Warning: There's a little bit of swearing in this chapter, so for those of you who wish to keep their innocent hearts pure and untainted, cover your eyes when you see the beginning letters B-I-T---

Still dressed in my school uniform, I lay unmoving on my four-poster bed, not at all ready to settle in comfortably. The lights were off, and the outside world was dark as well. That, and the digital alarm clock on the nightstand flashing the time 1:30 AM, urged me to fall asleep, to join other people in the dreamland that was waiting to pull me in with them.

But as the minutes ticked by, trickling past me like the sand in an overturned hourglass, I continued to stare up at the ceiling. Not really taking in the smooth surface above, I thought back to the events of my day. I replayed them in my mind, over and over again, until they meshed together in a whirlwind of memories.

"The Choi Sooyun, in fourth place! How hard was last year's exam that you slipped three places, Sooyun?!" My classmates gaped at me, mouths opened and faces a mixture of shock, surprise, and utter astonishment...

BE THE BEST AND ABSOLUTE PERFECT YOU CAN BE...

"It was probably too much for a stupid girl like you to remember, anyways. Why they call you the school's smartest and most perfect, I have no idea," Himchan sneered, not bothering to hide the contempt he had for me, his all-star, number one girlfriend...

TALK PERFECTLY, WALK PERFECTLY, WORK PERFECTLY, AND LIVE PERFECTLY...

"Get your marks back up to where they should be, or better. I expected nothing less than 100% of you..." my mother said icily. She stalked out the door, leaving me to quietly drown in the suffocating air of the room...

FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO, GIVE IT ALL THAT YOU HAVE AND MORE...

... FALLING BELOW 100% IS NOT AN OPTION...

HAVE NO MARRING WEAKNESSES, ONLY UNBEATABLE STRENGTHS...

"Shut up!" I screamed, finally unable to take it anymore. "Shut up and leave me the hell alone!"

I grabbed a small pillow by my head and jerked myself into an upright position, hurling the cushion with all of my might and power. I didn't care that it crashed right into my awards shelf, or that the impact caused the framed certificates and trophies to fall off the ledge. They clattered to the floor below with a startlingly loud noise, but I didn't even flinch. In fact, the crash only served to fuel my rage. Grabbing another pillow, I threw it furiously like I had with the one before. Anger, hatred, disappointment, and everything else I'd been hiding for the day were egging me on. They rose out of my chest and burst free, like fierce, roaring waters crashing over trembling walls that failed to keep them at bay.

"Why is it that I'm always working hard to please others?! That I'm being controlled and tied down like a puppet with no will of my own?! I never asked to be perfect Choi Sooyun, dammit! Give me the freedom I never had, and let me live the way I want to!"

My cries of frustration rang between the walls of my bedroom. I had to bite down hard on my tongue to keep from screaming out again. The memories started flashing in my mind once more, but faster this time, mixing together in a blur of matching disappointed and scornful faces...

NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT KILLS YOU ON THE INSIDE, NEVER LET YOUR PAIN AND STRUGGLES SHOW THROUGH...

That was it. I simply couldn't take it anymore. Not bothering to grab a coat or slip on a pair of shoes, I flew out of my room and down the staircase, making my way blindly to the front doors. The lights were off, so I had to fumble around for the doorknob. When my hand made contact with the metal head, I grabbed it and threw the door open, running outside and leaving my house behind without a second thought.

-------

An hour of wandering and drifting about later, I found myself in the empty street of the town square, the one that I'd taken to school that very morning. I didn't know how it was that my bare feet had led me back here, or why I had even thought to come here in the first place, one listless step after another taking me further down the abandoned road. Just like it had been before, the area seemed completely deserted of all human life, making my footsteps echo in the eerie, almost haunting silence of the street.

But I liked it, though. The vast emptiness of the place gave me an oddly soothing sense of peace and solitude, like I could do whatever I pleased with no one around. Here, I was free from all eyes watching my every move. Here, I was free from all the confinements that Choi Sooyun had to live with.

Here, I was free to just be me.

'Funny how this is the first time I've felt relaxed like this in a long while, and it's in such a barren, wasteland part of the town... Maybe I should just live here from now on. It may be trashy and completely unfit for human life, but at least it doesn't give me the urge to jump out of a window or kill the person next to me.'

And that was how being in school, and even at home, made me feel. Always being watched, constantly being observed, I felt like I had to do every little thing perfectly, from playing sports to washing the dishes. It drove me crazy, but what else could I do? There was no other way I could live my life. Every moment I was awake, there was always somebody to watch my perfect life unfold, and to criticize me if even the tiniest thing went wrong.

'It makes me wonder... Why me? Why not that girl living across the street from me, that boy in my advanced functions class, or even my new piano teacher? Why is it that I was picked to play the role of the perfect girl living the perfect life? Was it written in the stars as my 'destiny', or something? Because if it was, it's been a pretty crappy fate so far.'

I was so caught up in my brooding thoughts that I didn't notice the sound of approaching footsteps, the person following me in a clumsy, staggering manner, until it was too late.

"Hey, girlie!"

A pair of hands shot out of the darkness and slammed me into the brick wall I was walking past. Too shocked to scream, I found myself facing an unknown, older man, clothes as scruffy as his unkempt beard and bloodshot eyes peering at me with a hazy, yet provocative look.

"Now, what's a fine young lady like you doin' here all by herself?" he slurred. Recovering from my shock, I mentally winced at the strong smell of liquor on his breath. ', I'm in real trouble for this one... How the hell do I get out of this?'

I struggled against his hold, but he had a surprisingly tight grip for someone functioning on alcohol and distilled liquids. "Sir, I suggest you get your hands off of me right this second," I said in a low voice. He sluggishly blinked, as if surprised that I was actually talking back to him and not screaming like the helpless girl he'd mistaken me for.

"Whaaa', you don't wanna stay here and have some fun wit' me?" he leered suggestively. While I should have been scared at being trapped by a strange, dirty guy, irritation and anger were all I felt. No, after everything that had happened today, I was just not in the mood to get d by some disgusting, wasted old man. Not right now.

"No. I absolutely do not want to have fun with an old drunkard like you," I answered flatly, hating the way his hands were creeping up my exposed arms. Hearing this, the man narrowed his eyes the best he could, outrage at my defiance clearing away some of his tipsiness.

"What'choo say, you stupid ?! I guess I'm gonna have to break you in before I have my way wit' you tonight!"

He grabbed my head with both of his hands, and roughly slammed it into the wall behind me. I let out a cry of pain; he had hit it hard enough that I could feel a warm trickle of blood start to make its way down the back of my skull. The trickle grew larger and larger. Soon, the thick smell of metallic blood filled my nose, and I gagged at the sickening mixture of iron and alcohol. He made to do it again, baring his yellowish teeth in a threatening growl. "That'll teach you to talk back to me, you damn !"

The man pulled back, about to slam my head once more into the wall. I struggled weakly to get free, but pain from the first time was already clouding my mind, and his anger was only making him stronger. There was nothing I could do but squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the agonizing impact once more-

"Hey... What do you think you're doing here?"

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Okay... It's like, past 4AM here, and I'm practically sleep-writing right now... I only have enough energy to say this...:

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