Hi..? 

The air in the room was thick with awkwardness, but she paid no mind to it - despite the hardened stares full of disappointment and judgment that directed towards her. She heaved a loud sigh, kicking the wood table with her feet.

"Stop that, please," a gruff voiced out in a calm manner.

She stopped obediently but didn't raised her head, huffing as she rested her chin on palm - boredom was evident on her battered face. She her lips, hissing when her tongue grazed the cut on her lower lip.

A knock on the thick wooden door followed by a creak of the door opening didn't bothered her, knowing perfectly who it was. She didn't even react when her nose caught of the familiar perfume the guest was wearing and gritted her teeth when that person sat next to her, greeting her with soft touch on her hand.

She swallowed, gritting her teeth and pulled her hand away, straightening her back and preparing herself for another lectures she was about to receive - not caring and not wanting to see the hurt expression the person was wearing.

"Chorong-ssi." The older man nodded towards the guest in greeting, sighing heavily when Chorong dragged her attention away from the younger girl and looked up to him. "This is not gonna work." he said simply. 

Chorong inhaled deeply, preparing herself for another begging session to save the younger girl's from getting expelled. She couldn't remember how many times she had been in this place - she could practically memorize the place and the numbers that kept calling her for the same exact reason, for the same person.

Chorong couldn't even remember how many times she had lost face in front of the old man. She couldn't care less at this point, knowing how badly she need to be strong for the sake of the younger girl.

The younger girl was bored out of her mind, no remorse whatsoever on what's happening as she watched on the debate with a bored expression on her face. And to be honest, it drives Chorong crazy about her behaviour.

She gritted her teeth, ignoring the careless motion from the younger girl. The older girl swallowed her pride once again, facing the headmaster to argue and beg for another chance.

The old man exhaled, leaning back to his chair and watched the two person in front of her. He didn't understand what's going on, too. "Bomi-ssi, what's going on?" he finally said and sighed as he looked at the younger one. "You were a good student. Passed your exams with good marks, winning every sports events out there. You were one of the best in here, Bomi-ssi." he listed - watching every reactions he could get.

He didn't know what went wrong for her to suddenly change like this. He paid his attention to his students - every students' activities and grades - Bomi happened to be one of the best. He was very surprised to see Bomi in his room, at first. But as the day goes by, the visits were becoming more frequent and he was upset, to say the least.

He wanted a reaction out of the younger one but Bomi didn't react, at all - keeping her face straight.

"And now everything's falling apart. Your grades has worsened. You had lost your scholarship too, by how many times you had caught in fights and misbehaving towards the students here." he tried again and finally softened his voice. "Bomi-ssi, do you want to talk about it? Do you want to tell us what's wrong?"

"Are we done?" Bomi finally looked up, eyes cold as she stared right into his - clutching her bag tightly in her grip.

He paused, not surprised at the reaction. He then looked at the quiet girl, "This is the last warning, Chorong-ssi. Please do something," he decided to give the younger girl another chance. "Counseling with Miss Kim, as usual. Don't be late." he said to Bomi and wore his specs, focusing on the papers on the table. "You may go."

"Thank you." Chorong bowed her head, whispering in gratitude. She stood up and bowed once again, more respectfully.

Bomi spent no more time, grabbing her bag and left the room without much respect given to the old man. She didn't wait for the older girl either as she sprint out of the room. She bumped into her best friend instead, outside of the stuffed space.

"Bomi." Eunji stood up quickly from her seat, worried more than anything. "Yah, are you hurt?" she reached out a hand to inspect the wounds on Bomi's face but her hand was slapped away - rather harshly.

"Eunji-ah." Chorong closed the door softly, immediately stopping what was about to happen when she saw them in front of the office. 

Eunji didn't even get to respond to her rude gestures when her name was called by the older girl. She ignored her temper that was about to come and decided to greet Chorong, smiling apologetically when her eyes met the older girl.

Bomi rolled her eyes at the sight and gripped her bag, getting ready to run from the place. Her eyes hurt at the sight and she wanted nothing more but for herself to disappear. She hissed when her wrist was grabbed tightly and rather harshly by Eunji, glaring at her friend with so much hatred in her eyes.

"You're going home with us." Eunji simply said, eyes not wavering as she stared back and tightened her grip when Bomi resisted. 

"No, you have practice. Stay here." Chorong patted Eunji's cheek - hoping to calm the younger girl down. She sighed when her eyes moved to another person, "Bbom-ah. Cooperate with me, just this once, please? Let's go home and treat your wounds, yeah?" she said softly, hoping to coax the younger girl.

"Answer her." Eunji glared.

Bomi didn't answer but decided to cool herself down from reacting more harshly, taking a deep breath and released it softly. And that was enough for Chorong so the latter signaled Eunji with a nod to let go. Bomi retaliated by tugging her hand lightly and rolled her eyes when Eunji finally let go with a sigh.

"I'm going, unnie." Eunji spoke. "I can't be late if I want to make it." she hugged the older girl, glancing at Bomi wearily before she went to her best friend and patted Bomi's arm softly - heart stung at what they had become before she grabbed her sport bag and left.

"Let's go," Chorong said softly, grabbing the younger girl's hand and tightening her grip when Bomi was about to pull it. "Please, Bbom-ah." she whispered, interlocking their fingers together - tightly like she was afraid she would lose the younger girl if she ever let go.

But who was she kidding. She lose her best friend already and it broke her heart not knowing what happened for the younger girl to despise her. Sure, they shared the same apartment but she barely had seen Bomi's face at all. 

They grew up together - her, Bomi and Eunji. They came from the same place, bonded together and promised to grow up together. Once Chorong had reached the legal age, she moved out of the orphanage and wanted Bomi and Eunji to come with her so here they are.

It was hard at first, struggling through everything together but it was worth it. Bomi and Eunji got their scholarships - everything was looking great. But now it's not and Chorong couldn't get her head to understand what went wrong.

The journey towards the bus station was quiet but Chorong never loosened her grip, pulling the younger girl along. The moment she released their grip to pay for the fare, Bomi grabbed the chance to walk first to the seat at the back of the bus. 

Chorong swallowed and followed from behind, relieved when Bomi choose a two seat instead. She didn't react to the stung she felt when she saw Bomi wriggled her body away from touching her, looking out of the window to hide her face from the older girl.

Chorong looked down, glancing at the battered hand. She took the hand, ignoring the flinch from Bomi and caressed the bruises softly. She was upset at every bruises and wounds the younger girl would gain from her fights.

Bomi was never an aggressive person.

Chorong wouldn't and could never imagine this sight. This sight of Bomi's pretty face and body that was full of bruises, wounds and even blood. Bomi was a cheerful, kind and a loving person - she wouldn't ever hurt a soul.

Where was that girl? Her Bomi had change so much. She couldn't recognise her, she couldn't reached out to her and she couldn't even talk to her. The girl had pushed her away and she was heartbroken by the fact she was losing her completely.

Chorong wanted to ask her, to hug her and to know what was going on in her mind. Was she in trouble? Was she in pain? But Bomi didn't let her nor Eunji in. 

She noticed how her Bomi had changed, slowly but surely. She had ask, but the younger girl gave her no answer. She wasn't as aggressive, so imagine her surprise when she got called - only to know that her Bomi had caught in a fight.

Eunji was there, she was the one who pulled Bomi away from the fight. She remembered how Eunji had lost her temper, resulting the best friends to get into a fight - with no fists involved, thankfully.

Since then, Bomi has gone further with her actions. She skipped classes, involved in some fights and even caught smoking by none other than Eunji herself. She had distance herself from her best friends and they could feel they were starting to lose the Bomi they had loved so much.

Chorong swallowed the pain that was starting to crept in and busied herself with playing with Bomi's fingers, caressing each of them with the most care she could offer before interlacing their fingers once again. She let Bomi's hand rested on her lap, caressing the skin with her thumb as she stared at the bruise.

She didn't paid attention to her surrounding at all, too deep in her musings - only to snap out of her trance when Bomi pressed the bell. She didn't let Bomi's hand go, pulling her along till they were in front of their humble apartment.

Bomi had to keep shut from responding, watching Chorong quietly - the latter was struggling to open the door, just because she didn't want to let go of Bomi's hand. Bomi wanted to help, but she held herself back. Ego was a dangerous trait to have, she realized.

Her heart bleed even more at the sight. She didn't want to hurt anyone, especially Chorong and Eunji. But she was hurting and she didn't know how to handle it. She had gone too far in her pain to realize that she had hurt people around her, until it was too late.

Chorong sighed tiredly, blowing up her bangs in irritation as she pushed the door opened. Bomi had to look away at the cute sight and held back the urge to tease the heck of the older girl, knowing she didn't have the right to do that anymore.

The older girl glanced at her, hesitant. Bomi understood her dilemma, so she tried to pull her hand away but Chorong wasn't letting go, tightening her grip. Bomi tugged her hand towards the couch and Chorong sighed in relief, finally letting go.

"Stay, okay, Bbom-ah?" she stood straight in front of her, waiting for any reaction from Bomi to ease her anxiety. She smiled a little, heart mended slightly when she saw Bomi nodded, even though she wasn't looking at her when she did that, Chorong was content anyway.

Chorong immediately walked towards one of the room and walked out hastily - glancing at the quiet girl as she passed the living room on her way to the kitchen. She came back with a familiar box, towels and a small bowl in her hands.

"Don't," she scolded gently - as if she was scared of Bomi pushing her away again - and immediately grabbed Bomi's hand away from her face - stopping the latter from hurting herself more.

The wounds and cuts had already dried at this point, so it was a classic move from the younger girl to pick on them. Bomi said nothing and didn't try to pull her hand away when Chorong had decided to hold it longer.

She gritted her teeth tightly, however, when Chorong finally take a good look of her face by cupping her cheeks - a worried frown on her face as she let her eyes trailed to every bruises, wounds and cuts on the younger girl's face.

"Stop, don't hurt yourself more," The older girl soothed her by caressing her jaws softly, to calm her down from clenching her teeth. Chorong's eyebrows furrowed - her frown deepened, letting the younger girl know that she was upset when their eyes met each other. "I won't ask," she whispered softly as her features softened. "Just let me tend your wounds."

Her heart longed to have Bomi near and close to her like this. She hated how it took her to be in this situation to get this interaction with the younger girl. It's been so long since she had Bomi in her space, to finally look into Bomi's eyes like this, to talk like this even though she hadn't heard Bomi's voice talking to her directly.

Chorong ignored any reaction from Bomi as she put a few strands of Bomi's hair behind her ear, caressing the skin gently with her thumb - not wanting to hurt her as she looked at the bruise on her cheek.

Bomi's soft skin was battered with so many ugly bruises, cuts and wounds. Her heart stung so bad at the sight.

Bomi fought the urge to run away by clenching her fists, her postures stiffened when Chorong would come near to treat her face. She got another frown when Chorong realized she had been hurting her hands by doing that. 

After so much hissing and curses - which Chorong didn't comment - the latter had finished treating the battered face with so much care she would muster despite Bomi's harsh reaction. She would place a secure grip at the back of Bomi's neck to hold her still, focusing on her tasks while Bomi would feel herself suffer at the close proximity.

Chorong would ignore the once white towel that had stained with red from Bomi's blood. She didn't want to say anything - biting her tongue even though she desperately want to know - not wanting Bomi to storm off. She knew Bomi dislikes it when she get push like that - proven by her reaction when her headmaster hit the bullet perfectly by asking her those personal questions in the office.

Chorong opened the clenched fist, tapping the wet towel against the skin to clean it. She held back a gasp when she realized it wasn't Bomi's blood that was on her hand. "Is it painful?" she just had to ask.

Her heart couldn't bear anymore pain when Bomi herself confirmed her suspicion by shaking her head - that it wasn't Bomi's blood. She should be relieve, but she's not. Someone's blood was on her sweet Bomi's skin. Her sweet Bomi had hurt someone else.

She cleaned it anyway, each fingers as gently as she could - holding back her tears. It wasn't Bomi's first time - caught in a fight, but she would disappear after. Not giving anyone any clue on where she was and how she was. So to see her like this, to finally let the reality sink in.. hurt her to the point it wasn't bearable anymore.

"I won't ask." she repeated to herself, voice low and soft under her brea