"Well well, who do we have here? It's my backstabbing of a daughter,"

 and my head turned towards the voice. It was none other than my mother. I clenched my fists. I wanted to punch her. Mingyu saw my expression falter and he turned to my mother. It hurts to even call her that. After putting up with all the insults and punishments, she still calls me a . What the hell. 

*flashback*
 
"What is this grade?! You're supposed to get straight A's! A 'B' is unacceptable!"

she shouted at me, striking the wooden cane against my skin, leaving red marks on it. She dropped the cane and continued striking me using her bare hands. I couldn't do anything but curl up into a ball in the corner. 

She then grabbed a belt and started whipping me with it. Bruises started turning an unsightly  shade of purple on my arms, some of the marks turning into gaping wounds causing blood to ooze out of them. After she was satisfied with her punishment, she simply left the room and before she stepped out the door said,

"You deserved it. Fix your grades."

I couldn't do anything. Pain resonated all over my body. I couldn't move. All I did was cry. My life was a mess. What did I do to deserve this?

I stood frozen staring at my mother. Mingyu let go of my hand and walked to her. I suddenly felt uncomfortable losing the contact between Mingyu and I. They had a very civil conversation before Mingyu turned back and my mother walked away. 

"What did you talk about?"

I asked, staring at my mother who walked away, showing no sign of anger whatsoever. 

"She asked how were you and stuff like that and I told her about what happened last night..she told me to take care of you well. Nothing big,"

I was shocked. My mom actually cared about me. She bothered to ask of my condition. I don't get it. Why was she calling me a but when she talked to Mingyu, she asked whether I was okay. My mom is so confusing. Or was Mingyu lying to me?

"Gyu, can I sleep with you today?"

"Already? I didn't know you ready for it yet,"

he replied with a suggesting look, his eyebrows wiggling. 

"Not like that! I feel scared sleeping alone,"

I punched his shoulder lightly, and he gasped in pain and rubbed his shoulder in a very exaggerating way. 

"Ouch, and yeah you can,"

We hopped onto the bus and with that we made our way home. 

Mingyu's POV

I had to lie to her so she would feel safe. It was better that she didn't know what her mom said to me. 

"I honestly don't trust you taking care of my daughter. It is best she stay with me, someone who knows how to actually take care of her,"

"I do not believe that traumatising your own daughter with hurtful words and violence is the proper way of treating your child. It is better that she stays with me. Your past actions have traumatised her to the point she cuts herself in her sleep,"

"She always does always hurting herself to gain attention. What a dissappointment,"

"Haeun is a beautiful girl who deserves better. Definitely better than how you treat her. The fact that you only want good grades coming from her and disregard her humanity, I suggest that you stay away from her,"

"If that's what you want, very well then. We'll see what she becomes," 

and with that she turned away and left me. 

Haeun's POV

"Haeun-ah, wake up.. we have to go to school,"

"5 minutes more please,"

"Hey...we're going to be late if you delay,"

"Fine,"

I got out of bed and left for the toilet, noticing that Mingyu left the room. I took a short shower before putting on my uniform and packing my necessities into my messenger bag and flung it over my shoulder. I grabbed my black converse sneakers and head out the door. 

Suddenly, a sweet, pleasant smell infiltrated my nose and I followed and I was brought to a Mingyu, clad in his school uniform covered with an apron, flipping pancakes. 

"I'm still in the middle of cooking the last pancake but the ones which are cooked are on the counter,"

he said, pointing to the kitchen counter located behind him.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah I ate before you woke up,"

As if I was signalled to eat, I immediately dug into my food and savoured the sweetness of the maple syrup drizzled on the pancakes. My eyes rolled to the back of my head tasting Mingyu's food. I couldn't help myself to say,

"Gyu, you should open a restaurant. You cook really well,"

"I have considered doing that but I've been thinking about being an astrophysicist,"
 
he said, before he put the last pancake on my plate. 

"You really do well in astronomy class...even though its an additional course.. You're blessed with good brains, Gyu,"

"Don't say that Haeun-ah.. you're smart too,"

"Says the tall attractive guy that scores straight As except for Geography,"

All he could do was sigh. He wasn't strong in Geography but I was so I always helped him. However, I wasn't as strong as he was in the other subjects. 

"Babe, hurry up cause we gotta head to school soon,"

I could see the pain in his eyes despite his efforts of putting on a fake smile. 

I put on my sneakers and looked to Mingyu who was doing the same. I suddenly noticed that his tie was not properly done. After he stood back up, I stood on my toes in front of him and adjusted his tie properly. 

"I'm sorry Gyu... I didn't mean to say that,"

and I hugged him tightly,soon drops of tears flowing down my cheeks. I didn't mean to hurt him. He didn't deserve it. He's done too much for me. I felt a bit movement and a large hand started petting my head. His hand soothingly my hair and I looked up to him. His brown orbs stared at mine in pity, with a forgiving look on his face. He whispered that everything was okay and took out his hanky from his pocket to wipe my tears. He then pecked me on the lips and kissed my forehead. 

After freshening up, we headed to the bus stop and just our luck the bus came immediately. 

Upon reaching the school grounds, we ran to our lockers to grab our books and immediately dash to class. I was excited for the first lesson. It was Biology. 

Our class was a mess. Students having conversations in their small cliques with a few left out either studying or sleeping. We approached our seats and took out our notes and books. 

"Yo wassup guys!"

said Wonwoo, Mingyu's best friend. 
Mingyu replied happily at him and they started talking about what happened during the weekend. Apparently Wonwoo was busy helping out at a pet shelter and he even adopted a kitten named Mong Mong. It had black, white and grey fur and it had folded ears which made it look more adorable than it already was. 

"You know you can adopt a pet from the shelter... it's really fun owning a pet!"

he said enthusiastically. Mingyu told him that he would consider doing so and with that, Wonwoo turned to face the front and get ready for class. 

I realised when I was going through my notes that there were some parts that were incomplete so I turned to Mingyu, who was busy reading the topic ahead, to ask him for his notes. 

"Gyu, do you have notes on the human alimentary canal? I have some parts missing in mine,"

"Yeah I do.. what parts are you missing?"

I told Mingyu what was missing from my notes and he handed his notes to me for to copy. Suddenly the sound of heels hitting the ground echoed the room, and students dispersed to their seats. 

"Good morning class! Please take out your Biology textbooks and turn them to page 217,"

shouted Ms Cho, who had a bright smile on her beautiful face. Mingyu flipped the pages of his textbook backwards, having read the content soon to be taught by Ms Cho. 

After a daunting lesson of History, the bell rung and students rushed out of class to go for lunch. I stacked my books under my desk neatly before heading out with Mingyu and Wonwoo. They were happily having a conversation near the door. I noticed that Mingyu's desk was cluttered with notes and books as per usual so I decided to clean it up for him. After clearing up the clutter of his table, I approached the two boys. 

"Babe, you gotta clear up your table after class. My OCD kills me seeing the condition of your desk,"

I told Mingyu, linking arms with him. 

"Fine mom,"

he said grudgingly, before walking out the door. 

The cafeteria was exceptionally crowded, most likely because there was all the good food being sold today. I stood in line for food and whipped out my phone. There was a message from Hyeran and I replied to her. 

From: Hyeran eonnie

Don't forget that there's practice later after school. Please remind Mingyu too:)

To: Hyeran eonnie

Okay I'll tell him too ^_^

"You guys know that the senior camp is coming up right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Mingyu and I answered simultaneously. We both stared at each other for a second before turning back to our food. 

"It means that you guys will be able to spend time together for 2 nights,"

Wonwoo smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. I laughed wholeheartedly before realising thay almost everyone was staring at me and I shut up. Mingyu stared at me with pity before opening his mouth to say,

"Well you see... Haeun and I already live together."

Wonwoo stared confusingly at us and Mingyu started explaining everything to him. There were many expressions shown on Wonwoo's face. Confusion. Anger. Pity. Frustration. 

"No worries Haeun-ah, I'm sure Gyu will take care of you well. If he doesn't, call me and I'll beat him up,"

Wonwoo said to me, earning a punch in the arm from Mingyu. Wonwoo laughed in response but I could see in his eyes that he wasn't kidding. I trusted Wonwoo too. He was like an elder brother who took care of Mingyu and I. He always scolded me for being too mean to Mingyu and Mingyu for constantly teasing me. However, his parents are overly protective of him and never allowed him to leave the house unless he was ordered to. 

Suddenly, Wonwoo's eyes diverted their attention to something moving. It was none other than Saera, his crush. 

"You know.. you should talk to her. It's not like she'll bite you, she's just as timid as you are,"

I said, patting Wonwoo on his shoulder. To Wonwoo's luck, the bell rang and the three of us left for class. 

A few hours later, school ended and I packed my stuff to go. 

"Gyu, we have to go. There's dance practice after school,"

A/N:

Hey I'm back a month later!
I'm so sorry that I couldn't update last month.. I was still busy with school stuff and I need to help my mom at home since she's injured so I hope that this long (sort of) chapter will make up for it. I'll probably start working on the next chapter asap so I hope you guys will enjoy it!!

Till the next time~