(Minhyuk’s POV)

 “Guys, I need to tell you something,” I said, making all six become quiet and look at me. I bit my lip and looked at Eunkwang for a moment, who gave me a slight nod, telling me it was okay to continue on what I was going to say. I was still not sure if it was okay to tell this to the lot of them already, but Eunkwang had assured that things might just become a little easier if I told them.

 “This isn’t about her, is it?” Ilhoon groaned and let his head fall back in annoyance. I glared at him for a moment, finding him unbelievable.
 “In fact, it is,” I said, turning my gaze away from him. “There’s something important about her I need you guys to know.”

 “Like what? That her parents are completely crazy? That somebody injected some kind of sickness into her body and made her a freak?” Ilhoon cut in. I had to hold my breath to not explode right there and then and beat him senseless.

 The others reacted to his harsh words as well, and he quickly received a strong hit in his head by Hyunsik, who sat beside of him.
 “You’re being too mean right now,” he warned as Ilhoon held his hand over the place Hyunsik had hit, groaning slightly.

 “I bet all of you have seen her from time to time with bruises, or noticed that she hasn’t attended school for a long period of time,” I started my explanation.
 “Yeah, I saw that. Not too long ago she came to class with a blue eye!” Donggeun added.
 “We all know that some people,” I looked directly at Ilhoon as I said that, “have been bullying her, but that’s not why she’s always hurt.”

 “Really? Then why…?” Changsub asked carefully. I closed my eyes for a moment, exhaling a deep breath before continuing.
 “Her father is the person causing her all this pain, and right now, I can do nothing but keep her away from her own home.”

 The whole room was filled with a tensed silence. Even Ilhoon’s eyes widened by the fact I just told them.

 “Hy-hyung… are you saying right now… that she’s being abused by her own father?” Sungjae asked, eyes wide and his voice trembling.
 “Yes, and that is why I need you to treat her better and be her friend. I really cannot let her go through this,” I said, my gaze locked to the floor. “No one deserves to be treated like that, and I can imagine her life must be even harder as she only has her father. She has no other family she’s close to.

 Right now, she is hospitalized because she was beaten too badly. Changhyuk Hyung and I found her in the basement at her house with four broken ribs and bruises and cuts all over her body. Her father harassed her so much she hates herself. She’s cutting herself and can’t even eat ordinarily. That’s why I desperately need you six to at least help her through school. She’s already becoming worse and I just can’t let her keep on living this way…”

 “Hyung, I-“ Hyunsik tried saying something, but like the rest, he was speechless. “I’m sorry… I had no idea…” he managed to say. I shook my head slightly, a sad smile on my lips. I suddenly noticed how Sungjae had burst out in tears, biting slightly on his hand to restrain his own sobs.

 “Sungjae-yah, are you alright?” I asked, making the others look curiously at him. Donggeun quickly had his arms around him, trying to comfort the younger as he completely lost it and sobs were choked out uncontrollably.

 “I feel so bad!” he cried, and gripped onto Donggeun’s shirt, burying himself in his chest. “Minhyukie Hyung! Why did you never say anything before?! I wouldn’t have been so rude if I knew!!”

 “Jagiya, don’t be too harsh on yourself,” Donggeun told him, his back softly.
 “Yeah, you can just change your attitude and start being friendly towards her,” Hyunsik assured.
 “Really…?” Sungjae’s sobs were quieting down as he peeked up to look at Hyunsik, who nodded with a secure smile around his lips.

 The rest of the night, we were all chatting quite happily and having fun, but I could not miss to notice how Ilhoon was being quiet. He would always be one of the loudest people in the room, but now, he just sat on Hyunsik’s bed, looking blank.

 “Are you okay? You seem off,” I said as I sat down beside him.
“Yes, I’m fine,” he replied shortly, not even looking at me.
 “You sure?” I asked, not quite believing him.
“Hyung, I said I’m fine,” he growled, then stood up and left the room. I watched, dumbfounded, as he slammed the door behind him, Hyunsik rushing after him.

 “What’s up with Ilhoonie Hyung?” Sungjae asked.
“I don’t know… I only asked if he was okay,” I said, brows furrowed.
 “Maybe he just has a bad day,” Eunkwang suggested. I nodded slowly. He could be having a bad day…

-

 (Sujung’s POV)

“Sujung-ah, wake up!” I opened my eyes as I felt someone shake my body. I looked up to see the girl stand before me, lightly holding a hand onto my arm.
 “What’s going on?” I asked dumbfounded, still very sleepy.
“No one’s around right now, you should start doing it,” she said.

 I searched my mind to understand what she was talking about, and when I realised she wanted me to cut now, my eyes widened and the sleepiness I was feeling faded away.

 “Now?” I asked carefully, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. She nodded her head furiously. “What do I use?” I asked.
 “There’s a pair of scissors under your pillow,” she said. She sounded so happy and excited. I could not understand why.

 I took the scissor and laid the blade against my forearm, looking unsecure up at her. The cuts from before were still wounded.
 “If you do it quickly, it hurts less,” she said with a soft smile around her lips.

 I took a deep breath, and cut over a few of the wounds, making them sting and bleed. Another quick was made, then another, and soon there were 15 cuts around my right forearm. Tears had already spilled, but I remained silent.

 “You’re doing so well, there’s only 22 left!” she said, encouraging me to continue as I moved over to my other arm. And so I did. I cut short and quick cuts over my left forearm, tears running down my cheeks in the process.

 When I had finally managed to finish all the 37 of them, the girl took the scissors out of my shaking hands, putting it back under the pillow.

 “You did well,” she said, smiling at me. “You can go back to sleep now.” She dried away my tears carefully and pushed me back down on the bed slowly.
 “Wait!” I called out as she was about to leave. “What’s your name?”
“Jang Hyemi,” she said, her voice soft like always. I nodded slightly, and just as if nothing had happened, I went back to sleep.

-

 I sat on my bed, looking out of the window. It was 4.45 pm, and luckily, no one had noticed my arms yet. Those who were supposed to watch over the security cameras most probably had fallen asleep, or wasn’t paying attention to the screen when it happened. After all, it was in the middle of the night.

 Carefully, I stood up from the bed, putting my slippers on. I was able to stand up on my own. I had used the whole morning, practicing on standing.

 Taking my hoodie on, I walked out of the room, heading towards the balcony. I stood there, watching as the sky became more purple-like, just breathing in the fresh air, listening to nothing but the nature. It felt good with a moment like this, when everything was silent.

 “Kitty! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Minhyuk suddenly appeared, standing closely beside me.
 “Be quiet!” I told him, giving him a look, before returning to watching the sky.
 “Wha-“ I punched his arm lightly, motioning him to be quiet.

“I was just thinking about how nice it was with some silence, and then you came. Either be quiet or walk away.” I did not even look at him as I spoke, but I could feel his glare sting right through me.

 Minhyuk let out a sigh and took my hand in his, but, as a reflex, I quickly moved my hand away.
 “Sujung-ah,” he looked at me, “are you mad at me, did I do anything wrong?” he asked.
 “No, why would I be?” I asked, looking at him as I spoke this time.
“You just moved your hand away.”

 I froze. I really did not mean to do that, I almost did not realise I did it, but it was only a reflex. I was scared he would find about what happened in the night time.
 

 “Th-that… I just,” I bit my lip, thinking of a good explanation. “My hand is quite sweaty, so I… yeah…”
 “Give me your hand,” he said firmly, holding out one of his own hands. My eyes widened slightly.
 “Let’s- Let’s just n-not do this,” I stuttered, looking away.

“Sujung, did you cut yourself again?” he asked. I couldn’t say no, it was just impossible. If I said no, I was lying, and I could not lie to Minhyuk.
 “Can we t-talk about this later? I really need some silence right now, please?” I felt my eyes fill with tears as I looked over the mountains. I was really hoping he would not find out, but of course he would. Why was I even stupid enough to think otherwise.

 “Let me see,” Minhyuk said as we both were inside my hospital room after almost 20 minutes out on the balcony.
 “See what?” I asked nervously. I was only playing dumb, of course I knew what he wanted me to show him.

 “Your arms,” he said, standing up from his chair and walking closer to where I sat on the hospital bed. I did not say anything. I simply let him roll up the sleeves of my hoodie as tears started to fill my eyes again.

 “There are so many…!” he gasped, eyes widening. “When did you do this?”
 “I don’t know… but it was in the night time,” I said, my voice only coming out as a broken whisper.
 “Does anyone know?” he asked. I shook my head. “There are so many…” he said again, this time sounding as if he was thinking out loud.

 “37.” Tears had already started to fall from my eyes. I felt so ashamed for disappointing him like this.
 “What?” Minhyuk looked up at me, concern and confused written over his expression.
 “There are 37,” I said again, not daring to look into his eyes.
“You counted all your cuts? Sujung-ah, don’t you see? This is exactly why I should have stayed here with you!”

 I quickly put my arms around him and let my cries slip past my lips, not being able to take any more of his lecture. I kept saying how sorry I was, and I explained how Hyemi had waken me up, and I even lost count on how many times I begged him not to be angry with me.

 “Shh… It’s all right. I am not angry, just please stop this,” he said, looking down at me as he dried away some of my tears with his right thumb.
 “I can’t…” I said, my voice cracking. I could not stop like that. I needed to fulfil those 37 cuts, 37 times. Or else I was a failure, and I certainly could not become even more useless than I was at the moment.

 “You know…” I sniffled slightly as I was starting to calm down a bit. “They say; if you are trying to fix a broken person, you have to expect to hurt yourself on their sharp edges… I feel like I’m hurting you so much, when all you do is try and help me.”

 “Kitty, you are not hurting me in any way, the only one you are hurting is yourself. Don’t ever blame yourself and think you’re hurting me. We are going to come through this together!” Minhyuk took my hand in his, holding it tightly and secure.

 “I’m really sorry for making you go through this with me, I don’t want that…” Tears were still streaming down my face as I spoke.
 “I just told you not to feel sorry for me,” he sighed. “It’s my own choice and decision to stay with you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

 He pushed me carefully to lay down on the bed, looking at me with a soft smile as he started to my hair.
 “Just rest for now… If you woke up in the night time, you should just sleep a little for now. I even heard you didn’t sleep as much as you usually do while I was gone,” he said, still smiling with that perfect smile that made me feel so safe.

 “I’m not sleepy…” I mumbled. Ever since I woke up after Hyemi had awaken me, I was a little frightened to sleep. Something made me feel like there were people staring and watching me at all times. Even when I was all alone.
 “You’re not sleepy?” Minhyuk asked surprised, eyes growing slightly wide. I simply shook my head.

 “Would… wo-uld y-you lay be-beside m-me?” I stuttered suddenly, feeling my cheeks become warm.
 “What did you say?” Minhyuk chuckled slightly. He probably did not understand anything of what I was saying.

 “Can you lay beside me?” I asked, this time clear. I felt so embarrassed. I had never asked for something like that from him. However, Minhyuk just smiled a really big and bright smile, looking overly happy.
 “Of course!” he exclaimed, pulling himself onto the bed, putting his arms around me. As always, he was extremely gentle and careful not to touch any of the places I was hurt.

 “Try and sleep a little now, you’ve had a tough moment. I’ll stay here and watch over you the whole time,” he told me, pressing hi slips to my forehead, letting them stay there as he held me close.

 “Are you sleeping?” Minhyuk whispered after a while that seemed like forever. I slightly opened my eyes. The sky outside had already become black, and I assumed it had passed more than two or three hours.
 “I can’t sleep,” I said and looked up at him.
“This is really unusual of you…” he commented. He was right, though. Normally, I would have fallen asleep within a few minutes when he held me close like that.

 “Are you thinking of anything that’s bothering you?” he asked concerned. I shook my head. I was not sure if I was even thinking. “Are you thirsty?” I shook my head again. “Hungry?” yet again, I shook my head. “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”
 “Minhyuk, I just can’t sleep. There’s nothing more to it than that,” I told him, stopping him from continuing with all kinds of questions.

 “Yah… Sujungie, can I ask you something?” I looked up at him.
“Sure,” I said, a little confused. Didn’t he just ask me lots of things?
 “What happened to your mother?”

I froze, his words repeating themselves inside of my head.
 “C-can’t we just drop this?” I asked, wanting to quickly change the subject.
“No, you really need to talk to me!” he argued, holding me firmly as I attempted to stand up and walk away.

 “Not about this!” I said back, tears filling my eyes. I was not yet ready to tell anyone about it.
 “Sujung-ah, there are certain things I need to know, and this seems like one of them-“
 “NO!” I gripped tightly onto his shirt as I buried my head in his chest, letting my tears fall violently for the second time since he came back.

 He sighed as he gave in, letting the subject go, and ran a hand carefully through my hair.
 “Let’s talk some other time… for now we have to sleep, I need to go to school tomorrow,” he said, placing a kiss onto the top of my head.

 Even as I had stopped crying, I could not sleep. I watched Minhyuk in his sleep, chest raising carefully up and down, soft breaths leaving his nose. He looked like a complete angel as he slept.

 The whole night, I felt completely empty. I kept hearing unreal noises. Loud screams from a woman, shouts from a man. I could only listen as the woman pleaded for the man to not take her life, to let her live so she could take care of her child, but the man did not listen. He had found out how she had started to pack her things, together with their child’s.

 As I sat on the bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of me, I felt so heavy, like there was no energy left in my body. The sound of violence was not new, but this sound, I had not heard since so long ago. My mind had not wandered back to that night. Ever. I wanted to forget it all. Whenever my mind had passed the thought of thinking back to that night, I had forced myself to think of something else.

 “You’re awake?” I heard Minhyuk ask with a groggy voice. I looked at the clock to see the time passing by 6:30.
 “I couldn’t sleep…” I murmured. I was really tired, but no matter how hard I tried, sleep would not come.
 “Did you not sleep the whole night?” he asked, concern taking over his now fully awoken mind. I slightly nodded my head.

 “Is there any particular reason why you couldn’t sleep?” He sat up beside of me, taking one of my hands in his own.
 “It was too loud,” I said blankly.
“Did I snore?” He seemed rather embarrassed as he said that, but I shook my head. I had not heard him snore ever.

“Were some kids making trouble outside?”
 “No… It sounded more like someone was being killed.” I was speaking without thinking this time.
 “Did you hear something inside your head?” Minhyuk asked, giving my hand a slight yet comforting squeeze. He was really good at guessing when it came to me, and I nodded. I knew those noises were from inside my head. I was never mistaken by my own mother and fathers voice, and I knew it was impossible if it actually was real<.

 “I’m going to the bathroom.” Minhyuk stood up after giving me that usual comforting smile, before heading towards the bathroom. I knew he needed to ready himself before school, and I could not keep him here with me on weekdays. Not even when the noises came back. At once as he was gone from my eyesight, the loud screaming and shouting came back.

 I covered my ears to try and make the sound disappear, but it did not help. Not at all. Pictures started to appear inside of my head. My father swinging the bat, my mother taking the , unable to fight back or do anything. Tears started to escape my eyes as I felt the guilt creep to my chest. If it was not for me, this would never have happened. My mother would not have had to die.

 “Kitty, what’s wrong?” Minhyuk rushed to my side, all dressed up in his uniform.
 “It won’t go away!” I said, my voice broken, “why won’t it go away?!” Even now that he was with me, it did not go away this time. It was horrible.

 “I don’t know what to do since I don’t hear anything,” he started, “but whatever you are hearing right now, I’m completely sure it is not your fault.”
 “But it is!” I cried, hugging him tightly. “He kept saying that! Everything is my fault! I’m completely useless…”
 “Don’t lie, you’re not,” he assured, my hair carefully. Suddenly, he started singing;

 Gidaryeoyo
nado geudaecheoreom nopi naragalgeyo
 Geudael wihae jeo banjjagineun
Sumanheun geu byeoldeulboda deo wiro
 Gidaryeoyo
naega geudae yeope hangsang meomureulgeyo
 Geu nuguboda deo bitnaneun
geudaemanui byeori doelgeyo

Just as if he did a magic trick, the noises went away. I was not even aware of his good singing skills. I felt like I could finally relax. My body was not tensing any longer, and I started to actually feel more sleepy and at peace.

-

I woke up when I heard someone coming into my room. I looked at the clock to see the time being 10.30.

 “Sujung Noona!” I looked to my right and saw Yook Sungjae sit in the chair beside my bed, tears streaming violently down his face.
 “What’s wrong?” I asked concerned, sitting up straight, looking at the younger boy with worry in my eyes. Why would he come to me, crying like this?

 “Listen to yourself! What you just said is the problem!” he cried, taking one of my hands in his. I was confused. I had no idea what was going on. “How can you just ask me what’s wrong and mean it after everything I’ve done to you? I’ve been so mean to you, and you ask what’s wrong? I’m what’s wrong!

 I had no idea what you were going through, and still I couldn’t just give you the right direction to the science classroom. I didn’t even help you pick up your books when my friends made you drop them! You could have just told me you were having it hard at home and I would have helped you!”

 His honest confession made tears appear in my eyes as well. How could he feel so bad for me?
 “Please don’t cry because of me. It’s okay…” I told him, my voice only coming out as a whisper.
 “No! This is not okay! You are not okay!” he defended, ready to stand up from his seat.

 “Just look at yourself and where you are! How is this okay?!”
“Sungjae-ssi, please don’t say that,” I told him, “Please don’t blame yourself or anything because of me.”
 “I’m a year younger than you, but you still talk to me as if I was older than you! How can you not hate me?!” he cried.

 “I can’t simply hate you when I have no reason to do so…” I said, looking at my lap.
 “But you have all rights to hate me!”
“No, I don’t hate you!”

 I let him sit in the chair to finish his crying and sobbing. Just in case it made him feel better, I held onto his hand, trying to convince him that I really was not mad at him for any reasons. If there were anyone I should be mad at right now, it was Minhyuk, because he told his friends about my situation with my father. I thought I made it clear that everything was better if no one knew.

 “Noona…” Sungjae said with a low voice and looked up at me.
“Yes?” I looked back down at him.
 “Can I be your friend?” I looked into his pleading eyes for a little while, then nodded my head. He pulled his arms around me and hugged me carefully, mumbling a “thank you”.

“What are you doing here?” The both of us looked up to see Minhyuk entering, followed by Eunkwang.
 “What are you doing here?” Sungjae asked back.
“We’re having a free-time, so we brought food for Sujungie,” Minhyuk explained. “Why aren’t you at school? Donggeun said he tried to call yo- Why are you hugging my girlfriend?!

 Did you and Donggeun brake up? Is that why you are not replying to his calls? Just for your information, Kim Sujung is mine, so just stay away!” I rolled my eyes at him. He could be a little too protective at times.
 “No, no and, oh my god Hyung! I’m not stealing your girlfriend!” Sungjae defended himself, sitting up straight.

 “Can’t you see? I apologised,” he continued. Minhyuk’s softened.
“Really?” He looked at me, wanting a proper reply. I nodded my head, giving him the most trustworthy smile I could manage at the moment. “Well then… here’s your food.” He handed me a little box with ramen inside and sat down on the couch beside Eunkwang.

 “Are you coming back to school soon? Donggeun mentioned something about it being lonely in class because you weren’t there,” Eunkwang said.
 “I think I am,” I replied, avoiding Minhyuk’s gaze. I knew he did not want me going back to school yet, or even leaving this hospital. I was smart enough to figure out that he thought I was still sick, maybe more mentally than physically really.

 “Sungjae-yah,” Minhyuk called out, his gaze fixed on his phone.
“Yes Hyung?”
 “Hyunsik just asked if I knew where you are,” he said.
“Don’t tell him I’m here!” Sungjae warned him, standing up.

 “Actually, we are going to you to school,” Eunkwang said matter-of-factly, making Sungjae’s eyes go wide. “And we are supposed to be back at school in twenty minutes, so we better leave soon.”
 “But he’ll just give me detention!” he whined.
“Why would he do that? Aren’t you friends?” I asked carefully.

 “He’s in the disciplinary committee, and he really does not show mercy on anyone but Ilhoonie Hyung,” Sungjae explained with a sigh. I nodded slowly, showing that I understood.

 When Eunkwang and Sungjae had gone outside, Minhyuk stayed behind, telling them he would meet them outside in a few minutes.

 “Are you okay? You haven’t heard anything since you woke up?” he asked worried. I slightly shook my head.
 “No, I woke up when Sungjae came,” I told him.
“I’m really sorry I can’t stay here and take care of you, but I really need to stay at school, because my teacher will kill me if I don’t, and if I’m dead I can’t help you at all!” I chuckled softly at him, but his face did not change from a serious one.

 “Should I tell the nurses to do something with you so you won’t feel bad?” he asked.
 “No, I think I’m going to be okay,” I told him.
“Should I tell Changhyuk Hyung to stop by?” I shook my head.

 “I will tell the nurses to check on you at least, and if there’s anything wrong, just call me, okay?” I gave him a smile as I nodded. He then placed a kiss on my forehead, before leaving out the door.

 As the door closed behind him, everything became silent. A little too silent. There was no sound of cars rushing back and forth outside the hospital, and there were no sound from people walking outside in the corridors.

 I stood up and looked out the window. The road was completely empty, there were no cars nor any people to be seen at all. I then decided to walk out to the corridor. There too was nothing to be seen. The lights had even gone off. It was dark. Only one lamp was shining slightly over a door further away.

 I peeked my head inside the room, turning amused as I saw all kinds of knifes and scissors. I went inside to have a better look. There were operation tools in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some of them looked like they were from the 18-hudreds, while others looked as if they were not really created yet.

 “You found me!” I turned around and saw Hyemi lean against a wooden table, a smile around her lips.
 “Was I supposed to be looking for you?” I asked curiously.
“Of course! I’ve been waiting to see you here for so long!” she exclaimed happily.
 “Why?” I asked. I really did not understand anything of what was going on.
“To do this.”

 She picked up an old mirror, and threw it against the ground, making me jump back by surprise. Her expression changed from that usually sweet and happy, to a furious and mad looking one. Her eyes were suddenly the colour of red blood. But she was still smiling, just looking more maniac than sweet, and showing off fangs instead of normal teeth.

 I was so scared at the moment, and I had no idea what to do. All I did was stumble backwards until I hit the door.

 She picked up one piece of the broken mirror and held it tightly in her fist. So tightly blood was dripping to the floor.
 “Don’t be scared, we are going to stop this now,” she said, smiling terrifyingly while walking towards me. I noticed how she was limping with one foot, almost dragging it behind herself.

 “Hy-Hyemi-yah…” I said, alarm clear in my voice, “wh-what are you doing?” She had fully reached me by now, and placed one hand on my shoulder, boring her nails into my skin, her face threateningly close to mine.
 “I want this to stop, you want this to stop, and Minhyuk especially wants this to stop, so let’s make it happen,” she giggled.

 She suddenly pushed the piece of glass deeply into my stomach, making me scream out in pain, tears running down my cheeks, blood escaping the new wound. She laughed hysterically while pushing it even further into my stomach.

 I fell to the floor and she disappeared. Everything became silent, the only thing I could hear was the silent cries that left my throat and my breaths becoming slower and quicker.

 Looking down at my hand, I noticed how there was a deep cut inside my palm, and how blood was dripping from it. I then placed my left hand on my stomach, feeling the end of the long and slender piece of glass stick out of my stomach. Blood was quickly running from it, and I started to panic. I could not breathe nor see, and I felt my heart beating faster and faster. Everything happened so fast, and my body gave in. I was completely numb.

*Author’s note*

DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!

What have I done? o.O

I feel bad for making this kind of ending for the chapter, but I figured it fit good^^  So did she die… or did she not? You will unfortunately have to wait until the next chapter to find out.

In the meanwhile, you are all free to shower me with comments^^ I love comments :D Even the bad comments @-@ not really, but as long as people are commenting, it always makes me feel better ^^

 Thanks a lot for reading!
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