THE ONE I BURIED TWICE
The boy I buried
Author bae
Helloooooo, my beautiful readers!!
Author bae
New story...
New pain...
New emotional damage. 😌✨
Don't worry...
I'll make you smile before I make you cry.
(Or maybe I'll make you cry from Episode 1... who knows? 👀)
Anyway...
Welcome to Noah and Eli's story.
Haneul University
8:35 AM
Lucas Bennett
WAIT FOR ME!!
Noah keeps walking without turning around.
Lucas Bennett
I know you heard me.
Lucas Bennett
Good morning
Noah Hayes
Good morning to you too.
Lucas Bennett
That's it? That's all I get?
Noah Hayes
You said good morning.
Lucas Bennett
One day I'm going to make you laugh.
Lucas Bennett
See!!
THAT WAS ALMOST A JOKE!!
Noah Hayes
Don't exaggerate.
Lucas looks at the students nearby.
Lucas Bennett
He almost became human!!
Girl 1
Is that Noah Hayes?
girl 2
He's so handsome...
girl 3
Too bad he's emotionally unavailable to the entire planet.
Lucas Bennett
Correction. He's emotionally unavailable to me too.
Noah Hayes (22)
Architecture student.
Quiet, mature, observant.
Dry sense of humor (only a few people ever see it).
Hasn't moved on from losing the person he loved five years ago.
The boy everyone knows...
But nobody truly knows.
Noah Hayes.
The university's genius.
The silent one.
The person who always sits in the corner, away from everyone.
People say he is cold.
People say he has no feelings.
People say he never smiles.
Maybe they are right.
Or maybe...
They just don't know what happened five years ago.
Lucas Bennett
Age: 22
Major: Architecture student
Noah's best friend.
The only person brave enough to annoy him every day.
The person who knows Noah is not as heartless as everyone thinks.
Lucas Bennett
You know people think you're scary, right?
Lucas Bennett
That's not a normal response.
Noah Hayes
I wasn't trying to be normal.
Behind that emotionless face...
There is a boy who still waits for someone who will never return.
A boy who still keeps an old promise.
A boy who lost the only person who made him feel alive.
Noah doesn't believe in second chances.
Because the first one already took everything from him.
The two continue walking toward the Architecture building.
Lucas Bennett
Movie tonight?
Lucas Bennett
Dinner? Basketball? Road trip?
Lucas Bennett
Rejected five times before 9 AM...
I'm breaking my own record.
Noah quietly shakes his head.
For a split second...
The corner of his lips lifts.
Lucas freezes.
Lucas Bennett
Eh you smiled...
Noah Hayes
Get your eyes checked
Lucas Bennett
I'm framing this moment
📍 Photography Department
🕗 9:02 AM
A boy stands in front of the campus map.
He looks at the map.
Then the building.
Then the map again.
Eli Carter
Why do all these buildings look the same?
Eli Carter
Please. I'm trying to find Photography.
Senior Lee
You're standing in front of Mechanical Engineering.
Eli Carter
...That explains the giant engine.
Senior Lee
Second floor.
Building C.
Go left.
Not right.
Eli Carter
You saved my life.
Senior Lee
It's only your first week.
Eli Carter
I almost died before my first class.
Eli Carter
Thank you senior
The senior laughs as Eli waves and runs off.
Camera hanging around his neck.
Coffee in one hand.
Eli Carter
Age: 21
Major: Photography
Year: Second Year (transfer student)
Friendly.
Talkative.
Clumsy.
And somehow always getting himself into trouble.
He smiles at strangers.
Talks to animals.
Takes pictures of random beautiful moments.
He believes every person has a story worth capturing.
Doesn't know why rainy days make him anxious.
Eli Carter
*Don't be late...*
Eli Carter
*Don't be late*
THUD!!
Books.
Photographs.
Coffee.
Everything falls to the ground.
Eli Carter
AH!! I'M SORRY!!
I'M SO SORRY!!
I WASN'T LOOKING!!
He immediately kneels to pick everything up.
Another pair of hands reaches for the scattered photographs.
One by one...
The photos are gathered.
He reaches for the last photograph.
A hand offers it to him.
Noah Hayes
.....Your photo.
Eli Carter
Thanks. You seriously saved me.
Noah slowly raises his head.
Time stops.
The smile.
The eyes.
The familiar voice.
His fingers begin to tremble.
The coffee cup slips from his hand.
Eli Carter
Uh...Are you okay?
Eli Carter
I'm sorry...Do we know each other?
Noah can't answer.
He only stares.
Like he's looking at someone impossible.
Eli scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.
Eli Carter
I think...You've mistaken me for someone else.
Eli Carter
*I think he's angry*
He gives Noah a small apologetic smile.
Eli Carter
See you around, senior.
Eli walks away.
Noah doesn't move.
Noah's eyes remain fixed on the disappearing figure.
Lucas Bennett
*Is he angry*
Noah Hayes
....I buried him.
The ghost of past
Author bae
Episode 2 already? 👀
Author bae
No theories yet...
Author bae
Tell me your theories in the comments. 😌
Author bae
Buts Noah damn sure he buried him
Author bae
Let's continue.
Students continue walking past.
Lucas Bennett
You're scaring me.
Noah keeps staring in the direction Eli disappeared.
Lucas Bennett
Hey...talk to me.
Lucas Bennett
Who...Who did you bury?
Noah Hayes
We're getting late.
Lucas looks at Noah's trembling hand.
For the first time in years...
Noah looks terrified.
Eli finally reaches his classroom.
Professor Kim
You're late. Birdie
Eli Carter
I know...I'm sorry.
Eli Carter
Is it that obvious?
Professor Kim
Very obvious
Professor Kim
Find a seat.
Eli Carter
yes professor....
Eli walks to the last empty seat.
Eli Carter
I'm Eli....Nice to meet you.
Yuna
You already made an entrance.
Eli Carter
Please don't remind me.
Eli Carter
I crashed into someone.
Eli Carter
He looked at me...Like he'd seen a ghost.
Whispers, kicking the back of Noah's chair
Lucas Bennett
(whispers)Dude...
He's calling you.
Professor Han
Are you planning to attend today's lecture mentally...
Professor Han
Or just physically?
Soft laughter fills the room.
Noah Hayes
I didn't heard sir
Professor Han
Everything alright?
Professor Han
Good. Open page twenty-three.
Noah opens the book.
He doesn't read a single word.
Professor Han
Can you tell us the structural risk of overloading a tension joint?
Noah Hayes
...It collapses. Without warning.
Professor Han
...Precisely. Try to stay with us.
Lucas Bennett
*He's really a genius*
Lucas Bennett
(whispers) You wanna tell me what happened?
Lucas Bennett
Was that guy someone you knew?
Noah grips his pen tightly.
Noah Hayes
Class is going on.
Lucas Bennett
That wasn't an answer.
Lucas Bennett
Is the class over?
tears off a corner of his notebook paper and slides a note across the desk
Noah reads the note. His fingers tighten so hard around his mechanical pencil that the plastic snaps with a sharp sound.
The lead crumbles onto his desk.
Lucas Bennett
I'm buying Lunch. You coming?
Noah Hayes
No. You carry on.
Lucas Bennett
are you sure?
Noah Hayes
I have to go somewhere
Lucas Bennett
Where are you going?
Noah turns and walks away without answering.
Noah walks rapidly toward his parked car, his breathing short and shallow.
He leans against the driver’s side door, pressing his cold forehead against the glass.
His fingers slowly brush against the door handle.
The noise of the campus around him begins to fade into a muffling hum.
Noah Hayes
*what's happening around me*
Noah Hayes
He closed his eyes
Rain hitting asphalt....
The deafening screech of a truck horn....
Glass shattering....
A frantic, bloodied hand reaching out toward him.
Voice:....distorted, crying out
Noah!! Hold on—!
Noah violently snaps his eyes open, gasping for air as sweat breaks out on his neck.
Noah Hayes
It's not real. It's just a hallucination. It has to be...
Noah Hayes
It has to be......
Eli sits on a wooden bench, eating a sandwich while watching a stray cat near the bushes.
walks over, dropping two iced coffees onto the table
Yuna
You still look completely out of it
Eli Carter
Thanks for the coffee. And I'm fine, really.
Yuna
You're still thinking about that guy from this morning, aren't you?
Yuna
Maybe he mistook you for a friend? Or an old acquaintance?
Eli Carter
When I looked into his eyes... for a fraction of a second, I felt this strange ache in my chest. Like a memory I can't quite reach.
Yuna
Do you remember ever seeing him before today?
Eli Carter
...No. I've never been to this city before this week.
Yuna
Then it's just a coincidence. Don't let it ruin your first day.
nods, taking a sip of coffee
Eli Carter
Yeah. You're right. Just a strange coincidence.
On the far side of the garden, standing behind the shadow of a stone pillar...
Noah watches Eli laugh, taking a bite of his sandwich, ducking his head when Yuna teases him.
Alive.
Breathing.
Smiling under the warm afternoon sun.
Exactly the way he remembered him before that rainy night four years ago.
Noah’s knuckles turn white against the stone pillar.
Noah Hayes
I held your cold hand. I went to your funeral.
Noah Hayes
This isn't possible.
Noah Hayes
"How can a dead person be alive?"
Noah Hayes
I killed you myself
Echo of a voice
Author bae
Episode 3 is here!
Author bae
The plot thickens... and Noah's coping mechanisms are already falling apart.
The cafeteria is loud with the clatter of trays, background chatter, and the hum of air conditioning.
Lucas and Noah sit at a small corner table.
Lucas Bennett
You've been poking that rice for ten minutes.
Lucas Bennett
Planning to eat it this semester? Or are you just dissecting it?
Lucas Bennett
You know... the silent treatment doesn't work on me anymore. I've been your friend for four years. I know your exact default settings.
Lucas Bennett
Then tell me what's actually going on. That guy from morning... Who was he, Noah?
Noah's fingers tighten around his metal spoon until his knuckles go white.
Lucas Bennett
No one? You looked like you saw a ghost.
Before Noah can answer, a warm, familiar voice speaks up from right behind Noah's shoulder.
Eli Carter
Um... Excuse me?
Noah's entire body stiffens instantly.
His voice...
Noah's grip on the spoon turns brutally tight, the metal edge biting into his fingers. His throat completely closes up.
Lucas notices the sudden, rigid shift in Noah's posture immediately.
Eli Carter
Sorry to bother you during lunch.
Eli Carter
just wanted to apologise properly about morning.
Noah doesn't turn around. Not even a single millimeter. He stays glued to his seat, staring dead ahead at his untouched food.
Eli Carter
Senior? I know I already said sorry... but I still feel bad. I spilled your coffee earlier, too.
Eli Carter
Would you like to....
Deafening silence hangs over the table.
Lucas glances back and forth between Eli’s polite, awkward smile and the terrifying tension radiating off Noah.
Lucas Bennett
Uh... He's listening. He's just... terrible at conversations. Especially with people he doesn't know.
Eli Carter
That's what everyone says.
Noah's breathing becomes shallow and uneven. Inside his head, the background chatter of the cafeteria bleeds into a sudden wave of sensory sensory overload.
Rain hammering against metal.
...
Broken glass skidding across wet asphalt.
...
The blare of a truck horn.
...
Blood dripping onto wet pavement.
...
That exact same voice, screaming his name through shattered glass.
Noah's fingers begin to tremble uncontrollably against the table.
Noah suddenly stands up, the metal chair legs screeching harshly against the floor tiles.
Noah Hayes
...I have somewhere to be.
Lucas Bennett
But we still have forty minutes before our next design lab—
Noah Hayes
Finish eating. I'll see you later.
Without waiting for a reply, and without casting even a glance toward Eli, Noah turns on his heel and walks away—fast, like he's trying to escape a crime scene.
Eli watches Noah’s retreating back as he vanishes into the crowded hallway, utterly baffled.
Eli Carter
...Did I make him uncomfortable? I didn't mean to intrude.
Lucas Bennett
Don't mind him. He's... always been like that.
Lucas Bennett
Don't be sad...
Lucas Bennett
He doesn't hate people. He's just... not good with them. He lives in his own head most of the time.
Eli Carter
I figured. The rumors weren't lying after all.....
Eli Carter
Everyone in the freshman building keeps talking about him.
*"The architecture senior who never smiles."*
*"The lone wolf of the building design department."*
*"Don't talk to Noah Hayes unless you enjoy awkward silences."*
Lucas Bennett
...Yeah. That sounds about right.
Eli Carter
I guess I chose the hardest person on campus to apologize to.
Lucas Bennett
Probably. You picked a tough boss fight for your first day.
Both of them laugh quietly, the tension clearing between them.
Eli Carter
I'm Eli Carter.
Lucas Bennett
Lucas Bennet here.
Eli Carter
Nice to meet you
Lucas Bennett
See you later
Eli Carter
Thank you senior for comforting me
Lucas Bennett
No thanks....
Neither of them notices...
Across the long, sunlit hallway...
Noah has stopped walking.
His fist punched against the cold concrete wall, his knuckles white as he tries to keep his legs from buckling.
His chest heaves, his breathing ragged and gasping as he tries to block out the sound of him.
His voice breaks into a fragile, desperate whisper.
Noah Hayes
...Why are you alive...?
Noah Hayes
Why are you torturing me....
Noah Hayes
Enough...it's enough....
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