It was Wednesday of the following week and Ri Ah was in Biology class.

“Remember everyone, the second test is this Friday, October 21^st. I highly suggest you start studying now if you haven’t already rather than waiting till the night before because if you thought the first test was hard, than you’re going to struggle with this second one,” Professor Kim reminded the class before dismissing them. The students groaned upon hearing that it would be harder than the first test.

October 21^st? Ri Ah thought to herself feeling a little numb at hearing the date.

She was sitting with Hye Ri after class for their study session.

“Ri Ah? Ri Ah!” Hye Ri yelled at her trying to get her attention.

“Huh?” she answered. Ri Ah had been deep in thought with a sad expression.

“I was asking you to explain this question on cellular respiration. Are you okay? What were you thinking so intensely about?” Hye Ri asked.

“It’s nothing. Which question was it?” Ri Ah asked, pushing her thoughts aside to focus on Biology.

“You know you can tell me,” Hye Ri said in concern.

“It really is nothing,” Ri Ah insisted, faking a small smile. “We should get back to studying. You’re taking the test tomorrow,” she said as she looked at the question Hye Ri was referring to.

Ri Ah, something is wrong. Do you not trust me enough to tell me? Hye Ri couldn’t push her any further. All she could do was worry and hope that whatever was bothering Ri Ah would go away.

Chan Yeol noticed that Ri Ah was unusually quiet that day at home. Usually she would cheerily chat with his parents and would be found either in the living room or dining room doing her homework. But today she had cooped herself in her room except to eat dinner, where she didn’t talk much and mostly picked at her food. She excused herself early saying she had a lot of work to do.

Is everything okay? He texted her later that night.

Yes, why do you ask?

You seemed really quiet today. Did something happen?

No, I guess I’m just worried about this test Friday. I’ll be fine. Thanks for worrying about me :)

“I don’t think that’s it,” Chan Yeol said to himself as he looked at her last text.

In Korean Myth and Folklore class the next day, even Tae Sung noticed something was off about Ri Ah when she blankly stared throughout the whole hour and 15 minute class without taking any notes.

“Ri Ah-ssi, is everything okay?” Tae Sung asked her after class.

Ri Ah turned to look at him. Tae Sung noticed her melancholy eyes. “Everything is fine,” she answered before turning to leave.

Tae Sung stared after her with a worried expression.

That night, Ri Ah sat at her desk in her room trying to forget about everything else by studying for her Biology test. When she got through everything, it was 10 PM. She sighed to herself and decided to take a shower and get ready for bed. But when she got in bed, all she could do was stare at the clock until it hit midnight.

It’s October 21^st. I can’t believe one year has already passed.  She thought to herself as she looked at the picture on her nightstand. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep but had a restless sleep and kept waking up every hour or so. Around 5 am, Ri Ah woke up again. She decided to get out of bed and take a walk to help clear her mind before getting ready for school. She put on a light jacket. However this morning was particularly windy and Ri Ah shivered in the cold, pulling her jacket closer to her as she crossed her arms and started walking in the direction of the swings.

In his room, Chan Yeol was still up, cramming for the Biology test. He had promised his dad he would do better after failing the first one, but he had procrastinated again and he was having a hard time remembering everything. He put his head down on his desk when he had been staring at a diagram for 10 minutes but nothing was making sense in his tired state.

“Why didn’t I start studying earlier? Dad is going to kill me if I fail again,” he groaned. He lifted his head up and looked out the window in front of him. His eyes caught Ri Ah walking away outside.

“What is she doing up this early?” He decided to take a break from studying and follow her. He grabbed a jacket and headed downstairs.

Ri Ah arrived at the swings and sat down, facing away from the direction she came from. She lightly swung as she stared at the space in front of her, deep in thought. She was caught by surprise when the swing suddenly stopped by two hands firmly holding onto the metal chains. She turned around and looked up to see Chan Yeol staring down at her curiously.

“What are you doing out here at this time of day?” he asked, still holding onto the swings.

“I was just getting some fresh air before getting ready for school. What are you doing up already?”

Chan Yeol let go of her swing and sat in the one next to her. “I’ve actually been up this whole time, trying to study for that test today.”

“You haven’t slept?” she asked surprised.

“Yeah, and I’m not even close to being done studying,” he said with a sigh. “Are you usually up this early?”

“Well, not this early, but I do get up and run in the mornings.”

“What’s different about today that you’re up earlier?”

Ri Ah looked down and sighed. “Just needed to clear my head.”

“Something has been bothering you these past couple of days. You can’t tell me what it is? Maybe I can help.”

But that’s the thing. It doesn’t matter who I tell, it won’t change anything, Ri Ah sadly thought to herself.

She sighed before looking up with a forced smile. “It’s just school. This Biology test is supposed to be harder than the first one and I’m just worried I won’t be able to do well. I have my GPA to keep up for my scholarship, so I’m just stressed about that. But I’ve been working hard, so I should be okay, right?”

Chan Yeol could tell her smile wasn’t sincere. There’s something else bothering you. Why can’t you tell me what it is? “You’ll do just fine,” he answered her. “In fact, I know how to make your worries go away,” he said with a grin.

“How?”

“A hug!” he said as he stood up and held out his arms to her. Ri Ah chuckled. “I promise you, my hugs are magical. They’ll make all your worries go away.”

Ri Ah smiled at his attempt to make him feel better. She stood up from her seat and went into his arms. He wrapped them around her waist and held her tightly, his heart beating wildly at her being in his embrace.

Ri Ah, I don’t like seeing you sad like this. I want to be someone you can confide in and rely on.

Ri Ah gently pushed her hands against his chest after a few minutes and Chan Yeol reluctantly let her go. She looked up at him with a soft smile. “Thank you, Chan Yeol-ah. That really did help.”

“No problem,” he said with an awkward laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.

A cold wind blew and Ri Ah crossed her arms as she shivered. Chan Yeol immediately took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders as she looked up at him.

“It’s late October. You need to wear a heavier jacket,” he said to her as he gently pushed a strand of her hair that the wind had blown in her face behind her ear.

“Thank you,” she said as she looked at him with sincere eyes.

“Come on, let’s go back before you catch a cold.” He put his arm around her and hugged her close to his side to keep her warm as he led her back home.

Author's Note

Ri Ah, what's wrong? Why won't you tell anyone what's bothering you? What is the significance behind October 21^st? Any guesses?

I’ve never thought about writing in a character’s POV AlicePark. I usually just write out their thoughts in italics when I think it’s important because I like writing in third person. I think the future chapters will help you learn more about Ri Ah. Hopefully that will be enough :/ But thanks for your feedback! – 7/5/12 12:09 AM