his cousin Ki-suk was his life.

“Oh, yeah, Cleo and Haneul, was it?” he asks. “Is Cleo foreign?”

She shakes her head laughing. “Well Cleo’s mother likes History and Mythology and Cleo is the muse of history, i think,” Says Aiko as she throws the ball.

Kai catches the ball and hold it between his hands. She liked history, he thought. Long into his past, a certain bubbly dark haired girl that meant a lot to him was interested in history. She would always encourage her parents to take her to place to find out history facts and would come back to Kai to tell him all about it when he would be sobbing on the springs after another run in with his father’s fists. He missed her terribly. He missed the the happiness that was there with her and his mother.

“Kai?” calls Aiko.

He looks up with a tear in his eye.

“Sorry,” he laughs lightly and throws the ball.

“Hey, let’s meet up sometime and go karaoke, Cleo is mental at it, I bet you’d like it!” Aiko laughs and throws the ball back.

Kai nods his head slowly. “Sure.”