Taeyong's pov

    I slipped my worn, gray hoodie on and walked out of the front door of my house. I smile slightly as I breathed in the fresh air as I walked towards the forest behind my house. I could always take long walks in the forest to calm my anxiety and relieve myself of school stresses.
    I made it a part of my routine each morning before school started. If I had to keep going to high school like my parents say I do, why go already stressed?
   There was a small cliff I absolutely loved sitting on, just dangling my legs from the small height. It gave me peace to see the small stream that ran below my feet.
Falling. Tumbling down the cliff. Someone screaming my name as I fell until it all faded to nothing.
    My eyes widened as I shook that.. thought.. from my head. These thoughts always come to me when I walk in this forest— only this forest. My favorite forest gave me random thoughts that seemed more like memories.
I've never fallen down this hill, why did it feel so real?
   I lightly scratched the birthmark on my neck then stood up on the ledge. I felt like I was being watched. I inconspicuously looked around then began walking as calmly as I could out of the forest. As I walked I noticed a figure—most likely male— watching me from the corner of my eye. I then began running, only to be caught by the man.
   "Taeyong? Lee Taeyong? Is it you?" The man, well I guess boy, asked as his brown eyes looked me over. His hand held mine in a loving grip that confused me.
   "Who are you? Why do you know my name?" I demanded although my voice shook from fear.
    "I'm Jung Jaehyun, we will have biology and calculus together, remember?" Jaehyun says as his eyes slightly change from the chocolate brown to a lighter, copper color.
   "I've never seen you in those classes before, I know all of my peers. I talk to all of my classmates." I finally stated as my voice became monotonous.
   "I'm new to town, I just moved here two weeks ago. You seemed easily approachable, so I wanted to befriend you." Jaehyun explains as he rubs his thumb over my knuckles.
   It felt too right for him to be a complete stranger to me. I pulled my hand away from his and put both of my hands in my hoodie pocket.
    "If you wanted to be my friend, why did you meet me in my forest? Why did you follow me in here to talk to me when school starts in a few hours?" I asked as I looked him up and down.
Light brown hair, brown eyes, round cheeks, he's tall, and he seems far too calculating to be a teenager. What is he hiding?
  "I guess I could have waited, that would've been a more acceptable approach huh?" Jaehyun sheepishly replied as he kicked a small rock with his shoe.
   "Yeah, yeah it would have. Following me into the forest behind my house is just creepy, dude. You're lucky it's me and not anyone else. You would've been shot for trespassing." I muttered then began walking back to my house.
   I quickly turned around only to see no one there. No person was behind me in that forest, the forest seemed almost lifeless. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked around a bit.
Where did Jaehyun go? I could have sworn he was right behind me..
   I decided to sprint the rest of the way out of the forest and into my front yard. As I unlocked my front door I gasped for breath. I quickly shut and locked the door then leaned my back against it.
   My mom's worried eyes met my own, "Taeyong, are you okay? How was your morning run?" She asked.
What do I tell mom? 'Oh yeah so I went walking and met some creepy guy in the forest, no big deal!' Oh like that's logical!
   "I saw- I saw a snake on my usual path and got scared." I mumbled. I hated lying to my mom with a burning passion. She was always so caring towards me, especially after she and my father divorced. It wasn't a bad divorce, they just didn't feel that loving spark anymore.
   She always tried her best to make my life as happy as possible, even if it was difficult for her. She made sure I had everything I needed to grow up happily above all. I can't stand the thought of lying to her and losing her trust in me.
  My mom laughed a little, "You're still as easily scared now as you were when you were a child." She smiled then ruffled my hair.
   "Mom!" I whined and tried to get away from her playful torment.
   "Go on upstairs and get ready for school, you don't want to be late on your first day!" She exclaimed then walked back into the kitchen.
    I walked up the stairs and quickly began to take a shower to rid myself of the sweat and dirt I had gotten on me in the forest.
   I finished the shower and began to towel dry my dyed red hair. I dried my body off and pulled on a solid black outfit. The excessive amount of black hid my bubbly personality, it would keep me safe from the rude students in the halls.
   However, anyone who truly knew me knew the black clothes was just a façade; they knew I couldn't do anything wrong even if my life came down to it. I just wasn't that kind of person.
   I descended the stairs, almost slipping on one, then walked into the kitchen where my mom still sat, happily scrolling through her phone as she ate the pancakes she made. She gave me another sweet smile then pointed towards the microwave with her fork, "Your pancakes are in the microwave, Taeyong. Eat them a little quickly so I can still get you to school on time."
   "It's okay, mom, you don't have to worry about driving me today. I think I'll just walk to school for a while." I nodded.
   "Are you sure, Taeyong? It's not a bother for me to drive you to school of a morning." She asked.
   "I'm absolutely sure, mom. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine!" I spoke with a smile then began to eat my pancakes.
   I finished my breakfast and slid on my converse shoes then grabbed my backpack as I walked back out the front door.
It's my first day of senior year, I don't want to be late!
   I put my earbuds in and let my playlist shuffle through its tracks. I smiled as I heard Mama by Exo and began walking to the beat, occasionally I sang out loud with it.
   With a few minutes to spare, I ascended the front stairs of the school and walked into the office to get my schedule.
Calculus, English, Biology, History I mentally read the white piece of paper.
   I walked into my calculus class before the first bell rung and took a seat in the middle of the class. I wasn't too close to the front but not in the back. I rested my head on my palm as I remembered this morning's events.
I took a walk, had some weird deja vu thing, then met a guy name Jaehyun- who disappeared as soon as I turned away. Yep, that's a perfectly logical start to a school morning! Not!
   "Are you okay, Ty?" Sicheng asked as he slid into a desk beside me. "You look like you've seen a ghost!" He exclaimed as he rubbed my back.
   "I'm okay, Sicheng, don't worry about me." I muttered and rubbed my eyes.
   "Taeyong, you know you can tell me anything, what's bothering you? You're usually chipper early in the morning but today you're all scared." Sicheng continued.
   "You wouldn't believe me, Sicheng."
   "Try me, Taeyong. We've been friends since basically birth, why are you hiding this?"
   "I saw someone while I took my morning walk, Sicheng. Then when I turned away from him, just for a second, he disappeared."
"Are you sure you saw a guy, Ty?"
"It was unmistakable, Sicheng. He held a conversation with me— he said he would have Calculus and Biology with me."
"Okay I— Wait, how would he know you would have the classes together?" Sicheng asked, thoroughly confused.
"I don't know, Sicheng! Jaehyun-that's his name- freaked me out so I ran back home." I sighed.
"Well, you can always find out if Jaehyun exists or was a figment of your imagination once class starts." Sicheng explained.
"Yeah, you're right." I sighed again and absentmindedly chewed on the top of my pen. I pulled my notebook out of my backpack and waited for the teacher to walk in.
"Okay, class. I'm your calculus teacher, Mr. Kang! If that's not what your schedule says, please find your way out." He paused for a moment, two students ran out of the classroom.
"I guess we can begin now. Welcome to the final year of your high school career, let's go over the syllabus together, shall we?" Mr. Kang states as he passes the syllabi out.
"This is calculus—" Mr. Kang was cut off by a loud series of knocks on the classroom door. He furrowed his eyebrows but opened the door with a smile.
"Is this Mr. Kang, Calculus?" The student asked, his voice low but smooth.
"Yep! Come in and take a seat, we were just about to go over the syllabus for this class." Mr Kang says as he gives the student a syllabus.
My eyes trailed to the student who just walked in. His eyes met mine and he smirked a little. My eyes widened as I looked back to the paper.
"Sicheng, that's him!" I whisper shouted at the poor boy as I lightly slapped his arm repeatedly.
"That's the guy I met in the forest!" I exclaimed
"So he is real, huh? He's pretty cute." Sicheng commented.
"Sicheng now is not the time for you to find another boyfriend, it's the first day of class!"
"I never said I would date him, only that he was attractive. I'm gay, Taeyong, not every man I think is attractive is my type."
I nodded my head and let my eyes wander to Jaehyun, who was two seats to my right. He was staring at Mr. Kang intently before his neck quickly turned to look me in the eye.
His gaze felt like it was burning holes in my face. I could feel my face heat up,but I didn't know why. Jaehyun smiled at me and I could feel the joy radiating from him.
"Taeyong, focus! Class has already started, stop falling for the new guy." Sicheng muttered as he listened to Mr. Kang. Jaehyun snapped his flaming gaze away from me and looked back towards the teacher.
"Sicheng, I'm not falling for Jaehyun! We just met this morning!" I replied. I looked at Jaehyun once again, only to see him laugh a little.
We just met, this can't be any more than just physical attraction. Jaehyun is an attractive guy, but I've never blushed while looking at a guy before...