Silence ○ Lee Haechan

○ 1

A golden and orange hued canvas painted the sky in the early morning of the autumn season.

A crisp breeze flowing swiftly through the air and picking up fallen leaves off the ground, gliding them through the streets and littering the pavement ever so gently.

It was far too early in the morning for Mari to be awake, the sun streaming through the window and pulling her from her slumber.

A groan filled the air as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter blocking the harsh rays of golden sun with her arm as she threw it over her face.

School was something Mari always hated, didn't see the point in it but yet again she didn't see the point in most things.

The sound of cupboards being slammed resonated through the house from the bottom storey making it hard for Mari to even consider falling back asleep.

Eyes falling open monotonously as she stared at her ceiling, zoning in on the dull glow in the dark stars that laid scattered on her ceiling.

The clattering and slamming continued and Mari begrudgingly turned her head to the side, lifting her arm slowly and tapping on her phone- it read half past 6.

Closing her eyes once more briefly as she let out a deep breath she lifted her covers and pulled herself off of her bed.

That was the start to her very uneventful, well too familiar, tedious morning.

Nothing new ever happened, she said hello to her family, drank her coffee as a supplement for breakfast, got dressed into her uniform, and pushed her way through the cold crispy morning air towards her hell hole of a school.

She pushed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, sinking her chin into the neck of her scarf to retain as much warmth as she could.

Each day grew colder and colder and Mari was someone who got easily cold. Her nose shun with a tint of bright red and her ears glowed with the same colour.

The gates of the school fell into her eye line and she let out a deep breath of air, readying herself before pushing herself through them.

The chaotic stentorian sound of students laughing and talking filled her ears as peers flooded the front of the school.

Happy smiles littered on everyone's faces juxtaposed her frown and dread for having to be there.

She walked through the front door and made a sharp left up the stairs, weaving through groups of people until she found her locker.

Pulling her red tipped fingers from her pockets she carefully unlocked her locker, flicking her bag around her body so she could easily pull her books out.

Placing what she needed back into her bag and zipping it up she closed her locker and began to walk away.

The warmth of the class room encased her body as she stepped foot into the expanse. Sitting down at her seat and dropping her bag to the floor.

Mari didn't have a lot friends. She was the type of person to keep to her small friend group and not wanting to venture out- she didn't like human interactions unless it was from her close friends.

She just liked the stability of her group.

"Mari!"

Oh thats Daeun, her best friend.

"Mari, Mari! Guess what!" Her friend exclaimed rushing into the classroom and practically falling into the chair in front of her and turning to face her.

Mari eyed her friends ecstatic disposition and a scoff left her grinned lips.

"What?"

"My favourite character from the show I've been telling you to watch DIED- oh wait... that was a spoiler- oh well I know you aren't gonna watch it anyway. But that's besides the point, you don't understand. I was so invested into him and like dude my feelings were going BAM BAM," she raised her hand to her chest to mimic the sound she was making.

Mari watched her friend with raised eyebrows as she continued to word spew her feelings about this character to her.

Daeun was always the most exciting thing that happened in her day. Keeping Mari on her toes with each passing second, it was a miracle they were friends.

Mari was a complete opposite to Daeun but that's what made their friendship strong.

"- and then they shot the gun and it went right to his heart! He saved her Mari-" her friend started shaking her shoulders as she was vocalising her whirlwind of emotions.

"It was so sad I couldn't stop crying for like half an hour."

"And so I bought ice cream."
"And so I bought ice cream."

Daeun looked at her friend in shock as she said the exact same thing as her, a scoff left her lips and Mari shook her head.

"How bout this, we go watch a movie this weekend in remembrance of this characters short lived life," Mari recommend and Daeuns eyes lit up briefly before glaring at her friend.

"But you have work."
"I finish at 8 so we can go out after."

A squeal left Daeuns lips as she reached over her seat to hug her friend.

Mari encased her arms around the girl as her eyes flickered to the figure walking through the door.

His eyes making contact with hers holding the stare before turning to sit down at a free seat.

What was he doing here?