“So you’re not going to talk to me anymore?”

Nicole narrowed her eyes at the tall dark-haired guy who was sitting beside her with a scowl on his mixed-attractive face.

Son Dong Woon has never gotten mad at her, and when he is suddenly being all indifferent to her; she was dying to find out the truth.

But she doubt he was going to tell her what was bugging him. He hadn’t even say a single word to her since classes had started that morning.

Nicole let out a huge sigh.

She slumped back in her seat as she tried to figure out if she had done anything wrong that could’ve hurt Dong Woon’s feelings.

But nothing came to her mind. In fact, everything has been going on well for them.

That is, until today.

“Dong Woon-ah,” she tried again as she shook his arm slightly. “Should we have ice cream after school today?”

He finally took the time to put his pen down on the table and stared hard at the paper in front of him. Silence filled the air between them for a whole of 5 minutes before he turned his head slowly to face her.

And only then, could Nicole really see that it wasn’t anger that filled his deep-set eyes. It wasn’t hatred that was written on his face.

But it was disappointment; the look of rejection that had taken over his perfectly handsome face.

Nicole swallowed hard when Dong Woon turned to look at her in the eyes. She could see that there were millions of questions running through his mind. He wanted to know something from her, he wanted answers.

But the only thing that came out of his mouth was,

“I’m really tired today. I think I’m going to just go home and get some rest after school.”

“Um…okay sure. We’ll just go out another time then,” Nicole relented, not wanting to pursue the matter any further.

It was clear that Dong Woon was unhappy about something and she wasn’t planning to add on to his burning fuel.

She just hoped that this awkward moment between them would pass on quickly.

“Ki Bummie, are you busy today? Oh, it’s okay then. I will just see you tomorrow or something.”

Nicole murmured a soft goodbye into the phone before ending the call with Ki Bum. Even her own boyfriend had other matters to attend to and now she wasn’t sure if she should head home or loiter around somewhere.

She scrolled down the names in her phone’s contact and her fingers paused at one of the many names listed in it.

She contemplated on the choices she had. She could risk calling Dong Woon and the most he would do was to reject her call and shut his phone off.

Or perhaps there’s a small chance that he has cooled down and maybe, just maybe he wouldn’t mind accompanying her for awhile.

Being the risk-taker girl she is, Nicole decided to call him anyway and prayed hard that the latter choice would work out for her.

She pressed the phone close to her ear and hummed silently as she waited patiently for him to pick up her call.

Oblivious to her surrounding, she skipped her way through; trying to ignore the nervous feeling in her heart.

Like a bolt of lightning, she suddenly felt two strong arms enfolding her lean figure and yanking her away just in time as a pot of flowers crashed down behind her; at the exact same spot she had been standing on just a few seconds ago.

Her heart thumped loudly as realisation starts to hit her; what would have happened if her saviour hadn’t pulled her away in time.

She lifted up her head shakily, wanting to extend her gratitude towards the guy who had just saved her life.

Nicole’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw that it was Dong Woon who was standing in front of her, with his arms still wrapped tightly around her.

“Are you okay?” he asked her, his eyes filled with concern.

She nodded numbly.

“I’m okay. Thank you.”

A small smile started to spread across his face.

“That’s good. I’m glad that you’re okay.”

But just then, Nicole realised that something was wrong.

Something had gone wrong.

Dong Woon’s smile started to falter as his eyes became hazier while still looking at her.

No, he wasn’t looking at her anymore. He was…closing his eyes.

“Dong Woon,” she shook him lightly. “Are you okay?”

Instead of answering, Dong Woon’s grip on her started to loosen and slowly he fell to the ground with a thud.

Nicole dropped to her knees instantly and shook his unconscious figure vigorously.

“Dong Woon! Wake up! Hey, Dong Woon!” she cried out for him frantically as she placed her hand underneath his head to support his weight.

But just as immediately, she felt something hot and sticky dripping on her left palm.

Trembling with fear, she reached up her left hand slowly and what she saw would’ve made her screamed out loud if only it wasn’t so shocking.

Her left palm was totally filled with Dong Woon’s thick and sickening red blood.