"Snap out of it!" Cha Eun Sang chastised herself as she walked out the campus. "What he said didn't matter. It doesn't matter. It shouldn't," she thought.

She took out her ipod from her bag and put her earplugs on as she walked away from Jeguk High. She still had time to kill before her shift starts; she did not have any idea where she wanted to go so she just walked aimlessly. Besides, she needed a distraction. She didn't want to be thinking about what Choi Young Do said earlier.

She scoffed. Choi Young Do likes her? "Get over yourself, Cha Eun Sang," she thought as she walked further away from the campus to nowhere. She didn't mind walking aimlessly as long as she listened to music. Music has always calmed her; it amazed her how music can wound or heal someone. It amazed her what music can do when done beautifully. She smiled when she heard the intro to Passion Pit's Take A Walk. "How appropriate," she thought. She smiled then turned volume all the way up and continued walking, her head bobbing to the music blasting off her headset.

All these kinds of places
Make it seem like it's been ages
Tomorrow some new building will scrape the sky
I love this country dearly
I can feel the ladder clearly

But I never thought I'd be alone to try
Once I was outside Penn station
Selling red and white carnations

We were still alone,
My wife and I
Before we marry, save my money
Brought my dear wife over

Now I want to bring my family state side
But off the boat they stayed awhile
Then scattered across the coast

Once a year I'll see them for a week or so at most
I took a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk
Take a walk, take a walk, take a walk

She whipped around when she felt someone grab her left arm. "What the fu—"

"Language, Cha Eun Sang."

"Choi Young Do," she heaved a sigh as she took her earplugs off with her right hand. "What?"

Choi Young Do didn't let go of her arm but held her by the wrist instead. He smiled at her; it was a laughless smile and it reeked of mockery. Yet there was something in his eyes, strikingly black—the color of the skies full of stars—and the way they contrasted with his white complexion that made her pause. He looked very handsome today. So handsome she could practically feel a physical pain in her chest.

"Handsome? This guy?" she thought. "What are you thinking, Cha Eun Sang?"

He was not supposed to be handsome! She was not supposed to find him handsome! He was a bully, he was rich, stupid, repulsive! This one . . . this . . . How unfair of him to be rich and beautiful.

She shifted on her feet as he frowned down at her, surveying her in turn.

"What?"

She blinked and took a step back. "What what?"

"You're staring, Cha Eun Sang."

She almost apologized, but stopped. He was an arrogant, high and mighty yet utterly impudent rich kid with a sense of entitlement. "Let go of my hand."

"I'm not holding you by the hand, technically."

She rolled her eyes and yet again shifted on her feet. "Let go of my wrist."

""I was totally kidding," he said, letting go of her wrist.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She scoffed and raised a hand dismissively as she started walking towards the bench nearby.

Cha Eun Sang felt him walk behind her and she rolled her eyes when he sat on the opposite end of the bench she was sitting on. "Could you please leave and let me enjoy listening to music in peace?"

"I was just kidding," Choi Young Do's lips peeled into a smile. "You didn't think I actually like you, right?" She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"See? What an asshole," she thought as she rolled her eyes.

She scoffed. "That's cute. You assume that I assume you have emotions," she laughed but her laughter died in her lips when she saw him clench and unclench his jaw. A look passed over him and if she didn't know any better, she'd think that he was hurt.

"Says the girl who doesn't know how to handle emotions," Choi Young Do chuckled, his annoying grin back in place.

She looked at him sideways and crossed her arms over her chest. "I know how to handle my emotions very well, thank you very much." She smiled sweetly at him and added, "Like right now, I want to squish your eyeballs under my feet, but, look at how civilized I am."

"Do you want to go to a concert with me?"

She coughed. "What?" Where did that even come from? That was so random.

Choi Young Do took an intake of breath, heavy and reeked of irritation. "Are you deaf?"

She smirked. "Didn't I tell you that I'm always hard of hearing whenever I hear your annoying voice?"

Choi Young Do smiled as if he knew something she didn't. She frowned, "what?"

Choi Young Do shrugged but didn't say anything so she slapped his arm. "What is it?"

He didn't say anything and just looked at her. Cha Eun Sang looked intimated by Choi Young Do for a moment and sat slightly further away from him. His eyes, an impossibly deep shade of black, looked at her, as he cocked his head slightly to the side in a distractingly charming way.

"Do you, by any chance, like me?" His voice was low and slightly husky.

She was taken aback by the absurdity of the question that she didn't know what to say. When she recovered, she laughed almost hysterically. "Allow me to process that," she said in between laughter.

"That doesn't answer the question," Choi Young Do remarked.

Then his words hit her. Her dark eyes bugged out and she openly gaped at him. Then she started laughing. "Oh my god, are you serious? Is that a serious question?"

She was laughing openly now but her laughter died in her throat when she saw him start to smile.

Choi Young Do crossed his legs as he started to laugh. "It's funny. You, trying to dodge the question."

Cha Eun Sang rolled her eyes when she finally stopped laughing. "No, Choi Young Do. I don't like you in whatever way you're insinuating."

He shrugged. "I'm not insinuating anything...or any way. What do you think am I insinuating?"

She smirked. "Whatever, Choi Young Do. I don't even like you as a person, let alone like you in that way."

"What way?"

She raised a hand dismissively and put on her ear pods. "Whatever, Choi Young Do."

But no, Choi Young Do wasn't done yet. "What are you insinuating?"

Okay. This wasn't going anywhere. Cha Eun Sang got up from the bench and started walking further away from Choi Young Do.

"Hey, Cha Eun Sang!" Choi Young Do called out from behind her.

Cha Eun Sang didn't look back but she waved her hand as she walked away. She turned the volume of her ipod up so she could lis—

"If you don't stop walking, that means you have a slight crush on me."

Cha Eun Sang abruptly stopped, restraining the urge to keep walking. "I'm going to rip your hair out," she thought, her heart pounding like crazy.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, Choi Young Do?" he muttered as he slammed the book close.

"You asked her to have dinner with you. You asked her to go to a concert with you," Choi Young Do thought. "Are you out of your mind?"

Choi Young Do opened his book then closed it again and sighed. "What a terrible ending," he thought. He stood from the chair and walked out of his bedroom to his terrace. Why, he even told her he liked her. He took what he said back and he could only hope that Cha Eun Sang bought it and-

"No. She never believed it in the first place," he thought remembering what Cha Eun Sang said.

"I was just kidding," his lips peeled into a smile. "You didn't think I actually like you, right?" She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Cha EunSang rolled her eyes then she scoffed. "That's cute. You assume that I assume you have emotions," she laughed

He paced through the terrace then went back to his bedroom. Cha Eun Sang had more important things to do than think about what he said earlier, did she?

How is Cha Eun Sang not bothered by any of it at all?

He didn't enjoy being like this. He'd really made a fool out of himself by blurting out that he liked her. What was he thinking? When they were at the locker area earlier, where he blurted out that he liked her, he imagined Cha Eun Sang calling him all sorts of nasty things. Before she could do so, he walked away. He'd been wondering just how much Cha Eun Sang hated him.

How had he gone from the most feared student in Jeguk High School to this sappy mess?

Choi Young Do eyed his guitar. He used to play; he loved music, the way music could break and heal and make everything seem possible and heroic. He hadn't played the guitar for so long, he was not sure if he could still play as good as he did back then.

He had been good once—perhaps better than good. His mom made him play for her whenever they stayed at their house's music room. Choi Young Do walked to where his guitar slung. He pulled it down and took it off its case. Cradling the guitar, he tapped and pulled the strings, testing them. He started tuning the guitar and before he even realized it, he was already playing and singing.

oh they say people come, say people go
this particular diamond was extra special
and though you might be gone, and the world may not know
still I see you, celestial

like a lion you ran, a goddess you rolled
like an eagle you circled, in perfect purple
so how come things move on, how come cars don't slow
when it feels like the end of my world
when I should but I can't let you go?

but when I'm cold, cold
oh when I'm cold, cold
there's a light that you give me when I'm in shadow
there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

like brothers in blood, sisters who ride
and we swore on that night we'd be friends til we die
but the changing of winds, and the way waters flow
life as short as the falling of snow
and now I'm gonna miss you I know

but when I'm cold, cold
in water rolled, salt
I know that you're with me and the way you will show
and you're with me wherever I go
and you give me this feeling this everglow

oh- I I I I
what I wouldn't give for just a moment to hold
yeah I live for this feeling this everglow

so if you love someone, you should let them know
oh the light that you left me will everglow

Everglow. It was a very sad song, but it felt like it made him into something clean if not entirely new. He had always had a penchant for sad songs and it scared him that he might actually be a sad soul. The notes burst from his fingers, staggering at first, but then more confidently as the emotion in the music took over. He smiled a little when he realized that even after such a long time, his hands had not forgotten. He forgot about time as he sang and played, voicing the unspeakable, opening old wounds and realizing how music is ruined by the people who are no longer in your life.

Everglow by Coldplay