The notorious morning alarm rang out loud, destroying the silence of the room and jarring me out of the sleep within it. It rotated between six different annoying noises of varied pitches and volumes before I slammed the snooze button. 

My throat was dry, begging me for a cup of tea meanwhile my head was the lasted model of a nuclear bomb, ready to explode at any moment. That devil's words were stuck in my mind on repeat mode "I will mangle your mind." - that's what he said before he disappeared into the darkness.

All the girls dream to be some kind of Cinderella, to find their prince on the well-known white horse and live with him happily ever after. But-... What happens when that prince is actually the prince of darkness and his horse in not quite a white one but a black one? Well, that's the time when Cinderella knows she screwed it up.

''Damn it!'' I groaned. 

The snooze mode was definitely shorter than I hope it would be. Waking up could be really harsh for me, especially when my dreams were always better than reality. The saddest part of it was that even the memory of my dreams will eventually fade away. 

That morning I couldn't remember my dream but I was sure that Hanbin was there. His presence was strongly manifesting into the room as his scent was still printed on my skin like a permanent tattoo that I couldn't get rid of. My tender finger gently caressed the place where his teeth left an invisible territory mark... My ear's lobe was still burning under the thought of his touch. 

"How could I get him out of my mind?"

I crawled out of my bed, placing my feet on the soft carpet. The once clean gauze roll was now having a crimson tint, staining the white color of the carpet.  The pain was like a  morning coffee for my body as it woken up all my senses. 

''Why the hell have you-'' Seunghoon broke loudly into the room.

''Don't even start.'' I interrupted his scold as I tried to sustain my body on the injured foot.

He glared at me from head to toe for few seconds, ignoring the bleeding foot and crossing his arms in his usual arrogant posture. 

''I told you to stay away from Hanbin and instead of that you left with him last night.'' His tone reached a whole new level, an authority one as the anger could be spotted in every little gesture on his face. ''Stop embarrassing me around and stay away from his like you promised.'' He added.

The sound of his words lasted for a few seconds into my mind, it sat there like a shard of glass... Something that would always remain, hurting me inside everytime... And that's because I was always that kind of person who would get affected by what the other people say about me. My biggest mistake was that I always tried to please everyone around me, ending up being hurt since they would never recognize my efforts. My own brother was ashamed of me, claiming that I embarrass him just because I left the club with a guy. 

Well, not an ordinary guy but Kim Hanbin...Seunghoon's new definition of danger.

''You know what?'' That was the point when I knew that I lost my temper. That question never ended up well when I was saying it, being the calm before the storm. 

''Don't pretend to care about me.'' I said through clench teeth.

''I care about you.'' He paused, thinking over the words he just said. He looked at me with a strange feeling of hurt, bubbling at the bottom of his gut. 

''We both know you don't.'' The wrinkles cut deeper his forehead at each word I was spitting in his face. ''All you care about is Hanbin. You didn't even care about my foot and yet, all you ask me about is to stay away from him.'' I angrily snapped at Seunghoon, who seemed astonished by my reaction. 

He narrowed his eyebrows before he grabbed onto my arm, trying to calm me down. But no one could possibly stop a volcano that just erupted. 

''Don't touch me.'' I spun around and snatched my arm back from his grip. ''Just go away.'' I yelled as I pointed over the open door behind him. 

He must have slammed every single door on his way out of the house. I thought they'd come off their frames from the way the noise cracked into the air. He was not the most massive guy but he really put some power into it. I guess the anger could do that for him. 

I kind of felt bad for what I said afterward but his obsession with Hanbin was hard to deal with. He surely had a proper reason to act like that and I had to find it out.

• • •

The ceaseless buzzing of the classroom and the unlimited amount of energy the students contained increased, which would be a rare sight if our class would be under Mrs. Kim's supervision. Having no vicious teacher who would glare at the class with red flames dancing in her eyes as she expects an answer to a question that even the world's most intelligent mastermind wouldn't be able to provide an answer to, was an unbelievable chance worth taking to have at least few moments of pleasure after a day filled with endless hours of torture in school. 

Hanbin skipped school that day, perhaps his weekend starts with Friday not with Saturday like it usually, does to normal people. It was the perfect window for me to find out more about his and Seunghoon's history. 

My eyes researched the classroom for a veritable victim that could give some information about it. I instantly excluded Jihyun and my brother who wouldn't blow a word about that to me, remaining only with two options... One worse than the other. 

''Uhmm...Hi.'' I babbled in front of the troublemakers that were blaring ear-splitting music whilst drumming powerfully on the unstable desk, producing a deafening cacophony that could be heard through corridors. I wondered how none of our teachers noticed the noise that was exalting our school in that moment.