Hope for the Worst || Minsung

Three

"Nice to meet you, Jisung. My name's Kim Seungmin."

Seungmin and I talk to one another for a while until the bell rings, which may or may not have caused me to jump. Seungmin laughs and pulls his backpack onto his shoulder, leaving the classroom. I hope I can see him again.

I was continuing over to my next class, foreign language class, when I ran into someone. The two textbooks he was holding fall to the ground with a thud, and so do I.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Here, lemme help you up." He offers me his hand and lifts me back onto my feet.

"And who is it that I'm thanking?" I ask him, playfully.

He flashes me a smile. "My name's Hwang Hyunjin."

"Hi. My name's Han Jisung." I say, clicking my tongue. I reach down and pick up his books for him.

"We should probably get to our classes. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah. Bye!" I say. Hyunjin smiles once more and walks away. It's halfway through the first day, and I've already made two new friends.

I pull my schedule back out and flip it over to the school map. Looking a little closer, I notice I've been holding it upside down and am on the opposite side of the school that I should be.

Without any students roaming the halls, I outrun The Flash trying to get to class on time. I am not, will not, be late to class on the first day. This story isn't THAT cliche.

"No no no nononon-n-n-n-no...!" I whisper under my breath. I reach my class and notice that the teacher seems to be late too.

Exhausted, I find an open seat and place my things down. The teacher walks in a few seconds later. He introduces himself as Mr. Tuan and continues to explain what we'll be doing for the school year.

To be honest, I'm not really paying attention. I watch the motionless walls and daydream about meeting people and finding new friends.

Class finishes up and I leave more calmly than I came in. Just as I was casually walking down the hall, I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, are you Jisung?" I turn to see a boy, who looks to be a grade above me speaking.

"Uhm, yeah. Is there something you need?"

"Nothing, I just saw you rush into class like a tornado on fire. I don't know why, but I wanted to ask; are you okay?"

I smile. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm new here, by the way."

"Well I hope you have a great school year." He starts to turn away, but I stop him first.

"Hold on, how did you know my name?"

"When Mr. Tuan took attendance."

"Oh. Right." There was a small pause.

"I guess it's not fair that I know your name, but you don't know mine. My name is Lee Minho. It's nice to meet you." He says, holding out his hand for me to shake.

"It's nice to-" I stop.

No.

No.

I don't believe it.

I won't believe it.

He's too nice.

He's too caring.

All the memories come flooding back in. Every shove, punch, kick, and insult. Every bruise, cut, nosebleed and tear. Everything.

The more I look at him. The more I look at his facial features. How simply complex they are. The more they look like him. That monster.

I stare at him to realize he has that same glint in his eyes.

That monster.