"You suck balls."
"Shut it, Jiwoo!" She only stuck her tongue at Koi, stealing one of his chips.
Koi and Kim Jiwoo were childhood friends, growing up on the planet of KIUN 2016. KIUN 2016 was also a planet in the Observable Universe, the same universe as Earth 2038. There are many planets similar to Earth 2038, such as ENTA and Aero~. However, its similarity rate is the highest to Earth 2038 in many ways, such as both being inhabited by humans and typical smaller animals.
"Whatever. It's not my fault that you're such a loser…" Jiwoo's beautiful, kind face contrasted with the ugly words coming out of her mouth. People often mischaracterize her as someone sweet or cute, but it couldn't be further from the truth.
"Says the girl who doesn't have any other friends other than me."
"Hey! I know you're not talking!"
Koi and Jiwoo were close to inseparable. Students and even teachers at their school would often assume that the two were dating, yet they were merely close friends.
"Ew… me dating Jiwoo? Seriously, I take that into offense…"
"Me dating Koi? Hey, are you calling me ugly or something?"
Needless to say, it was a type of friendship where they would bicker back and forth, often engaging in heated arguments. One where they promised to marry each other when they turned 30, despite knowing there was no possible way for them to gain any romantic attraction. A type of friendship where they would know each other's deepest, darkest secrets, yet wouldn't know each other's favorite color. A bond that they would sell each other's souls to a devil for a cup of ramen, but would kill someone if the other was hurt.
***
"Hey, Koi."
"What."
"No need to be so rude, gosh."
"What is it?" The teenager flipped his black hair up, looking up at the girl who was resting on his bed. "I want to get back to my game."
"Geez, forget I asked."
"Okay, okay. What is it?"
"Don't you get tired? Of your parents?" Both of them had Korean parents, strict to the core.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Is the grass green? Of course, I get sick of my parents, but I have it better than yours."
"..." Koi knew how strict Jiwoo's parents could be. Controlling every aspect of her academic life and continuously criticizing her for any small mistake she could've made. It was a typical tiger parenting household. But to someone who wanted nothing else but to be free, it was a cage.
"I hate my parents."
"... What happened?"
"They beat me up. Both of them. That's why I'm wearing these long sleeves in this heat." Jiwoo looked at Koi's shocked face and started laughing hard. "I can't believe it? Can you? Both of them ganged up on me, even when I was on the ground! Who do they think they are, thugs? Besides, it was only because of one C! A C in physics, can you really blame me?"
Koi started to laugh too, turning his head back to his gaming console. "Shoot me, beats me. Physics sucks. Hey, only one more semester and then we are off to college."
Jiwoo liked that about Koi, how he was obviously concerned about her but never too pressing. She liked how they both knew when to move on from things.
"Damn right we are." Jiwoo stretched her arms around her thin body. "Hmm… can we go out to eat?"
"Be patient, it's not even dinner time yet."
"So? Let's get banana milk! Oo, I want ramen too!"
"Chillax." Koi turned off his console, grinning as he looked up at her. "Let's go. But I want hotteok."
"You weirdo. Let's just get tteokbokki then."
"Again? Seriously…" Koi only sighed, slowly getting up from his sitting position.
***
"Again?" Koi had a worried expression on his face, grabbing Jiwoo's bruised arm. "Seriously, what is wrong with them?"
"It'll be fine. They are always like this."
He only sighed at her words. Jiwoo was the type of person not to dwell on hardships in her life, so he always tried to move on quickly.
"Come here, let's go out, okay? My treat."
Jiwoo beamed at his words, taking his rough hand as they walked down the darkening street.
"Can we get ramen?"
"You and carbs… what's with you?"
***
"What's with you? You have been ignoring me recently!" Koi turned Jiwoo, forcing her to look at him. Dark eye bags met his dark brown eyes, as she only glared at him.
"What are you, a fish who can't feed himself? So what if I ignored your texts or if I haven't been talking to you? You aren't my only friend!"
"You know it's different with me!"
"Is it really?"
"Yes!" Koi almost screamed at her. The afterschool lights shone on both of them in the empty hallway. Distant voices on the school's field could be heard, as people's muffled cheering and talking pierced their silence. "Tell me. What's going on? Is it your parents again?"
"Stop it! Being all concerned for me, it's sickening, really?" Jiwoo closed her eyes, shoving Koi away from her.
"Are you being serious? It's my fault, I'm concerned for you. Any good friend would be!"
"You're so annoying."
"Huh?"
"You heard me. You have always been annoying. It's like talking to a wall when I'm around you."
Koi's face turned red in anger and embarrassment. "I know you are hurting right now, but there's no reason to be like this to me! You don't actually mean anything you're saying right now!"
The girl's face turned cold, with not a hint of deceit in her expression. "Do you really think I'm lying right now?"
Koi only stammered, trying to search for any cracking points in her figure. But he knew Jiwoo better than anyone else. He knew that she, at this moment, wasn't lying.
"Fine then! Do whatever you want!" The tall boy turned his back on the girl, storming off while clutching his loose backpack. The girl, face turning slightly blue, only became more emotionless with every step he took. His figure became smaller and smaller, until she no longer could see him.
Jiwoo leaned to the side of the window, looking at all the other people outside of its cage.
Little did Koi know it at the time, but that would be the last time he ever talked to her. And in fact, it would be the last living day for her too.
***
"Terrible, isn't it? Kim Jiwoo jumped off the school building… I never knew she had it going rough…"
"It's not like she was getting bullied either. Was it because of her parents?
"Isn't she being selfish, too? I mean, all people like that are…"
"Hmm… not really so selfish but more disgusting. Who in their right mind would kill themselves like that? And cause a scene after-school hours too!"
"Right, right! You're so right, she should've done it at a different location. Terrible incident, but really? At school?"
Whispers engulfed every corner of the school, only growing in heat day by day.
"Shh!" Everyone quieted down as the Koi took his seat. Everyone stayed quiet.
At first, when the news of Jiwoo's death came out, everyone went over to comfort and talk to the Koi. But it didn't work. Seeing how he needed space from his best friend's death, no one dared had the guts to approach him.
The Koi hated the rumors. Every one of them. What he hated even more was the shit-talking people who continuously spread day by day. As if any of them knew Jiwoo at all. None of you guys did. And what's more, he hated the most was the fact that his last conversation with her was an argument. An argument of the day she died, too.
Not like he would admit it to anyone.
There were no tears on his face. Only a blank expression remained.
He always knew that she wanted to escape the contracting cage of life, flapping away at the only desire she had in mind. But he didn't know that he wouldn't have been with her when she flew away. He only remained stuck, stuck in his endless pools of water.
The Koi couldn't even fly. Not like the blue heron.
The Koi couldn't even survive without the water, without the environment nicely and neatly set out for him. The two were strikingly different in this manner, but that never stopped them from becoming friends.
Yet the Koi couldn't spread his wings just like the heron's if there were no wings to spread. Only fins and a tail, swimming around in circles and circles.
***
"I'll meet you soon."
The Koi really did mean that. But a fish can't fly. And why would a flying animal look down at the water, just for a singular fish?
And yet the Koi still tried. With all his might.
He took his small fins, flapping them just as hard as the blue heron did that day. Mocking the flight, until he got it just right.
And that was the day that the Koi flew, flew just like the blue heron…
***
"... Jiwoo…" The Koi looked lost in thought. Hey, I completed this event, right? Why is he still here?
"... Hey, just who is the blue heron to you? For you to cause this destruction, for you to become a calamity..." I narrowed my eyes, still hovering in front of Mr. Simon.
"She's a friend who committed suicide."
"Oh." Forgot I even asked! Hey, I didn't ask for this trauma dump. System, help me out!
"Are you going to call her selfish? Disgusting even?"
"Huh?" I only tilted my head at the calamity's words. The event is completed, the identity is discovered, but why is this guy still here! "Why would she be? That's not being selfish at all. People who do things like that are typically the opposite of disgusting."
It felt weird, saying those words out of my mouth. It felt like a sense of deja vu, but I couldn't quite remember why.
"Haha!" The Koi made a sorrowful face while laughing. His eyes crinkled in my wake. "I see…"
Then the cold, monotone, systematic voice rang out. "Calamity tutorial event completed. Congrats to Earth 2038 for completing phase three of the tutorial. Sending calamity back to the citizenship planet…"
I only stared at the smiling Koi. His tall body began to dissipate into millions of particles. I only glanced up at the hovering lights as the small, fading dust floated down to the ground. I sank to the ground, gasping at the fact that the event was finally over. It felt like all energy had been drained out of me.
"Mr. Simon! We are alive!" I whipped my head around, grinning at the fact that we survived due to the mere luck of my SP. "And look at all this! I got a SP, just like you!"
Mr. Simon lay propped up on the wall, giving me a smile in return. "You did amazing, Lily. I knew you could have done it. Congrats on getting your SP."
"Hah… yeah, thanks."
"... Lily?"
I couldn't hear what else Mr. Simon was saying. Everything around me was a haze, and I could feel the strength and power leave my body. The pencils, pens, and paintbrush disappeared along with the scroll of paper. I clutched my still-spinning head, and my body slumped forward.