I’m really sorry I can’t bring you home, my sister wants me to give her a lift to the hospital. I’ll see you tomorrow, Aerin.

Aerin just casually slung her backpack on her shoulder. She grinned widely. It has been a while since the last time she went home from school with the bus. Chanyeol and Aunt Jung both were overly protective towards her that she always ended up going to and back from school with her chauffeur or Chanyeol himself. That day she felt like… finally. Of course, she didn’t tell the maid that Chanyeol couldn’t bring her home, her chauffeur neither. After shoving her books to her bag, the girl quickly left to the gate by herself. She looked around her, many girls were going out together, some of them were going to the mall, and some others would go to their part time work. She missed hanging out with the girls. Her friends. But she knew how everyone thought that she was mentally sick because of the trauma, thus one by one those fake friends left her side. It has been a year since she moved to this school, but she barely made friends since rumours went faster than fire burning the woods. Aerin only smiled to herself. It is okay, just one more year and it’ll be over, she thought to herself.

Going out from the gate with a light feeling, all by herself, made her mood lifted up a bit. She roamed around the street, looking at her left and right. It was five in the afternoon which means she still had plenty of times to see around, at least according to her. People were in rush. Some of them were students just like her, some other were middle-aged workers. Everyone were all the same, trying to catch up the bus which would bring them to their own destination, mostly home because they had finished their daily routine that day. Aerin walked to the bus stop nearby and joined the crowd of people inside the shelter. The girl stood up, looking around while holding both her bag straps waiting for the right bus to come.

They said when you walked outside feeling great, luck would follow you the entire day, and that was what she felt right at the moment. Aerin didn’t need a long time to wait for her bus home. She stepped inside the bus together with some other students which she was certain going from the same school with her. She mentally laughed at herself, of course, they were wearing the same uniform with her. Luckily, as she was the last passenger before the doors closed, there was just one seat left for her at the back of the bus which then she happily seated herself in.

The bus halted at another stop to take some other passengers in. Aerin saw a pregnant woman going in with some other people, settled herself to find the most comfortable standing position since there was no seat left. She quickly stood up approaching the woman which standing not too far from her. The girl offered the seat to her whom she gladly accepted with a lot of thanks and smile coming out from her tiny lips as a sign of gratitude. Aerin positioned herself, hand grabbing the handle. She looked to her left where a man with a cap and mask stood upright, his hand was also on the handle. It was kind of strange. His face seemed familiar to her, although it was just half of his face she saw, but still. The next minute she just shook her head and put her attention back on the road because she didn’t remember anything.

Aerin was still enjoying the outside view of her little trip when suddenly the driver hit the brake real hard. She heard people, especially women, screamed out of shock and followed by some loud noises of metal crashed against each other. The girl could see some people stumbled, even some collided on the floor because of the sudden brake, while she managed to still hang on the handle with her free hand grabbing the seat in front of her. It was a mess. She automatically put her hands on her ears as the scream around her getting more intense and she let go of the handle which made her lost her balance. It seems like the luck was still following her. Someone suddenly grabbed her waist to prevent her from falling. The girl shut her eyes close as a dreadful scene slowly pictured on her vision. The recording tape which the girl had been trying to bury inside the deepest and most unreachable place on her brain suddenly played inside her head, clearly. Her breath hitched. It felt like something was blocking her respiratory system, just like what always happened whenever her scene taking up her consciousness.

“Are you okay?” The man, who was standing beside her and managed to grab her waist when she was about to fall—asked her. He shook the girl’s body, trying to make her conscious.

The bus finally stopped moving. Some were trying to get up from the floor, while some other already ran to the nearest door. It was pretty bad at the front part of the bus which most of them were hurt because of the crash. The man grabbed her waist even tighter, and slung her arm over his shoulder so that he could bring her out easily. She heard the loud sound of probably police car or ambulance coming closer to the commotion, making her breath even harder. It’s happening again. Her hands were trying to her backpack, trying to access the small pocket on the side of her bag. She couldn’t breathe. It just felt like there’s no oxygen left on her lungs. Her legs went weak and she stumbled.

“Damn it!” The man cursed after he managed to bring himself and the girl on her arms out from the crashed vehicle. He realized that the girl almost fainted. He could see her gasping for air, and quickly trying to shake her. “Hey, you okay? Can you hear me?”

He saw her groping her hand on the bag, seems like trying to pull something out. The man suddenly aware of what she was trying to do. He lifted her up and bring her to the nearest wide opened air, away from the crowd of people. Gently put her down under a tree, he helped her to take out a small bottle—he saw it—from her bag.

“How many pills do you need?” He asked her hurriedly.

The girl gasped. “T—” She tried to speak. “Two—”

The man handed two pills to her hands with a bottle of plain water from his own bag. He watched as the girl drank it up. Her face was all pale, her knuckles felt cold when he held on it earlier before. He heard her calling her mom and dad a few times when they were still inside the bus. When he saw her fully, he could see that her face was stained with tears. She cried. The girl put her hands back to her ears. The horrible amounts of fears were clearly shown on her face. Aerin bite her upper lip, trying not to scream. Her veins were protruding under her thin fair skin.

All of a sudden, the accusing voice, the sound of screams, the tape that was playing on her head slowly fading away. She could feel warmth seeping through her pores, and it was strangely comforting. The kind of comfort warmth she had never felt before. The girl could feel a pair of strong arms engulfed her tiny frame.  “You’re safe now. Ssh… ssh… everything is okay.” The voice was melodiously rummaging through her ears. She also felt a hand drawing circles on her back while the other hand gently caressing the back of her head. She opened her eyes and found herself wrapped safely on the man’s arms. He kneeled down in front of her, framing her on a soothing hug.

When she got a hold of herself, Aerin pulled away from the hug and slowly lifted her head up a bit to get a clear sight of the man kneeling down in front of her. Their eyes met. He