EPISODE 01                           Play Me ►     

Warning: Contains mentions of abuse and suicide. also has slight violence. If you’re uncomfortable with such, please don’t read any further.

Baekhyun ran a frustrated hand through his hair, pissed and utterly disappointed at the grade he received for a supposed “big test.” He groaned, crumpling his test paper and throwing it away before grabbing his backpack. His friend, Chanyeol, came to him and asked him if anything was wrong. Baekhyun usually gets pretty good marks. It wasn’t like him to get a mark just ten points above passing.

Baekhyun couldn’t help but scowl up at him as they neared the door. “I just couldn’t concentrate on studying last night. My new neighbors were having a fight of some sort. It was noisy as hell!” Baekhyun complained as theywalked out of their classroom and into the busy halls. Chanyeol nodded in understanding, frowning a little. “What did you do about it?”

“I was this close to banging on their damn door for them to shut up but I didn’t want to get involved so I just reported them to the owner of the apartment building,” he said with a sigh and a shake of his head. Chaneyol pressed his lips into a thin line and patted his shoulder once in a form of comfort. “I hope they get taken care of. I have to go now, Baek. Class in ten minutes!” The tall male gave him a salute.

Baekhyun didn’t have any classes for the next two hours so he simply nodded his head at Chanyeol and his heels just as the other did. He walked the halls with his brows pinched together, trying to decipher what little muffled screams he heard from last night.

He remembered broken down words from a man’s voice saying “mother, left, your fault.” Then there was “useless and die.” Baekhyun shivered at the last word for some reason, like it wasn’t spit out mindlessly out of anger and actually meant by the person saying it. There was banging on the wall separating his apartment and theirs too. There were muffled pleas and sobs.

The more he thought of it really, the more he wished that he had interfered. But at that moment, his test was more important and his annoyance over such a disturbance. Sighing, Baekhyun turned a corner to head to the library but ended up pausing mid-step. He noticed a familiar figure not far from where he was.

He could always spot her bag from afar since he’s been seeing it for damn years. They have been friends since middle school and she still uses the same one. He guessed that she decided to jazz it up with some university pins though.

He took silent and calculated steps to where she was. The girl had borrowed money from him two weeks ago, promising to pay him back but so far hasn’t. He didn’t exactly mind but he wanted to about it, maybe get himself free lunch today or some coffee. He sneaked up to her with a wicked grin but just as he was about to jump and scare her, he noticed bruises covering her arm and elbow.

His eyes widened and the tiniest of gasps left his lips. Without much though, he so suddenly, but gently grabbed his friend’s forearm and lifted her arm up to his face. He examined the bruises with his face twisting in both concern and disgust. “Damn, that’s nasty! Where did you–” Baekhyun looked up and nearly choked in shock. The girl was not Boram.

The stranger has her eyebrows furrowed, her flickering eyes between Baekhyun’s hand on her forearm and the mortified look on his face. The boy is completely frozen, his mouth slightly opened from his shock. The girl sighed at this and began to peel his fingers off her forearm slowly.

She didn’t say anything but her eyes were telling Baekhyun just how annoyed she is of him suddenly grabbing her. He blinked a few times, finally snapping out of his surprise and finally finding his words to apologize. The girl simply walked away before he could even finish his apology though, leaving him dumbfounded and embarrassed.

♦

Boram giggled into her palm, teasing Baekhyun for being stupid and making him feel even more embarrassed that he already is. He shot her an icy glare but the girl only laughed louder at it. “Boram, stop! I know it was stupid but those…” He looked ahead of him with furrowed brows. “Her bruises looked pretty bad…” he continued to say, unconsciously frowning at the thought.

His friend turned to him as they walked into the cafeteria, her eyebrow raising in amusement. “Why do you seem so worried, Baek? It’s not like you know her personally anyway. Unless…” Baekhyun set his bag on an empty seat beside him and sat on the other. He looked up at her with his own eyebrow raised. “Unless?” he said, clasping his hands together as he rested his elbows on the table.

The girl took a seat as well and shrugged. “I don’t know. Love at first sight the moment you locked eyes?” Baekhyun rolled his eyes almost immediately and knocked his forehead on his clasped hands, earning yet another set of giggles from his friend. “S-Sorry. But really though, it could’ve been from an accident. I doubt that they were bruises from getting abused like your–”

Boram’s eyes widened, her hand flying up to cover . Baekhyun’s eyes turned hard all of a sudden and his jaw clenched. The girl dropped her head in shame. “… I-I’m so sorry, Baekhyun. I didn’t–” The boy heaved a deep sigh then shook his head. Boram was looking so guilty. She looked like she was about to cry so he tugged his lips into a smile the best way that he could.

Seeing him force a smile like that only made the girl drop her head again. He chuckled humorlessly and ruffled her hair. “It’s alright, Boram. It’s been four years. I’m over it…” The girl looked up worriedly at his word. Even he knew that his voice was anything but convincing. The pity starting to pool in Boram’s eyes made him feel pathetic.

His chest felt tight all of a sudden and his nose pricked. Baekhyun took in a shaky breath before forcing yet another smile. “Okay! Let’s go grab lunch now? You’re buying coffee afterwards. Hope you didn’t forget.” Boram began to smile too, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. Just as Baekhyun looked away, about to get up from his chair, he paused.

His eyes rounded and he instinctively ducked his head. Boram furrowed her brows at his sudden weird behavior. “Are you okay, Baek?” she enquired, trying to peek at his face. He didn’t dare look up though. “It’s her!” he whisper-yelled. The furrow of Boram’s brows only deepened in confusion. “What?!”

“The girl with the bruises! She’s coming right this way. Look for a bag that’s the same as yours. That’s her!” Baekhyun continued to whisper-yell even if the noise of cafeteria was enough to mask his voice. He took a quick glance up and as he did so, the girl with the bruises passed by their table. Boram’s eyes followed the girl’s back and she only stopped looking when she sat down.

“Holy … She’s so damn pretty! What bruises were you talking about? Her arm and elbow has no trace of it.” Both Baekhyun and Boram turned their heads to look at her now. While Boram was busy admiring the girl’s small face and long wavy hair, Baekhyun was pinching his brows together staring at her arm.

Boram was right. There was no trace of any bruises there but that’s impossible! He couldn’t have just imagined it, right? “Oh my god! She’s looking!” she whispered and quickly looked away. Baekhyun didn’t quite register what she said so instead of looking away as well, he looked up and locked eyes with her. His eyes widened for a moment but he didn’t look away.

There was something in her orbs. The dark swirls of her irises are hiding something. Baekhyun unconsciously hummed as he kept eye contact. Her eyes narrowed just a bit before she finally looked away, shouldering her bag and getting up with her tray.

Even if it was more convenient to pass by Baekhyun’s table to dump the rest of her lunch, she went around several more just to avoid him and his intense stare. “Baekhyun!” The boy blinked back into his senses, whirling back around to give his attention to Boram.

“H-Huh?” he managed to reply despite his daze. “Did you hear what I said?” The confused furrow of his brows made Boram roll her eyes and sigh. “I know you saw her first but I call dibs!” Now it was Baekhyun’s turn to roll his eyes. “ off, Boram.”

♦

Baekhyun was leisurely walking his way to class when he saw a couple of art students painting an empty wall as their project. A small smile creeped onto his lips. He always liked taking his route no matter how long it would take him to get to class because he liked staring at the wall art here. The murals were just so breath-taking and for some reason, the meaning behind such paintings always got to him.

He looked up at the girl standing on the ladder, painting away the top side of the wall while two other students were painting the mid and bottom portions. The two students naturally looked his way as he passed by. He greeted them with a smile and a bow of his head which they gladly reciprocated. “In Ha, you’ve been painting for one hour straight. Come down and have some water.”

Baekhyun didn’t make anything of what he heard but in his peripheral vision, he saw a too familiar bag sitting on the floor by the group of art students. He whirled around almost immediately and he wasn’t mistaken in what he thought. The girl with the bruises or well– In Ha, climbed down the ladder. Her friend opened up a bottle of water for her.

Just as she about to hand it over to In Ha, the girl tripped on a backpack and the water spilled all over In Ha’s arms. Panicked, her friend grabbed the towel hanging off he shoulder and started to wipe her arm dry while apologizing. In Ha’s face crumpled in pain. “Won Hee, stop!” she squeaked, pulled her arm out of the girl’s hold and pressing it against her stomach.

She’s breathing quite heavily and the perspiration on her forehead seemed to double. Won Hee looked down on her white towel that was now stained with the color beige. Her brows furrow for a millisecond as her eyes land on the huge and angry looking bruises on In Ha’s arm and elbow. She gasped.

Baekhyun was standing in the exact same spot, equally shocked. So that’s why her arm seemed clean. She covered it up with make up! He had no idea why but his feet started to move. He suddenly wanted to go to her but he stopped in his tracks when In Ha caught his eyes. “I didn’t know! Oh my gosh, In Ha, I’m so sorry! Did it hurt?”

The girl merely clenched her jaw, ignoring her friend’s apologies and grabbing her bag from the floor. She shouldered her bag angrily. She stomped away, meeting eyes with Baekhyun yet again. The nearer she got, the more he can see unshed tears shining in her eyes.

Baekhyun felt his chest clench. He couldn’t help to block her way and ask if she was okay. Her glistening eyes glared up at him. “ off,” she gritted and bumped his shoulder on purpose before walking right past him. His swiveled around to watch her walk off, dumbfounded like the first time he’s seen her but this time also feeling quite offended.

The girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and she turned to him. “I don’t know if you’re following me or if us meeting again is a mere coincidence but I don’t want to ing see your face ever again!” she shouted.

♦

Baekhyun didn’t know why he was angry all of a sudden but after his little encounter with In Ha earlier, his mood just plummeted. It was just so annoying for him. He was just concerned. Why did In Ha have to act so aggressively like that? The boy heaved a deep sigh, looking at his warped reflection on the elevator doors.

As much as he tried not to associate his current situation with his past, he just couldn’t help his memories from taking over his mind. It was those bruises, the assumption of them being a result of abuse. Baekhyun shuddered. He didn’t want to remember but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice…

Four years ago, he was loved by a beautiful and genuine girl. She was his entire world and him to her. Their relationship wasn’t perfect but they loved each other. They loved each other so much and too much to let each other go. Everything was fine. They were happy and things just seemed to go right for them.

But then cancer had taken her mother’s life. She was, of course, devastated. So devastated, so hopeless and broken, that she had almost gone into depression. Almost but not fully because she had Baekhyun. He was there for her through the toughest time of her life. He comforted her, made her feel loved and gave her hope.

Being bankrupt from all the hospital bills and other extra expenses, she had to move out of the apartment she shared with her mother and stay with her father, the father who had left them hanging when she was only six years old and never, not once, tried to communicate with her. She didn’t like the idea but he was her only way of surviving at that moment.

If only she had known he was an alcoholic, if only she had known that he gets violent when he drinks, she wouldn’t have moved in with him, but she didn’t. She had no idea. So the first time he hit her when he was intoxicated, she let it pass. He said he was sorry anyway. He was just too drunk to think properly and it was probably her fault for stubbornly trying to move him from the couch to his room anyway.

The second time he hit her, she thought it was her fault again because she had knocked his beer down, making it spill all over the carpeted floor. She let it pass. The third time, she was sure she had done nothing. She made sure to stay in her room so she wouldn’t bother him but he suddenly broke into her room and attacked her. She was already so scared then.

He did it the fourth time, the fifth, sixth and seventh, until she could no longer count how many times he had abused her. Did no one notice? Of course, someone did. Baekhyun became worried over her every time she seemed to be sporting a new cut or bruise. It’d be on her arms, her legs, her face even.

She had first said it was accidental because she had been clumsy but it was just questionable. Almost every day? Having a huge ugly bruise or nasty cut? It was impossible. But his girlfriend just wouldn’t tell him what’s wrong. He has just been through so much because of her and she didn’t want him to get tired trying to deal with her and her problems.

She had kept the abuse away for as long as she could. She had been depressed but she acted like she wasn’t. By the time Baekhyun found out about her getting abused by her father, by the time he had reported it to the police and escorted them to her father’s apartment, she had taken her own life.

She couldn’t take the abuse anymore. She couldn’t keep drowning in her sorrows and keep all her emotions bottled up any longer so she decided that her ending her own life was the best thing to do, to stop it all. Baekhyun remembered how the world seemed to have frozen in time, how he kept saying they could still save her when the water in the bathtub she was in was getting redder by the minute.

He remembered how his hands shook when he lifted up wrists, how he hugged her cold and lifeless body tightly like it would somehow bring her back to life. He cried and he cried hard. He cried in pain, cried in regret and cried in utter guilt. Everything after that was huge blob of fuzzy memories. He almost became depressed himself.

He had to stop going to school for an entire year because of it but he coped. He was eventually okay again but the memory of it still haunts him to this very day. Four years later, it still made his chest feel heavy and he still sort of blamed himself. If only he had known earlier, if only he didn’t buy all her excuses, if only…

The elevator doors opened to his floor and he was snapped right back to reality the moment that it did. He in a breath, blinking the tears that formed during his reverie away. He swallowed the hurt bubbling in his chest and exited the metal box. Pressing his lips into a thin line, he tried his very best to block all those painful memories and focus on the now, on the stubborn girl with bruises.

Baekhyun walked up to his door completely annoyed because there was a ruckus next door again. He groaned to himself and cursed under his breath, knowing damn well that he won’t be able study again tonight because of them. Just as he was about to angrily punch in his passcode, the door of the apartment next to his burst open. He jumped at the sound and quickly snapped his head towards it.

A very familiar bag came flying out of the door, falling on the ground with a thud that seemed way too loud in his ears. He flinched at it then came a loud scream. A girl was pushed out all of a sudden and she fell on the ground as well but with an even louder thud this time. “In Ha…” Baakhyun whispered almost instinctively.

Tears stained her cheeks and she was pleading like crazy, like her life depended on it. “Shut the up!” A man yelled as he stepped out. His livid eyes and balled firsts made In Ha tremble as she tried to crawl back away from the raging man. Baekhyun stared with his eyes as round as saucers, his grip tight on his bag strap, the only motion he can do because the rest of his body was stuck frozen.

“D-Dad, please! I-I’m–” her own squeal cut her words as her father crouched down to grab a fist full of her collar and made pulled her up to her feet along with him. His fist was held back, just about ready to strike on the girl’s face when Baekhyun finally unfroze and charged right at him.

Before the man could send a punch on the In Ha’s face, Baekhyun shoved him away with all his might and the girl fell again, her legs unable to hold her up because of her fear. “What that are you doing?!” he fumed, having no concept of the man being an elder. There were banging on he closed door of their other neighbors telling them to quiet down but their words didn’t register in Baekhyun’s head.

In Ha’s father was having a hard time getting up, obviously not able to find his balance because he was drunk. He reeked of beer and smoke. “Stay out of this, boy! I’m trying to discipline my daughter!” he spat, finally standing upright. He had only taken one step when In Ha started crawling towards Baekhyun, hugging his calve. “H-Help me,” she whispered, voice trembling and breathless sounding from all her crying.

He softened looking down at her bruised face and cut eyebrow. Just as he peeled her hands off his leg, he found himself flying to the ground. In Ha’s father had pushed Baekhyun away. He grabbed In Ha’s ankle and practically dragged her towards him. In Ha was crying for help already and by this time, the rest of the residents have gotten out of their apartments in worry.

Gasps were heard left and right and her father slapped her across the face for being too loud. He was about to do it again but Baekhyun shot up from the ground quickly, lunging towards the and punching him almost relentlessly.

Clamor erupted as their panicked neighbors scramble to break them apart. Some were calling for the owner of the building while others called right for the cops. When Baekhyun had snapped out of his rage, heaving and shaking, he shrugged the hands holding him back and quickly dropped to his knees in front of In Ha.

She’s curled into herself by the well, sobbing and still trembling. Tentatively, he puts gentle hand on her shoulder. She gasped at such, flinching away slightly and looked up with her tears streaming down her face endlessly. Baekhyun quickly retracted his hand with his brows creasing in worry. He frowned. There was blood at the side of her lip, probably from her father’s hard slap.

She seemed to have relaxed seeing the softness and worry swirling in his orbs. She regulated her breathing, looking past him and stared at her father passed out on the floor. Her lip quivered as she looked back at Baekhyun. She sobbed. “Th-Thank you” she mumbled, her hand gripping onto the sleeve of his shirt.

Right then and there, Baekhyun felt a piece of his heart break off with how relieved yet sad her tone is. He couldn’t help himself when he shrugged her hold on him and gathered her in his arms. She buried her face into his comfort, her tears wetting his shirt as she continuously mumbles her thanks. Baekhyun in a shaky breath. He was feeling his eyes stinging now too.

Right then and there, as he lightly shushed In Ha and rubbed her back up and down comfortingly, he told himself that he was going to protect this girl. He will no longer be too late. He'll face this with her so she won't battle alone. He'll simply be there for her. “It’s alright. You’re going to be okay,” he mumbled back at her, his hold tightening for some reason.

“I’m here. I got you.”

| Author's Note |

Frist "EP" is up! Super excited to see the guesses (or to see if anyone actually participated LOL) Hope you guys enjoyed ^^