The only thing I could see when I burst out into the garden was red. My vision was blurred, the whole world appeared red before my eyes. I nearly collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily, clutching my stomach and gritting my teeth.

You…No way in hell…

I tried to get up, legs shaking fervently, and took deep breaths. I felt like I would soon lose it. When I could focus again, I still had some carmine stars waltzing before my eyes, and it took me a moment to realize that these were real.

But they don’t usually glow, do they?

I stumbled all the way across the garden to the rose beds. The flowers were in bloom and even by the faint light of the concave moon in the sky, I could make them out perfectly.

I looked at them frantically - from the graceful curved petals to the painfully alert thorns. They simmered slightly in the silver glow but this vision of perfection couldn’t calm me. I felt my own blood starting to dance in my veins, goading me on, whispering to me evil things.

Infuriated, I groaned.

I felt the demon within me compelling me to rip one of the beauties off from her thorns and lock her in a glass frame in my room, away from the world. I wanted to see how long a beauty would last without her thorns before withering.

But I didn’t touch the roses and yet my obsession with their redness grew in me, like a monstruous wave. I felt sick - I hated it and I praised it. I curled my fingers around the stem, in between the harsh thorns.

The sound it made when I pulled it echoed in my mind, and pulverized the walls which were barely containing my fury. I started to tremble, and I couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.

I almost wish you were here right now. I’m in the mood to make you pay for this. How I wish I could call you out here…

I was so lost in my racing emotions that I didn’t hear the main doors of the dormitory open. The creaking wooden doors made quite a bustle, but I was lost in my own world. But even before I looked up, I knew I wasn’t alone anymore in this garden, in this God-forsaken place.

My head snapped up, and when we made eye contact, the figure in front of me turned paper white. His small eyes looked even smaller, they were half-lidded, almost as if he was asleep.

Well, well, well…what do we have here? Perfect timing!

I raised myself from the ground as jolts of electricity ran down my nerves. My heart was pounding wildly, adrenaline making the blood rush to my ears.

Let’s play.

I chuckled as I followed the line of direction of his hooded gaze. The red veil had returned. All I could distinguish on my fingers were glimpses of red. Blood mixed with petals. Spoiled perfection.

Welcome to my party!

My mind was racing with empty emotions, the memory of what I just experienced dancing in red flames behind my eyelids. All red, but this time it wasn’t disturbing me. It was pretty. Lovely.  A last tremor ran down my spine and I cracked my eyes open, watching the world with clear eyes, now – black, silver and grey.

Indeed, I had never felt this euphoria before.

I had never felt this alive.

 ---

I walked down the cold hallways, immersed in my Chemistry notes. I had woken up early especially for that purpose – to review my notes before the test. This test was going to be huge, covering almost all the chapters we’d been taught this far and it would carry a heavy percentage of our quarter marks.

I’m in trouble.

Sunglight was streaming in through the long windows that lined the hallway. It was going to be a hot day.

I hate heat.

Suddenly, I bumped into someone.

“Oh Sungjong, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Junhong, I didn’t see either.” Junhong was fully dressed in his uniform. There were a few bread crumbs sticking to the side of his lips. He had a guarded look in his eyes as he smacked his lips nervously.

“Is everything alright?” I asked. Junhong was a good kid but he got easily intimidated. More often than not, I had to intervene to save him from bullies.

“Y-yes, I’m fine. I just went down to have an early breakfast. Have to study for Chem test, later.” He positively fled before I could ask him anything else.

Something is definitely wrong.

I decided to go down to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast. I was hungry as well.

Hoya and Yeol have to do without me for a while.

My footsteps halted however when I heard suppressed voices nearby. It was too early for students to squabble over things. It was coming from the end of the hallway and I listened in closely, lest it was a case of bullying.

“The unfortunate boy – prefect and all…”

“Sunggyu…yes.”

I gulped. The voices belonged to teachers – one of them was definitely Prof. Choi. But why would they discuss Sunggyu? He was one of the most well-known seniors. In fact, I looked up to him in every way and treated him like the elder brother I never had. That was until Sunggyu had changed everything between us by asking me out. Mortified and ashamed, I had turned him down, mumbling something ridiculous about how I didn’t see him that way. Sunggyu had been so very nice about it that ever since, I couldn’t look him into the eye without feeling guilty.

But what has happened to him?

I wanted to know but at the same time I knew eavesdropping was horrible. So I simply turned right and took a different route to the cafeteria downstairs. It was almost empty except for another of my…classmates. I knew what was coming next. I couldn’t say I was really surprised when I heard a taunting voice behind me.

“Uh, look who’s here, Miss Universe.”

“Good morning Daehyun,” I greeted stiffly. We weren’t in the friendliest terms.

“Where’s your little friend? Howling in a corner again?” he sneered. I braced myself – as a prefect, I couldn’t give into his taunts.

“Don’t talk about Junhong like that please.” My voice was collected.

Well done Sungjong, just keep this up.

“Why? Do you have feelings for your sniffling friend?” I chose to ignore his question and took a seat. Luckily the early risers were already filtering into the cafeteria and Daehyun, bored by my cool responses, went to find his friends.

The trick is to not get agitated.

I was glad to be left alone, I had to revise my Chemistry notes but I couldn’t concentrate with Sunggyu’s name revolving in my mind. I couldn’t get the nagging out of my head although it could very well be of no consequences.

But why were the teachers talking about him like that…

“Jongie, why did you leave us?” I was rudely awakened from my thoughts by Sungyeol’s boisterous voice. He and Howon took seats on either side of me. “Hoya was so worried that he was dancing,” Sungyeol continued, gulping down a mouthful of coffee.

“Yah, you were the one screeching like an owl.” Howon frowned. He always tried to pretend that he was so cool that not even the sun’s rays could melt him. But Sungyeol and I, we knew it to be otherwise – Howon was so melted inside that he couldn’t be melted any further. “You thought Jongie had turned into a bat and flown out of the window.”

He rolled his eyes at me and I chuckled. Sungyeol would believe almost everything. And he was a bit too imaginative.

“What do you expect when you told me that vampire story last night?” Sungyeol shot back at Howon. He was moodily splattering jelly on his toast.

“I just wanted to revise Chem,” I explained, stifling a yawn. I started to feel annoyed – I had woken up early but I hadn’t got anything done. It wasn’t looking so good for me.

And I didn’t even get to find out what’s wrong with Sunggyu.

“Don’t worry, you’ll do really well, you always do. If Prof. Lee hadn’t been such a strict teacher, I’d have copied from you,” Sungyeol said, chewing on his toast.

“Cheating isn’t an option because Prof. Lee always makes the three of us sit separately,” Howon reminded. “We’re on our own.”

“I -” I was about to tell them about what I’d heard in the hallway but I stopped to consider – ever since Sunggyu had confessed to me, Sungyeol and Howon had been particularly harsh towards him. It was as if they were my parents and any of my suitors was an eyesore for them. They wouldn’t be bothered by Sunggyu’s news and would vituperate me instead. “I think I’m going to fail.”

“That’s not what you were going to say,” Howon said accusingly.

I simply shrugged and avoided eye contact. Howon was perceptive and sometimes he could read me so well that it was as if he was sitting in my mind.

"I saw Junhong today, in the morning. He was acting oddly," I said the words hesitatingly, to convince my friends that that was what i was originally planning to say. Howon's eyes narrowed.

"Maybe Daehyun was bothering him again," Sungyeol said thoughtfully.

"We should check on him, he's probably in class." Howon got up. I didn't have enough breakfast but I could get on with the morning classes, so I rose too. Sungyeol followed suit and we headed towards class, thoughts of Sunggyu still heavy in my head.