The Real Us

. chapter 22 .

Kim Taeryoung gathered her school supplies off her desk as she waved goodbye to her classmates. All of them were in an excited rush to leave as it was Friday and they had a 3-day weekend. 

The girl lifted her journal to place it in her bag when a small, folded piece of colored paper fluttered out from the pages and onto the floor. She reached down to pick it up and unfolded it.

To Kim Taeryoung,

Meet me on the rooftop after school.

I have something I want to confess.

- S

"S?" the girl whispered to herself. She felt her heart skip as she thought of who it might be. Stuffing the note into her pocket, the girl slung her bag over her shoulder and peeked into the hall. Despite classes having ended only 10 minutes ago, the halls were practically empty. 

She made her way down the hall and toward the stairs that lead to the roof. She opened the door and quickly made her way up the stairs, feeling her heart beat faster with every step.

Finally she made it to the top. She took a deep breath before shoving the heavy metal door open. But instead of finding Park Sunghoon, who she had hoped would be waiting for her, she found the rooftop empty.

Confused, she walked towards the bench that she remembered hugging the male for the first time on. The girl sat down, thinking maybe whoever was planning to meet her was going to be there soon.

Suddenly she heard a click. The sound of a lock. Her blood ran cold as she turned her eyes to the doors just in time to see a vague, hooded figure turning to leave. 

She ran to the door, "Hello? Excuse me? Can you hear me?" she shouted, but the hooded person ignored her and began running down the stairs. 

The girl turned and ran to the bench where her bag was placed, frantically rummaging through her things to find her phone. Her heard began to beat faster and faster. Why couldn't she find it?

Then she remembered what had happened during lunch that very same day. Her classmate, Jo Chaeyin had asked her to borrow her cell phone in order to call her mom. But she had returned it, hadn't she?

The girl felt panicked tears welling in her eyes as she turned her bag upside down, dumping all her belongings out on the concrete floor. Her phone was gone.

Why did somebody do this to her? What had she done to deserve this? A million questions circled her head as she tried desperately to keep herself from crying. The girl ran back to the metal doors and began banging on them with her fists.

She screamed and shouted, but it was no use. Nobody could hear her and she was going to be stuck there with no food or water until somebody found her on the next day of classes.

-

Park Sunghoon made his way to his and Taeryoung's usual meeting spot in front of the school. Usually she was already there waiting for him, but today only a few third year students were waiting there eating snacks.

5 minutes passed, then 10, then 20 and still no sign of the girl. He began to wonder if she had gone home with her friends or maybe she had forgotten to meet him. The male took out his phone to see if she had texted him to tell him where she was, but there was no new message.

He started to worry. What if something was wrong? What if she was in danger or something? He ruffled his hair and opened a new message to her.

Sunghoon:
Hey, where are you?
* message not sent *

Message not sent? Had she blocked him? Had he upset her by breaking their deal a second time? But she didn't seem upset since then. In fact he had started to think maybe she was feeling the same way about him as he did about her. Had he read it all wrong?