Chapter 4: Home Visits

Seulgi was speechless as Irene explained what had happened.

Irene managed to find her way back to Seulgi’s house. The moment Seulgi opened the door, Irene collapsed on the floor, finally realizing everything that had just happened. After some first aid and overreacting from her best friend, Irene was now wrapped in a blanket, sitting on Seulgi’s bed.

“Do you know who they were?” Seulgi finally asked, hugging her pillow tightly.

Irene shook her head, “I couldn’t see their faces.”

“What about the guy that saved you?” Seulgi asked.

Irene shook her head again, “I don’t know who he was. He didn’t even say anything after he knocked them out.”

“Geez…that’s kind of…cool…” Seulgi said, staring off into space until Irene finally snapped her back to reality.

“It’s not cool! You couldn’t see him Seulgi…he’s dangerous. It doesn’t matter if he saved me. He could’ve killed them!” Irene shuddered again as she remembered the dark eyes staring into her.

“So he’s like batman!” Seulgi said, trying to cheer Irene up.

Irene sighed as she lay down on the bed. Seulgi lay down next to her, both of them staring at the ceiling.

“What am I gonna do Seulgi…?” Irene started to cry.

Seulgi held her hand tightly, “You can always stay here, you don’t have to worry okay? I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

Irene turned over and cried softly in Seulgi’s arms. Seulgi gently patted her back until they both fell asleep.

“Seulgi-ah! You’re going to be late!!” A voice called out from downstairs.

Irene woke up and stretched her arms out as the sun shined in through the window. She remembered she had spent the night at Seulgi’s and looked around the room.

“Seulgi?”

Irene looked down on the floor, cracking up at Seulgi, who was curled up on the floor. She stepped out of bed and shook her awake.

 “Huh? What?” Seulgi awoke, drool coming out of the corner of .

“Haha, you need to hurry up and change. Your mother is calling us downstairs,” Irene laughed, cleaning Seulgi’s tired face.

“Oh god…” Seulgi tilted her head to the side, grabbing her neck.

“That’s what you get for sleeping on the floor,” Irene pulled her up and looked in the mirror.

The uniform she was wearing yesterday was now dirty and ripped. She could still see red marks on her wrists. She almost fell over again after remembering what happened until Seulgi came up behind her.

“You okay?” She asked, looking at Irene’s worried face.

Irene nodded as Seulgi turned her around.

“Don’t go to school today okay? I’ll let the teacher know what happened, I’m sure he’ll understand. Get your clothes cleaned up and I’ll see if I can get you a new one.” Seulgi reassured Irene and rubbed her arms.

Irene nodded and grabbed her backpack.

“Whoa there!” Seulgi stepped in front of the door, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Home…?” Irene asked with a confused look.

“No no no, you’re staying here. My mom will be home, she’ll take care of you.” Seulgi said, leading Irene back to the bed.

“What? No! I can go home myself Seulgi, it’s fine.” Irene responded, removing Seulgi’s grip on her.

“It’s safer here,” Seulgi countered.

“My house is less than five minutes away Seulgi, and the streets are filled with people now. I doubt anything bad will happen. Now hurry up, you’ll be late for school.” Irene opened the door as Seulgi followed her down the stairs.

“Irene! I thought you left last night!” Mrs. Kang was surprised to see the two of them coming down together. She gasped at the sight of Irene’s beaten look and ran over. “What on earth happened to you!?” Mrs. Kang grabbed Irene’s face and wiped off the remaining dirt on it.

“Umma, stop it. I’ll talk to you about it later okay?” Seulgi grabbed her mother and pulled her back towards the kitchen. She gestured Irene to hurry and escape before she lost her mother’s attention.

Irene thanked Seulgi with a nod and went out the door quickly into the blinding sun.

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Surprisingly, Irene got home without a problem. She felt better now after talking it over with Seulgi. She went to her room and took off her uniform. She looked at herself in the mirror again, and noticed several bruises all over her body. She tossed her uniform in anger into her basket and brought them back downstairs to wash.

[Hey Irene! I hope you’re feeling better. You can’t believe how many guys asked me where you were today. :P I told the teacher about what happened, and he said that you should take as much time as you need to recover. He also didn’t forget to hand me your stack of homework -_-. I’ll come over to see you after school today! Rest well!]

Irene read the text from Seulgi as she went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Living alone had its perks, one of them being that you can eat whatever you wanted, any time you wanted. Unfortunately, Irene’s fridge was empty, and the only food she could find was a pack of ramen in the cupboard. She sighed as she poured water into a pot to boil.

Let’s see…eggs…

She managed to find a single egg in her fridge and cracked it open into a bowl.

I won’t kill her…I’ll just hurt her…

The bowl shattered on the floor, covering it with broken yolk and shards of ceramic. Irene blinked and looked down, her hands still shaking. She held them together as she looked for a towel to clean up the mess. As she was cleaning, she cut herself, and saw a bead of red appear on her finger.

The devil…

The water started to boil over as Irene quickly ran over and turned the stove off. She started to breathe heavily as she shook her head, pulling herself back from that dark alleyway. She shunted aside the pain that suddenly sparked inside of her, as if all her wounds had just been freshly dealt, and went back upstairs. She had lost her appetite. Irene lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, willing herself not to think about the traumatic events that occurred the night before.

Irene awoke to a ring. She sat up and swung her feet to the floor, unaware that she had just fallen asleep. She reached for her phone and unlocked it.

[I’ll be there in 2 minutes!]

 Irene stepped out into the hallway and went down the steps. She looked at the opened package of ramen and sighed, turning the stove on again. After a while, her doorbell rang.

“Irene! I’m here!” She heard her best friend shouting from outside. Irene opened the door.

“Hi Seulgi,” she said, as Seulgi hugged her.

“Are you feeling better?” She asked, taking her shoes off.

Irene lied, “Yeah, I’m better.”

Seulgi held up a bag from a convenience store and smiled, “I bought ice cream!”

Irene laughed and helped Seulgi put it into the freezer. Seulgi glanced over at the special meal Irene had planned to make.

“Are you seriously eating ramen for dinner?” Seulgi looked concerned.

“I don’t have anything else. I’ll go buy some groceries tomorrow,” Irene said, placing the dry noodles into the water.

“You don’t even have an egg or anything?” Seulgi opened the fridge.

“Nope.”

Seulgi and Irene sat in the living room watching TV, eating the ice cream Seulgi brought. Eventually, Seulgi’s phone rang.

“Hello? Umma!” Seulgi jumped up like a scared bunny. Irene looked at her as she frantically tried to find her words.

“Uh, no! I just came over to Irene’s! I-I know Umma…Okay! Okay…okay…yes…but…fine…” Seulgi hung up and looked at Irene with sad eyes.

“Sorry…I have to go home. My mom got mad that I didn’t tell her I was coming over…”

Irene put her hands on her hips, “You what…?”

Seulgi winced, “I…forgot to tell her…”

Irene smacked Seulgi hard on the head.

“Are you crazy!? Why wouldn’t you tell her!?” Irene was furious as she picked up Seulgi backpack and handed it to her. Seulgi scurried out of her house as Irene continued to scold her. Seulgi waved back at her just as she turned the corner and went out of sight. Irene shook her head as she went back inside.

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“NO PLEASE! STOP! LET HER GO!”

“This is your last chance…”

“We’ll do anything, just please…don’t hurt her…”

“You will give us what we want…I guarantee it…”

“No…NO…PLEASE!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Irene woke up, her body covered in sweat, her lungs expanding and contracting at a fast pace as she gripped down on the leather couch. She looked over at the clock:

9:45pm

She sighed and went to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and coughed as she found her hands shaking once more.

What the hell was that?

She was reminded of her uniform as she looked down at her wrists, still slightly red. She went over to her dryer, which had stopped running. She reached in and pulled out her clean clothes and tossed them back into the empty basket. As she was carrying it up the stairs, the doorbell rang once more. 

Shocked, she looked back towards the door, and saw someone standing outside in the light. She quickly went upstairs to find her phone. Seulgi hadn’t texted her. It didn’t matter, Seulgi wasn’t allowed to be out this late alone in the first place, and there’s no way she’d risk sneaking out after what happened today.

Irene went over to the stairs, her phone wrapped in her hands, and peeked downstairs at the door.  It rang once more.

She inched herself down as she saw a face looking through the foggy glass. Making sure the door was locked, she spoke loudly.

“Who is it?” Irene’s heart was beating fast.

“Umm…it’s Wendy.” A soft voice spoke from behind the door.

 Irene opened the door, and to her amazement, saw Wendy standing there, still in her uniform, looking back at her.

“Wendy? What are you doing here?” Irene asked.

“Sorry to bother you so late…I asked Seulgi where you lived…” Wendy looked down at the ground.

“I-it’s okay…” Irene stared in wonder at this blonde girl.

Wendy just looked forward into her house until she realized the situation.

“Omo! Sorry, do you want to come in?” Irene opened the door wider.

Wendy smiled and stepped into her house.

“You didn’t come to school today, so I was worried,” Wendy said, following Irene into the living room.

“Did Seulgi tell you what happened?” Irene asked.

Wendy shook her head and sat down while Irene went to the kitchen to pour some water for her. Wendy turned her head back and forth, looking at everything in the room before speaking.

“Do you live alone?”

Irene sat down next to her on the couch, handing her a cup.

“Yes,” Irene kept the answer vague as she drank from her glass.

“Oh…” Wendy felt embarrassed as she noticed the expression on Irene’s face.

“You didn’t have to come all the way here to see me you know, but I appreciate it,” Irene said, smiling at Wendy, trying to lighten the mood.

“I thought about calling you…but I thought that’d be a little bit weird…” Wendy fiddled around with the cup in her hands.

“I think coming to my house this late is a bit weirder,” Irene laughed.

Wendy laughed awkwardly and put her cup down on the coffee table.

“I don’t mean to stay long,” Wendy stood up, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Irene stood up and led her to the door.

 “Are you going to be okay walking home alone? Don’t you live pretty far away from my house?” Irene asked, as she remembered Wendy running down the opposite direction from school.

“No, it’s okay. I actually live nearby.” Wendy said, surprising Irene.

“Oh, okay then. Well you have my number in case something happens. Be careful okay?” Irene said, waving at Wendy as she walked out of the door. 

Wendy responded with a smile and walked away, disappearing into the night.