I usually ride the subway on my way to school. Finishing my biscuit and kimbap as I wordlessly stare out the window gives a brief sense of melancholy, I suppose. It's not very crowded at the hour I board, since I always took great care in arriving before the rush hour.

Subways are a fascinating mode of transportation, even though most wouldn't think a lot of it. I liked riding trains and buses whenever I could before I ran away. Being able to ride it every day is one of the tiny details of my current life I find myself enjoying.

Maybe that story also affected the way I think.

School is a tiring affair, on the other hand. While yes, I had chosen to study in a shit-- public school, this place is the only school that was willing to accept my application.

My family had blocked me off from studying anywhere else, in an attempt to 'make me give up'.

Unfortunately, I'm as stubborn as they are. So I took what I could and studied here…well that was until I realized who was my seatmate.

I'm quite an unlucky person, huh?

Kim Dokja. I suppose I should refresh the memory.

15 years ago, I was born on the 16th of December in 1990. From what I was told, my parents weren't really expecting another child other than my brother.

I grew up to be quite the intelligent child. I somehow knew a lot of stories even before reading them.

But in particular, like I have mentioned before, I have the story of a 551 chapter-long novel named 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint' engraved into my very being.

Unlike the other stories I can recall, it was: 1, more vivid and detailed. 2, simply unforgettable no matter how much I try. And 3, there is no copy of such a novel in this world.

The protagonist of this novel is, as one can probably tell, Kim Dokja.

He's a lonesome reader who fought to create his own ending for his favorite novel, even if it cost him his own life. He was a character that made even the most powerful incarnations of his world feel helpless.

He never hesitated to rush off to put himself in danger, often disregarding his companions' feelings.

Truly a 'loner' like his name.

…

I changed my shoes and tossed the biscuit wrapper I had into the trash bin. The students are only just pouring in and I moved to locate my classroom.

I took a seat and took out the book I was trying to finish in the hospital the other day. Page by page, I slowly got engrossed in Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll's writing is rather verbose and enthralling.

A minute before the class starts, my seatmate finally arrives, his neck and leg no longer in a bulky cast. His stature is small enough to be mistaken for that of an elementary schooler. However, he did seem to become more beaten up than when I last saw him in the hospital.

He is rather pale-skinned, with dark black hair against his ghost-like complexion. His hair seems to be long overdue for a haircut, as it seems to create a shadow over his seemingly almost-lifeless eyes.

I looked at my own reflection in the window. Although our hair colors and complexion doesn't fall too far apart, I think I look a little more alive than he does.

Not by much, but just enough.

The teacher came in and my seatmate, Kim Dokja, hurriedly took a seat, fumbling around with his tattered backpack. He took out his half-destroyed textbook, and I followed to do the same.

"Now then class, do the practice questions on page 187 and turn it in by tomorrow. On your notebooks, not a piece of paper." The teacher threw a glance at Kim Dokja, who shivered and gulped in nervousness.

It wasn't that there was any implications behind it, but probably just because Kim Dokja had been quite infamous amongst both teachers and students.

Kim Dokja doesn't stand out both in academics or sports, and remains to be in the average. I, on the other hand, have scores that end up on the higher side of the rankings. I self-sabotage enough not to end up too high, but it's evident that I'm still someone from an 'elite' family.

A couple classes passed by and lunch time finally came. I usually spend this hour up on the rooftop or the back entrance. Kim Dokja, meanwhile…

"Hey loser!" A burly guy slammed his fists down on our shared table. I flinched in shock and dropped my pencil case. My seatmate simply swayed like a leaf with fear written all over his face. He turned even paler, almost turning him paper-white.

"Heard that you tried to kill yourself, shrimp. Guess you wanted to join your ass of a dad." The bully laughs loudly, accompanied with the sneers of his lackeys.

This idiot is Song Minwoo, Kim Dokja's bully. He appears in chapter 70 to 74. In the future, he'd be noted as someone who's read Kim Dokja's favorite novel. Having only read a part of its chapter 173, he didn't stand much of a chance and eventually died at the hands of his own victim.

I quietly sneaked away, only to be caught by one of his friends.

"And look here! It's the other stupid wimp who also tried to kill himself! Slit your throat open like how your mother opens her legs, huh?" Song Minwoo leaned closer to my face as his lackeys held me down. My classmates don't know my true identity and I kept it that way for all these years. It's convenient, you see?

My seatmate seems to be still quite out of it, judging by his still-position.

"Leave me alone." I spat to his face. "It seems like you've mistaken me for someone who gives a shit."

"Ha! Oh really? Do you even have a mother like this pathetic dumbass here? And killing yourself on school grounds, seriously that desperate for attention from your crappy parents?"

"Right back at you. Is that why you're giving me so much attention? Because while I'm flattered, you should try putting a braincell or two together and realize I don't give a fuck. Wait, do you even have a brain cell?"

Song Minwoo sputters, trying to come up with a response, and I forcibly swatted away the hands of his lackeys. I stormed out of the classroom, my annoyance increasing with each step.

I found a quiet spot on the rooftop and took out a cigarette I brought. I lit it up and took a quick puff, my anger finally subsiding.

There's times that I got caught up in Kim Dokja and Song Minwoo's mess and my peace, disrupted. I usually don't smoke, but at times like this when I should keep my sense with myself, I do.

As this school is exceptionally a trashy one, they don't really care about students smoking. I opened my lunchbox, snuffed out the cigarette, and quietly started eating.

It's almost been a month since I was discharged from the hospital with Kim Dokja. Personally, it wasn't all that eventful. I managed to avoid attending any of my family's events, and mostly chilled in the nearby library.

After I had finished my badly-made lunchbox, I still had 20 minutes left.

"Yun Daehyun. You're Yun Daehyun, right?" A voice called out to me as I went down the stairs. I turned around to meet someone who isn't quite a student of this school.

The kid looked older than I am, and it was almost like a horrible attempt at a disguise.

"Did my family send you?" Seriously. Is there something wrong with my luck today that I had to be bothered by some ugly-faced wannabe, and now those inhumane beings I wish were six feet underground?

"Indeed. Your brother wishes for you to go somewhere."

"...Don't tell me it's right now."

"He said righ--"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'm not going." The man looked a bit troubled and he grabbed my wrist. I cursed and forced my hand away. Getting grabbed by such dirty things is not on my to-do list today, oh well.

And it seems like I miscalculated something because when I jerked and stepped away from the man, I found myself…

…THUD!

Kim Dokja's day isn't going any better today. First, he woke up late. Then his aunt forced him to wash the dishes and clean his cousin's mess before school. He had to rush the 20 minute walk from their house and make it before the first period started.

Then his teachers made snide remarks. He had tried to jump off the classroom window before the winter break, and for that, people seemed more scornful towards him.

But it isn't that bad because from what he heard, his seatmate (was his name Yeon Daewoo? Yoo Daejung?) also happened to try the same thing as he did. Kim Dokja has never actually given much thought about the person who sat next to him in class, but did notice how that guy always seemed to avoid people.

His seatmate also had a sharp tongue, quick to comeback at every insult Song Minwoo threw at him. But other than that, his seatmate is rather like a ghost.

As Kim Dokja is lost in thought, he hears two people seemingly arguing at the top of the staircase. He quickly stopped and hid behind the wall.

"...Yeah. I get it, I'm not going." Kim Dokja took a peek at the duo, and recognized his seatmate and a man he never saw before. The man grabbed his seatmate's wrist and his seatmate tried to pull away. However, he tripped and fell.

Oh well, witnessing another murder isn't quite something Kim Dokja expected.

The man who had been the cause of his seatmate's fall quickly ran upstairs and Kim Dokja rushed to the unconscious guy.

"H-hey! Wake up!" Kim Dokja shook his seatmate awake and the latter finally opened his eyes. "Y-you can stand right? I'll help you get to the infirmary so…!"

The seatmate grunted a bit and tried to push himself up. However, his head had taken quite the impact so he fell back down groaning in pain. Kim Dokja was at a loss on what to do, so he slung his seatmate's arm around his shoulder and assisted him to stand.

Slowly, Kim Dokja and his seatmate made their way to the infirmary. Kim Dokja dropped his seatmate on a bed and tried to look for the nurse. His seatmate groaned a bit more in pain and blood stained the pillow he laid on. Kim Dokja rummaged through the medical cabinets and found some bandages.

Fear and concern washed through Kim Dokja as he tried to stop the bleeding of the other's head. And his immediate prayers were received as the nurse finally came in. The nurse quickly handled the bleeding and made sure that there weren't any other injuries.

"Now kid, what's your name and class? And the other kid's too so I can call his guardian." The nurse asks as he takes out the list of classes. Kim Dokja gulps and sighs in relief.

"I'm uh…Kim Dokja from Class 3-B. I'm not sure about his name, but he's also from Class 3-B because he's my seatmate…" The nurse nodded. "Go check his nametag then." He simply replied and Kim Dokja almost felt stupid for not thinking of doing so.

He approached the seatmate who laid on the bed and looked for his nametag.

Yun Daehyun.

'So his name is Yun Daehyun,' Kim Dokja thought as he looked at the nametag.

Yun Daehyun is a pretty tall person and had black hair like him. It was parted on one side and seemed messy in a stylish sense. His seatmate also wore a black turtleneck underneath his uniform. The yellow vest and cardigan he was wearing are currently stained with blood and are neatly folded on a chair beside his bed.

And among all else, his seatmate is exceptionally handsome. It was almost a wonder how come the girls in their class never came flocking towards him when he had the face of an idol. Perhaps it was the constantly gloomy look, or the way his narrow-eyes made him seem a bit evil-looking. It was also that Yun Daehyun is an introverted person who always opted for working alone.

Kim Dokja could sense they shared similarities, but also seemed worlds apart.

Kim Dokja informed the nurse of his seatmate's name and remained by Yun Daehyun's side. It wasn't like he could come back to class looking as bloody as he is, and besides, it was nice to skip classes once in a while. The nurse agreed to let him watch over his seatmate until he woke up, and Kim Dokja took a seat.

"...Ugh…" Yun Daehyun opened his eyes. The bright reddish glow shining in through the windows blinded him and he closed his eyes again.

"Oh, you're awake?" Kim Dokja yawns as he stretches. He had taken a quick nap while waiting for Yun Daehyun to wake up. Yun Daehyun's face scrunches up as he tries to remember the person before him.

"Where am I?" He asks, in a quiet voice that Kim Dokja barely catches. "We're in the infirmary. I found you on the bottom of the stairs." Kim Dokja laughs awkwardly, almost like a robot. "Good thing I found you right away when you fell."

Yun Daehyun hums as a response. He seems quite a bit deep into thinking. Awkward silence filled the space between the two until Yun Daehyun spoke up again.

"This might be a strange question but…do you happen to know who…I am?"

The complete silence filled the room again, one where you could hear a pin drop. Kim Dokja's black eyes met with Yun Daehyun's golden ones.

"...Yun Daehyun. Your name is Yun Daehyun."

"Ah. I see. Thank you."

If it weren't for the nurse who came in again, perhaps they would've been stuck in an even more prolonged series of deafening silence.