alexithymia | l. hyunjae

¹⁴

A high school at the very center part of Bucheon seemed very crowded and lively. Some male students were playing football, while their female classmates were playing badminton with their partner at the other side of the grassy field. A middle-aged man in yellow shirt, was standing near the benches, watching his students closely from above.

"Choi Taejoon! I see you there! Yellow card to you." He blew a whistle.

"But, Mr Kang. It was an accident. I didn't see him coming though?" The said student protested, still controlling his tone to avoid being rude to his teacher.

"No excuses, Choi. Alright boys, proceed with the game. Choi, don't give me that look. Now, go on."

The male student groaned, feeling unfair while running back to his position. His teammates kept shouting assurance to him. Meanwhile the opponent team cheered silently.

On the other side of the school, a group of students were just finished with their music lesson. They thanked the teacher before hurriedly went to their next class.

"Min, will you join it?" A male student asked his friend, hanging his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Join what?" Min asked. His expression showed no interest to the topic. Walking side by side, they turned to a corner before walking down the stairs.

"The band. The one that Mrs Yoo just informed us in the class earlier. I heard people saying about it. You know, some tea.." He then made a gesture as if he was slurping from an invisible tea cup. Min shook his head.

"Nah, I will pass. Not interested in that."

"Disappointed but not surprised. You will only interested in football. Yeah I got it... but don't you at least want to give it a try? It sounds fun though." He paused, facing Min to get his attention. "Min, just imagine if the band get a crazy good feedbacks, the school will treat us like kpop idol or something. And even better, the girls will shout and call your name everywhere you go. Sounds cool, right?"

"Sounds like a nightmare to me."

"Ha Min. Listen-"

"Sanha, can you please stop talking about that? I don't care about being treated as idols or girls shouting my name. If you want to join that, then just do it alone." His friend, Sanha was taken aback by his sudden mood change, he then pouted. "Dude, calm down. No need to snap like that."

Min sighed, massaging his temple. "Sorry. I just.. I just don't like anything about band." He hugged his friend sideways. "After school, I will treat you tteobokki, okay?"

Sanha nodded while hugging Min back. "Alright but why did you hate band so much? I don't think you hate music because you literally like SEVENTEEN a lot." He asked, an obvious curiosity on his face.

"It's not about me. To be honest, I had nothing against bands but.."

"But?"

Min sighed again. "Nothing. Just forget about it. Dude, we're almost late. Let's go." He then walked faster to his next class, Sanha followed from behind, trying his best to catch up with Min's pace.