I was in a dark room. Heavy metal chains were tied tightly around my feet, locking them in place. Ghostly images of my classmates floated in front of me, closing in with matching expressions of stunned desbelief and surprise.

"We all thought that you would get first place... No, we expected you to. What happened this time? We thought you were perfect Sooyun..." An extra chain appeared out of nowhere and secured itself around my hands. As the cold chain made its final loop, I saw Himchan flash next to my classmates, arrogant and smirking even in image form.

"Stupid, useless, and not even a good kisser. Dealing with you is so troublesome! You should be thankful that I'm even bothering with you, Sooyun." He curled his lip. I felt another chain start to evelope my legs, metal loops grating and firmly wrapping around my lower body. He rolled his eyes and slowly drifted towards the others, where a bottle-blonde girl was welcoming him with open arms and a sultry grin. I watched as he slung a careless arm around her shoulders, then looked back in my direction. "Like I said. Not even a good kisser."

My mother appeared next, icy disapproval written all over her stern face. "I didn't raise you to become a failure, Sooyun. I raised you to be the best. Unbeatable. Perfect. Perfect Sooyun." A third and final chain appeared, this time wrapping itself around my torso and upper body area. My arms were now pressed tightly against my sides; the chain was bounded on my chest. It gave me a stifling, suffocating sensation, like I was drowning just from the surrounding darkness-

"Sooyun."

Then he appeared, black eyes unreadable and face as empty as the starless sky outside. He observed me, a helpless girl tangled in a mess of metal chains, and raised his gaze back to my pleading one.

"So this is how you feel, huh? Like everyone else's expectations and opinions are weighing you down, dragging you to the bottom like anchored chains?" It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He flickered his eyes back to the metal links with an indifferent air. When he spoke again, it was in the same expressionless voice I'd heard him use before.

"You'll have to find your own way out of this. Don't ask me for any help; I can't give you an escape from reality. I'll only give you refuge on a whole different level of hell." And with that he turned away, disappearing within the mass of stunned, disappointed, and contemptous faces alike. They swarmed closer to me now, chanting together in a loud, unified manner, the same two words over and over again until I felt like screaming.

Perfect Sooyun, perfect Sooyun, perfect Sooyun...

“- up. Hey, wake up!”

A pair of warm hands firmly grasped my shoulders, doing their best to shake me out of my nightmarish dream. With a gasp, I shot my eyes wide open and jerked into an upright position. Immediately, I winced as the blood started rushing to my head, pounding in my temples with a slow, steady rhythm.

“Ugh…”

The boy who had woken me up peered into my face for a few seconds, then sat back to give me space. “How are you feeling?” he asked with a concerned look. I groaned and gingerly reached for the back of my head, grimacing at the sticky, slightly dried blood clumping my hair.

“I’ve had better days.” I let my hand fall back to my side and turned to face my companion. He watched me carefully, a pale face staring from the darkness of the shrouded night. Although there was very little light emitting from the nearby street posts, I recognized him as one of the people who had saved me from my assaulter- I remembered seeing his slender form and graceful features before passing out. ‘That’s one… How about the other? What about that guy?’ The boy, satisfied that I appeared to have regained most of my senses, nodded once and stood up.

“Are you sure you're okay? You were bleeding a lot before; you might want to go see a doctor later.” Reaching down, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up to my unsteady feet. My leg muscles protested at this new change of position, too used to lying in a crumpled heap for however long I was out cold. I ignored the ache, though, as I glanced again at the unknown male.

“Yeah, it's not so bad now. But thank you. And for saving me, as well. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t helped me out." I hesitated before glancing around, narrowing my eyes as if to see past the shadows of the deserted street. "What about him? Where did the other boy go?" The boy with the quiet voice, the boy with the expressionless face. The boy whom I'd met earlier that morning and had coincidentally been saved by that same night... Coincidence, or had it been fate? I couldn't tell. All that I knew was that I wanted to see him again, the person who had so easily saved me in my time of need.

The thin boy jumped, as if startled by the mere mention of his companion. "Oh! Umm, hyung, he already left, a few minutes before you woke up. We were actually on our way someplace else when we saw that drunk guy attack you. Which reminds me, I'd better head off now! I'm already late as it is." He hastily turned around to make his leave, but then paused to glance at me over his shoulder.

"Go home quickly, okay? It's not a safe place here for someone like you."

Before I could ask what his cryptic words meant, he set off on his way, scurrying along the empty road with purpose clear in every stride. I watched as he walked further and further away, too focused on reaching his destination to look back again. Suddenly, he made a sharp left turn. The boy had disappeared, both into a narrow alley and the inky darkness of the night.

'Guess I'd better leave, too...' Slowly, I started walking forward, wincing at the pain in my head. The crazy drunk had meant business when he'd said he would "break me in." Luckily, my wound had closed up, so blood was no longer pouring out of it... But it was throbbing and giving me an aching, dizzying sensation. 'Hopefully no one will be able to see it if my hair covers it up... I don't know how I would be able to explain the ragged gash on the back of my head.'

Just as I was making my way past an abandoned storefront, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Stopping immediately in my tracks, I carefully swept my gaze on the silent street before me. There wasn't a single noise or movement that had caused this reaction out of me, but I had the strangest feeling that someone was here with me, that someone was watching from within the shadows...

And then I saw him. Standing across the street, at the entrance of yet another alleyway, was my mysterious knight in dark armor.

He stood with the stillness of a statue, not so much as blinking as he observed me from the other side of the road. Just like that very morning, he would have blended right in with the background and I wouldn't have noticed, if it weren't for his alarmingly pale complexion that had caught my eye. I froze where I was and held my breath. To me, it seemed like the slightest motion would set him off, and make the ghost-like boy disappear to where I would be unable to reach him. No, I didn't want that... In the dead of the night, the two of us simply stared at each other for what felt like an eternity- an eternity of no speaking, no moving, and no breathing. Just staring.

Then he turned and started to walk away. Just like his friend, he loped forwards with a sense of purpose, but at a more slower pace. A few more steps, and he vanished from my sight, disappearing like he had never been there at all. Exactly like that morning.

I made up my mind. Without a second's hesitation, I crossed the road, then followed him into the unlit alleyway.