WHO

EPISODE 1

STELLA

!RING RING!!!

That stupid alarm clock rang ruining my precious sleep. I stopped the alarm clock and went back to sleep again as I was still sleepy. But my plan totally got ruined by mom screaming,

"STELLA..GET YOUR ASS UP RIGHT NOW. YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE AGAIN."

"I'M UP... DON'T YELL." I yelled back with my eyes half closed.

"COME DOWN RIGHT THIS INSTANT. DON'T MAKE ME CALL YOU AGAIN." Mom yelled again.

"COMING!!!" I said as I rushed to the bathroom , took a quick bath and got ready for college. I did a light make up , and wore a knee length top with jeans, did my hair and was looking at the mirror with a satisfied look..My thoughts were interrupt by the door opening sound.

" I see your legs are doing just fine. Then what's taking you so long to come down?" Mom asked with a raised eyebrow.

" Hehe, mom I was just getting ready.. let's go I'm hungry. Btw where's dad?" I asked while pushing her little so that she won't scold me anymore.

" Probably reading newspaper." She said as she was trying to search dad . There he's reading newspaper with a worried face. I went closer to him.

"Good morning,dad." I greeted him while kissing him on check as I sat by the stand of his chair.

" Good morning,dear. Did you sleep well?" He asked giving me a peck on my forehead while smiling at me.

" I did ,dad. What about you?" I asked him as I hugged him by his shoulder.

" Same here dear."

" What's on today's news?" I asked as I tried to peek on the newspaper.

On the news, there was another article about murder. It's been a few months since a mysterious person began murdering people. To be exact, he's killing couples. That's kind of weird. Police have been searching for him all over the place but couldn't find a trace. Being the daughter of a cop, this matter interests me very much.

"We are searching for him, but it's hard to even find out his name.He must be a pro at hiding." dad said while closing the newspaper. Dad is in charge of this case. I know how hard he's working, but seeing all his hard work go in vain really hurts.

"Don't worry,dad. It's gonna be alright. You're working hard. I'm sure you'll be able to catch him, and even if you can't, that's not a big deal. I'll do it for you. I'll catch him and put him behind the bar. Then I'll get a bigger medal than you and hang it on the wall beside yours." I said it with a proud smile while pointing my finger at the medal.

Dad just laughed and patted me again, saying, "You'll surely do a great work to get a medal for sure."

"Are you guys done talking or want to just skip breakfast?" Mom said finally setting the table.

"No, no, we are coming." I said as we went there and had breakfast.

"s**t. I'm late again." I said while getting up as I pecked mom and dad's cheeks and ran as fast as I could.

"This girl," Mom said, having enough of my childishness.

[IN THE COLLEGE]

I was running in the hallway while thinking if the professor would let me in or not. It's my 3rd time coming late this week..finally I was at my class.

"May I come in, sir?" I said while touching my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, Stella? It's your fourth time being late to class. EXPLAIN IT." The professor blurted out. I showed him three fingers, still trying to catch my breath.

"What?" The professor asked, as he was confused, why I'm showing three fingers. I finally caught my breath and said, "This is not the fourth professor; it's the third time." I said as he just sighed and grabbed his face with one hand while with the other he signaled me to just get out of his sight and get inside the class. He had enough of me. I guess he doesn't have the energy to argue, so I just went inside and sat down quietly next to my best friend Jack as he laughed at me.

"You really know how to get on someone's nerve without even trying." He laughed.

"Shut up, will you?" I glared at him.

"Attention class.. a new student transferred due to some reasons.. let's welcome him..Come in, boy, and introduce yourself." The professor said as a boy with black hair and round specs entered. He was worth watching. I could already tell by looking at him how many girls are going to fangirl over him.

"Close your mouth, Stella. You're gonna scare that boy." Jack said bringing me back to reality.

"Iyaa...Do you want to die?" I asked as I pinched him hard.

"Oouuuchhh...it hurts,idiot." He yelled.

"Jack, what's wrong?" The professor yelled again.

"N-Nothing professor. Don't mind me. Please continue." He said it politely.

"Ok. And you... "Will you introduce yourself or not?" The professor asked the new boy.

"Tan, Tan Anderson." He said emotionlessly.

"And?" The professor asked, as he wanted him to continue.

" Nothing." He said as he went to a corner and sat down. The professor was too stunted to even react.

"What a weirdo!" I whispered.

"Something feels off about him." Jack said as he stared at Tan.

"What?" I asked him confusedly.

"He seems lonely.I should go and sit with him; it'll be awkward for him to sit alone." He said while taking his bag. He is a real softie.

"Yahh..what about me? How can you just leave me here alone?" I asked, feeling a little bit sad.

"Who said I'm leaving you, huh?Where I'm there you're.. So, You'll come with me."

"What th-" I got cut off, as he just took my bag and pulled me with him. He sat beside Tan, and I was next to Jack. The professor gave us a project and a deadline.

"Hi! I'm Jack Walston. You can call me Jack, and she is my best friend, Stella." He introduces us only to hear nothing from the other side. So he slightly touched him, but he yanked his hand and said,

"Who gave you permission to touch me?" He glared at him. Jack was caught off guard and apologized immediately, not knowing he would react that way.

Jack

I was taken aback by his reaction. It became awkward for a while. We became silent and started doing our own jobs. I could feel Stella's eyes on me. So I turned towards her and gave her a smile, signaling that everything was fine. I was just listening to the lecture when suddenly my eyes caught Tan's writing.

"You are left-handed, Tan? I used to be left-handed too, but mom didn't seem to like that, so she would hold my left hand while I would write. Then it became a habit to write with the right hand. It was tough, though. Has your mom ever done that to you?"

"I don't have a mom." Tan replied flatly.

"What?" I was taken aback by his answer.

"She's dead." He again replied flatly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said as I felt sad knowing about his mom.

"Why are you saying sorry? It's not like you killed her." He said finally facing me.

Stella and I was kind of shocked not knowing what to say so, I just coughed and sat comfortably.

(AFTER A WHILE)

STELLA

"What's wrong,Stella?" He asked while facing me.

"Nothing's wrong with me, but something is definitely wrong with you." I said as I had enough of him.

"Huh? What?" Jack asked with a frown.

"You can clearly see he's not interested, yet you're trying to get to know him. Such a rude bastard. What the hell does he think of himself?" I said feeling frustrated.

Jack said, "He'll hear yo-"

Tan cut him, saying "Human."

"Eh?" I asked confusedly.

"You asked what I think of myself." He replied, staring at me like there was no tomorrow. I could feel shivers run through my veins just by hearing his voice.

"Weird." I whispered to myself.

After the third class

As time passed, I was feeling damn bored. I would watch Jack being all friendly with Tan. Asking him his favorite color, hobby, subject, and what not, Tan would just reply shortly, clearly showing no interest. Jack has friendly behavior. He likes to be friends with everyone. He likes to talk. He's a cheerful person. Sometimes he doesn't even feel real. He's so nice to everyone. Try to cheer me up when I feel down. I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

"Open up to us. You shouldn't corner yourself like that; you'll feel lonely." I heard Jack say that to Tan worriedly.

"You know my grandfather survived for around 90 years." Tan said making Jack and me frown.

"By cornering himself like you?" Jack asked, being curious.

"No, he used to mind his own business." Tan replied and started doing his work.

I laughed out loud.

"Damn,Tan. That was a good one." I said I was still laughing.

"Yaa, I thought you'd say he really used to corner himself." Jack laughed.

"Yeah, you do have a comforting smile." Tan suddenly said, making me choke on air.

"She really does." Jack said as he pinched my cheek lightly.

"No, I was talking about you." Tan said, making both of us shocked. I laughed again.

"You aren't only weird, rude, and arrogant, but also funny. Keep it up, bro." I said while trying to pat his shoulder, but my hands weren't long enough to reach his. So I just touched his chair instead. To my surprise, Tan smiled a little. I was shocked by that. But that smile didn't last long. It was as if he smiled without knowing but soon stopped as soon as he realized.

"Both of you go back to your seats. You guys are being nosy, and it's disturbing me. Leave." He said he was not even looking at us.

"It won't hurt you to be a little nice. We are just trying to be friendly." I blurted out as I had enough of his bullsh*t.

"You don't need to. Just get lost." He said it again while doing his work.

"Arrogant bastard." I said as I picked up both Jack's and my bags, dragged Jack along with me, and sat down on our couch. After a while, I noticed Jack was wondering in his own world.

Maybe he is upset because of that stupid shitbag Tan. I touched his arm softly, but he was startled as he saw a ghost.

"What happened?" I worriedly asked.

"Nothing; I was just thinking something." He replied, staring at his fingers. I guess he is feeling down for what happened earlier.

"Don't be sad. He's such a weirdo. You were trying to be nice, but that piece of sh*t"

"I'm not sad."

"Then ?"

"It's just that he feels so lonely. Maybe he wants to talk with us and be friends with us, but something is bothering me. Didn't you notice how he just stopped smiling? That's what's bothering me the most." He spoke calmly.

"Have you finally lost it? He's nothing but a total piece of trash." I blurted it out, feeling a bit annoyed.

"No, Stella. Sometimes people want to say something but have nothing to say to anyone at the same time. It's a kind of silence that's just sitting there waiting for someone to finally notice that they're really not okay; it's a kind of silence that's shouting directly into our eyes to notice them, but all we do is just look the other way." He finally said it, staring at Tan. Maybe I get what he's trying to say now. It reminds me of when I first met Jack.

••3 years ago•

STELLA

It's my first day at college. I hope I won't get myself into any trouble. I went to my class and searched for a seat. I got one, so I went there and was about to sit when a chubby-looking guy with thick glasses who kind of looked cute asked, "Are you going to sit here?" as I was halfway seated.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize this seat was reserved. Just let me locate another seat." I said it politely as I stood up.

"No, the seat isn't reserved. I was just shocked. Why are you sitting here when there are lots of seats?"

"Is there something wrong with this seat?" How come I can't sit here?" I asked while checking the seat if there was any problem.

"There's no issue with the seat. It's just me. I mean, people don't usually sit with me, so I was thinking, Why would you?"

"Why won't they sit with you?"

"I'm not sure. I never asked. "Perhaps my tendency to cling is the cause," he said while scratching the back of his neck and smiling nervously.

"Oh, that. It's okay.. not a big deal. I like friendly guys." I eventually said as I sat next to him. I assumed he would claim he is some sort of psychopath or something similar because of the way he said something was wrong with him.

"What is your name, then?" He questioned.

"Stella Smith." I responded as I arranged my books. "And you?" I continued.

"Jack Walston. You can address me as Jack.

"Alright Jack."I therefore wondered, "Why can't you get along with other people?" At last, I said, turning to face him.

"It's not that I don't want to get along. People just find me bothersome, so I try my best to stay away from them. I don't want to cause them any unnecessary trouble."

"Hey, that's not true." I don't find you bothersome. I said it with a smile.

JACK

When she stated that, I was both surprised and relieved.

"Will you be my friend?"

"Of course," she said, smiling.

"That's mean we can go to the movies, hang around, and work on projects or tasks together, right?"

"Of course, dummy."

••PRESENT••

STELLA

As time went on, Jack and I developed a friendship. We were always there for each other. We always had each other's backs. Meeting Jack was like walking into a house and suddenly knowing I'm home. Now that I stare at him, his facial features have completely changed. He no longer wears glasses, has six packs, and has made many friends. His nature is the only thing that remained unchanged. He is still the same.

"Let's just wait for him to be comfortable," I said with a reassuring smile, which he returned with his sweet smile.