And she was gone by morning || J. Heejin

[20: Task Failed Successfully]

When you were riding on your bike to school, you felt alive. Something was pushing you, motivating you to push the pedals and steer away from danger. You weren't biking for the hell of it. For once in your life, you had a clear destination in mind.

You dashed down the empty streets, skillfully avoiding any obstacle that blocked you from reaching the school. At times, you would ignore the bumps and sinkholes. You nearly fell, but you were back in speed when you remembered why you were rushing in the first place.

Moments played in your mind like a movie. It went far back to middle school, when you first saw her up close. She was an angel who, as you remembered, came in the form of a siren who had killed her prey by attracting them with her heavenly voice. She was the one you lost to.

Those days when you would glare at her in school, those nights when she would rant about what Heejin had done throughout the day, all of them seemed as if they happened a lifetime ago. You were done with that. You had enough of telling yourself you hated Heejin when you were just jealous of her. At some point, that jealousy had gone away and was replaced with admiration.

Who else can handle so many extracurriculars at once? Who else could have so many friends and still have the time to meet them? Who else was considered a jack-of-all-trades in their class? You hated her because you thought you could never be good enough, but the truth came when you realized Heejin was as human as you are.

Heejin ran to you because she wanted freedom. She befriended you to experience the wild side of youth. She came to your aid because she knew you were human, just like her. Through these, you learned that Heejin didn't hate you at all. It was only you who was acting childish.

Your friends tried to make you act reasonably, but you ignored them. Problems started to pile up and overwhelmed you even though you thought you could handle them. Sometimes, you wouldn't have anyone to talk to, so you could only look back at past experiences.

"Those kinds of people are hard to forget, you know."

You remembered Yoongi's words from years ago.

You were cocky back then. The only people that embodied Yoongi's words were your friends and some rivals. But some girl who had stolen the gaze of your first love? Why should you care about her?

"I'll be over her in a while. She's just some random kid from another class."

Yoongi shook his head.

"She's a rival, and you know how you get around rivals. And besides, I can see the way she looks at you. I don't think you'll be getting her out of your mind any time soon."

"Why should I care about what she thinks of me?"

After letting out a tired chuckle, Yoongi ruffled your hair and put on a smile that you had only seen on characters on television. Those characters that seemed like mentors, but were also messy on their own? That was Yoongi. But despite his flaws, he had wisdom.

"You'll figure it out, sooner or later," Yoongi said.

"What does that mean?"

"Just talk to her. Figure out why she's interested in you, and then maybe, you can be friends, or something. Bridges are better than walls, you know."

Although his advice made sense, you chose to ignore it.

You were lost in your thoughts for most of the ride. Your body kept up with your mind, however, and you were able to reach the school. You could see even though it was already dark, but you didn't know where to go.

The auditorium? The courtyard? The gym?

Then it hit. The variety show was in the old gym building. The student council took control of the building and renovated it to make it a multi-purpose event building. The younger batches could use this for assemblies, dances, and other events. You wasted no time and biked to the building.