⠀︵⠀seokjin ⠀◌Ⳋ𝅄

You sat alone on a bench at the edge of the playground, staring up at the overcast sky. The voices of your classmates floated around you like a distant murmur, and yet, every minute of recess felt like an eternity.

"Isn't it a little chilly to be out here?" you suddenly hear, and turning your head, you see him: Professor Jin, with his gray jacket and a barely visible smile.

You don't respond. You just shrug.

"I see," he says, looking down for a second before sitting a safe distance away. "Although, to be honest, I came here to hide from the hustle and bustle."

You don't know if he's saying it to you or to himself, but his tone is so calm that it doesn't bother you.

"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay. I'm sure you've been asked that enough times," he continues, not looking at you directly, as if he were talking to the air. "But if it bothers you that I sit here, just tell me."

You shake your head.

A moment of shared silence.

"Did you know that there used to be a huge tree right here at this school?" she says, pointing to the ground with the toe of her shoe. "An oak tree. They cut it down when they remodeled. They say they buried a time capsule underneath."

Something about that idea catches your attention. You move your eyes where she's pointing.

You don't have an immediate answer. But for the first time that day, you consider responding.