Her parents didn’t come home on the weekend.  Friday evening had passed, Saturday and Sunday had gone without any sight of them.  In some ways, Seulgi was relieved of their absence but she couldn’t help but want to see them and know if they were okay.  She didn’t particularly dislike her parents but she didn’t hate them either.  She had to be grateful for what she had.

There’s always someone who’s worse off, she reminded herself.  Whenever things got tough she would think about kids that didn’t have anything to eat or drink, there were kids that didn’t have parents, there were kids that didn’t have any friends to help them get through whatever they were going through.  

Monday morning, she was looking forward to going to school.  Sooyoung knew and that was all that mattered.  Someone could be there for her and she wouldn’t have to go through it alone.  She could remember Friday at lunch, Sooyoung had lent her a sweater to cover the wound she’d gotten, not caring her flesh had been ripped and was bleeding.  They’d cleaned it up in the bathroom and carefully applied ointment Jongin had managed to steal from the Nurse’s Office.  What made the most impact was what Sooyoung had told her that day.

“Your scars are my scars so you can come to me with anything.  We’ll find a way to get you out of that house.”

She was touched by Sooyoung’s thoughts but the problem wasn’t that she didn’t want someone to confide in.  She didn’t want to leave her home.  Both Jongin and Sooyoung were going to corner her today and make her go to the police.  They were predictable like that but she was going to have make a stand and refuse.

The hallways weren’t as crowded that morning, and when she walked into school, everyone was staring at her and whispering amongst themselves.  Seulgi suddenly felt self conscious and it wasn’t such a good feeling.  She couldn’t understand why she was suddenly the center of attention.  Unless either Jongin or Sooyoung had told everyone her secret.

“Hey Seulgi! I honestly don’t know how you did it but this is possibly the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” Hyuna greeted coming up to walk alongside her.

“What are you talking about?” Seulgi asked, carefully.  

“Apparently people saw Kai come to school early and he’s waiting at your locker with a bag of doughnuts and coffee for you. He actually looks decent for once.  Are you guys dating? It looks like he’s pretty whipped,” Hyuna gushed.

Seulgi gaped and stared wide eyed at Hyuna in shock.  “We’re not dating.  I don’t why he’s doing that.  We’re not even friends.”

“She’s right! Kai’s like my new bestie.  He was actually trying to give Seulgi a peace offering for my sake.  Now, shoo!” Sooyoung called, walking over to the two of them.

Hyuna snorted and rolled her eyes.  “Nice to see you too, Sooyoung.  Or not.”

“, you know you love me.  I’ll see you in Civics,” Sooyoung said, pushing Hyuna away.

“Since when were you so friendly with Hyuna?” Seulgi asked, raising a brow.

Sooyoung shrugged.  “A few years now.  I have a whole other set of friends besides you three, you know.  I’m just not as close to them as I am to you, Joohyun and Seungwan.  Anyway, that’s not the point.  Did your dad do anything to you this weekend?”

“No, neither of my parents even came home this weekend,” Seulgi answered.  “I thought you were going to bring up Kai first.”

“Your safety is more important to me than your relationship status, Seulgi,” Sooyoung sighed.  “I couldn't care less if you’re dating Kai or not.  He seems like a nice guy anyway.  I like him.”

“You could have fooled me,” Seulgi muttered. 

Sooyoung laughed.  “He passed my test yesterday with a score of A plus.”

“Thank you Sooyoung.  For everything,” Seulgi said, after her friend's laughter died down.  For the first time since it had began, she had someone to rely on and it felt good.  The emotional burden was no longer entirely hers.

They both walked to Seulgi’s locker and that was when they saw him.  Seulgi hadn’t expected him to wait for her.  He was scowling as she approached him, enough to make her hesitant to approach him.  Sooyoung looked at the two of them, back and forth and rolled her eyes.  She muttered something about being late for class and left the two of them alone.  

There weren’t many people in the halls anymore but the few