☁ 』donewithlife.jpeg ( changmin & su min )
Ragtime music played in the background. Even her exclaimations seemed too loud to be ignored by the counselor. Her knuckles that had finally became too red, almost bloody, and were done abusing a door. But there were secrets beyond those doors. How her fingers yearned to rip open the doors and carefully extract a vial of whatever he seemed to be producing. But of course, her research would have to be put on hold if he wasn’t going to help her. Sliding against his door, she groaned and banged her head. A tragedy of some sort, really. Su Min grew up to the stories of anatomy and medical terms. No one read to her if it involved lore or mythology. To know that someone on this campus was a fantasy, murdered her a bit. A child who grew up with reality, she wasn’t used to people proving her wrong. Science was factual. Ghouls, demons, and fairytales were awfully strange. Changmin was stranger.
A sigh escaped her lips. Her ouburst of silliness dissipated as easily as it came. Even being childish didn’t come energetically anymore. Strange, it was always on the move around Changmin. He was just so much fun to annoy. The majority of the school were murderers, the select few were oblivious, and she gave up on the fact that she might live and waited for her death patiently. Even fun was rare around on campus.
“We’ve gone over this multiple times, Changmin,” she voiced to other side. This was routine, really. The echos of her want should have been something on repeat for this one. If she didn’t disrupt Changmin’s peacefulness daily, her life had no meaning. “My absolute need for your ghoulish internal organs are much more important than scheduling an appointment,” she bantered. A laugh almost escaped her lips. Su Min swore she could have been good company if Changmin only gave her what she needed. But the man wouldn’t comply with her request. Sometimes, she wondered why he was even here. He could have been in a rotting grave and forget about the living.
“Besides, the only advice you could give as counselor is how to die. You didn’t make it off these grounds. Three-fourths of this student body won’t make it out either. Do you honestly believe they need counseling?” Su Min questioned. There were extremely rare times when her voice could prose a question. There were even rarer times when she enjoyed her human emotions. Changmin, who probably loathed every fiber of her body, may have been the most interesting to chat with, even if he was dead. If he was given another life, she would probably kill him at the end.
Rummaging through her backpack, she took out a cigarette and lighter. She was about to light her cigarette when the scent of tea caught her attention. Her nose seemed accustomed to the faintest scents of any kind of tea or coffee. It was strange. But it was also why she was a herbal medicine student.
“Your tea smells heavenly. If you ever need someone to brew you a hot cup, I’ll be around,” she hummed. The scent tickled her nose. When was the last time she even brewed tea? And instead, she closed her eyes, enjoying the smells that she enjoyed creating at times.
If you want my organs, you’ll have to wait until I upchuck them again. He had thought, yet never dared to say due to the risk of potentially leaking out his full background. Instead, Changmin calmly sipped at his cup of tea, unwilling from where he sat at his desk. Why were the students at Mugunghwa University such freaks? Little disgusting gremlins with either criminal records or some sort of unlawful action rotting them completely.
“I suggest you keep your mouth shut, Miss Baek.” His words were shrill, his restraint on them prominent as the student poked fun at his death, “If seventy-five percent of students on campus won’t make it alive, I will still happily cater to the forgotten twenty-five percent in order to ensure that they will live a life of future success. Not to mention, the need of these students to emotionally confide into someone is quite high and, had no counselors been present on this very campus, I can ensure you that those rumors of suicide rather than murder running rampant on our campus would be true.” A sharp suck of breath, he continued, “Now, unless you have more to say to me, I advise you keep your mouth shut about the validity of my job and my personal background unless you wish to be reported to Director Kang. Frankly, we both know how that will turn out and I can ensure you that to be in trouble with Kang is the last thing you want to do on campus.” Ironically, had she gotten into a run with the dean, it would be the last thing she would do in her pitiful life.
Silence bubbled up between them and, for a fraction of a moment, Changmin had believed that Sumin had finally gone away. Relaxation, he had thought, had came at last. Shutting his eyes, the spectre inhaled but then froze suddenly as the scent of not only his black tea had invaded him, but the smell of cigarettes as well.
That was the last straw.
Standing up, the tall male stormed towards the door and yanked it open. Glaring down at the girl besides it, his lips pursed into a disapproving scowl, he spoke, “Smoking is not permitted on campus, nevertheless inside the building.” If he didn’t have an air of class about him, Changmin would have seized the cigarete from Sumin’s possession and stomped on it on the floor. Instead, he continued to glower at it, his fingers twitching.
