Chapter Ten

Smile

Taemin's POV~

Out of the four hyungs, he listens to Almighty the most. I'm so glad BLAME and my hyungs are close, it's so much fun being able to deal with each other instead of hating one another like the first weeks of school. This reminds me, I haven't seen my hyungs and hung out with them in a while. Maybe school is making them busy...orthey are too busy with their new friends to play with me. Those heartless jerks!

Key's POV~

“Jerk! You pabo! Aish! I swear if killing wasn't a crime you would be the first one I slaughter!”

“Yah! Stop yelling at me! You should have not been in my way!” I huff. I just opened the door and bumped his head. Yes it was loud, yes I used a lot of my energy to swing the door open, but it was his fault!

“Can't you be normal and open the door a little more...” He pauses. “Normal!” He rubs his head in annoyance. I look at his face and bite my lip. Maybe I did swing the door too hard. He looks like he's really hurt...Pshh why do I care? flick my bangs and move over to let him exit the room. “I'll be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“Why do you care?” He yells in annoyance.

“Yah! Aren't I allowed to know where my roommate goes?”

“If you care so much then why don't you just follow me.” He hisses and stomps away.

“So grumpy.” I click my tongue and quickly follow him. Who knows what this troublemaker will get himself into?

Onew's POV~

It was very dark. So dark. So lonely. Every time when they would unlock the door and release the blinding light, I would scurry away and wish I could bury my face into the cold bricks. It hurt. The light use to hurt my eyes. It hurt so much. “Cluck cluck.” I remember a sweet voice whispering to me. Every time, it would give me hope, but at the same time, it frightened me. Thoughts about that person always kept me awake. Who is that? Do I know her? Why is she helping me? Nonetheless, I would accept her chicken. She would always throw in a half bitten drumstick and quickly shut the door. After the frightful click is heard, small, quick footsteps echo down the hall. I then would be left alone once again, in the large, dark basement.

Moments like theses are what I hate the most. Moments when I would wake up in the middle of the night and my old friend would coldly greet me. “Hello darkness.” I resist to say. I never liked Darkness. It kept me blind. It trapped me. It swallows me whole. My parents left me in that closet for a very long time. I was able to experience being blind thanks to them. I was just too use to darkness. Even a little light hurt my eyes.

I remember asking the girl to show me her face. That was a huge mistake. The blazing light hurt my eyes and I immediately screamed. Even so, the girl didn't close the door. She stood there, crying. I remember squeezing my eyes shut and made my way over to her. I clumsily hugged her shaking body. “Who is that child?” I remember the male's voice very well. It was so deep, almost to the point that I can feel the vibrations in the room. Despite his thundering voice, he sounded gentle. He wasn't disgusted by me, unlike my parents. Now that I am awake in the middle of the night, these memories keep on coming back to me...

Onew here! Sorry, I was never able to properly introduce myself. My birth name is Lee Jinki and my nickname is Onew. My parents use to own a chicken shop. They use to starve me and abuse me...at least my father did. My mother had an affair and gave birth to me. My father despised me because of this, and abused my mother whenever she protected me. Eventually, she stopped doing so, and joined the hitting. Once, I blocked his smack, making him more angry than ever. And so, he locked me up in the basement to repent...at least that's how he explained it his friends. Some may think that was unlucky, but I see it as a blessing. If my father wasn't so harsh, I would have not been able to go into the hospital. Despite the blood loss and the glass hurting me, I was able to meet them. My dongsaengs. Thanks to that horrible man, I was able to meet Taeminnie, Jonghyun, Key, and Minho. Thanks to him, I can have this wonderful life...even if I am dressing up as a girl...

Jonghyun's POV~

“Whatcha doing~?” I stand above my roommate and try to read the words written on his notebook. He closes it quickly and fake coughs.

“Did you work on your Literature homework?” He asks.

“Yeah I did.”

“Who'd you do it on?”

“I wrote it on Minjung.”

“Oh.” He simply nods.

“Why? Do you need help?”

“No!” he answers almost too quickly.

“Who are you writing on then?” I raise am eyebrow and sit on his bed, which is beside his desk.

“Choi Minho.”

“Bwoh!?” Choi Minho? Does he know Minjung is Minho!?

“Oh who am I kidding? I just made that up.” He sighs. Thank goodness! “I don't know who I can interview and write a biography on!”
“Me? You can ask me. Besides, we're roommates. If you have any questions, I'll be right here for you to ask. Not to mention you also are working on the art project. We can't waste any more time.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes! I volunteer to be a good roommate.”

“Sweet! Now tell me a few things about yourself and I'll write about it.” He sounds excited.

“My parents were already divorced when she was pregnant. My mom had me around two years after, so I obviously wasn't her ex/husband's son. My mom was kicked out of her family since her mom, my grandmother, said she brought shame on the family name. Not to mention she's very religious, so being in a divorce was already passing the limits. Ever since I went to school, the other students would call me a bastard and I wouldn't have any friends. My mom remarried when I was around ten. Unfortunately, my mother's new husband really doesn't like children. She lied to him that didn't have a child. Slowly, he started to find out about me even though I lived at her friend's house. She was scared he would leave her...

“She tried to kill me.” I say. “I ended up in the hospital. Luckily, I wasn't too hurt, but I still had to stay in the hospital. That's where I met my sister.” I smile. “They apparently were all in similar situations as I was in. Because of this, we easily became attached, and we didn't want to leave each other. On the night before we were discharged, we ran away. The nurses helped us, and we came to Taeyeon's house. Her uncle has bought the house for her as a birthday gift. He loved her.” I nod. “Afterward, Taeyeon's uncle became our father, and we never separated since.” I finish.

“Wow. Erm...I'm sorry.” He tries not to show his sympathy. “So your family was always from here?”

“No, we have been moving a lot. We rarely stayed in any school over a year.”

“Why so?”

“We never felt like we fit there.” I nod. “We always were in our group, and didn't let anyone in. We felt like that they can never understand us. Or even be our friend without feeling sympathy. I mean, each one of us has our own dark past.”

“Mind telling me about it? I swear I won't let it spread in the school.” He swears.

“Okay. So you already know my story. My mom gave birth to me and remarried without telling her new husband about me, and tried to kill me. I have to say, my childhood, wasn't even that bad.”

“What can be worse than that?” He asks in shock.

“Eunsook almost became blind.” I say and he stares at me, patiently waiting. “Look, I'm not telling you all of this so you can feel sorry for us. I just want to help you on your essay.” He nods. “Her parents owned a chicken shop and raised them very well. When he was around eight, I believe, her father found out her mother cheated on him. From then on, her life was like a living hell. She never ate a real meal, she was abused, and eventually, she was locked up in the basement. Then, her mother tried to kill her to save her from this horrible life..at least she told her that before she pushed her out of the window. The shatter glass actually nearly blinded her, but she was lucky. Her eyes became use to the dark, so when she was recovering, she had to always wear sunglasses. Eventually, she recovered though, so he's very scared of the dark.”

“Wow.” My roommate's jaw is wide open in shock.

“Gwiboon, Key, her father was an alcoholic and his favorite color is red. So...whenever he got drunk, he would hurt Key to see red. He was a sick man. Key has to suffer infections as well as being...used by her father.” I pause. “Her father always used her, ever since she was six. Out of us five, Key was the one who faced pain at such an early age. I mean, giving s wasn't something a normal six-year-old was use to...Her father stabbed him once. He was getting tired of the small cuts he gave her, so he just took the blade and jabbed it into her. So Key went to the hospital and we all met there.”

“These stories are just getting worse and worse.”

“Well, I don't think any of us bypass Key's horrific past.” I sigh. “Minjung was raised by her parents to steal for them and she did get abused by them. Once, she got caught stealing for them, and she confessed to the shop owner. After that, they hit her with a car, simple as that.”

“Simple?” Lion yells. I still don't like calling my roommate by his nickname in BLAME.

“Haha, I just wanted to go into details.” I scratch the back of my neck. Yeah, I get lazy sometimes. Doesn't everybody? “Well, story time is over. Go finish your essay.” I stand up.

“Wait, what about Taeyeon? You didn't tell me her story.”

Truthfully...“She never told us her story.”

Taemin's POV~

Even though Eternity has his own project to care about, he's helping me! Oh what a nice roommate! Did I ever tell you that he's awesome? I'm sure I did...just in case it didn't...He's awesome! No seriously, he is. Taeyeon, Eternity and I are going to meet up in the theater. Since the walls are black, Taeyeon thought it would be the best place to take pictures. “Done.” Eternity says and puts away the brushes. He has just finished putting make up on for me. If Key umma knew about this, I think he'll be happy! Don't ask me why, I just think he will okay?

“Taeyeon!” I smile and wave to her. She waves back and stiffens up at the sight of Eternity steeping into the room. “Eternity doesn't have much time, so we need to hurry~” I say. She nods and sits down on a stool that we will use in the photo shoot.

“What should we do to your face?” Eternity asks her, almost too creepily. Yah! She's developing BDD, don't speak to her like that! I want to yell at him so badly right now!

“Surprise me.” Taeyeon finally says and stays shut once more. Eternity nods and applies make up on for her. He puts on natural looking make-up, so it brings out her natural beauty. This is the first time I ever saw her face in detail. Her bangs are pulled back so he can do her make-up. She seriously is beautiful...

“Psst!” I turn around and see Yeorin wave at me. I sneakily walk over to her.

“What?”

“What is he doing here?”

“The question is, what are you doing here?” I raise an eyebrow.

“I'm here to take shots for my blog!”

“Since when was I part of your blog?” I whisper loudly.

“Since forever! I needed to record down your great deeds! You know, you are like a secret super hero. You like to help people!”

“Oh shush.” I whack her head softly.

“Meh~ Let me stay!” She whines.

“No.”

“Please~?”

“No!”

“Should I her for you?” Eternity asks. He apparently finished doing Taeyeon's make-up already, and was listening to us this whole time. Luckily, Taeyeon was too busy setting up or else she would have heard us.

“Why hello Eternity~” Yeorin winks and waves at him. Don't take it too seriously, Yeorin does this to him all the time. She likes seeing him uncomfortable. She explains that it's almost like watching a drama...“Let's go!” She links her arm with his and skips out with him. I turn around and join Taeyeon.

“You seem close to him.” She say without looking at me. Her habit is to lower her head, and right now, I can barely see her face.”

“He's my roommate.” I nod.

“You know, I use to hate you.”

“Hate me? Wae!?”

“Well...hate seems like a harsh word huh?” She asks. I nod a few times. “I didn't like you then. Eternity didn't seem like he liked you then, so I really didn't like you. Not to mention that you were sleeping in the same room as him.” Strange...didn't she get into the school after Eternity and I became close friends? “So at first when you told me he'll do make up for us, I thought you were just bluffing. Now that he actually came here and helped us out, I'm starting to like you.”

“Wae?”

“Because, whoever Eternity likes, I like.”

“You like him?” I ask.

“No, just a simple fan. I just believe in his judgment, that all.”

“Wow, you make him sound so cool.” I chuckle.

“He is.” She says. “I use to go to school with him from grades two through five.”

“Was he your friend?”

“No, I just looked at him from afar- I'm speaking too much.” She frowns and covers .

“No~” I shake my head. “Don't worry, everything you're saying sound pretty cool. I'm getting to know about both you and him at the same time. And mind me, I won't tell anyone. There's no one to tell that will actually care about my personal life.”

“R-really?”

“Of course!”

“Oh...then should I continue?”

“If you want to.” I nod.

“Umm...I'll tell you some other time then.” She nods.

“You know, you're very beautiful, has anyone told you that?”

“W-what?” She uses her fingers as combs and covers her face.

“Wait, what are you doing?” I hold onto her hands. “I just complimented you.”

“I-I don't like compliments. They're mostly fake.”

“No! If you think that way, then how can you ever be happy with yourself? Besides, you just called me a liar! Don't you believe me?”

“No.” She whispers.

“Well you should. There has to be someone in the world that you can trust. You're seriously beautiful. I'm not lying to you. You have rosy cheeks, cherry lips, a high nose, and very nice skin. You just have to take care of yourself more.”

“What do you mean.”

“Sometimes, a person's style is what makes them beautiful. I believe if you were to dress up a bit or just smile, you'll get guys swarming after you.”

“Really? You really think so?” She smiles.

“Omo, you smiled!” I put an arm around her shoulder. “That's something else I can say about you that is beautiful! Your teeth are straight and white as well. You seriously are a beauty. Definitely my ideal type!”

“You like girls?” She asks. Sh- poop! Omo, I forgot I'm a girl! Is she homophobic? Can I just lie and say I like girls? Aigoo...

“Ani haha, I meant...y-you are most g-guy's ideal t-type.” I awkwardly stutter.

“Thank you.”

“Don't thank me, I'm serious.” I smile at her.

“Seriously. Thanks a lot.” She smiles.

I am sorry, my writing style is not constant. Usually I have the point of view with the personal input only when it fits or that person is narrating most of the update. I felt really bad since I haven't updated in forever! So I made this update a bit longer, but I really am not good with writing, so bear with me! Please comment and subscribe if you're interested!