ch. 48

"will my painful wounds catch you all?"

-moon

"throw it back, seonghwa!"

"oh yeah! show off that booty, hongjoong!"

"go off yeosang!"

listening to her friends' conversations, eunbi lets out a disappointed sigh as she watches them from afar. her arms are propped on the table with her face resting on her hand as she takes another sip of her water.

it has been an hour or two since the dance has officially started, and everyone is going haywire. the dance floor is smothered with people and her ears are throbbing in pain due to people's screaming and the blasting music.

not really her cup of tea.

not enjoying the atmosphere, she pulls out her phone from her purse and scrolls through her social media. the bright screen of her device is the only thing keeping her sane in this wacky place compared to all the color-changing lights in the room.

"hey eunbi!"

looking over her shoulder, she sees wooyoung standing in front of her with a bright grin. she notices that his hand is stretched towards her before she brings her gaze back to the black-haired male.

"do you need something?" she asks, a little wary about his sudden approach.

he rolls his eyes when he hears the question while gesturing to her to take his hand. "you're my date for tonight and we haven't done anything together yet! let's go outside for a while, i need to take a break from dancing anyways."

reluctantly, she obliges to his request and allows him to guide her away from the crowded space while she continues to look through her phone. she needs to take a breath after staying in this suffocating atmosphere for hours already.

the brunette pays no attention to where she is going as she expects to meet with the coldness of the outdoors. yet after a few minutes of walking, the temperature around her has not changed a slight bit.

her ears pick up footsteps trailing behind her and wooyoung, but she disregards them as the sound of their walking echoing throughout the hallway.

wait, hallway?

before she could realize the situation, she hears a door lock behind her and her body immediately tenses up. her eyes wander around her surroundings, taking in every detail of the dark classroom she is currently in.

then, her focus locks onto the boy in front of her.

she yanks her hand out of his grip and takes a step back.

this is not the wooyoung she knows.

standing before her is a towering male with his jaws clenched, a gleam of intensity present in his gaze. hues of red begin arising to the surface of his skin as his breaths becomes heavier the second.

a predator staring down its prey.

that is how she is feeling right now.

quickly, she turns on her phone and contacts yeosang.

but no one answers her call.

a low chuckle resonates in the classroom.

"i'm sorry sweetie, but there is no service here."

her eyes widen in fear when she hears those words.

he planned this from the very beginning.

even though he remains still in his spot, she backs up until she can feel herself collides with the wall.

never once does his eyes leave her figure.

"why?" wooyoung asks, gritting his teeth. "why did you do that?"

eunbi's remain in contact with his as her hands frantically search for any object. "wh-why what?"

he takes a step forward. "why did you have to do that to me?"

she blinks a few times and takes a moment to interpret the statement while he takes another step closer to her.

"what are you t-talking about?"

at this point, wooyoung is standing right in front of her with his hands clenched in fists. "you know exactly what i am talking about.

she scrunches her eyebrows together in confusion, legs trembling in fear. "i-i don't. i really don't know-"

fingers wrap around her throat and a gasp of air echoes in the empty classroom. eunbi's hands scramble to the hand that's squeezing her throat and attempts to pry it off her as tears of pain stream down her face.

"stop lying! i know you do! were you trying to ruin me?!?"

her vision becomes hazy as the supply of air decreases, her thoughts barely able to comprehend his words. she can feel her conscience slowly slip from her grasp and her strength become weaker. she tries to shout for help, but nothing comes out of her mouth.

but she could not let this be the end of her.

in an instant, she harshly kicks his chest and he releases his grip on her to hold himself in pain. she flees to the door and attempts to yank it open; however, it seems like it has been locked from the outside.

"dammit," she curses under her breath.

siyeon must have been behind this.

she suddenly feels fingers wrap around her ankle and glances down to see wooyoung, who is crawling on the floor.

"you want to play rough? i will give you rough-"

she stomps on his wrist, causing him to shout and let her go.

with that, she rushes to the opposite side of the classroom to put some space between them. her chest is rising up and down and her eyes observe her surroundings for any escape route.

is this what areum went through? she wonders as her body trembles uncontrollably. the sensation of being powerless? the sensation of fear?

the sound of a desk screeching against the floor brings her attention to the now-standing male, although he is still limping due to the unbearable pain she bestowed upon him.

"you lied to me!" eunbi yells at him, hands clenched in fists. " we were supposed to go outside and enjoy the outdoors. but instead, you dragged me to a secluded area without anyone knowing and that is absolutely disgusting!"

he scoffs at her scolding. "this is what you were asking for."

"what do you mean!?" she scrunches her eyebrows out of frustration.

"for rejecting me in public!" he finally shouts. "you know how humiliating it was to walk around school, hearing people whisper about how pathetic i looked?!?"

she has enough of this bullshit.

so she storms up to him and slaps him in the face.

hard.

"is the only thing you care about your pride?!?" the brunette screams, voice laced with disbelief. "your status?!? your title in this school?!? the things people say about you?!?"

he remains silent, surprised by her abrupt lashing. his hand reaches to cover his red cheek, the feeling of pain pulsing through his veins.

the female lets out an infuriated sigh. "i'm telling you right now words don't define who you are, but you do! you need to stop trying to meet the expectations that people put on you because you should be loved for who you are on the inside, not on the outside!"

"but if you're going to be the ignorant person you are-" she takes his hand and smacks her face with it. "then fuck me up right now! get that bitch siyeon to spread the news, so you can restore that shitty pride of yours!"

nothing but silence resonates in the empty classroom.

"why aren't you doing anything?!?" she shrieks, steam escaping her nostrils, as she lifts his hand once more. "didn't you want to pummel me to shit?!?"

she is so tired of dealing with this passively.

but after a few minutes of calming herself down, eunbi releases her grip on his wrist and speaks up once more with a soft voice. "it may not be noticeable through my simple gestures, but i care about you. i am forever grateful for the time when you checked on me and defended me with the others from siyeon. you make my days better with your goofy personality, and i appreciate it a lot. when you were starving yourself, i made you lunch because i was worried about your well-being. you are someone i cherish dearly."

"but after this, it makes me wonder..."

"did you ever think of me as a friend? or do you label me as someone who is only using you to make a name for themselves?"

wooyoung feels droplets of water streaming down his face and notices how blurry his sight is getting. he pulls his hand away from his face, feeling the wetness of his fingertips.

he's crying.

slowly, he crouches to the floor and wraps his arms around himself as he chokes on his tears.

no one really cared about him, only hanging around him because he is popular and good looking. in return, he never paid attention to those he called "friends" due to everyone's similar intentions. yeah, he is close to some people like san and the rest of his dance group...

but at the end of the day, he only had himself to trust.

that is what he feared most: loneliness.

to have no one be there with you when you needed it the most, it scares him. therefore, he believed that people would stay by his side if he let their words control his life.

yet after hearing eunbi tell him off, he finally realizes that there are people who cherish him for who he really is, people who he can really trust, people who will always be there for him...

people like her.

in a quiet voice, the girl calls out to him.

"woo, look at me."

he can't...

because he's ashamed of himself.

"don't get near me," he mutters. "i-i might hurt you again. i'm a monster."

she approaches him and crouches down to his level, bringing his head into her shoulder.

"it's okay," she soothes. "it's okay."

and she hugs him.

all he could do is hold onto her and cry into her embrace.

despite all the things he has done to her, she still found the heart to forgive him.