entanglement'jw

구09

Your aunt left just an hour later after you arrived back home. You were quite bummed about it, her being the only one who was keeping you sane in this god-forsaken village/town, whatever in hell this place was. Her flight was only a day later, and your gran wasn't very keen on having her around either. Clearly, she had outstayed her welcome.

On numerous occasions, you wanted to ask either of them just what their problem was with the other but always chickened out. Some day, perhaps.

After an awkward dinner with your gran, you proceeded back to your room, sitting cross-legged on your bed as you went through everything that had been covered in school today. You had so much to catch up with, having joined mid-semester.

The teachers were kind enough to let you borrow old notes and now that you had a proper look at all of them, you were on the verge of having a mental breakdown altogether. You had so much to do.

Pushing away all sorts of distractions and useless thoughts, you launched yourself into a much-needed study session. The next time your eyes caught the clock, it was way past midnight, a quarter past two. You had slept all through the afternoon and were nowhere feeling the need to take a break but decided it was best to catch a few hours of sleep, given that you had school in the morning (which you were already not looking forward to. Well, that and certain confrontations).

Who'd say no to sleep, anyway?

The next morning was rough. You managed to ignore your alarm four times before you finally cracked your eyes open to the light-filled room. For a second, you were incredibly tempted to just stay home and avoid that stupid new school in the warmth of your bed. Then the thought of being left alone to your thoughts hit you and you could honestly not deal with that kind of misery. What now? What were you supposed to do now? This was your life now? Wake up, go to school, come back, study and sleep? This was-

"_____! Aagi! You better be up!" Your grandmother shouted from her own room.

With a groan, you begrudgingly began getting ready. Digging into your closet, you rummaged through the various tank tops, blouses and skirts until you pulled out an outfit sensible for the weather of Yangdong. You buttoned your cream sweater to the second to last button just above your cleavage and pulled on the high waisted denim jeans.

It took you almost fifteen minutes to slap on your face (studies are always important, no matter the circumstances) despite your grandmother's nagging calls from below. You slung your canvas bag filled with a lone notebook, a pencil pouch, and your omnipresent journal, you were finally ready for your second day at Yangdong High. Awesome.

"Excited to meet your friends?" Gran asked as she served you a plate filled with sandwiches and your lunch box.

"I don't have any friends." You grumbled, picking a stray sandwich from the plate and walking out the main door, ready to follow one of the few kids you saw roaming the streets to the only school in this town when you noticed that Haneul wasn't waiting for you in front of the porch like yesterday. What else had you been expecting?

You saw a couple of heads turn to stare at you in the hallways; evidently new people were hard to be ignored in the small town. Bitting your lip you shrugged, "I'll probably end up sitting in the washroom during lunch." you mumbled to yourself.

"Hey~" Someone blew in your ear, startling you to practical death and a possible concussion as you banged your forehead against the locker.

"Ah!" you groaned, placing your palm over your chest to calm your erratic heartbeat, "You nearly killed me, Jisoo!" You exclaimed, gently pinching her shoulder. She scrunched her nose and giggled quietly. You were beginning to feel more at ease around her now as compared to the previous evening. Mentally thanking god for Jisoo's existence, you quickly stuff your bag in the locker.

"We have a new student in school, did you know?" Jisoo said, making you turn towards her in surprise, "We do?" She nodded in response.

"Two new students in two days, wow. This has to be the most eventful Yangdong has been in the past ten years." She said dramatically.

"How did you know anyway?" You asked, waiting for her response but then cut her off, "Actually- don't answer that." You shut your locker a little harder than you intended to, further making heads turn.

"Let's get you to class," Said Jisoo, noticing your discomfort, pulling you by the elbow towards the hallway, "Haneul told me you are taking all advanced courses." She looked at you curiously. You smiled sheepishly, training your eyes to the floor, suddenly finding it more interesting.

"Oh no, no, no!" she shook her head, "I didn't mean it that way! We have two classes in common!" She finished, her smile turning into a grin towards the end. Her words instantly brightened your day. It seemed as though the universe had your back after all. As time passed, it was becoming increasingly difficult to believe your luck, no matter how wrong you perceived things were, everything seemed to work out for you in the end. You might as well savor it while it lasted.