A/N: Do not read this chapter while eating, you will feel queasy due to some content.
 

-

The urge to reset things was a strong force. Her heart drummed as she ran up the stairs. Nothing scared her; nothing mattered. The fear of running into the trio was out the window. She had had enough of them all. She sought happiness. The kind of happiness that would make her smile and laugh again. She wanted out from the darkness that was Tao. She wanted to become the Seryung she’d been before she’d met him.

When she threw the door open, she was momentarily stunned by natural light, and the chains around her heart felt lighter.

She recognized his back first. How could she miss it? He was the sole person whose feet everyone worshiped, and at the same time they feared him as if he were to their soul.

She knew him to be the one who’d taken her revenge away from her. She’d always wondered why he’d done that. Connecting him with the admirer, she concluded he didn’t want her to be reckless.

Could that be it?

Had he wanted to save her from the aftermath?

She quite liked that idea. It made her feel content until a bitter taste was left behind in the form of Tao, who’d also protected her. She scowled at his memory. He was the reason she was here with puffed eyes.

She stood beside him timidly, feeling shy like a preschooler looking up to someone elder, although he was the same age as her brother.

“You came?”

-

Tao didn’t know where he was headed. School was over. He didn’t even need to be here. However he was wandering listlessly.

Amid his travels he bumped into someone, and bowed an automated apology.

“Watch it, you fraud!”

Tao flinched. He recognized the sneer and its owner. He knew him as Kim Jong In, or Kai.

Jong In wrinkled his nose, and dusted his blazer in disgust. He eyed Tao with mistrust in his eyes.

“You’re that kid who fancies Seryung. What are you still doing in school?”

Tao blinked. The description was new to him, and so was engaging a conversation with Sehun’s friends. Although he didn’t know Jong In, he was beginning to dislike him already.

“Ah... You probably don’t speak much Korean. Figures.”

Tao’s lip curved upwards. “Actually, I speak it better than you do.”

Jong In grinned sheepishly, and shrugged. “Whatever man.”

Tao nodded, hoping this was all the socializing he would be made to do, but Jong In was of a different mind because he began to shake his head.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been tactless. I shouldn’t mention Seryung’s name since she’s taken.” Jong In smirked, and watched Tao’s reaction unfold. It was a mass of confusion that he planned to tear down.

“What are you talking about?”

Jong In gave him a lopsided grin, and shrugged his shoulders in antipathy. He pursed his lips and began to stride.

“Yah! I asked you a question!” Tao yelled hurrying to catch up and block Jong In’s escape. The latter only looked at him with uninterested eyes, and something else Tao couldn’t understand. It was intense dislike.

Within a second he grabbed a fistful of Jong In’s collar, and growled. The hatred in Jong In’s eyes intensified, and his expression darkened.

“Is it you?” Tao whispered menacingly.

Jong In smirked nastily. “Quite possibly.”

“Why are you sending them? What do you want?”

Jong In forced Tao’s hands from his shirt, and fixed his collar in one tug. “I want you to shove off, you tramp. People like you shouldn’t be in this school.”

Tao’s nostrils flared in humiliation. He narrowed his eyes at Jong In who stuffed his hands into his pockets, and turned his nose up like a ‘Young Master.’ He wanted nothing more than to drive his fist through that image. He would have done so too, if Jong In hadn’t extended his words.

“Ah, word of advice for you beggar. No one likes paupers around here, you should keep on the low if you know what’s good for you. That and…” Here he pretended to think, removing a hand to tap his chin, before dramatically clicking his fingers.

“I remember now! See over there where you were headed,” – Jong In pointed his finger in the direction from which they’d emerged – “You shouldn’t go there. The stairs there will lead you to the glass-room. That room is taboo for almost everyone. You go there, you die. If they find out you’re a tramp, they won’t take too kindly to it.”

He expected Tao would lunge for his collar again. His actions were all too predictable. Jong In let the poor boy think he had the upper hand.

“What are you up to? Tell it to me straight and stop playing games. Why the hell are you sending letters?”

Jong In smirked derisively and pushed Tao’s hands away. “Yah, you beggar, do you think you’re important enough for me to write you love letters? Keep dreaming. I have better things to do.”

Tao narrowed his eyes, his patience was thinning. He was only holding back because this guy was meant to be Sehun’s friend, else he’d have turned the boy’s face to a bloody pulp. His fists trembled by his side.

“It’s not you?” Tao spoke though gritted teeth. He was fuming, more so than he had been earlier.

Jong In snorted. Why would he send notes? He, who copied homework, didn’t send notes. It was tacky. Still, he had a suspicion of whom it may be. It was amusing to see how this battle would turn out. Of course, ‘he’ didn’t play to lose.

Tao pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to tear down furniture, and break hell loose. However, the nearest thing to him was a painting that probably cost more then his house. It wasn’t a viable option. Although he longed to rip it off the wall and smash it through Jong In’s head as the latter walked away. He was being patient.

He had never been cool minded, not in a long time. His temper always got the better of him, always. Right now he was holding himself back. The demeaning terms chided him in his head. From the corner of his eye, he spied a camera watching him. No, he had to behave!

He clenched his fists tighter until his nails dug into his skin. The taunting came with an underlying layer of warning.

Tao turned to where Jong In had pointed. The infamous glassroom, where the school’s underlord’s studied, was said to be the most luxurious classroom of all. Where sunlight splayed, and chandeliers glittered. Where live classical instruments were the backdrop to teachers, and where the biggest chefs came to cook feasts for lunch. It wasn’t a place of learning. It was an ostentatious lounge.

Tao’s eyes widened, a chill struck him like lightening upon the realization that that was the place Jong In had emerged from!

-

Truth be told, Seo Kangjun was extremely charming. However despite the charm, and his slow advances at trying to hold her hand, she always managed to pull away. If she were honest she would have said she didn’t like it.

Kangjun’s hand brushed against hers. Seryung sighed, his hand did nothing to wake the sleeping butterflies in her stomach. Why did the butterflies only react to Tao?

“You seem upset,” Kangjun commented lightly, “Is something wrong?”

She tapped her foot on the cement as the wind blew her hair. They were standing on the roof-top gazing at the surroundings, although they weren’t breathtakingly scenic, they did enough to make the scene romantic.

“There is and there isn’t,” she replied after a moment of thought. She realized she was becoming more comfortable around him but the ‘zap of electricity’ wasn’t there, and she sensed it would never come…

“Why do you like me?” She asked suddenly.

He laughed softly for a moment letting his pleasant bells reach the flowers in the garden.

 “Do you need a reason to like someone?” He watched her amused as she furrowed her brows and thought about his question.

“I’m not sure… But there should be something right? I mean, we don’t even know each other that well…” She trailed off.

“What do I like about you, Oh Seryung? You’re asking me to confess too quickly. I don’t think I’m ready… I know you don’t feel that way about me yet, so I’m waiting for the day you can answer the question: What you like about me?”

Kangjun listened to her sigh again, and laughed patting her head. “You make me happy, I guess, I can admit that much right? Do I make you happy?”

Seryung forced a smile as the feeling of uncertainty hit her. Her opinion of him was grey – there was nothing there to make her feel elated or sad, there was nothing but blank space.

“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly.

“I don’t know you that well…” Seryung shifted uncomfortably and stared at the ground. Could she fall in love with him? Would it work? Was it possible to redirect her emotions for Tao and aim them towards Kangjun? She wasn’t sure, but she would try.

Kangjun nodded understandingly and kissed her cheek watching carefully as her eyes widened like balloons until they could inflate no more. He smiled at the effect and lifted her chin gazing into her eyes softly he leaned forward not taking his eyes away from hers until his lips pressed against hers.

Seryung felt the world spin, and crash violently around her as the pieces of memory came together and the episode with Tao played in her head. She didn’t know why her heart was beating rashly as her lips moved on their own accord.

A tear escaped her eyes and trailed down her face before melting into the ground below. She panted breathlessly when he pulled away and when he turned to look at her, the world crashed again because her heart told her that the person she’d kissed wasn’t Tao.

-

Hana furrowed her brows and crumpled the note as footsteps approached. She could almost hear his thoughts asking ‘What’s that?’ Before he’d uttered them. When he did, she only smiled and hid it behind her back. It was too cumbersome, and Tao was too weary to know the contents of the most recent letter.

“Nothing important. It’s just rubbish.” It was a lie on her part, but it would suffice for now, or at least until he returned to his normal self.

Three days was all it had taken to tear Tao’s self confidence, and no one but the letter sender was to blame. It hurt her to watch him crumble from the smallest of derogatory terms. He used to be so strong. Currently, he was a shell of his former self. His mind was full of turbulence. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t eat properly, nor was he able to sleep. All in all, he was a mess!

“Wait for me in the car. I’ll be down in a bit,” she advised.

He didn’t protest as he normally would have. He only nodded solemnly, and left upon order. It was like he was an entirely different person.

Hana sighed and clenched her fist. The paper crinkled clamorously. She tried to calm the storm building inside her. Her patience was wearing thin with this tormentor. She wanted nothing more than to expose him or her, and show Tao there was nothing to be afraid of.

Her nostrils flared. She pocketed the letter, this one was more daunting than the last one. She didn’t know whether it was a joke or if it were true, but whatever it was. It was threatening the person ‘closest’ to Tao.

It occurred to her that she didn’t know who seemed closest to him. From another’s perspective, who would they deem closest to Tao. From his parents, family and friends there were many that were close to him.

She rounded a corner, leaving a hand in her skirt pocket, to curl around a USB, for comfort. She needed to do something to end this. Bullying was proving too much for Tao! He was acting alien, a worrisome unco. His unpredictability was upsetting to watch.

He was no longer his chatty self. Wit had long left him. Only words of whispers came from him, occasionally. He wasn’t able to look people in the eye. His appetite had decreased. He didn’t argue with her. He cooped himself in his room most of the time. He memorized irrelevant script. He’d become aloof and cold, almost a stranger. He was going crazy!

Her footsteps came to a halt. She pressed her lips together, and glanced around. What she was attempting now was more demented than Tao. She grinned to herself. Perhaps she had also lost her mind along with him? If, like this, she was able to capture the perpetrator, she wouldn’t mind entering the realm of insanity.

It was all or nothing.

She pushed open the door. Normally entering into such a place would have made her feel self-conscious but she wasn’t in her right mind either. Briskly she made her way over to a computer. To her glee it was logged in. She browsed through it, scanning for something useful. And then she found it. Quickly, she plugged her USB and stored the files she needed.

It could have been considered a crime on her part. Her heart beat loudly but not enough to defer her from course. Her resolve had been cemented.

-

Sehun stood at the basement’s entrance. It was locked. A ‘repair’ notice hung spookily. Logic told him to turn away but something compelled him to investigate. Each time he thought of that wailing ghost something pushed him.

He his dry lips. Something told him ‘repair’ was a lie. There was no reason to act on that voice in his head, but he did so anyway. He tore off the sign and snipped the lock. Dropping the lock cutter to the ground, he began to unravel the chains bounding the doors shut. There was a secret buried inside, he could feel it. He wanted to know what it was. There was no logic in his stance, yet his mind was conjuring illusions.

He wanted to know why.

There were so many questions left unanswered. How was he supposed to accept things as they were, and turn a blind eye? He couldn’t! He wouldn’t!

He took a deep breath when he was done. Pushing the doors open he found himself to be the main character of a horror movie. As if his thoughts had been heard two rough hands pushed him inside. He stumbled into the darkness and the doors were sealed. He whisked around, as if it were a prank, and bashed his fists against the door. Superfluous energy infiltrated his being, he was convinced he would be let out. And then he heard it; the click of a lock.

The energetic creature inside him froze. His heart turned to ice. He was locked inside! For a second he didn’t believe it. This was school. It was the middle of the day. How could he become the lead in a horror movie? That wasn’t possible in real life. It was fake. It had to be! But it wasn’t…

Sehun rested his forehead against the wooden door. What kind of reality was this? He was unable to make sense. Reasoning failed him. Rational was gone. He was left desolate and alone. He felt empty, still not believing the full situation, and still imagining that he would wake from a dream.

It took him a few minutes to gather himself. He was unsure of everything, so much so that he second questioned things, simple things as well as complicated things. His mind was a cluster of scenarios, none made sense and neither clicked to clear the smog in his head.

He decided to forget everything for a second as he switched the torch, on his phone, on. He half-expected there to be bats, maybe vampires, or even a hobo and when there were none. He proceeded to laugh at himself. He was delusional! What was he doing cosplaying Sherlock Holmes? He wasn’t cut out for these things. Often times his friends had called him out, to be the first to die in a murder mystery, because of his warped personality.

Now he was beginning to accept things. He might have given up but something made him calm down. Something ethereal was watching him. An angel, one who viewed him with pity but said nothing. It only followed him as if it were a guardian. The tension in his head dispersed and he finally felt like he could breathe.

Newfound confidence embraced him and with its aid he was able to walk down creaking stairs. They sounded as if they would collapse under him. The idea of living in a movie was very much reality as he continued to wander. Nothing had changed down in the basement. It was still very much a storeroom for unwanted school equipment. However, a part of the flooring that had been uprooted.

Sehun held his breath and paused. He believed a ghost would appear. He waited for Yang to come and explain herself, but she never did. So he continued. His footsteps became a heavy relentless trudge. He stopped short from the broken flooring and crouched down. He gripped the edge of wood, and dared himself to shine his light with steady breaths.

He felt his chest constrict.

‘Seonsang-nim, what are you doing down here?’

Wild, blood-shot eyes flickered in and out of focus. A blood-curling scream exploded from his throat. A knife flew out from nowhere and stabbed her. An eldritch screech exploded from her. The items she’d been holding toppled to the ground and scattered into hiding. A dark stain spread across her shoulder. She trembled in pain, and tried to run. She was terrified in that moment.

Sehun’s stomach churned.

Little did she know that he’d grapple her hair, and wrench her back. He hacked at her mercilessly. Blood erupted like a fountain. It matted in her hair, it blotched her uniform, it trailed down her fingers and dripped like clotted ink. It puddled around her feet and splattered like thick paint. He continued his stabbing even after she became limp. He emitted a war-like cry until he was sure she was no more. He dropped her to the ground as if she were nothing but a log.

Sehun wanted to scream.

Her disfigured body crashed. That wasn’t the end. He stomped on it, as if he were putting out a cigarette. It cracked and shattered under his feet. The air became heavy with the scent of murder.

He shook. He felt like he’d died too. In the moment of confusion his phone slipped from his fingers into the opening of the floor. His own phone temporarily blinded him.

Gingerly, he tried to calm his racing heart. A sense of dread and mourning filled him. He wasn’t sure what he’d just seen. Was he perhaps experiencing something paranormal? It was almost as if he’d jumped into an old memory that Yang had left behind. His breath hitched. Was that it?

He shuddered. The imagination he thought he lacked, was playing with him. Curtly, he reached for his phone. His fingers met with soil and stickiness.

The floor was uprooted like a tree to make way for a hasty burial in plastic. Unceremoniously the body was squeezed in the small gap between the floor boards, which were then sealed.

Sehun inhaled sharply. For a second he though he would be into the soil. He yanked his phone out as if he were plucking it from a hot surface.

His heart sank. Was that what had happened to Yang? He squinted his eyes, the face of the teacher was blurred. He was trying to form it, but with little luck.

Grimacing that his fingers felt sticky he was about to wipe them against his uniform. Upon glancing at them, he screamed. His voiced echoed round the room, and he was sure the extent of his fright would have invited all ghostly creatures.

He scrambled to his feet and raced for the door. He didn’t want to stay down here anymore. He needed to get out. He felt as if he were in hell itself. His insides boiled with a feeling he couldn’t decipher while his heart felt like it would stop beating. His lungs had long forgotten how to breath. An eerie feeling was choking him. His brain was growing distraught. He needed freedom!

Suddenly, light blinded him. He shriveled upon contact and used his arms as a shield.

“Sehun?” Her voice was music to his ears. He almost cried out of joy as he threw his arms around her. Her familiar scent was drawing him back to the normal world. He hugged her tighter, as if he might never see her again after this.

“Are you… okay?” She asked him unsurely. He was sure there were questions she wanted to shoot at him. However she didn’t, and he was grateful for it.

“I’m fine, really,” he croaked chirpily.

“Um… okay?”

“Thank you.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Sehun nodded and grinned as he pulled away to absorb her perplexed expression. He could have kissed her. No, he would have kissed her if she didn’t seem wary.

“I’m fine Hana.”

Hana nodded not really believing him. His face was streaked with tears. He was grinning like a mad man. His demeanor was disheveled. How could she believe him? She glanced at the rod used to close the door. The more she pondered the more it felt like a controversy. What didn’t add up was why? Why was someone going out of their way to make their lives miserable? That was something she couldn’t understand.

She opened to ask him if he were okay but stopped short knowing she’d asked that question too many times. Why were the people she cared about appearing like this? It killed her!

Her eyes traveled to the beam emitting from his hand. She pointed to it. As if this were the call he’d been waiting for, he transformed before her eyes. She felt as if he’d suddenly built five walls to separate her from him. Quickly he spun around and fumbled with something. Then without a word he shut the gates to the basement, chaining the doors as if she had never caught him in there.

“You saw nothing,” he told her with his back to her. He would have walked off just like that if she hadn’t clung to his arm.

“What is it?” She wanted to know feeling incredibly discarded. Her tone must have said so because he whipped around, and grabbed her shoulders tensely.

He searched her eyes for something and relaxed. “I know it sounds crazy but pretend like you saw nothing. You were never here. You didn’t see me come out of there. It never happened.”

“What?”

Sehun sighed. He wanted to tell her everything to ease the pain in her eyes. She had rescued him, and this was the only way he could repay her. He brought her into a hug.

“What are you hiding?” She asked tersely.

“I can’t tell you that because I’m not sure myself, but what I do know is that something is very wrong. That’s why you have to pretend this whole thing never happened. School ended and you left for home. You didn’t go out to explore. You saw nothing, understand?”

-

Hana traced her lips. Somehow it felt like she’d been gifted with a kiss for accepting Sehun’s words. It made her feel dirty. The worst part was that she’d liked it. Would she do anything for his sweet kisses? Was she really that desperate? Did she crave him that much?

She hid her burning face in her hands. This was not the time to think about Sehun’s intoxicating lips! There were important matters at hand!

She dropped her hands onto her laps. Her cheeks were still pink, she could feel the heat in them. Silently, she cursed Sehun and his lips. Beside her Tao was distant. He hadn’t spoken a word. He was a ghost of his former self.

Hana shut her eyes. Currently she carried, what could be, clues to Tao’s bully. The USB weighted a ton because within it was student information. She didn’t have time to narrow the list down to students whom studied Chinese. No, that task would be carried out in her spare time. As their school didn’t teach Chinese, there could only be a handful of people with the ability. After picking out her suspects, all she had to do was match the eloquent script, and bingo! She smiled despite herself. It would end soon, and things would return to the way they used to be.

Little did she know, the future ahead of them was a rocky course that they would barely survive.

So, according to Newton: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If we apply Newton's theory to the main characters, what will the outcome be?

Excusing Kai's kindness towards Tao for a second because erm... 'Rich kids would act like that anyway because they're spoilt rotten.' They've been taught that 'poor people are beneath them' yadda yadda yadda. What I want to know is how Seryung and Sehun will react to learning about Tao hehe. Tao vs Kangjun should be an epic showdown too.

For anyone who doesn't follow Roommate, and is too lazy to google Seo Kangjun.

He is this guy:  

The dimples are real people. Let's face it, the boy is easy on the eyes. How will Tao fare if Seryung leaves him? TT_TT

​Yenno someone actually pushed Sehun into the basement. I was meant to write something about Hana seeing 'A' around campus but meh. It's the note person, and that's all I'm sayin.' On the sunny side up, A will get caught super soon.  I know the drama of this ch must be leaving everyone feeling blue, so up next is a trip to the Blue House aka 2nd-lead-Charming Seo Kangjun's place, but of course not before a run in with the Kim family + Tao. Whose excited now? ^_^

More beautiful people: