The Kitten I Brought Up

t h r e e // r e a l i s a t i o n

Shuffling under the sheets, Wonwoo groggily pushed himself up. Still sitting on his bed, he rotated his right shoulder back and then forward. It was a week since the incident and the pain had subsided a great deal.

He took his own time to get out of his pajamas. He then pulled on his pants and slipped on his shirt. Buttoning it, he draped his tie around his neck and fastened it neatly. Fixing his spectacles, he slung his bag over his shoulders and headed to the front door. (He made sure to arm himself with the book he had recently been reading.) As he pulled and did his laces, he wondered aloud, "will I see (her/them) today?"

Closing the door behind him, Wonwoo made his way to school.

As he strolled along the familiar route, he noted that it was a little weird as to why he hadn't seen Jisoo or Jonghwa in school. Despite the fact that he had to miss school for two days because of the severity of his injuries (he had struggled so hard to get up the first morning because of his swollen shoulder), he did not bump into either of them the next two days.

He could have gone to the dojo but Jisoo had sternly warned him to recover before coming back. Even so, how is it that I don't see them in school at all?

Wonwoo must have been deep in thought for before he knew it, he had reached the school gates. Glancing at his wristwatch, which read the time as six fifty, he decided to head to his classroom first. On usual days, he would reach school barely on time because he did not want to stay in a classroom full of noise and annoying chatter. Today though, he found himself a lot earlier for some reason.

Entering his homeroom, Wonwoo slumped into his seat and at the same time, slid off his bag to hook it to the side of the table. He plugged in his earpiece, opened his book and continued from where he left off.

A while later, the school bell rang, signalling the students to gather at the school hall for it was a Monday, the day they had to all be in one place. Closing his book, he carefully shoved it under his desk and got up. Together with other students, he made his way down.

//

Wonwoo did not fancy morning assemblies. He didn't see much point in them. It was filled with people talking and students who weren't listening; the principal would address some issues, some teachers will talk about other issues and so on.

By the time the teachers finished spewing their information out, majority of the students were distracted and chattering amongst themselves during which, Wonwoo had simply been sitting low in his seat and playing with the scab on the knuckle of his thumb.

Despite the fact that the teachers took most of the assembly time, occasionally, there would be students who'd go up to speak and it so happened that today, there was a section for that.

Wonwoo wasn't intending to listen but the whispering around him drew his attention in. "Who's that?" "Oh, it's the student body pres, Seo Jisoo sunbaenim!" "Oh gosh she really does look as goddess as people say she is." "Vice pres Lee Jonghwa sunbaenim is really handsome too."

Raising his head, he saw two familiar faces on stage, one taking her position on the podium and the other assisting at the side. There were a few other students on stage but what caught Wonwoo's eyes was her tie – it was grey.

She's a third year?!

In their high school, the years were distinguished by the ties they wore. First years' were dark blue, second years wore light blue and the third years donned grey ties. Wonwoo hadn't think that she was so much older than him. He was expecting her to be a second year at most.

Coming out as a major shock to him, he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. As a result, he half-listened, half-tuned out whatever she was saying.

He was bewildered. Although the explanation as to why he hasn't seen either of them was really simple. First and foremost, each of the years were in three separate academic blocks. Therefore, majority of their classes were held in their homerooms if not, subject rooms scattered around the campus.

Secondly, the student body president would typically give a speech on the first day of school, at the entrance ceremony, for which Wonwoo was absent because of an incident (sadly) caused by his middle school troublemakers.

And lastly, he was so closed up in his own world that he never took much notice of the things around him. So it's safe to say that Wonwoo was, pretty much, the issue for having not seen either Jisoo or Jonghwa (or rather, anyone).

Feeling kind of embarrassed for thinking she was about his age, Wonwoo went back to class with his head still full of those thoughts.

Lessons went by and when it came to lunch break, Wonwoo sat up in his chair, contemplating if he should head to the canteen. He often avoided the crowds, only dropping by the bread shop towards the end of the period where there would be lesser people. As such, he always had a poor lunch, attributing to his scrawny and weak appearance.

His internal discussion was cut short by a classmate calling out to him, "uh, Jeon Wonwoo..."

Wonwoo slowly turned his head towards his classmate. It was one of the rare times anyone called him, where the few included submitting of homework or stuff related to mandatory class activities.

His classmate, a boy he vaguely recalled having the name Junhwi, pointed towards the windows facing the common corridor. And there he saw Seo Jisoo leaning over with her elbows on the low wall and had one hand giving a short wave.

Wonwoo abruptly stood up in his chair, almost sending it toppling over. He was absolutely stunned by her sudden appearance. He wasn't the only one for he could feel all heads turning to him with curious, questioning eyes. Even the whispers seemed weirdly audible admist the noise. "Why is she looking for Jeon Wonwoo?" "Gloomy, loner Jeon Wonwoo?!"

Without saying anything, and seemingly unfazed by the chatter, Jisoo brought two fingers to her mouth like chopsticks with the other hand acting as a bowl. She then used her thumb and pointed to the side in the direction of the canteen.

Despite all the stares and whispers, Wonwoo clumsily pushed his chair under his table and walked towards the back door, for his desk was nearer there. As he started walking, Jisoo stopped leaning on the low wall and stood up to expect him. With a kind smile, she turned on her heels and led the way to the lunch.