I could feel my whole body trembling at his voice. It was as if he was standing behind me, muttering those words on my ears. I was in loss of words, hands trembling so bad that I could drop Myungsoo’s phone anytime.

A slap was heard from the other line. “Hush, baby. I’m going to make you feel good” It was Kim Jongin’s voice. Sounds of cries and whimpers followed, as well as nasty laughs on the background.

Another slap, and then the whimpers stopped. I threw the phone against the glass coffee table, breaking the screen. My shoulder was moving up and down due to my unstable breathing, tears rolling down my face silently.

“Dami—“ Sungyeol was at loss of words, putting down his mike and raising his hand up, as if someone is going to catch us anytime. I felt dizzy as I strut out of the karaoke room, yelling for Myungsoo to show up.

“Kim Myungsoo! Get the out of the bathroom you—“

A hand catches my wrist turned me around. It was Myungsoo, his face bearing a questioning look. Sungyeol stood behind him, wearing the same expression as he shoved his hands on his pants pocket.

“Saemi, we need to save Saemi. We don’t have much time—“

“Dami, calm down. Tell me what’s wrong” Myungsoo’s tone was worried. My shoulder slumped down and it took me all of my strength to speak clearly.

“Saemi is with Baekhyun” I whispered, almost inaudible. Both Myungsoo and Sungyeol’s eyes widened and the next thing I know is that three of us ran as fast as possible, leaving our school bags at the karaoke. My heart began to palpitate irregularly as my feet brought me back to the deserted school building, almost out of breath as we arrived not-so-grandiosely.

It was an old building, barricaded with rusting metal fences with sharp ends on the top. The gate was locked and the sun almost set the time we arrived. Putting his hand on my shoulder, Myungsoo whispered, “Stay out of the fight, just watch out”

“I can’t do that! I need to help—“

“We have no time” Sungyeol reminded, climbing the metal fence and landing on the ground gracefully. Myungsoo nodded at Sungyeol and followed him, giving me a last look before running to save Saemi, although it was probably too late.

I waited for two hours and they didn’t show up. Getting worried, I triple-texted them and called their number numerous of times, only to remember that I broke Myungsoo’s phone and Sungyeol never answers phonecalls.

I couldn’t sleep that night. Every time I tried to close my eyes, the crying whimpers and nasty laughs haunted me and kept me awake. My eyes are bloodshot as I tried to find my journal where I usually wrote down everything, including my nightmares and worries, only to remember that I left my bag on the karaoke. In all of sudden, I felt like I have lost everything I had.

Dami, you’re so pathetic.

______________

By the time I reached school, it felt like everyone was silently judging me. Unlocking my locker, everything was on its original position; no hate letters, no graffiti, no slimy stuffs and no anything. Baekhyun and his minions stroll on the hallway like the usual, students faking (and some are just really in for the looks) an awe stare as they pass by.

Sungyeol, Myungsoo, and Saemi are nowhere to be found. They were counted as absent, and as usual, no one notices. I tried to eavesdrop some girl’s conversation, but strangely enough no one talks about the yesterday’s incident on the cafeteria. No one talks bad about Byun Baekhyun ; that would mean execution.

When I saw Baekhyun and his minions at the end of the fourth period in front of the washroom, my first instinct is to run away and hope he didn’t notice me. I could feel their stares as I walked out of the female washroom. Putting my trembling hands into my skirt’s pocket, I passed them with my head hanging low.

I can’t concentrate on Physics. The mid-terms are coming and instead of focusing, my hands are fidgeting as I grew more worried and paranoid on what could have happened yesterday. Worst scenario is that Baekhyun and his minions killed them. Shaking my head, I tried to think positive. Baekhyun is a juvenile. He’s in the same year as I am, and he’s a teenager.

But then, he’s a monster in the first place. The bell rings, snapping me out of my train of thoughts. Unlike the other days, today I didn’t feel like eating. Dragging myself out of the classroom, I let myself getting pushed by the sea of people to the first floor, where the cafeteria is. Suddenly stopping, I almost fell if not for the person behind me. Everyone seemed to squeeze themselves to the corner, making way for the bullies to enter the cafeteria first.

Baekhyun’s eyes scanned the crowds, and for a miniscule second our eyes met each other. His lips parted and formed a loop smile— the ones you see on movies when a serial killer is about to kill someone.

I ordered the same food as yesterday, onigiri with a can of soda. Noticing that most seat in the left wing is occupied (which means I have to walk across the cafeteria and have to pass Baekhyun’s table, which is not a good thing), I was about to walk out and eat next to the volleyball field when I felt something hitting my head.

Looking down, it was an empty soda can. Cursing under my breath, I took the liberty of throwing it into the trash bin.

“Cho Dami, hand me your soda”

And it felt like all hells just broke loose. 

Shorter than I thought.... Happy New Year!