[Year 18 of Exile]

“Jen Lee?”

“Here.” I curtly raised my hand as the teacher-in-charge called for attendance. She nodded and I settled back into my original position. Having made no friends throughout my schooling years, except for the boys (I don’t want to talk about them right now, those asses), I automatically distant myself from the classmates in the power class. Sitting in a corner of the classroom, I stared out of the window in a bid to ignore the incessant teases and insults from the freshmen sidekicks.

Don’t they ever realise that I’m no longer affected by their words? Shouldn’t they have known by now that I’m no longer that timid little girl who hides behind Kai and Sehun whenever they strut by?

Tuning out the noise, I let my eyes stray, flitting from person to person, face to face. At one point, I thought I saw Jongdae but I guess my eyes were playing tricks on me. Yet, I thought I saw my grandparents in the crowd but of course, how could they be in the school compound when they ought to be at home?

My vision gradually blurred as I continued to tune out the sounds in the classroom, my eyes focusing on nothing in particular and it wasn’t long before I fell under.

"Jen sweetheart, hide quietly in the cupboard alright? Grandpa will come and fetch you when it's safe. Until then, shush." He put a finger to his lips and I mimicked his action. He smiled fondly and gently closed the cupboard doors. Engulfed in darkness, I held my blanket closer to me and hummed a song in my head.

I must have been too engrossed in my mental humming for when a loud smash of something ceramic screeched into my ears, I jumped in utter shock. My fingers gripped onto my blanket tighter as the sounds of things breaking and shouts of both my grandparents and of voices I’ve never once heard continued to break out in the otherwise quiet household. My grandmother screamed, and I would have screamed along too if not for my hands’ fast reaction — stuffing the blanket into my mouth. Squeezing my eyes, I tried hard, very hard, to ignore the familiar shouts and screams, while I turned up the volume of my mental humming.

It wasn’t working. I could still hear her bloodcurdling screams and my grandfather’s defiant hollers. The noises certainly weren’t music to my ears, and I’m certain would haunt me for years to come.

Just then, someone knocked loudly and repeatedly on the door of the room that grandpa hid me in. The knocking continued until someone tugged that person away but the knocking resumed shortly after, and an "OOF!" followed after the knocks stopped for the second time. The grunt of pain sounded horrifically like grandpa.

Another loud exclamation of pain came from outside the room, my grandfather’s ever-familiar voice travelling to my ears. Grandpa! My hand extended towards the doors of the cupboard, itching to open them, to throw myself in front of my grandfather to protect him from whoever was hurting him. But I didn’t. I listened to grandpa, I was told not to, so I listened. Jen Lee is a good girl, a good girl who listens to family. So I settled back into my blanket, buried my hands within, and closed my eyes in fear. Rocking back and forth, I prayed silently.

Please don't find me. Please don't find me. Please don’t find me whoever you–

BAM!

The door must have been banged down, and the telling sign of my imminent discovery in the form of rushing footsteps echoed within the room. “Where is your child! WHERE IS THE CHILD!” Someone yelled and the familiar whimper of pain followed shortly after. A bloo