Healed by Him

The New Student

March 25, 2023

Even with deciding against risking the perpetually late bus system by instead running, Kim Jin-Ho still found himself over an hour late to his first class at Whimoon Boys' High School. Ignoring the discomfort sprinting brought to his bruised body, Jin-Ho refused to slow his desperate strides until after he had already passed on Doc's note to the front office and was in front of class A-2.

Still panting from his rushed journey, Jin-Ho threw open the sliding doors at the back of the classroom and found himself faced with an uncharacteristically silent class. He followed their gaze to the front of the room in order to find the source of their quiet, and Jin-Ho came to realize he was being stared at. Not just by Mrs. Yoon, who he had already expected to be waiting with a lecture.

A second, unfamiliar gaze was glued to him. Curious, green eyes glowed bright and youthful, a stark contrast to Mrs. Yoon's old, unremarkable brown ones. They lit up the soft, freckled face of a boy with a slim build, presumably the same age as Jin-Ho, though he appeared to be slightly shorter.

As he pushed away the hair that fell in front of his eyes, Jin-Ho found his feet frozen in place. He was still in the wide doorway of the classroom, but Jin-Ho didn't make a move to find his desk. Instead, he continued to contemplate the figure standing at the front of the room.

Something about the student's curious, unfaltering gaze caused an unknown feeling to wash over Jin-Ho. The way he seemed to look at him with no expectations or biases, anger or annoyance. Just with a pure curiosity and optimism Jin-Ho wasn't used to witnessing aimed at him.

It made him self-conscious.

Seconds passed.

No one had openly looked at Kim Jin-Ho this long, not ever since he established early on in his academic career he wasn't interested in large social circles or shallow extracurriculars.

Jin-Ho's heart tightened, he frowned at the unfamiliar feeling brought on by the student and his vulnerable stare.

Pushing down the tension rising in his sore body, Jin-Ho turned his attention to the plump figure stationed to the right of the atypical boy. Mrs. Yoon's mouth had already opened in preparation for a scolding; a scolding that Jin-Ho did not have the patience for running on only six hours of uneasy sleep.

"Kim Jin-Ho! What do you think you're-" her shrill voice began.

He stepped forward. Opting for a physical apology, not deeming Mrs. Yoon worth the energy of opening his bruised mouth, Jin-Ho dipped his head while slightly folding his torso. Ignoring the pain the shallow bow produced, Jin-Ho righted himself and abruptly sought out the sanctuary of his isolated seat in the corner. The perfect spot for a nap.

He felt the pair of green orbs fixed on him from the front of the class, but refused to give the new student any more space in his already cluttered mind.

To prove this, Jin-Ho laid his head down on the worn wood of his desk and closed his eyes. His headache continued to shake his racing mind, and the lack of sleep paired with running around all morning finally caught up to him. As his eyelids grew heavy, Jin-Ho gave into the enticing quiet and darkness of slumber.

***

Kim Jin-Ho reluctantly opened his eyes once the noise of the homeroom had risen to a point that he could no longer drown out. The volume of the conversations that surrounding him indicated that Mrs. Yoon had finally finished her dull droning.

Propping his head up with his hand, Jin-Ho blinked the sleep from his eyes as he surveyed the classroom of A-2. He found himself looking at the familiar faces of the students he had studied alongside for eleven years. Jin-Ho liked to watch the people around him; how they grew, how they changed- and sometimes how they became people he didn't even recognize anymore.