(open) Lost in thought

[Mei Chun]

The courtyard was silent; the only sound came from the whistling wind or the crunch of leaves under boot. It seemed to lack the usual hustle and bustle that kept it so alive with atmosphere. But Mei didn’t mind, the silence was peaceful and she didn’t immediately see the need to fill it with noise. She smiled happy and planted herself on one of the stone benches that littered the courtyard, curling her legs sideways she grabbed her back pack and unzipped the top.
To anybody else -more specifically a stranger to the academy - the contents of her bag would seem rather odd. But to Mei, they were a complete and utter necessity.
The many bandages, antiseptic wipes and sterile gloves - wrapped up in clear plastic containers were there for emergency, with her speciality partly being first aid and medicines Mei found that she needed to be prepared for anything. Not to mention the infirmary –which she volunteered at every Friday night – gave them out like free candy bars.

She smiled nonchalantly as she finally found what she’d been searching for. There buried right at the bottom, under numerous notepads –one for each academic class – was her biology text book. With a winsome gin, she plucked it from the bottom and turned to the page she’d last found herself at.
The chapter on nightshade, while interesting was quite grim. It was one of the most deadly plants, one that could leave a victim dead within moments. Mei shuddered at the thought, it was an extreme poison but she knew – as did most students – that she’d someday have to use it.
Mei sighed. Sometimes she really hated the idea of hurting others; she just didn’t understand why each different nation needed to teach a child how to kill someone.
It was probably the reason why she found herself drawn to the medicinal side to poisons, she need to rid her guilt somehow.

The wind whistled again and as it blew stray leaves across the stone floor Mei didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.

[Im Yong Soo]

Yong-Soo decided to take a walk; it’d be good for clearing his head. He had been studying and working on homework for the past 6 hours and his arms and eyes were getting extremely tired while his legs were stiff from lack of movement. He walked outside, heading vaguely in the direction of the courtyard as his mind wandered all over the place. He soon started thinking about the tournament however; as he remembered what his foster-father had told him before he left. He couldn’t believe it when he first heard it; he’d have to kill people? Yong-Soo grew up being more or less a pacifist. Oh he knew how to fight – he was a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and could definitely win most hand-to-hand fights – he just preferred to solve problems using his head and words. It’ll be something he’d have to change if he wanted to be prepared so he wouldn’t be the first one dead whenever the time came to fight. If he had to, he supposed he could fight and, if worst comes to worst, he could kill someone.

Breaking out of his thoughts, he realised that he was almost to the courtyard. This place was normally deserted and he could sit on one of the benches and continue thinking about the dark subject of killing. His legs were starting to cramp as they hadn’t moved for 6 hours and he was suddenly moving them. Deciding to hurry up and get to the bench, he rushed over to the edge of the courtyard before realising that there was a girl sitting on the benches already. On top of that, it was a CUTE girl too! He noted that she looked like she’d be in his grade, and without even thinking, Yong-Soo walked down the path and said, “Hi, you’re really cute, da-ze~! My name’s Im Yong Soo, you can just call me Yong-Soo though, what’s your name?”


Yong-Soo smiled brightly as he spoke, speaking fast as he was kind of nervous about meeting a new girl, he hadn’t really associated with them before he had come here, and saying hello was about all that he knew how to do. However, he didn’t let it show as he smiled widely at the new girl sitting on the bench, waiting for her to say something back.

[Mei Chun]

Mei hadn’t heard the person approach; she was so lost in thought over how it would be best to poison her darts first during the tournament for long distant attacks, and within the pages of her book she failed to see the person sit down. Yet she’d certainly heard their introduction, and with a startled yelp at the sudden sound she fell red faced off of the bench, her book falling beside her in a clatter. Mei froze in her spot as her cheeks flushed to a faint pinkish colour and for a moment her vision blurred. She sat up slowly she rubbed the back of her gingerly and stared in stupor at her new companion.

Wait – had he just called her cute? She felt her cheeks flush again at the compliment. She wasn’t that cute, she wasn’t even as remotely pretty as some of the other girls at the academy. The compliment felt foreign to here if not a touch unnerving; she bit her lip softly as she finally stood up and brushed the dirt off of her school clothes.

“S-sorry,” she finally mumbled out “I didn’t hear you there,”
She bowed an apology before she raised her head to meet the boys gaze and felt her shyness slowly ebb away – as well as any lingering embarrassment.
“But it’s really nice to meet you, Yong-soo -” She grinned feeling immediately more at ease.
He didn’t seem dangerous, and he didn’t seem to give off any of the creepy vibes some of the other students at the academy did either.

“- my names Mei, I think you’re in some of my classes right?” she asked “sophomore?”.

[Im Yong Soo]

Yong-Soo hadn’t meant for her to fall and hurt herself; he just wanted to make a new friend so he felt guilty as he watched the girl rubbing the back of her head. He was about to say sorry, but thought it might be better to see how she’d react before rushing into anything. He was surprised to see that she was blushing, mentally laughing when she bit her lip, it was something that had always amused him and found cute. After a few seconds of watching her brush off her skirt, Yong-Soo finally got the response that he was waiting for: her name, and a even conversation starter. Jumping on the opportunity to talk, he excitedly pulled his legs up on the bench, a goofy smile plastered on his face.

“It’s nice to meet you too Mei!” Yong-Soo laughed happily nodding, “Sophomore, that’s me da-ze~! I can’t remember what classes we have together though, I have a bad memory!”

He looked around, attempting to find something to talk about so he wouldn’t bore Mei; boring someone isn’t exactly the best way to make friends. Luckily for him, he saw Mei’s textbook lying flat on the bench and while school subjects weren’t exactly the best conversations, it was better than sitting there mute trying to think of something else. Keeping his goofy grin up to keep her entertained, he asked, “Hey, what’s that you’re reading Mei? Is it school-related, or something fun~?”

Yong-Soo was tempted to grab the book instead of waiting for Mei to answer, but reminded himself that grabbing things isn’t socially acceptable and had to be content with turning to face Mei and waiting for her to talk instead. For whatever reason, he felt comfortable and his smile widened even more to a point where it would’ve just been amusing to see him.

[Kook]

And as requested by Mei, this thread shall be killed~ Muhahahahah eue