Bang Chiyo put her pens and pencils in her pencil case. She cleanly organized her books and stacked them inside her bag. With a satisfied zip of the bag, she slung it on her two shoulders and stood up from her seat. However, her peaceful mood was broken when a loud voice roared from behind her.

“Boo!”

She paid no heed to him as she just stared in front like nothing happened. She walked to the door, and she heard the bully yell again. “Yah, mute, where are you going?!” He followed Chiyo, and she just continued walking, like no one was talking to her. It was like that daily, Bambam bullying her and teasing her, also calling her ‘mute’, just because she was quiet and didn’t talk often.

“Yah, I asked you, stupid mute.” He grasped her arm and pulled her back. Chiyo didn’t even look at him and pulled away from his grip. “Oh, I forgot. You can’t speak.” Bambam mocked. Chiyo pursed her lips at his rude remarks, but still tried her best to avoid him. He frowned at her actions. He thought she would at least make a comeback and snap at him for once, but he was wrong.

“So, tell me. How do you communicate with your friends?” Bambam continued to pester. He knew she could speak. He was determined; even just a word would be okay. “Wait. Am I stupid? You have no friends,” He purposely spoke out loud. Students around them who heard Bambam snickered. Chiyo still didn’t say anything, trying to keep her temper low. After a few comebacks, she just continued walking and ignored him. “Wow. Are you going to be this persistent?” Bambam stopped on his tracks, finally tired.

Chiyo scoffed inwardly, still keeping a poker face on.

“Aren’t you tired, mute? Why won’t you speak?” He yelled in exasperation. She sighed heavily to herself and continued walking. “Tell you what, mute. Say one word and I’ll let you go.” Bambam ran to her and took her arm. Chiyo shut her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She was already becoming annoyed at his actions. Usually, he wouldn’t be this persistent.

Chiyo pulled away, but now his grip was hard on her. She winced a little and tried to pull away again. Bambam saw her wincing and loosened his grip a bit to ease her pain even just a little bit. Even though, his hold on her arm was still strong. “Bang Chiyo.” He spoke firmly. “Just speak. Speak. Is that hard to do?” He challenged.

She still didn’t budge and tried to pull away. Her anger was increasing by the second. She wanted to hit him and yell, ‘let me go, stupid!’, but if she did, she would attract attention. The main reason why she didn’t speak was because of an accident that occurred way back in her middle school days. Because of her - scratch that – because of her stupid mouth, her only sister had suicide.

Because of her. Because she had a blabby mouth. Just a single secret was let out from her chattering mouth, and her sister… her dear sister did suicide. It was her fault. And so she vowed to herself. She wouldn’t speak ever again. Even if she had no friends, even if she was bullied, as long as she didn’t speak and prevent herself from chattering like before, it was okay.

“Speak, mute. I know you can. Bang Chiyo.” Bambam gave her a hard stare. Chiyo tried to pull away again. She started to trash. Let go of me, she yelled in her mind. He still didn’t move, he just held onto her. When finally her temper reached its maximum, Chiyo clenched her fists. I’m sorry, unnie, I just have to speak this once, she said in her mind and whispered menacingly only to him.

“Let go.”

Two seconds of her two words sent Bambam mind-blown. Amidst of her tone, her voice was… beautiful. She had a soft, velvety voice that would soothe him anytime. If only she didn’t hide it, she would be well-liked by the school. He still held on to her and stared at her with round eyes, still shocked.

“Now that you heard me, let me go.” She muttered with venom in her voice and pulled her arm. Chiyo glared at him, rubbing her arm with clenched fists. She left, leaving a shocked Bambam behind. I… I love her voice… He thought dazedly.