One

Dead End
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It’s been raining ever since Sohee left the house. As a result, her school uniform is soaked by the time she finally reaches the metro station. She has to run up the stairs and almost dive into the closing doors to make it in time. If she had missed this train, she would have had to wait for another twenty minutes. Oh the perks of living outside of Seoul’s busy city districts, yay!

She feels the eyes of the other passengers on her. One particular, an already elderly woman. She has a basket on her lap, a red towel covering her belongings. Two deep wrinkles run across her forehead emphasized to the worst due to her frown. She shakes her head at Sohee, visibly disapproving.  Her eyes follow the girl's every step, just to make sure she wouldn’t dare to take and sodden one of the perfect fine seats.

She hasn’t planned on doing so anyway and instead walks to the far back to get some privacy from the curious yet pitying stares from the already seated passengers. Desperately clinging onto one of the handles as to make sure not to fall and injure herself once the subway drives off. Most of the people have manners enough to mind their own business once they settle with the thought that the drenched girl might not be as insane as she appears to be. 

Except for the two junior High school boys taking pictures, and the man secretly eating his French fries he has hidden under his shirt with the very obvious spills of sauce on it. Now nosy herself, she takes a glimpse at the chubby man who is, not as stealthily as he believes to be, ogling her. While usually, she doesn't care about those looks, for years she has been the town’s odd one, and wherever she would go, there were always the whispers behind her back.

This time, however, it is different. The way he looks is bothering her. He isn’t weirded out, no. He is simply lewd. This isn't new to her either, and she isn’t quite sure if she should feel flattered or disgusted, and it is probably a mixture of both when she takes the courage to walk up and confront him.

She takes her sweet time, enjoying the distressed look on the man. That is, until her hands grab the hem of her shirt, lifting it up slowly and showing off her white wet sports bra that clings onto her skin and likewise some more. While the world stops spinning-

She could almost feel the disappointment, and the muttered curses of the two boys who were punished enough by only getting to view her back. There is a tickling sensation between her tights, caused by tiny water droplets merging, following the pull of earth’s gravitation searching for a way downwards. To her displeasure, as she hates the sticky feeling when her humid skin touches and her legs abrade against each other.

The moisture lets her hair stick onto her cheeks, but at least for once there isn’t a stubborn loose strain of hair attached to her lustrous red lips just to annoy her.
A puddle is all that’s left behind her, just where she had been standing seconds before. Formed by the water that dripped from her attire and body. Her breath is still short and caught from time to time, because of the running she had to do to catch her ride. 

Grinning widely, she lets go of her shirt and instead holds her hand out openly towards him. “You owe me 20 Bucks for staring, and another 5 for imagining.”
Being fully aware that she caught him off guard.

Embarrassed and in despair to make her talk quietly the man pulls out his wallet to hand her the demanded amount. Which she counts right away in swift and skilled motions. Not bothering that it is considered as very rude to mistrust a man of honor, which the suddenly sweating man in front of her clearly is not.

“Consider yourself as lucky! I gave you a huge “forever-a-single-men-and-alone discount” and for once tonight’s wank-of fantasy won’t be just all drawings.” She points cheekily toward the plastic bag next to him, filled with Japanese comic books, also known as -mangas and yes, Ahn Sohee is conscious, that due to her current look she may have a fair odd resemblance with those drawings. And might as well have just jumped right out of one of those books. Of course, she hasn’t given him any discount, but it sounds witty in her ears, and she enjoyed the snickering sound of the eavesdropping boys encouraging her. “Pleased to do business with you.”

It isn’t her stop but she exits the coach anyway, it’s just two more stops till her School, she can walk the remaining distance. She doesn’t forget to politely, widely grinning, waving her goodbye with the newly earned money in her hand, to a man she knows she will never see again.

She is late, she knows, not terribly so but enough for everyone else to be already there. She figures that out by the full packed bus in front of her

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DGNA_Forever
#1
Chapter 8: This was a beautiful story! It reminded me a bit of the Maze Runner concept, but different still. I felt so bad for Hoya, especially, and was sad to see people die, but at the same time, it made sense and was satisfying. I really liked the way you ended it, too. It was a nice close to a good story♡.
DGNA_Forever
#2
Chapter 4: Oh my...This just turned scary! I hope it will turn out okay.
DGNA_Forever
#3
Hi, there! I was wondering if you could possibly take your story off of "non text selectable" momentarily, so I can put your beautiful poster on your entry! Please let me know. Thank you!
-Tigress-
#4
I love your story my dear ♡
-Tigress-
#5
Chapter 8: I won't say this is sad, not again lol. In the horrid way that Sulli deserved her in, there is also the what if and if only, but alas. It is what it is.
I really love what you had added to the end, the bit that I hadn't already read. The line about leaving her most precious thing behind really clues in that all of this is her fantasy and that is... I said I wouldn't say it but I must... that is sad but also it helped her to deal with everything. So then I think that the flashes to the other reality are more like flashes of ACTUAL reality, and her mind is being shocked out of its fantasy momentarily before she allows herself to fell in more. The addition of the pomegranite was inspired! I loved that little tidbit of a play on Hades and Persephone, but also the symbolism of the blood/juice on her fingers. Brilliant.
The end. Those words are sad to read but also I am very very proud of you!!! You completed TWO chaptered stories in just two months! You should be very proud of yourself!!!
-Tigress-
#6
Chapter 7: oh oh and I love that last line. "Sometimes she needs to be miserable". That is so true and my, it's a beautifully poignant line
-Tigress-
#7
Chapter 7: Ah man. T.T Again with the what if's and if only's!!! >.< But that is so realistic about life in general: what if we did this, if only we didn't do that... but hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Really nice way to show that even though the possibilities will probably haunt me forever hahaha. =D
You know, what we were talking about with the one rule? I think you did that well here. Like there is only one lead, and that is Sohee, and since it's focused so strongly on her it is as if the rest of them are just mentions to get her to her goal. And that's not a bad thing, either: it makes her relly stand out in the midst and show her character as being tired of the world and people in general. Chorong is your exception here and I do feel that you did it that way on purpose because well, her friend is one of the only things still tying her to the world of the living.
Again, the way her mind takes her elsewhere is amazing. I love the way you did that and the way that is pieces together the alternate story as well as showing a deeper glimpse into her character.
-Tigress-
#8
Chapter 6: Oh goodness this was so sad. Like poor her and all because they grew afraid and ran. But also I like the hinted alternate reality in that it was from the buillding, that's such a neat way to put this. I like Jiyong's involvement in this, too, because it's like he is there for her even though he shouldn't be. Or should he? Like he has always been there for her because she ahs always courted death? That's an interesting thought 0.o
But oh man if ONLY! there are so many if only's in this and it makes me sad!!!! But again, I guess that's the way that suicide and life play out, that's really sad.
-Tigress-
#9
Chapter 5: UGH Krystal *sad* I haven't read your response to my comment last night yet so I don't know if it had anythign to do with her sister as well as the whole boyfriend stealing thing, but regardless it is still sad. I really love the way the flashbacks start here... showing how the trauma around her pulls out the turmoil and remembered trauma within her. That's a really cool way to show that we never get over things, but we instead bury them and pretend to get past them. well done!
The imagery was gorgeous, I could picture Ciel so well and I LOVED the way you pulled in her name with meaning! Very clever to do it that way!!! I like the riddles a lot, especially the final one... and again, my heart kind of broke a little when Sohee knew the answer so easily. T.T The poor girl!