Ji-hyo POV

It was night. There was something about the night that drew me in, lured me- under normal circumstances that is. Not when i was alone, it was close to one in the morning, and my phone had run out of battery four hours ago. I glared at the woods around me, daring them to try anything. The cement road that lead to the city taunted me, lights twinkling like stars, tempting me to reach out and steal them. I couldn’t, of course, considering they were still close to six miles away. A slight mist was starting to settle over the mountain pass I was heading down, quickly veiling the city from my sight and leaving me alone, with only the power lines and my school bag for company. I should never had agreed to go with Jongin to that party. He made it seem like we were friends, but when his hand made its way up my shirt I knew that wasn’t happening. So I did what any girl would do- I kicked him where the sun don’t shine and made in the opposite direction. Which is how I ended up walking home in the first place. I shivered slightly as something howled in the distance. I would be ok, or so I hoped. I was almost at the bus stop.

    The bust stop was very simple, a sign and a metallic bench that had rusted slightly over time. It had grown so foggy that I probably would have missed it had my knee not collided rather painfully with the bench's corner. I mumbled profanities under my breath, rubbing the offended area as the bus rolled up. I sighed with relief, limping into the vehicle before collapsing onto the row of seats at the back. The bus coughed a little as it began to move again, but shuddered back to life successfully. I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes, feeling the cold from outside seep through. What a day (and night.) I nearly groaned knowing that I had to get up for university the next morning. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Slowly, I cracked open an eyelid. There, at the front of the bus, stood a boy that I was sure had not been there before. And he was glaring at me. He stared at me as if the only thing he wanted at the moment was to grab me by the neck until I had no life left in me. I lifted my head to stare back at him. He only dipped his head forward, long brown hair falling over his eyes and adding to the contours of his high cheekbones and well defined nose. He looked like he had just come from a masquerade party. His eyes we shadowed darkly, making them look almost bruised and a thin black stripe ran from the bottom of his chin to his lower lip. His arms, exposed by a leather vest were covered with black tattoos that seemed to glow slightly purple under the dim light. They started at the tip of his wrist, where they curled like snakes, and crawled up his arms until they disappeared underneath his clothes. The bus came to a sudden stop, throwing me forward from the impact and effectively ending the staring contest. The boy threw me one last murderous look before exiting the vehicle. In a place where no bus stop existed, and in the middle of the woods. I think it was safe to say I was sufficiently terrified by the momentary contact and wanted nothing more to do with the woods in general. I wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t step into the woods another time until I was sixty. The bus continued along the set path as if nothing had happened. I sunk lower into my chair, hoping to god that the entire ordeal was a hallucination.

    The next morning dawned far sooner than I would have liked, the sunlight hitting my eyes just as the alarm clock next to my bed started blaring. I got out of bed with my eyes still half closed and promptly fell on my face. I glowered at the offending object. At the foot of my bed stood the bag I had used last night. Which logically meant that I had gone out with Jongin, effectively lost a friend, and was almost murdered by a random passerby on the bus. I could already feel a headache forming, and it wasn’t even seven in the morning yet. I felt my head dragging me down as I prepared for school, and even after medication the pounding remained insistent. My friend was already in class when I got there.

    “Tough night, eh?’ Taehee asked as I practically crumpled behind my desk. I pressed my cheek against the wood, in the hopes that some sleep would alleviate the drumming.

    “Shut up,” I muttered, eyelids already closed. The majority of the class was mingling and getting to know each other seeing as it was the first day of the semester, but I cared not. All I could think about was how pleasant an hour of sleep sounded.

    “So what happened?” she asked.

    “Jongin happened. Mainly his hand in places where it didn’t belong,” I answered.

    “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I have to say though, you’re probably the first girl to resist his charms.” I groaned.

    “Don’t remind me.” At that moment, the professor’s voice echoed around the room, making me press my hands over my ears in an attempt to stop the echoing. A chair scraped somewhere behind me, but I didn’t bother opening my eyes or lifting my head.

Taehee whispered in my ear.

    “I didn’t know such good looking guys went to our school.”
    “Please. Spare me. I got two hours of sleep last night and did not have coffee this morning.”

    “No but seriously, glance behind us.” I risked opening my eyes a crack. There, behind us, sat a guy. Sure, he was good looking, but that wasn’t what concerned me. What concerned me was that the same person who murdered me several times with his gaze on his bus was now sitting behind me with a friendly expression on his face. He looked a lot more friendly without the dark eyeshadow and that odd black line, but I was still terrified and suspicious. Did he have split personality disorder? Unless it wasn’t the same person? That’s when I remembered-the tattoos. He has tattoos. I risked another glance backwards, but he was wearing long sleeves which made things considerably more difficult. The class dragged on, every minute feeling like a lifetime with his eyes boring holes in my back. Much to his amusement, I shifted every couple seconds, hoping to dispel the uncomfortable glare that stuck to my back. Finally, the bell rang signaling the end of class. I was going to jump out and run out of the classroom without looking back, but Taehee dragged me back down. I shot her a look, but she ignored me and turned to the guy in the row behind us. That was when I noticed someone else sitting next to him. He had long, black hair that fell in waves to conceal the left side of his face. On the right, it was brushed back revealing a pitch black eye that stared disinterestedly out the window. He had virtually no expression on his face, he only looked calm and very, very bored. A tug from Taehee brought me back to reality to see Mr. Death giving me an entertained look.

    “So, what’s your name? I’m Taehee,” Taehee spoke, breaking the awkward silence that hung in the air between us. The black haired guy ignored us, but Mr. Death answered.

“Hongbin,” he said extending his hand towards me. “And you are?”  I saw the chance, and I took the chance. Grabbing his arm, I rolled his sleeve up only to discover his skin clear of any tattoos. Perhaps I had gotten the wrong person then? “Is anything wrong?” he asked, clearly trying to control his laughter. I scowled at him.

“No,” I said as I grudgingly shook his hand. “ Ji-hyo” His lip twitched before he finally broke out laughing. My scowl grew. Finally, he seemed to regain some measure of control, and stood up to head to his next class.

“I’ll see you around Ji-hyo,” he said, still chuckling. “Let’s go, Leo.” The tall, black haired guy stood up and followed Hongbin out the door. I groaned, putting my head back on the desk as the pounding intensified. It took the ringing of the bell announcing that I was late to get me to move from the comfortable position I had found on my desk to my next class.

A/N

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, we worked hard on it!

~Nel and Pika