Chapter Two

Since Myungsoo’s arrival, I realised I had become happier, more cheerful. Life had become a lot more endurable, because of him. It was almost fun.

Well, that was until Miss Oh went into our room, catching Myungsoo reading at eleven that one night.

She grabbed him by his arm and pulled him out of the room.

When he returned, his goofy smile seemed to have dissipated.

After that, he changed. He seemed more distant, and the more I tried to talk to him, the more I seemed to be pushing him away.

Countless times I tried to ask him what happened that night, but he shoved the question at the back, changing the subject.

Until later that week, the talk of bringing Myungsoo to a normal orphanage came into discussion.

I was washing the clothes with Myungsoo, when we heard harshed whispers outside the bathroom. On my lap laid a small bucket that contained my washed clothes.

“Boss says we should bring Myungsoo to the normal orphanage.”

“That’s great! We have one less kid to deal with.”

“If after the checkup he’s said to be alright, then he’ll leave.”

The harshed whispers soon died down, and I turned my head to the said boy.

“Myungsoo… what was that? Are you leaving?”

The boy hung his head, trying to keep his hands busy by rinsing the clothes.

“I didn’t want to tell you.”

“When did you know this?” I asked, unable to hide the sadness in my voice. Although we only knew each other for a month, he was still my friend. And I liked him.

“A few days ago. I don’t know why but somehow, if showing that there’s something wrong with me will let me stay here, then I want to. Just so I can stay here,” His voice wavered like thin ice, on the verge of breaking.

“Myungsoo… that’s just stupid,” A small smile formed on my lips. “You should go there. You can meet normal friends like you there. It’ll be fun.”

The boy shook his head. “…It won’t be, without you.”

I chuckled, nudging him. “Really? Because I’m too awesome, right?” I stopped, however, and looked in Myungsoo’s eyes. Searching. “But you won’t tell me… the reason you’re here, right?”

“Well…” Myungsoo gulped, averting my eyes. “I have a mental problem.” His hands stopped moving. “They won’t say exactly what I do, but they say I can become crazy, become someone different.”

I was devastated to find out my best friend was leaving. To make things worse, that week in school, my classmates seemed to have returned to bullying us. Or rather, me.

They threw my textbooks into the school pond, forcing Myungsoo to help retrieve them for me. Soojung stood beside me, glaring daggers at them, trying to protect me.

I felt rather small, knowing that I was the one being protected instead of the one protecting.

When  Myungsoo came out of the pond half drenched, he had a small smile on his face.

And it pained me to see it.

It was like he was pretending everything was fine, just so I wouldn’t be worried.

That smile however, didn’t last for long.

The leader, Sunggyu, pushed him back into the pond. “I told you not to help him!” He growled. Suddenly, everything seemed to happen in a flash.

“Stop!” Soojung shrieked, aiming a kick at him.

Yet Sunggyu merely dodged it and shoved her tiny frame to the ground.

“Soojung!” My eyes widened.

I didn’t know what to do. I felt so useless, so tiny.

I pushed my wheelchair to Soojung, but one of Sunggyu’s buddy just kicked my wheelchair, causing me to tumble out onto the ground.

I couldn’t describe the excruciating pain that shot through my legs as my head slammed to the ground. Then I felt a hard kick in my stomach.

My face contorted in pain as I caught Myungsoo running to my side from the corner of my eyes.

I lifted my head, only to see him in quick breaths, his gaze a million miles away. He leaned backward, and I could see his whole body trembling. His eyes seemed to have turned into slits. Or perhaps, it was my imagination.

Myungsoo seemed to have lost control. His face contorted in fury, he got up, aiming a strong punch in Sunggyu’s stomach.

What happened next, I couldn’t seem to remember as I seemed to be in a deep, black hole.

When I regained consciousness, the first person I saw was Myungsoo. Soojung was beside him, and immediately perked up seeing that I was awake. I glanced around me. I was in the school’s nursing room.

“Are you both alright?” I managed to croak.

“We’re fine. You hit your head pretty hard, but you didn’t bleed or anything. You were lucky you didn’t suffer a concussion,” Soojung told me.

I turned to look at Myungsoo, but he was looking at his hands, avoiding my eyes.

“I got a few cuts, and Myungsoo… he’s been suspended.”

“Suspended?” I repeated.

“He beat Sunggyu up. Hard. He’s got lots of injuries on his face and body, and now he’s unconscious. He was going to attack the two other boys who were attacking us too, but then the teacher came. And now…Myungsoo’s suspended for a week,” Soojung informed me.

I gulped, taking Myungsoo’s hand. “Myungsoo…”

But he just ignored me, like I wasn’t there.

“That wasn’t me. That wasn’t me. That wasn’t me…” He chanted.

Myungsoo had returned to the orphanage, but I couldn’t help feeling uneasy the whole day.

Was that what Myungsoo meant, by turning into someone crazy?

The Myungsoo I knew wouldn’t dare hurt a fly.

And he literally had just beaten someone to a pulp.

The boy pulled a hoodie over him, removing his glasses. He followed the two boys as they made their way home that evening, their school bags slung over their shoulders.

He had been watching the school gate for a while, and having found his targets, he followed them as they walked past the ice cream store, through the park until they reached somewhere quiet. Somewhere isolated.

“Luckily I told the teacher I wasn’t involved,” One boy laughed, slapping the other on the back.

“I know right. Luckily we were just watching from the sidelines,” The other snickered.

“Or we would probably be beaten to a pulp too. That boy seemed strong.”

Suddenly, something fell behind them.

“Woohyun, did you hear that?” The boy turned around.

The one named Woohyun moved to where the noise came from. “Do you think it’s an animal?”

“Why? Are your hands itching~?” The other boy swiped his palms together.

What they didn’t expect, was to see a tall figure appear from behind the wall.

He was dressed in a black hoodie that covered his face well. He balled his fists, changing into a fighting stance.

The two boys however, laughed at him when they saw that it was a boy their age.

“What do you think he’s doing?” Woohyun laughed.

The other boy smirked. “I think my hand’s itching now.”

Even though the boy was taller, one could tell easily that he wasn’t much bigger.

The two boys got into their stance, ready to pounce when suddenly the intruder pulled out two sharpened knives.

The two boys’ faces paled, and they were about to flee, but it was too late.

Strangled cries soon filled the night air.

After school that day, I couldn’t seem to find Myungsoo. He seemed to have disappeared for the rest of the evening.

The adults tried searching for him frantically, but to no avail.

They had left Myungsoo to himself that day, but when they went to check on him, he was gone.

I was starting to get really worried.

What if he went met with an accident? What if something bad happened?

He had been acting strange since the incident.

What if… he went crazy?

Although the adults told us to stay inside as they went in search of Myungsoo, I decided to head out myself.

I couldn’t relax if I didn’t know if Myungsoo was safe, and staying inside wasn’t helping me either.

I tried searching the ice cream store, and the park we frequented, but he wasn’t there.

I sighed frustratedly, messing my hair. Where was he?

It was just then that I heard a strangled cry, and someone shouting in pain.

I pushed my wheelchair as fast as I could to the source of the noise. It was coming from the back of a dark alley, but even though I was afraid, I in a breath and went in.

What I saw next brought a strangled cry to my lips.

Two boys were brutally stabbed in the legs and injuries were evident on their arms and faces under the moonlight. There was blood everywhere.

The perpetrator was searching in their pockets, taking something out. He looked up at me when he heard my cry, and although I couldn’t see his face clearly under the night sky, I could make out a smirk forming on his face. His eyes glinted with malice as he took me in.

My heart thudded rapidly in my chest, my eyes widening. Did I just witness a crime?

“S-stay away from me!” I shouted as the perpetrator stood up. Even though I knew the perpetrator wouldn’t possibly listen to me, I still tried. My face turned pale.

I’m going to get killed, I’m going to get killed-

I quickly turned my wheelchair, but by the time I did so, the perpetrator had reached me.

I shut my eyes tight, my heart thudding loudly in my ears.    

I am going to die. I love you, mom, dad, and- Myungsoo. Goodbye-

He grabbed the handles at the back of the wheelchair, pushing me forward.

What- what’s he doing? Oh, no-

The noisy silence seemed to continue on forever as my heart felt like it would burst.

Before I could continue on with my thoughts, the boy spoke.

“You won’t tell anyone what you saw today. Otherwise, I’ll just come back and kill you. Sounds fair, doesn’t it?” His voice sounded deep and filled with malice, although somewhat familiar.

“Well then,” The boy continued as the wheelchair seemed to stop moving. “Goodbye.”

Silence filled the empty night air once again, and it got more eerie by the second. Slowly, I opened an eye, and then the other.

I was back at the park, and when I slowly turned around, there was no one behind me. It was like nothing just happened, but it did.

Looking around, there was no one in sight.

My heart continued thudding rapidly as I quickly pushed my wheelchair back to the orphanage.

It was only when I reached the gate that it hit me that, what if one of the victims was Myungsoo?

I gulped. No. No…

I wanted to go back, but what if the perpetrator was still there?

I slammed opened the door, but the adults haven’t returned.

I needed to tell them, I needed to let them know that maybe Myungsoo was dead-

I froze when I saw the familiar boy come out of the room, on a popsicle.

Myungsoo.

“Myung!” I cried as I went over to him, throwing my arms over him. “Where have you been?!”

Myungsoo blinked, patting my back. “I- I was getting something to eat. I’m sorry if I scared you. I kind of got lost.”

I squeazed him tight. “I thought you were dead,” I sobbed. I couldn’t help as tears started to fill my eyes.

I really thought he could be dead.

“Sungyeol…”

The door soon swung open, and when the adults saw Myungsoo, instead of feeling relieved, they started bombarding him with questions and reprimanding him.

He, of course, quickly hid his finished stick, saying that he got lost on a walk.

When we returned to our rooms, everything seemed to rush back to me.

I just witnessed a crime. I almost died. And if I told anyone, I could be dead, too.

I couldn’t seem to stop staring at Myungsoo as he took his homework out.

He looked up at me, noticing my intense gaze. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head. “It’s just… I thought you were dead. I really thought you were,” My lips trembled.

He spread his arms and stood up, speaking as he made a spin. “I’m fine, right? See, I’m perfectly fine. So stop worrying,” He let his arms fall to his side, giving a warm smile.

“Okay,” Yet even as I said so, I kept glancing at him from time to time.

I took my homework out, glancing up at him before taking my stationery out. Then, I  turned to stare at him once again.

“Sungyeol, I can feel you staring at me,” Myungsoo said, not looking up from his work.

I felt my cheeks heat as my eyes widened. I quickly turned to look at my homework, flipping through the pages.

“W-what are you talking about? I-I was just-” I stuttered, but was cut by Myungsoo.

“Yeah, yeah… you thought I was dead… but seriously, what happened? You don’t seem yourself. You look like you’ve just witnessed a murder,” He joked, but turned to look at me as I stopped flipping through my homework.

Well, I technically had, I thought to myself.

My breath was caught in my throat, but I quickly recovered. “What? Nah, it’s nothing. Go back to your work.”

Myungsoo scratched his head before turning back to his work.

Luckily, he didn’t probe further.

I was scared. I wanted to so badly to tell Myungsoo what happened, but what if that killer came back to kill him too if he found out?

I shivered at the thought.

I couldn’t drag him into the mess I got into.

Silence soon filled the room, and it seemed to drag on forever.

“Myungsoo,” I suddenly remembered something, my head snapping up. “Where did you get the money to buy the popsicle?”

The next day, I went to school alone. Somehow, I couldn’t put my mind at ease about Myungsoo.

However, I was relieved that Sunggyu and his ‘gang’, hadn’t turned up for school. Afterall, I had enough to deal with already.

It was later learned that Sunggyu’s buddies, Woohyun and Dongwoo, were stabbed and beaten up badly by an alley.

The two were still unconscious, and were left to recover from their injuries.

Woohyun and Dongwoo?

I couldn’t help but gulp.

I had seen two heavily injured boys sprawled on the ground of an alley, the day before.

So, they were the two boys?

And they were from my school, too.

“So, children, when you’re going home, please be careful. Please try not to go home late, too,” The teacher spoke, eyeing each and everyone of us. “Judging from their injuries, the police have concluded that it must be from some kind of gang fight. So please, stop joining these gang fights, and keep yourselves safe. Alright?”

When she finished, she told us to find a pair to work on our homework.

“Wow! They totally deserved it, didn’t they, after bullying us like that,” Soojung grinned, taking out her worksheet.

My eyes widened. “Y-yeah,” I nodded a little too enthusiastically.

That day, I couldn’t concentrate on any work. I had came across the perpetrator. I knew it wasn’t some kind of gang fight.

But I hadn’t seen his face, so I couldn’t tell anyone, either, unless I had a death wish.

He must be really strong, then.

I was so clouded in my own thoughts that day, I did not realize that when I entered the isolated toilet, the door had slammed shut.

Suddenly, the toilet filled with darkness. I quickly snapped back to reality.

I could make out a figure by the door, and his footsteps echoed loudly in the empty toilet as he walked towards me.

“Hey, can you turn on the lights?” I asked.

The boy however, continued his way towards me.

A menacing laugher escaped from his lips, and his footsteps seemed to get heavier, more scarier.

I shivered involunteeringly. Don’t tell me… Sunggyu’s gang… has another guy? I gulped nervously.

“Lee. Sung. Yeol.” He spat. “I have warned you before,” Suddenly, he seemed to reach me in a split second, gripping my collar. I recognized him as Sungjong. “To stay away from Soojung. But you never listened, did you? You just ignored my warning. Soojung and I were close before you came. And now because of you, she stopped talking to me! It’s all your fault!” The boy shouted, shoving at my chest. I winced.

Before I could fight back, he kicked my wheelchair, causing me to topple headfirst out of my wheelchair and onto the ground. “You’re weak, you know. You’re weak, so I don’t get why she likes you,” He growled.

I groaned in pain, but still, I lifted my head up, ignoring the pain, “Did you ever wonder why she stopped talking to you?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. “It’s because of who you are right now!”

That earned me a kick in my stomach as his eyes blazed with fury.

“Don’t you dare tell me who I am!” He shouted.

Just then, the toilet door swung open, and a boy froze at the scene.

I must be dreaming, because when I looked at his face, he looked like Myungsoo.

I watched as my savior flew a punch on Sungjong’s face.

The boy quickly fled once he was found.

Then he flew my side, propping my head on his arm.

“You’re going to be alright, you’re going to be alright…” He muttered.

And it sounded so alike Myungsoo’s voice.

I used to be close friends with Jung Soojung. I liked it when she called me Sungjonggie, and made up nicknames for me. We played together, laughed together, and practically grew up together.

I was a rather nice kid. Well, everything changed when my mom passed away.

When my mother was gone, my dad found other women. Women after women came, whom I had to call ‘mom’. I hated it.

Then, when this woman came, she came along.

At first, I hated her.

My dad told me to make friends with this mistress’ daughter, Soojung, but I hated it.

Although I hated her, the girl was nice. She shared my thoughts, my unhappiness, everything. She was always there for me.

When my father would scold me for doing something wrong, she’d jump in my defense.

When my father hit me, she’d shield my body until he stopped.

My father would listen to everything she said, yet not even spare me a glance.

I was furious, of course. I hated Soojung more because of that.

However, the girl would secretly help me out, asking my father to get the watch I had been eyeing online, saying that she wanted it.

I thought she wanted to wear it to make me jealous.

Instead, she gave it to me.

I was touched.

Gradually, I started to grow fond of her.

Other than my mother, she was the only one who really cared for me.

We started to become closer.

We would play for hours in the park, play pranks on people, and just be ourselves.

For the first time in forever, I felt happy since my mother’s death.

But one day when I came home from school, she was gone. She disappeared. Just like that.

Along with her mother, she was gone.

A new woman took their place.

I tried to ask dad where they were, but he wouldn’t tell me.

“Oh, Sungjong, you’ve grown up, I see,” Was what he said when he found out I had been attached to the girl. He gave a grave smirk as he hugged the new mistress. “Well, one day you’ll learn that you can’t always stay with the same woman. Be like me. Be a man. One day, she’ll leave you. So instead of drowning in misery, find another woman.”

I was furious. I didn’t want to be like him. I didn’t have a father like that.

So I ran away.

I started to pick fights with boys, and lived on the streets for a few weeks.

My aunt soon found me, and she let me stay. She enrolled me to a new school that was closer to her house.

After a few months of no news from my dad, I learned that he never cared for me.

I was crying. I didn’t want what my dad said to come true. I didn’t want to believe him. I didn’t want another girl to replace Soojung just like that.

I promised I would never like another girl. That I would find Soojung, and marry her. One day.

On my first day in my new school, I saw her.

Her soft brown locks curled around her shoulders, her eyes sparkling with genuine curiosity.

It was the girl I had grown attached to, the girl I didn’t want to lose.

Soojung, however, didn’t recognize me. When I saw other boys around her, I got furious. Everyone seemed to be eyeing on her, and I hated it. I was the one who saw her first, who liked her first. So why were they all wanting to steal her away from me?

I picked fights with the boys often, but she never once appreciated it.

Then, this handicap boy came, and he seemed to get closer to her than ever.

I was jealous.

Jealous that even though he wasn’t liked by our classmates, at least he was liked by her.

And I could tell. Her eyes. Soojung’s eyes would light up whenever he talked to her, just like they did back in the old days, when we were alone. It was different from when she talked to Myungsoo, or to other boys.

Those eyes, that smile, it was only supposed to be for me, and only me.

At times, I wished I could be in Sungyeol’s place.

Even if it’s just for a day.

Even if it’s just for a day, I wished we could return to how we were in the past.

A/N: Hey!! Do let me know how the story is so far, hope you enjoyed it ^^