I was left in the closet for most of the weekend. It seemed like so much longer because I was scared out of my wits. I felt a mix of relief and fear when I finally saw the door open.

“Have you learned your lesson?” Shimhan asked. I nodded slowly. I didn't want to spend another minute in that closed off space. “Good,” he said as he pulled me out.

I felt the rope around my wrists loosen and the rag was removed from my mouth. “Get some sleep, you have school in the morning,” he told me over his shoulder from the top of the stairs.

I sat on the floor a while longer as the feeling returned to my hands. Once that was done, I carefully got up off the floor and moved toward my room. My legs felt weird, making it hard to get there.

I fell onto my bed and passed out almost immediately. I had gotten little, if any, sleep while locked in the closet.

The first half of the week passed rather uneventfully. I was always aware of Shimhan watching my comings and goings from the house. Needless to say, I was scared.

The highlight of my week was that I managed to apologize to Baekho, which isn't much of a highlight. Actually talking to Baekho was a task in and of itself though. He was avoiding me like the plague and I couldn't really blame him. Every time I saw him I'd call his name but he'd disappear. It wasn't until the middle of the week that I managed to actually talk to him. I kind of had to physically corner him.

“You're not going to hit me again are you?” he asked, raising his hands defensively.

“No, I actually wanted to apologize about that,” I told him. He visibly relaxed. “Certain circumstances made me realize what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have slapped you, I'm sorry,” I explained.

“I forgive you,” Baekho smiled. I was lucky that he was the kind of person who let go of things easily. The bell rang after we had wrapped that up.

“Off to class,” Baekho said as he walked away.

At lunch I found myself standing behind Zelo at his locker. I think muscle memory just told me to go there. I admit I was looking to do something but the girls were right there. I ended up walking away without doing anything. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I dug it out and checked my messages.

'Hey hyung, want to come sit with us?' Baekho had asked. I paused to think for a moment before answering.

'Sure, where are you?' I said.

'We're in the caf,' Baekho replied. I cringed slightly.

The cafeteria was not my favourite place. I always had that nagging feeling that the people in there were silently judging me. I went anyway because I said I would. I sat down with the guys but couldn't relax the whole time I was there. I was really grateful when the bell rang and I could rush off to Art class.

It was becoming normal for Emma to beat me to art class. Like before, she was sitting in the seat beside mine waiting for me. “Hey JR,” she said.

“It's funny how we can be so pleasant to each other here when everywhere else we're like opposing forces,” I stated.

“It's because we don't hate each other nor do we have a reason to. Not to sound cliched, but we are victims of circumstance,” Emma explained.

“That's an interesting way of looking at it,” I said.

“Yeah... how are your wrists feeling?” she asked. I stared at her dumbfounded. “What, did you really think I wouldn't notice the rope burns?” she added. I didn't know what to say so I just nodded. “I may seem oblivious but I'm actually pretty good at observing people,” she said with a big smile.

“Interesting,” I muttered as Ms. Byun walked in.

That class and the one after it passed by quickly. The time came to go home and as usual I didn't want to go. I was too scared not to go home though. There was always consequences for being late and I was being closely watched.

The walk home felt lonely. Each day it felt lonelier than before. I couldn't explain what was going on inside of me, other than that maybe Baekho really was right about Emma. I let myself get so lost in thought that before I knew it, I was standing on my front step. I sighed as I pushed the door open.

I could feel him breathing down the back of my neck as soon as I closed the door behind me. Very slowly, I turned to face Shimhan. His breath smelled sour, like alcohol. I was terrified of what I knew was coming.

I tried to get around him to the stairs, but somehow he was still fast enough to catch me by the back of my neck. I had a thought that maybe if I could get downstairs and close my door before he got there I'd be safe.

“Let go,” I said through gritted teeth, fighting to free myself from his grip on my neck. He was too strong. I was helpless as he hauled me down the stairs and into my room.

He threw me down hard onto the concrete floor and kicked me. Before I had a chance to recover he followed the kick with a punch. He kept going like that for what felt like forever before he seemed to be satisfied and left. I stayed where he left me on the floor. I couldn't have moved even if I wanted to.

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I have returned!!! Gosh it's been so long since I've updated. It feels good. But yeah... JR's life just seems to keep taking a turn for the worse. As always, please subscribe and comment ^^