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february 6 a
hn mina
it was only the second day of school, but ahn mina already wished for the summer. lee eunji thought the same, but wasn't nearly as tired as mina was. while most students spent their winter break doing all sorts of leisure, mina had condemned herself into a winter break of only work. of course, she did so willingly and was always happy to help with her family's financial situation. however, she would be lying if she said it didn't wear her out.
by this time in the class, attendance was being called. she savored the pleasure of being called first, because then, if even for a few minutes, she could shut her eyes in wait of all the calling of names.
"ahn mina!"
"present." she replied, before sinking her head completely in her arms.
in relief, she shut her eyes tightly. she trusted best friend lee eunji to wake her if she truly did fall asleep. with a sigh and relaxed shoulders the world began to zone out. slowly, she could no longer hear the whispering students and the monotonous calling of names. despite the light seeping in through her crossed arms, it began to grow darker and darker. she was quickly drifting to sleep, but something quite curious caught her attention.
with her head still sunk on her arms, she hears an unfamiliar name called out for attendance.
"jeon jeongguk!"
still quite tired, she doesn't move from her position. she wonders if she even heard correctly. she didn't recall any jeon jeongguk. not from the class and surely no one she knows in person. with a tilted head and furrowed eyebrows, a sudden alertness overtook her exhaustion.
"present."
with that, her invigoration took over. she lifted her head to find the owner of such name. to the left, she found the usual suspects of classmates, and to the right, she saw the other average students at the front row. expecting pretty much everything, she turned her head back, hoping to see a new face and chair behind her.
there was no such luck.
"eunji." she whispered.
"yeah?"
"who's jeon jeongguk?"
"jeo...jeon jeongguk?" she repeated, quite dumbfounded.
"his name was called out just now for attendance."
"mina," she said, almost laughing at her seriousness, "there isn't any jeon jeongguk in this class. what are you talking about?"
"come on, quit with the jokes," mina laughed, hitting her playfully, "who is he?"
"mina," she repeats, more serious this time, "i didn't hear any jeon jeongguk."
"but i'm sure i heard something." mina mutters, eyebrows furrowed.
"i don't know. maybe all those part time jobs are finally taking a toll on you. you just need a little sleep."
"but, eunji! i really heard that name. i'm not joking, i heard-"
"mina," she interrupted, "what's been going on with you? you've been acting strange lately."
"what? what do you mean?"
"i mean, this! lately...lately, you keep spacing out and-and staring at nothing and talking about strange things! and now this! what's going on? if something's wrong, you can always talk to me. you know that!"
"eunji, i-"
"lee eunji, ahn mina, do you have something to share with the class?"
"no, miss." eunji answered before glancing worriedly at mina.
