CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Dead Meat

 Soojung twiddled her thumbs as she leaned against the brick wall, feeling the dust in the air tickle her lungs. She shifted her weight onto the other leg as she waited in the basement, listening to the pound of her heartbeats foreshadow the impending footsteps of the people she waited for. It had been fifteen minutes since dinner had finished but all she heard was the quiet scampering of mice and cockroaches.

In the distance she would hear the occasional opening and shutting of doors but it sounded so far off that she didn’t think it could be G-Dragon and his group. A shiver ran down her spine as a strong gush of wind slipped through the gaps in the door, carrying another gust of dust into her lungs. She coughed, waving her arms in front of her to clear the air.

Where were they?

She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed her eyes on the spider webs that had gathered by the corners of the low ceilings. The light buzzed above her head and though there were almost no insects in this cold weather, she could see the trace of tiny dead corpses lined along the plastic casing.

She bit on her lip and thought of leaving to take up Sehun’s invitation from that afternoon.  

She had been walking beside G-Dragon, his arm resting across her shoulder and she revelled in the jealous stares that Clara flashed at the couple. She clutched her books to her chest, eyes occasionally running down the smooth contours of G-Dragon’s pale, smooth skin. He cast a glance down at her, smirking before he tucked his face into the side of hers.

His lips blew her hair from the rim of her ear before he kissed her cheek gently.

She shrunk away with an absentminded look plastered across her face, feeling the gaze of her fellow students take her in. She fed off their envy and the admiration that they offered to her.

“Oh Soojung’s so pretty, don’t you think?” One girl whispered to her friend. 

“She’s so hot.” Another guy sighed as he closed the door to his locker, “Why does G-Dragon always get the hot ones?”

“Do you think she’s going to be the new Queen?”

“She looks nicer than Clara.”

“I like her hair.”

“Look at her legs.”

Soojung smirked as she twirled her hair between her fingers, her ego swelling from all the compliments – particularly the one where she served as a direct comparison against Clara.

“What’s wrong?” G-Dragon whispered into her ear, bothered by the way she seemed to shrink away from him. She shivered from his closeness and the way he offered her undivided attention.

She opened to reply when she felt the weight of another body press against hers and she was forced backward onto the ground. Her books tumbled from her arms and she was left sprawled across the school hall, pain echoing through her very bones. She was about to yell at the careless person when his scent enveloped her and she felt all her protests shrivel into speechlessness.  

He extended a hand to her, offering to help her up with the softest gaze directed at her. She accepted his hand shyly, feeling safe under his firm grasp – nothing ever felt pretentious with Sehun. In that moment, she felt a crisp piece of paper slide up against her warm palm and she widened her eyes to meet his.

“I’m sorry.” He threw her a charming smile that made her heart skip a beat. This was the Sehun she had fallen in love with – the man who could smile without a reason; without any restraint. It was a pity that he was always held back by some sort of fear that only Jaehwa seemed to be able to undo.

Perhaps they had held hands for too long or perhaps it was the fact that they had prolonged their eye contact but their chemistry became apparent to G-Dragon and he instantly cut through their interlinked hands with his. Soojung immediately pulled her hand back so that she could slip the piece of paper into her pocket without anyone noticing. Her chest swelling with a familiar sense of inclusion that she had with him before Jaehwa stumbled into the picture.

“What’s your problem?” G-Dragon levelled himself with Sehun who returned his gaze with the same intensity. His face was dark with jealousy and the possessiveness he exhibited made everyone in the group uncomfortable. All of a sudden, Sehun didn’t like the group of people that Soojung associated herself with.

“Don’t you have eyes when you walk, new boy?” A dark-haired boy stepped up from behind, gripping onto the Sehun’s collar as he pressed his face too close for comfort. His breath wreaked of tobacco.

“I apologised already.” He shot back, cold as ever as he calmly guided Seungri’s hand off his shirt, not forgetting to hold his fingers extra tight. Sehun didn’t stop until the veins in Seungri’s reddening face begin to surface. His mouth hung open as he let out a silent scream when he heard the bones in his hands crackle.

“Damn it, you’re asking for it aren’t you?” Another, more muscular boy stepped up to Sehun but G-Dragon immediately lifted his arm to stop him from charging at the new boy. Sehun smirked as he released Seungri who collapsed to the ground immediately. He was gasping out of pain as he clutched his trembling and broken hand.

“Don’t worry, it’ll heal up in half an hour.” Sehun looked pitifully down at him, not a single trace of fright lingering in his eyes.

G-Dragon simply scoffed and pulled Soojung up by the wrist. She had been gathering all her notes and books from the floor but Sehun knew she had been watching.

“Do you see this girl? This is Kim Soojung.” He uttered between gritted teeth and Sehun rolled his eyes at G-Dragon, “This is G-Dragon’s girl. Do you know what the means, pretty boy?”

“G-Dragon…” Soojung started but was cut off by his deadly glare.

“Shut up !” He snapped before he turned back to Sehun. There was something so scary about him in that moment and his gaze shook her to her core. She was terrified and a sick feeling replaced the warmth that had gathered in her chest but she didn’t dare to voice it or show it. She couldn’t be weak – not in front of the G-Dragon and certainly not in front of Sehun.

“Hey!” Sehun barked as he pushed back against G-Dragon’s offenses, “If you have any ounce of decency, you’d apologise to her.”

“I do whatever I ing want with my woman.” He shot back, “You stay out of my business. Touch her again and I’m going to pull both your arms off…” He leaned into Sehun’s ears and whispered, “with my bare hands.”

Soojung watched as Sehun’s eyes flashed with the most dangerous glare she had ever seen and she suddenly warmed to him. He was protecting her. It was like encountering an old friend or a distant memory but this was the Sehun she knew – the Sehun who would do anything just to keep her safe.

She stepped up to G-Dragon, using all her strength to hide the fact that she was shaking and mustered the best smile she could, “Let’s go. It’s not worth the fight.”

G-Dragon smirked, “Consider yourself lucky, dickhead.” The affectionate gaze that Soojung had been blessed with for the whole day, suddenly seemed to morph into something domineering and wicked. “Let’s go.” He pressed his cold lips to her cheek and she felt the iciness of it spread through out her whole body. Unfortunately, at that moment, Soojung had confused terror with thrill.

She fished the piece of paper from her pocket and unfurled the note.

‘Library after class,’ had been scribed in elegant cursive and as much as she had wanted to go, her pride wouldn’t let her. The prospects and lure of revenge along with the sweet prelude of power seduced her and kept her from leaving. She didn’t want to become forgotten like she had been in Jaehwa’s presence. She didn’t want the simple care that the princes could offer her – not when she had tasted the exhilarating thrill of being the centre of attention. The thrill of danger that was so closely tied with G-Dragon was so much more exciting.  

She wanted to be better than Jaehwa – to be stronger than her so that Sehun might turn around and see her differently because she was well aware of the power she could yield. She realised that she just had to prove it to Sehun. That afternoon had only been the start. She was going to go much further than simply saving Sehun from a fight because she was going to do everything in her power to show him what he was missing out on.

Chewing on her lip, she decided that if they weren’t going to find her then she was going to make it a mission to find them. If anything, Soojung was going to show Clara that she wasn’t easy or cheap.

 Jaehwa placed the mop back onto its rack as she inclined her head towards one side, feeling the muscles in her neck and shoulder strain painfully.

“Thanks Jaehwa-sshi.” A tall, lean boy who answered to the name James waved to her as she was about to push through the swinging doors. “Be careful tonight.” His face was tense and somewhat grim in a way that Jaehwa didn’t understand but she made nothing of it.

Instead, she turned around, pulling her hair net off before she waved back, “No worries. See you!” She smiled inwardly as she walked out of the kitchen, her shoes squeaking across the plastic flooring of the cafeteria.

It was seven already and she was late for her night shift but she had a legitimate excuse – the kitchen staff had spilled most of the pumpkin soup and though it wasn’t much of a pity, Jaehwa was damn tired. She had spent the last half hour mopping and cleaning after she had worked at the serving station for an hour before.

If anything, being a part of the maintenance team was strenuous and consisted of hard labour. She pulled her apron off and walked through the school halls, admiring the woodwork that complimented the burgundy carpet. She glanced at the different medals, trophies, commemorative photographs and artworks that sat in the glass cabinets on either side of the hallway. School was as she remembered it – the rules and regulations, the comradeship, the hierarchy but she wondered if it was any different with creatures that had lived for centuries.

As she slowly descended into the depths of darkness into the basement, she shivered when a passing draught lifted the hem of her dress. She clutched onto the fabric, pressing it to the back of her thighs as she walked through the stone path. The lights were dim and continued to flicker as she made her way through the winding path, occasionally turning around when she felt something prick the back of her neck. Each time, there was nothing and when she turned; all she saw was the empty path that she had ventured through.

Unconsciously, she began to hold her breath a