FIREFLIES

VIII

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「　eight ; untold truth。 」━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

NO THOUGHTS, HEAD EMPTY, that was jaemin's current state as he answers the pop quiz their chemistry professor has given them. jaemin gawked at the questions typed on the sheet. jaemin swore he listened to the professor's lecture but wHAT THE HELL IS THIS.

the question listed on the sheet wasn't discussed at all. jaemin was sure of that. instead of making his brain suffer from remembering the discussion their professor didn't even teach, jaemin sped through the questions and just went with his gut. no brain involved.

jaemin finished within seven minutes, and the professor gave them thirty minutes to answer it. for the remaining time, jaemin rested his head on his desk and took a nap. jaemin was then awakened from his slumber when his professor snatched his paper from his table and combined it in the pile he was holding.

"early dismissal, you may now leave." the class cheered at the professor's announcement. i mean, who wouldn't? within minutes, the room was now empty.

jaemin sat on his seat patiently, staring into nothingness before he shifted his gaze in front of him. across his desk, standing in front of him was hwayoung. with a smile, jaemin stood up as well. "hey hwa—"

before he could finish his sentence, hwayoung shoved the notebook to his chest. jaemin holds out the notebook and his jaw immediately drops. "oh my god— did i forgot to bring this?!"

"read it." hwayoung said sternly, sending shivers down jaemin's spine. complying, jaemin opens the book and skipped to the latest one which was yesterday.

after skimming through the page, jaemin lets out a heavy sigh before his palm collides with his forehead. "i'm so sorry for—"

"no," hwayoung interjects. "i should be sorry. i got so worked up over nothing. i'm sorry."

jaemin pursed his lips into a thin line, shoving his hands in his pockets as he rocks back and forth. "it's okay." jaemin planted a small smile on his face. "do you mind telling me what that 'only thing you knew' was?"

jaemin asked cautiously, not wanting to push hwayoung. "well, i was murdered."

jaemin choked on his own spit and started coughing. jaemin was caught off guard, as you can see, he was caught so off guard he was gasping for air. hunched over, jaemin continued to cough. "you okay?" hwayoung asked, about to help him but he stopped her with his hand.

"i'm good.." jaemin manages to choke out. slowly getting back to his old state, jaemin stood up straight. letting out a couple more coughs before his fingers grazed his chin. "continue..."

"i honestly didn't know what got into him. our chemistry professor; he just suddenly came up to me and asked me to sleep with him. i obviously said no, and before i knew it; he grabbed me by the hair and threw me. the next thing i knew, there was blood coming from my head and blacked out." hwayoung recalls, staring into oblivion to try and capture every moment to tell jaemin.

"after that, i just woke up in this classroom. i thought i was alive and just woke up from my unconscious state; but when i touched my head and saw no blood, i got worried. i tried escaping the classroom but i couldn't. it was as if some forcefield of some kind was preventing me to leave. and that day onwards i became the spirit who haunts this room— i'm not even haunting it, i'm just stuck here."

jaemin snapped his fingers together and stared at hwayoung as if he got the solution to her problem. "now that i know what happened, i can report this to the police and testify!" jaemin exclaims.

"jaemin, you can't. i'm filed as missing. my parents have no clue where i am-- or atleast where my body is..." hwayoung faded, reality just hit her like a truck. "or they probably forgot me."

"then tell me where your body is and i'll tell the police." jaemin said it in such an easy way, little did he know how complicated the situation was.

"jaemin, i don't know where my body is." the smile jaemin had plastered on his face was now crooked and it slowly just faded.

"what—" before jaemin could finish his thought, another one went through his brain and caused him to shudder. the thought of the professor keeping hwayoung's corpse creeped him out and sent goosebumps all over his body.

"what's wrong?"

"nothing," jaemin said dismissively. wanting to flush out the thought he just had out of his system. "what do we do now?!"

"what else is there to do?" hwayoung smiled weakly as tears watered her eyes. "jaemin, i'm dead and that's it. for some reason, you, out of all the people in this room, the one i didn't even know existed until i borrowed a pen from you; is the only one who sees me."

hwayoung grabs the notebook from jaemin and starts writing down what happened today. "what are you doing?" jaemin queries.

"you're going home. i don't want to write too much." within five minutes, hwayoung was done writing and was about to close the notebook when jaemin stopped her by placing his hand against the page.

with his hand, jaemin flipped the notebook to face him before he snatched the pen from her grasp and started scribbling his own words. despite the notebook not facing hwayoung, she could clearly make out the words; "i'll get you out of here."

jaemin closes the notebook before he picks the notebook up from the desk and places it in his backpack.

without saying another word, jaemin walks out of the classroom. a few inches away from the door— or what hwayoung like to call the memory eraser; jaemin looked over his shoulder with a small smile creeping up on his face. he said meekly to hwayoung,

"i'll get you out of here, i promise." jaemin turned around and left the room, leaving hwayoung with her mouth agape and dumbfounded.

jaemin forgot everything that happened in the classroom and bolted out the premises to go home.

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