{ Part 4 }

Luhan felt himself being a jerk again.

He ignored the hesitation and sympathy in his heart as he pushed hard on the glass filled with hot milk that was placed by Violet on his table. The glass slipped and the milk spilled to the floor. Violet bit her lips as she slowly gazed up to Luhan. He ignored her and continued flipping through the pages of the book in front of him. Lay entered the room and saw Violet stood next to Luhan’s study table with the milk already wetting the floor. Violet opened , trying to say something to Luhan, maybe to apologize again. He sighed heavily. Luhan was once again, acting harsh towards Violet.

“Violet, go downstairs…I’ll clean up the mess…” Lay ordered as he gently walked the girl out of the room. When Violet was out of their sights, Lay cursed under his breath. He stared to Luhan sternly as the boy focused on his work, not even bothered to pay a slightest attention to the already spilled milk.

“Yah! Don’t be too hard with her…” Lay snapped, couldn’t contempt his anger anymore. It had been two weeks since Violet stayed with them. They agreed with this after Chanyeol kept on begging to Kris and s about letting Violet to stay in that dorm. He couldn’t bring Violet along with him to live in his dorm instead because his mentor was living together with his gang. He couldn’t afford to risk Violet’s safety if anyone ever knew that they kept a girl in their dorm. So Chanyeol decided to let Violet lived here. He still continuously came to their dorm, visiting Violet everyday and sometime even brought her out for lunch or just simply hanged out together. But living in this dorm, Violet had to face another problem.

Luhan.

He hated her so much that he kept ignoring her good deeds to him. Whenever Violet was trying to be nice to him, he didn’t give a damn to it. He scolded her and treated her hard. He was acting like a complete brat to her. That was what making Lay felt annoyed with this friend of him. Luhan sat still like a mannequin on his seat upon hearing that. Lay shook his head and walked over to seat on his bed.

“Seriously, Luhan ah…what’s wrong with you? What actually she has done that make you so angry to her?” Lay voiced out the questions that constantly playing in his mind. Luhan let out a weak sigh but he kept silenced. Of course she didn’t do anything. Luhan was completely aware that she was just trying to treat him as a friend. A friend that living with her. He saw it, all her good deeds to him. She cooked for him, she tried to clean his bedroom everyday and she even took care of his clothes. But all the attention was just like a poison to him. The closer she was with him, the weaker he got. She remembered him of her. Riho, his dead girlfriend.

Luhan felt that his heart couldn’t take it anymore. He needed someone to tell about all the pain in his soul. So he swung his chair back to face Lay. His friend was already there, waiting to hear his answer. Luhan cleared his throat and stared at Lay.

“She didn’t do anything wrong to me…it’s just that…” he started and Lay raised his eyebrow high, “…it feels wrong whenever she’s around here…in this house…”, Luhan added and Lay chuckled.

“Why would you feel like that? She’s only being here for a while…after sometime, she’ll get back to her place…Chanyeol will figure out how to help her…you don’t have to worry about it…” Lay replied to him but Luhan desperately shook his head.

“That isn’t the problem…” he corrected.

“Then what is the REAL problem?” Lay exclaimed, started to feel impatient because of his endless excuses. Luhan breathed heavily before he turned to his table to reach out for a photo in his book. Then he passed it towards Lay. He took it with suspicious gazes on Luhan. But when his eyes darted down to the picture, Lay lost for words. He felt his mouth shut tight as he stared at Luhan’s smiling face with a girl next to him. It was Violet. Violet??? Maybe…or her twin. Lay thought questioningly as he gulped down his now dried throat. Luhan saw his surprised face so he sighed and covered his own face with his palms.

“Now you know why I tried so hard to avoid her…” Luhan stated but Lay raised his hand up high.

“Wait! Who is she?” he asked as he frowned at Luhan, hand pointed at the photo. Luhan moved his hands down to stare again at Lay.

“She was my girlfriend…back then during high school…but her name was Riho…” Luhan explained as memories swept in his mind. He missed her, like hell. That was why he couldn’t face Violet. He was afraid that this feeling will make him confused and mistaken Violet as Riho. Lay shook his head in frustration as he stood and placed the picture back on Luhan’s table. He walked over to his desk before coming back in front of Luhan. Then turned back again, hands on his hips. He was shocked and confused.

“So what happen to your girlfriend? Where is she now?” Lay started asking the question that Luhan wanted the most to avoid. He blinked, trying to bring out the fuzzy feeling in his head. But since he had started to tell everything to Lay, he guessed he needs to finish this. So he took a deep breath and glanced up again towards Lay.

“She wasn’t here anymore…she was dead…she died five years ago, when we were just 17…it happened so fast that I can’t even remember how painful she looked back then…” Luhan told him but Lay realized how hard for him to voice out the story. He nodded weakly and sat on his bed again.

“If that’s the case…you should stopped hating Violet…they are clearly two different people…Riho, your girlfriend was dead…but Violet, she’s alive…and she’s a human that breathe everyday…just like us…” Lay explained gently, trying to pursue Luhan that he shouldn’t mix up his past love story with Riho and his present now, with Violet. Finally Luhan nodded but deep in his heart, he still thought that he shouldn’t get too close with Violet. Then Lay sighed in relief before he exited the room to go downstairs, leaving Luhan to drown in his train of thoughts.

“Next…we need to mix up the noodle with steamed chicken…chicken? Where is it? Ah…in the oven…okay…so we need the noodle now…” Lay kept on blabbering as he scrolled down on his phone’s screen, reading the menu. Violet chuckled beside him while her hands busied working on the onions, slicing it into small pieces. Lay walked around the kitchen counter as his eyes were wild, searching for the noodle pack. Then he frowned upon the ingredients as he rubbed his head. The noodle wasn’t there. He thought he bought it already. Violet blinked at him before asking.

“Lay ah…what happen?”

“The noodle…I thought I’ve already bought it…wait, let me think…” he answered as he closed his eyes tight and massaged his forehead, deep in thinking. Suddenly he snapped open his eyes and clapped his hands together, making Violet to startle and froze from chopping the onions.

“I remember now…it is in my bedroom…I put it in a red plastic bag…” he finally said and blew out the air in relief. Violet nodded and resumed with her work but then Lay suddenly smiling wickedly at her. She rolled her eyes.

“Now what?” she asked and Lay snapped his fingers in front of her so suddenly that she widened her eyes in shock.

“Clever girl…go and help me pick the noodle…it’s on my desk, I think…” Lay ordered her as he continued walking to the refrigerator. Violet chuckled but she put down the knife and started walking out from the kitchen. Then she stopped halfway at the door, remembering that Lay’s room=Luhan’s. If he saw her, she would cause him trouble again. So Violet bit her lips and slowly turned back to Lay.

“Lay ah…I can’t go to your room…” she refused but Lay shook his head in return. Violet frowned at him.

“That’s not only his room alone…I have half right to it…so just go and get it now…it will be fine…Luhan isn’t there, I think…he’s in Xiu Min’s room…discussing his assignment with Xiu Min…” Lay explained without turning to Violet. She cracked a small smile at him and nodded. But when she took her steps approaching the door again, she tilted her head a bit to Lay, frowning.

“Lay, do you think Luhan will be okay? He dropped the milk this morning…” Violet asked, concerning about his state even though Luhan always treated her badly. This time Lay raised his head to look at her. He smiled and nodded.

“Of course he did…quit worrying about him…he can handle his own matter…” Lay replied as he winked naughtily towards Violet. She laughed and let go of a relief sigh. Then she went straight upstairs. Violet hesitated for a minute to enter the room but after taking a short breath, she walked into it. Just like Lay had guessed, the room was empty so Violet quickly went to Lay’s desk. She grabbed the plastic once her eyes spotted it and wanted to rush out from the room but her eyes caught something.

Violet stopped walking as she narrowed her eyes on Luhan’s desk across the room. She bit her lips and took a quick glimpse to the door. Her eyes darted back to the table. She wanted to see that white little thing on his desk but she was afraid. If Luhan caught her secretly checking out his things, she would be a dead meat. But curiosity built up in her so she braced herself and tiptoeing to his desk. Slowly she approached it before she stopped and her gazes fixed on that piece of paper. It was actually not a paper, it was a picture. A picture that caused Violet to freeze on her legs. She quickly grabbed the picture and brought it closer to her eyes. She stared without blinking upon the picture as she felt the thumping in her heart speeding up in her chest. She breathed out in shock. She couldn’t understand it. Why there was a picture of Luhan with her? Or maybe a girl that looked like her? She gulped down and she instantly felt the bitterness.

Then she brought the picture, walking to stop in front of the long mirror at the corner of the room. She stared transfix at her own reflection before she held up the picture in her hand. It was indeed, very identical. Their eyes, their noses, the shape of their faces and even their hair that framed their beautiful profiles. Violet dropped the photo as she suddenly felt her head gone dizzy. She sighed weakly, blocking the pain that started to creep in her mind as she grabbed hold of the wall. Her body was trembling. She shook her head and running out of the room to go back to the kitchen.

“Did you get it?” she heard Lay was asking when she entered the kitchen but she was too dizzy to answer him. So she placed the plastic on the counter and walked back to the living room. Lay blinked at her before he hurriedly followed her steps from behind.

“Violet, are you okay? Did Luhan do something weird to you again?” Lay asked, concerned as he watched Violet laid down her body weakly on the couch. She shook her head.

“No…he didn’t do anything to me…I just need some rest…my head suddenly is aching…” Violet assured him and Lay nodded understandingly.

“Right…just relax here…I’m going to finish the dishes…” he replied and turned back to the kitchen but Violet called out to him.

“Lay…”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry…I’m going to be fine after a while, I think…I’ll come back to help you later…” she told him but Lay chuckled playfully.

“No worries…just have your rest…” he smiled and headed back to resume his cooking. Violet leaned back on the couch as she rested her head on the arm of the sofa. She closed her eyes, remembering the girl that she saw in the picture just now. They looked really alike that it surprised her so much. She couldn’t understand the hidden story behind that photo. Something sharp was slicing her heart as she thought: why can't Luhan smiled like that in front of her? Why can’t he share the same happiness with her if he knew that they have the same looks? She felt upset with him. She knew she didn’t have a right to be mad. She didn’t even know who that girl was to Luhan but…her heart was aching madly.

Feeling tired, she sat straight and reached forward to take the remote control. Then her fingers started to push on the button, browsing for a channel that will catch her attention. Finally she stopped at a classical drama, played on the TV. She watched the scene in silence when something startled her. The screen was now flipping from the crying scene to an action scene. Rather than action, Violet thought it was something even more cruel and harsh. It was a scene with a little girl being hit here and there on her body by a fierce man. The man stared angrily on the girl while she was crying loudly, hugging his legs and kept on begging for him to stop abusing her. Yes, she was abused by the man. That’s the right term. The moment Violet saw that scene, her head started spinning madly. Her vision became blurrier as she saw the TV in front of her twisting in round shape. She shook her head in fast mode and grabbed hold of the couch-arm to stable her body.

But as thought she was the one that was being abused, she screamed in pain. Lay was startled as he dropped his knife to the floor, nearly cutting his foot. But he didn’t have time to care about it as he ran towards Violet. His eyes widened, scared as he looked she had already laid weakly on the floor. Violet was trembling from head to toe and she was sweating madly. She kept on pulling a lock of her hair as she screamed out in frustration, as thought something was hurting her whole body. At the very moment, all of the boys from upstairs hurriedly ran to the living room. Their steps frozen when they saw Lay had stiffened on his legs as he watched Violet with wide eyes. When they shifted their eyes to her, they were also lost for words.

“Ugh!!!! UGH!!!! UUUUGGGHHHH!!!” Violet shouted again and this time Luhan cursed at her. He went to Violet when none of the boys dare enough to save her, stopping her from screaming. Luhan stopped in front of her as he gazed down sternly at the still trembling girl.

“Yah! Stop it! You’re scaring everyone! I said stop, now!” Luhan scolded her but she ignored his instruction because she was too deep in enduring her pain. Her body felt like she was beaten by a long and rough stick. She couldn’t stop the pain; she just can surrender her body to it. Then, she yelled painfully again.

“Don…don’t…Don’t!!! STOP!!! STOP HITTING ME!!! STOP!!! PLEASE!!!” she begged in frustration as tears pouring down her cheeks like rain. Luhan frowned at her but he started to feel something weird. His heart started worrying. He glanced to the TV and saw the abusing scene still played on it. He thought that Violet was afraid of the scene so he sighed impatiently at her, looking down at her on the floor.

“Quit acting…it’s just a drama! No one is hurt like that here!” Luhan rose his voice as Chen that watched them from the earlier moment couldn’t stand to hear her painful scream. So he ran to Luhan’s side and grabbed the remote to turn off the TV. But even after it had stopped, the abusing scene had gone; Violet couldn’t resist herself from screaming out loud. Everyone was panicked and Luhan gulped down his throat. Nervousness started to fill up his heart. He wanted to walk away, leaving s to deal with her but he stopped dead in his track when he heard Violet suddenly was screaming once again.

“DAD NO!!! I’M BEGGING YOU!!! PLEASE STOP!!! DAD, IT HURTS!!! AHHHH!!!” Luhan immediately turned his body back when he heard her voice exactly like his girl. As Violet trembled, Luhan quickly ran to her side.

“RIHO!!!” she heard him, calling out loud to her but she already shut her eyes. Her body felt weak as finally everything in her visions turned black...

“Riho ah...” Violet groaned in low voice, feeling her entire body yelled in agony as she heard someone whispered to her – a woman.

“Riho ah...wake up, honey...” then she heard it again and Violet was now frowning alone as she kept her eyes shut tight. She wasn’t brave enough to open it and see her reality. She felt that it could kill her – the fate, the destiny.

“Come on, honey...open your eyes...” the woman’s gentle voice instructed her and Violet slowly lifted up her eyelids. Then she blinked it for a minute when she caught sight of nothing but darkness around her. She was lying right now, on floor in a room, maybe. She wasn’t so sure where she was but the whole area was so dark, empty and quiet. As she tried to sit down, supporting her body to get up again she felt a pair of hands landed on her shoulders. Quickly, Violet turned her head back and she saw a middle aged woman was now kneeling down from behind her body. She was curving a beautiful smile on her and Violet was aware of her round eyes and caramel iris – it was like her eyes. Violet thought in silence as the woman supported her to sit still again. Then she let go of her body and came to sit properly next to her. Violet threw her gazes around the room before asking,

“Where is here?” the woman smiled and reached out her hand to her hair smoothly.

“Don’t be afraid, darling...you’ll figure it out later...” she answered her and Violet gulped down . She was afraid and scared of her but she can’t seem to move away from here. So she stayed there, waiting.

“Then what should we do now?” Violet asked her, tilting her head sideway to glance upon the woman. She curved an assurance smile towards her.

“Just watch...” she said and pointed out her finger to an area ahead of them. Violet followed her direction and her eyes stopped on two figures, standing not very far from them. When Violet narrowed her eyes, trying to have a better look on those people, she immediately widened her eyes. It was her and the woman that was now sitting next to her – it felt like she was watching their reflection inside a mirror but the reflection was doing different thing. Violet gasped, trying to open and ask but the woman quickly shook her head. She patted Violet on her arm.

“It’s okay...just watch and you’ll understand...” she assured her again but Violet frowned to her.

“How?” she questioned in confusion but then someone spoke over them.

“Riho ah...this is your new father...Takada sshi...greet him properly...” the woman told her and the girl named Riho nodded her head. Violet watched her, frowning before she shifted her eyes to another person that walked towards Riho and that woman. Then came a man, standing in front of them. He was tall with fierce expression on his face. Violet flinched and shifted uncomfortably on her seat – she didn’t like it the way he was staring on Riho up and down like that. His eyes trailed all over her body like she was an insect that needed to be squeezed to death immediately. Violet felt her own heart burned in anxiety and anger as thought he was staring on her too because she was too identical with Riho.

“From now on, you’re my daughter...you have to obey in everything that I say...remember, your name is Takada Riho now...” the man reminded her with his deep voice and Riho just gave him a nod. “Yes, appa...”

Violet heard her soft tone answering him before she shouted in shock and surprise when the scene in front of her changed in sudden, “No!”

Violet was now biting her lips in scared and frightened when she watched Riho was beaten up to dead with her father. She didn’t know the real reason why she