Requiem - Michaeng [ENG]

Chaeyoung

I walked through the college thousands of times looking for that girl, but I saw nothing but emptiness in the hallways. The classes had already started and with that my chances diminished sharply. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't break into every room after her.

I gave up after the third round, I was already anguished and slightly irritated for not getting what I wanted. The last place I thought to look was the old performance hall that was tucked away at one end of the building. As far as I know, students aren't allowed there and classes aren't held either, but I kept reminding myself that that's where I fled when I wanted to skip classes or think about my problems.

My little secret door still worked. I walked into the hall and the mood of nostalgia settled in me at once. It looked cleaner than I remembered it, maybe it's finally being restored as promised for so many years. The place had the same structure as a theater, the not so big stage was at a lower level while the rows of red chairs grew in level as they moved away. The walls are covered partly with a reddish carpet and partly with paper that recreates classic architecture.

I looked around the place, analyzing every detail I remembered, until I came across a silhouette in the penultimate row. I squinted my eyes and couldn't believe it when I found exactly who I was looking for.

I made my way over to her cautiously so as not to draw her attention, but ended up bumping into a bucket. She moved her head towards me when she noticed my presence, she didn't seem to know exactly where I was, but those bandages seemed to be aimed directly at my eyes. It was, in a way, scary.

- Who's there? - my fears were gone when I heard a trace of panic in her voice, she was certainly more cautious than me – I'm sorry for coming here, I know it's forbidden, but...

- So you found my secret place? - I interrupted her approaching slowly. I could see her expression change, confused.

– I'm sorry – it sounded more like a question than a statement – I'm leaving.

She got up and hurried to make her way to the entrance way too quickly for someone who couldn't see. I put my body in front of her, but otherwise than I expected she slammed into me.

- You need to stop this bumping into me thing - I growled, massaging my arm. - Where's your sixth sense?

- I'm sorry! I didn't know you were here - the nervousness was already more than evident in her words. Was I scaring her?

– You apologize too much.

A silence settled and I stared at those huge bandages that covered her eyes. She looked scared, I could tell.

– Please don't do anything to me.

Her voice barely came out and hit me right in the chest. I came back to my self and realized what I was doing. How immature could I be? That tone made me question whether situations like that were recurring in her life and I completely gave up on my stupid plan that involved more fear than she felt now, all my attention focused on her.

I analyzed her for a moment and only then did I remove my eyes from hers, encountering an unexpected beauty. My gaze moved slowly down her pert, thin nose to her reddened lips, the bottom one caught between her teeth. Her face defined in firm and light features, framed by the wavy hair that fell down the sides. My eyes continued down her body, very well structured and covered by a long sleeve gray blouse over what appeared to be a white dress that reached halfway down her legs.

I couldn't deny that she was pretty and held a certain aura that caught my attention.

- Can I leave? - She asked once again with a cracked voice pulling me out of my daydreams.