[CONTENTID1]Chapter 52[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Devastated[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Mei Li had called in sick for the past few days, so this was her first day back from work. Strangely, Dongjun had quit and never said why. Was he that mad at me? Mei Li was worried. Maybe I should apologize. She hung up her coat and grabbed a glass of water from the fridge. Was it always this tiring? Eh, must be the side-effect of scarfing down tons of junk food last night.

Her mother had seen the leftover bag of chips, but she was too happy to lecture them. Apparently, she and Ayi had gone out for a mani-pedi as well as some thrift store. Her mother had a coupon for a free mani-pedi, and Mei Li had no idea where she got it from, but she wasn't surprised.

She was obsessed with coupons, and Ayi was the same because she also had one. The two were practically long lonst twins that acted like teenagers whenever they were together.

Even right now, her mother was out with Ayi again. She claimed that Ayi was helping her find a higher-paying job, but Mei Li knew they were just two girls that wanted an excuse to get away from their kids.

Mei Li went up to her room and changed into shorts and an over-sized shirt since she was still sweating from an exhausting day. She went back downstairs into the kitchen to boil some water for ramen.

She heard the sound of a door closing and Anne came in, still in her school uniform. "Weren't you supposed to be home three and half hours ago?" Mei Li asked her. She thought Anne was upstairs sleeping.

"I had extra school-work to catch up on since mom made me stay home sick for the past few days," Anne explained, setting her backpack down on the living room couch.

"Oh, okay."

The sound of the kettle could be heard from the living room. "Hey, are you making ramen?"Anne gasped.

"Yea, want some too?"

"Yea! I'm starving!" Anne exclaimed.

Mei Li laughed, "Alright. I'll call you down soon."

"Okay. Oh yea, where's mom?"

"Out with Ayi again," Mei Li replied.

Anne grinned, "Want to just chill in the living room and watch tv while eating junk food and ramen?"

"Didn't we finish all the chips yesterday?"

"Nope, I have a few extra bags upstairs hidden in my room just incase mom would discover our secret cabinet downstairs," Anne giggled.

Mei Li rolled her eyes and smiled, "Typical Anne."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Anne smiled. “Be right back!" She ran upstairs to find her stash of junk food and soda.

Maybe I should lay off on the chips tonight. I feel like crap. Mei Li thought.

Ding dong!

Huh? Mom's home already? Mei Li went over and opened the door. "Dongjun?" she gaped.

Dongjun stood there in dirty clothes and he smelled like alcohol. His hair was messy, his eyes were red, and he looked like he was half-asleep. "Mei Liiiii," he slurred.

He wobbled into the living room, almost tripping every five steps. "Why did you get yourself drunk and come here!" Mei Li scolded him.

"Becaaaaauseeee, I missed youuuuu," he replied, smirking.

This is so not like him. "Dongjun, you're too drunk. You should go home. Anne's upstairs and I don't want her to see you like this."

His face contorted. "And now you're embarrassed to be with me?" he yelled.

What on earth? "Dongjun, you need to go. We can talk next time,” Mei Li declared firmly.

He started walking closer to her and she instinctively moved back. Soon enough, she felt the cold, hard wall against her back. He was scaring the life out of her. His eyes looked different today, and he didn't have that usual smile of his. "D-Dongjun..." she stuttered.

He caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Did you knowwww...that I still like youuu?" he his lips.

She flinched from his touch. "You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying."

"Yes I doooo," he whispered, his breath reeking of alcohol.

She tried to move away, but he held her arms against the wall. "What are you—"

He slammed his lips onto hers, making her almost gag from the awful stench. She tried to kick him and push him off of her, but he bit her lip roughly, igniting a scream from her.

Mei Li quickly bit on his tongue that was trying to enter and he growled, pulling away in pain. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" she screamed, tears b.

He glowered and grabbed onto her again, attacking her neck this time.

She yelped, but he covered , muffling the noise. He prevented her legs from kicking him by pressing them against the wall with his thigh.