Eunbi stared ahead of her as she and Ahbin made their way down the corridor and towards their homeroom. It was monday morning and school, and the girl was careful to not bump into Luhan or Sehun. That her mother hadn’t called or made herself known for over twenty four hours didn’t exactly ease her mind either. It made Eunbi fear something completely else. That nothing would be done. That her mother wouldn’t speak to her stepfather about the problems. Then again, she hadn’t revealed anything of what’d taken place between the three teenagers. Luhan’s harassments and Sehun being a big meanie was still unknown to the older woman.

To make matters worse, everyone stared at her once she and Ahbin entered the classroom. It wasn’t anything unusual, for the more part of them always glared. Something was different though, and Eunbi couldn’t help but to feel uneasy as they followed her every move. And her suspicion was proven right when one of the female students tripped her, thus causing the girl to fall flat on her face. The reaction was immediate and everyone laughed. They took pleasure in seeing Eunbi hurt and miserable. “YAH. What the are you doing?” Ahbin came rushing over, her temper showing as she continued to yell profanities at everyone who were laughing and having fun at the expense of Eunbi. “You okay?” the girl nodded, slightly embarrassed by it all, before she was helped up by Ahbin. Luckily it ended with that, for the teacher arrived and told them to settle down.

Much to her frustration, the bullying didn’t stop. It only escalated throughout the day, and Eunbi had been tripped, shoved, and received several elbows to her side by the time the last class rolled around. PE. Her worst subject. To change into PE clothes wasn’t the easiest either, not with all the new bruises forming. “Maybe you shouldn’t participate. I bet the teacher would understand if you told him what happened.” Ahbin tried to reason with her friend as they made their way over to the football field and their class, that it would be for the best if Eunbi rested. “I’m fine.” she’d never before skipped PE and wasn’t going to start either, as that would only show the other students she was hurt, something the girl wouldn’t let them benefit from. Eunbi didn’t understand it though, why they were targeting her in such an extreme sense. It seemed highly unlikely that they knew of Saturday’s incident. Mostly because Luhan would never admit he got beaten up by a girl. Ahbin would have none of it though, and headed up to their PE teacher, “Eunbi can’t participate. She’s hurt.” the middle aged man listened and then looked at Eunbi, seeking an answer to what was wrong. But the girl was given no time to reply, for someone else cut in, “that’s not fair.” a girl from their class said, only to be followed by yet another, “yeah. If she doesn’t play then I won’t either.” more girls filled in, all of them complaining. It became chaotic and Eunbi bit down on her bottom lip as she watched the scene unfold. “EVERYONE QUIET DOWN.” silence followed. Even the boys on the other side of the field reacted at the outburst and looked over, wondering what was happening. To cause ruckus however, wasn’t what she wanted, and therefore reassured both Ahbin and the PE teacher she was fine. “There. Eunbi is participating and so are all of you.” groans and complaints were once again heard.

Football. The world’s most popular sport. But definitely not Eunbi’s favorite. It wasn’t difficult, not really. It was more the unfairness of it all that annoyed the girl. One team could play real well during a whole game but still end up losing. And not always because the other team was better. But simply through luck. Being pushed around wasn’t anything the girl liked either, especially after the countless of bruises she’d got during the day. “Out of the way.” one of her classmates came running, and Eunbi was given no time to move before she received yet another painful blow to her side. It was the second one in just ten minutes. And as to not spark suspicion from the teacher, they all apologized. But they weren’t sorry. Ahbin felt no better, because all her attempts to stop the bullying failed. Not even the teacher realized what was going on. The male saw nothing wrong with it and instead encourage them all. He thought the blows Eunbi got were accidentally, more so since the girls’ who’d tackled her apologized right away. They weren’t. And by the time the class ended, Eunbi sported a new set of bruises. Her body was so sore everything hurt. Just walking back to the locker room sent bolts of pain throughout her limbs.

She didn’t want to show them they’d succeeded, and therefore waited until everyone had left before she undressed and stepped into the shower. Ahbin, who’d stayed behind to wait, gasped as she saw Eunbi’s skin. “This is ing insane. Are they trying to kill you or what?” a good question. One she, too, wanted an answer to, for it sure felt like they were doing their best to injury her. “I don’t understand why they’re doing it though. I mean, it’s not like you’ve done anything to them.” maybe not to them specifically. But to someone else, someone who held quite the power at their school. Whether Luhan actually had something to do with it, Eunbi couldn’t know. But she was rather positive he’d been the one to order the intense bullying as revenge. “Not them specifically” she blurted and a groan slipped from her lips after she’d turned the water off and wrapped a towel around herself. “What do you mean, ‘not them specifically’?” oh god, had she said that out loud? “Eunbi?” the other girl pressed on, determined, “do you know why they’re doing it?” maybe, maybe not. Then again, what if it was him, what if Luhan did order the students to hurt her?

“I sort of ran away from home.” Eunbi uttered whilst carefully drying herself, she hadn’t mentioned that little detail two days ago, when she’d showed up at Ahbin’s doorstep, asking whether it would be alright if she slept there for a few nights. “You did what?” Ahbin questioned, worried and surprised, “why?” there were probably a thousand reason as to why, but she wasn’t going to list them all. In fact, to even say the most important ones were undoubtedly difficult. The other girl had no clue of what’d taken place between Eunbi, Luhan and Sehun. “Because something happened?” it became obvious rather quickly how Ahbin wasn’t going to settle for that, how she wanted to know more, “what happened? Eunbi you need to tell me.” there were so much to say that Eunbi didn’t know where to start. Was she supposed to mention that Luhan was a heartless bastard who found joy and pleasure in torturing her? That Sehun was so indifferent about everything and everyone that nothing mattered.

“They’re driving me insane,” Luhan’s words from the other day was the spark that’d caused everything to break. It shouldn’t have arrived as a shock though, for both males had to understand she would snap sooner or later. “And I snapped. I couldn’t help it.” a rush of adrenaline swept through as she remembered the incident and how delighted she’d been to see Luhan writhe around in pain. The scene would easily be nominated as the highlight of the year. “Yes? You snapped and what? Did you beat them down?” Ahbin was on the edge of her seat, eager to know what’d taken place. And when her friend didn’t answer, Ahbin deadpanned, “you did, didn’t you?” those four words were all that was needed for Eunbi to grin, “only Luhan. In the face and you know, down there.” Ahbin gaped, “you’re kidding?” Eunbi shook her head, relishing in the fact that it was true, “nope.” but right then she sort of wished it wasn’t, at least now and especially if Luhan were the one behind the increased and more violent bullying. The brute reality and the possibility that it would continue for days to come made Eunbi increasingly worrisome, for she didn’t know how much more her body could take.

Once dressed again, the two girls, much to Eunbi’s uneasiness, made their way over to the nurse’s office. “You need to let her look at your bruises.” still, she’d rather treat them herself. It was easiest and no questions would be asked. But it was too late to think of that as they soon enough arrived at their destination. “I’ll wait out here and when you’re done, we’ll do whatever you want.” Eunbi wasn’t so sure she wanted to do anything at all. Not when her whole body ached in raw pain. But that was for her to decide later, after she’d seen the nurse.

The first thing to catch her attention wasn’t the nurse, but Yixing, who sat on a stool with a hot pack pressed to his thigh. The nurse however, was nowhere in sight and she gulped, looked back at the door, and then glanced over to see Yixing staring at her, “she said she’d be right back.” Eunbi nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed about being in there alone with him, before slowly making way over to another chair. She didn’t want to make it too obvious how badly she was hurt, and therefore made sure to take it easy. Yixing noticed it though, how the younger girl frowned with every step she took. “Do you want me to go look for her?” yes and no. “No it’s okay, you hurt yourself, too.” her statement was met with a smile and the male brushing it off as nothing, “muscle cramp. It happens all the time.”

Luckily the older woman returned before he was given a chance to go out look for her, which in turn spared Eunbi the stress of having to feel bad about it. “Eunbi. What can I do to help you today?” her cheeks flushed ever so slightly, for she felt hesitant about mentioning the bruises with Yixing present. The older woman must’ve realized what Eunbi were thinking because she asked Yixing if he could wait outside. “Yeah. Sure.” much to her own relief he stood up and left, something that now gave Eunbi a chance to speak without feeling burdened by his presence. To explain however, how half of the school’s students had pushed her around and thereby caused countless of bruises, wasn’t anything she wanted. Mainly because she didn’t want the issue to be known. “Don’t worry. Ahbin told me what happened.” oh. Eunbi should’ve been relieved to hear that, as it meant she wouldn’t have to tell the school nurse. But the reality was another, for the said girl felt anything but relieved. She feared the consequences of ratting out on Luhan, whom Eunbi believed was behind it all.