The silent Beginning

The day Seoyeon’s parents told her that she would be transferred to a new school, a quiet dread settled over her. It was a decision that had already been made, and she could do nothing but accept it. As her mother spoke of new opportunities and fresh starts, Seoyeon found herself withdrawing inwardly, thinking that the life she had once imagined would never come to be. Her dreams, her hobbies—the small comforts she had built around her quiet world—seemed impossible to pursue now.

“I think I will not have the dreams I want to live,” she thought, silently, watching her parents’ mouths move but feeling detached from their words. “I can’t fulfill my hobbies. I won’t have time for anything I love.” Her gaze lingered on the worn pages of her notebook, her only companion in the silence of her world.

Her father’s voice broke her reverie. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes meeting hers with an odd concern.

She hesitated. “I’m fine,” she replied, but her voice betrayed no emotion. The truth was, she didn’t know how to express what she was feeling. It didn’t matter. Her family didn’t notice the gaps inside her, the space where her dreams used to live.

The next day, they took Seoyeon and her younger sister to their new school, Mokhwa High School. It was a big, imposing building, set against a backdrop of a gray, overcast sky. The streets around the school were lined with old,

familiar shops, but everything felt different now, as if the world around her was suddenly out of place.

Seoyeon, silent as always, looked up at the school’s structure. “Is this place going to be like my old school?” she wondered. “Will the people here be the same, or will this be different?” She thought about the possibility of making friends, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like an impossibility. “Will I end up alone again?” she asked herself.

Just as these thoughts swirled in her mind, a teacher appeared—mid-aged, with a stern yet welcoming expression. “We need to administer some exams for your children,” the teacher said, her voice polite but firm. “It will take some time. It’s 1:00 PM now; you can pick them up at 3:00 PM.”

Her father nodded, then turned to Seoyeon. Without a word, he left her at the school, taking her sister with him because she was still in primary school. Seoyeon felt a small pang of loneliness as she stood in the large, echoing hallway, but she said nothing. She followed the teacher up the stairs to an empty classroom on the upper floor.

The room was large and bright, with windows that opened to the outside world. As Seoyeon stepped inside, the teacher handed her a stack of exam papers. “Work on these while I step out for a moment,” the teacher said before leaving the room, her footsteps fading down the hallway.

Seoyeon sat down at the desk, the quiet hum of the room surrounding her. She could hear the distant chatter of children in the hallways, but they felt far away—like they belonged to another world. Her focus turned to the window. Outside, a row of towering trees swayed gently in the breeze. The sight calmed her, grounding her in the stillness of the moment.

She picked up her pen, eyes still wandering to the trees, watching their branches dance with the wind. The exam papers sat untouched for a few minutes, but her mind was already drifting. “This is my chance,” she thought, rolling her pen between her fingers. “I can prove to everyone that I’m good at studying, good at everything, if I want to be. If I try hard enough.”

Her gaze shifted back to the trees outside, their movement steady and graceful. “Will this school help me live a better life? Will it give me the chance to show who I really am?”

Minutes passed, and the boredom began to creep in. Seoyeon started rolling her pen absentmindedly, her thoughts swirling again. The quiet around her was both a comfort and a burden.

She knew she was at a crossroads, but the uncertainty of it all made her heart ache. Would Mokhwa High be a place where she could finally belong, or would she remain as invisible here as she had been before? The question hung in the air, unanswered, as Seoyeon stared out at the trees, the silence of the room echoing her quiet doubts.

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