Mrs. Kim stood by the door and clutched her chest as she watched her daughter walk down the street towards the bus stop. “Why are you going to school in this state…?” She frowned. “Stupid girl…” She dialed her number quickly and held the phone up to her ear. “Jihye, come home. Forget about school, I don’t care about that anymore. I’ll talk to the principal—”

Jihye turned around and waved to her mother half a block away. “I’ll be fine. I have a quiz today and an assignment to turn in, and Dr. Oh gave me pain medication. Mom, I haven’t seen Hanbin all weekend either.”

Mrs. Kim furrowed her brows in concern. “Jihye, do you like Hanbin?”

Jihye nodded. “Mm, I do. I’ve liked him for a long time, Mom. Don’t worry; he’s not like the other guys. You know him better than most people, too! And you know he’s a good man.”

“Ji—”

“Mom, don’t tell him anything, okay?” Jihye stood with her hand in her pocket as she stared at her mother who was now a little figure, far away. “Even if I’m in pain, even if you know I can’t take the world any longer…” She bit her lip and turned around to leave. “Don’t tell Hanbin anything.”

Reluctantly, Mrs. Kim nodded. “Alright, fine,” she said.

“P-Promise?”

Mrs. Kim agreed and hung up; she didn’t want Jihye to hear her cry. “Of course. G-Get to school safe! Bye honey, I love you.” She choked on her words and quickly pulled the device away from her face.

***

Jihye walked into her morning chemistry class and smiled at her friend in the fourth row. “Anna!”

The chemistry class was a mix of students who had decided and undecided majors. Like Jihye, Anna Lee was amongst those who were torn between two career paths.

“Jihye! What the hell?” Anna frowned. “You didn’t answer my messages all weekend and look!” She pulled her phone out and flashed her Snapchat screen in her face. “We lost our streak!”

Jihye raised her brows in realization. “A-Ah…Right…” She scrolled through the notification bar that she’d ignored for the past few days and stopped at the 19 missed calls from Hanbin. “Um…”

The playful expression disappeared off of Anna’s face when she realized the tenseness in the air. “What’s going on?”

The girls had been close since their freshmen year. This was their third semester together in a science course, and it was obvious that they had a tight bond.

Jihye turned to her and shrugged. “It’s nothing. I wanted a break from social media, that’s all.” She forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

Anna leaned back into her seat; there was clearly something up, but she felt the need to back off. Tell me the truth, Jihye. “And Hanbin, he’s been asking about you, too,” she said quietly. “He’s worried.”

Then the man himself walked in. Hanbin came storming into the class, frantically looking for Jihye. He scanned the rows and sighed in relief when he saw her. “Jihye!”

“H-Hi, Hanbin…”