Author's Notes: Listen to a sad song before you read this. Probably 'Ddoreureu' by Park Ji-Yeon. I couldn't grasp the sadness that I wanted to depict. Enjoy reading the eleventh chapter.

Episode 10

Past Memories and New Experiences

March 4, Post-dismissal of the evening class, 10:51 PM

Leon went out of the dormitory building, wearing a black fur jacket. He breathed deeply, looking up at the moon as it bathed the night with sheets of borrowed light. His feet led him as his mind became clouded with thoughts and worries. Trees towered above him as he went on a curved path. Listening to his own footsteps and the pleasant silence of the night, he drifted and sailed across the campus grounds. He looked up again at the sky, now more cheerfully. It was the same moon of when he was six years old. It was still beautifully pale, watching over him during cold nights like a loving parent. A flashback made its way in, and Leon found himself back to his younger self.

Only a thin blanket of woven cloth covered his young, frail body from the freezing temperature. Her mother was no longer there to comfort him like she used to, and his father was always at work, even after the sun had long set. Sitting on the porch, Leon stared up at the starless night sky. The moon glowed in the darkness and gave light to his small house. There was no electricity and he depended on moonlight, seeking it every night for its blessed presence. Normally, he would look at it for hours and hours until he would fall asleep. The harsh realization brought about by the scorching sun in the morning always challenged him to live the best way that he could, though he was poor and left all by himself.

The images of the past concluded, blurred in his mind. Leon spread a smile across his face, gazing up at the glowing crescent. "I haven't thanked you after all these years, have I?"

He smirked at himself and continued walking. "Thank you."

The peaceful silence was broken by singing. Leon recognized the song. A mellow ballad expressing loss and acceptance for unrequited love, he knew, that his mother used to sing to him whenever he was sad. The soft melody made his chest feel heavier increasingly the more times he heard it, though he would always feel better after listening to it.

Leon found the owner of the beautiful voice sitting on a swing, alone. He simply stood there, watching her as the song further crushed him with its deep weight of sadness. A photograph of his mother appeared in his mind as he listened to the song and the sweet yet sorrowful voice, almost breaking him into tears. Silently approaching from behind, he joined in during the chorus, but the girl suddenly stopped and turned around to look at him with a surprised and embarrassed expression.

"...Leon?"

He sat on the adjacent seat and slowly swung himself from front to back. The girl grew less tense and sat back down. Seconds of empty staring at the dark sky passed as neither of the two even glanced at each other.

"My mother used to sing that song to me every night."

"You know it too?" she asked.

He nodded. The girl let out a sigh.

"I wish my mother also did that to me," she said, her eyes expressing unfathomable emotions.

Curious and sympathetic, Leon looked at her. She caught his eyes with her own. She looked back down on the ground after, kicking her legs as the swing weakly pushed her back and forth.

"I...can't even remember what she looks like." Natalie graced him with her teary eyes streaming with self-pity.

"Miss Song..." She paused to clear her constricted throat. "Miss Song found me in front of her door one night." Her strangled words came out bitterly. "I...I don't know anything about my parents."

Leon took a deep breath. "My mother passed away when I was five. My father died not long after."

Surprised, the girl dropped her eyes on him. Brushing her hair away from her eyes, she wiped away a tear and sniffed. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I, too, am sorry."

The absence of sound gave them time to contain the feelings that had escaped. Instead, the weight of grief even worsened. Leon shook his head and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He looked at the one beside him.

"You should be grateful for your parents. Be thankful that you know who they are and feel the love they gave you while they still had the chance to."

Her words sank deep. He stared at his hand in idle thought and then lifted his head to the sky.

"You don't know how much...how much...how much it hurts knowing that you were abandoned. Thrown out, like a useless piece of trash." She paused to control herself. "I wish I could feel what it felt like being loved by my own parents. The comfort of their hugs. The care and love of their words." She stopped and quickly wiped a tear, shaking her head as she softly laughed at herself. "I...don't even know what my real name is." Natalie bit her lip, putting all effort to hold back the tears. She shattered, whimpering before she started crying again. Her tears were silent and she covered her mouth to soften her plaintive sobs.

"Don't cry."

Leon got up and hugged her head to his chest. She stopped crying and held fast to him. She looked up at him, her vision flooded by tears. He started singing the same song she had sung. Slowly, she joined during the second verse and tried to overcome sadness with the slightest hint of happiness and hope through singing. Leon closed his eyes and listened. The lovely orchestra of her voice, surpassing the beauty that of a piano, and the serene night brought calmness to his heart, blocking the erupting tears from coming out. Both of them sang the chorus and glanced at each other as the song lifted their sorrow up to the dark sky, to the glowing moon.

The lyrics repeated in their mind as they made their way back to the dormitory. Even when Natalie was already lying on her bed, she could still feel the warmth of the song enveloping her. She sang it one last time as Leon also did from his room. The two of them fell asleep, carried by the soft melody of their voices.

XXX

Friday, March 5, Morning class, 7:37 AM.

"Group into pairs and discuss the formula of each figure drawn on the board. Answer the questions that follow." Sir Taiga finished using the board and stepped closer to the students. Leon and Natalie were both sleepy, while Yun-Hee and Mi-Young were staring at him. Taiga sighed. He walked and stopped in the middle of Leon and Natalie. He slammed his palms on their desks and woke them up. Natalie's eyes quickly shot open. Leon slowly recovered from his dream.

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"Yes sir," they responded, only half-awake.

Taiga slammed his palms on their desks and spoke louder, "What did I say?"

"Group into pairs..." Natalie yawned.

Leon stretched back his shoulders. "...and discuss the formulas before answering the questions."

Taiga nodded, pointing at the both of them. "You and you. Mi-Young and Yun-Hee. Five minutes!"

"Five minutes?" all of them, including the student dubbed as 'The Academic Addict' a.k.a. Mi-Young, complained. Answering ten problems about area, perimeter, circumference and surface area within five minutes was overwhelming.

Taiga looked at his watch. "Four minutes and fifty-seven seconds."

The students threw their books open and copied the questions on the board to their papers. Leon and Natalie worked separately, one writing the questions while the other one listed down the formulas. Mi-Young and Yun-Hee did everything together. The pair exercised teamwork and shared their thoughts about the answers to the questions they had to answer. Sir Taiga watched the special class develop into a group of true students. One day, they would surely prove to be the best students Korea would have.

"Done!" Natalie said triumphantly, waving the sheet of paper above her head with a whole minute to spare. Leon smirked at her enthusiasm. Sir Taiga took their answer sheet and waited for the other pair, which finished not long after. A brief discussion followed, focusing on the reason why Taiga had made them work as a pair, and not individually.

"Studying as a group will also help in digging deeper and understanding your lessons better. Interaction nurtures learning. Remember that. Don't restrain yourself from asking questions. The more questions you ask, the better. It only means that you really are preparing for the nationals, and you want to improve yourself and learn as much as you can."

"Yes sir!" The four smiled at each other. For once, they enjoyed being in school, specifically studying. They arranged their chairs into a circle and discussed their lesson together. Everyone was in a good mood. Sir Taiga temporarily left them since it was time for lunch break. An hour later, he came back and found the students still glued to their seats, helping each other learn more and correct past mistakes. Taiga smirked, feeling their determination through the continuous flipping of pages and moving of pencils.

"Are you not going to have lunch?" he asked, stepping inside the room. The students didn't seem to hear him. They were too focused on their books.

Yun-Hee tapped her pencil on her desk. "What's 0.08 again?"

"2/25," everyone supplied.

They timed themselves as to how fast they could answer the exam. One minute was provided per question. Mi-Young was the first to finish. She checked her watch. Four minutes to spare. The rest finished within the next minute, Leon being the last. Then, they checked their answers and compared mistakes. Each of them learned from each other, including Mi-Young herself. Their excitement came to a halt when they noticed Sir Taiga watching them by the door.

"Your lunch break is over."

Natalie glanced at her pink watch. She hung her head down. Their lunch break was over.

"Go."

"What?" Natalie couldn't help but ask.

"Go and eat."

"I thought this was another overtime," Yun-Hee said, dropping her pencil into her pencil case. She stretched her aching back as the others also stopped. "Lunch break?"

Sir Taiga nodded. "Lunch break. Be back by one."

The four students stood from their chairs and left the room. "Ne!" they shouted into the corridor as they left the classroom. Natalie ate her lunch with Leon, leaving Yun-Hee alone to herself. She sighed and prayed for the food she had bought. She played with the strips of grilled chicken, turning them over and back. An unexpected visitor tapped her on the back to stop her from making toys out of her food.

"Oh, Mi-Young?" Yun-Hee rubbed her eyes, surprised.

"Is that chair taken?"

"N-No, please, sit." Yun-Hee smiled at the valedictorian, who amazingly replied with a smile of her own. Mi-Young placed her tray on the table and sat down elegantly with her legs crossed. She noticed that Mi-Young also had very appealing features. She had never seen Mi-Young's face so close with make-up and without her red eyeglasses before. A tinge of jealousy guided her into staring.

"Do you want some?" Mi-Young offered, showing Yun-Hee her food.

Yun-Hee took a small piece of pork and gave Mi-Young an equivalent part of chicken. They ate and enjoyed the luxury of their free time. Yun-Hee bowed her head down in apology out of a sudden, surprising Mi-Young.

"I'm sorry I misjudged you. I thought you were-"

"Selfish? Boastful? Unfriendly? Overbearingly self-important?" Mi-Young smirked, tilting her head downwards in mock thought.

"Yeah," Yun-Hee muttered shamefully. "Sorry."

"Anikka," Mi-Young said, shaking her head. "It's fine. I get that a lot."

The two girls sharing a new bond of friendship smiled and shared their food with each other, talking more openly.

On the other hand, Natalie entertained herself by watching Leon. She was done eating her lunch and all that was left was to wait for him to finish. Leon emptied the containers and repacked them before returning them to Natalie. She placed her and his lunch box inside a small bag.

"Can I borrow your cellphone?"

"I don't have one."

Her eyes widened. "You don't?"

"I don't have the money for it."

Natalie's face fell in disappointment. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

She puffed her cheeks out. "Bummer."

"What?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing."

Mi-Young called them from the other table. "Three minutes."

Leon and Natalie left their table and joined the two. They marched back to their classroom with enough energy to last for another couple of hours. Sir Taiga welcomed them in and supervised them as they immersed themselves into another session of arduous studying.

Author's Notes: I wish we were this hard-working when it comes to studying. How I wish. My dream is to inspire my fellow students to be true students that love learning and are hungry for knowledge with the use of this novel slash drama slash fiction piece. I want to make them into true students. True students that take each fall and failure as a learning experience, to correct future mistakes. Whenever in doubt, trust in yourself and try harder. A person never really fails, because failure is only a part of success.