I slumped at the vinyl desk, flicking at the tape that peeled from the side to reveal the MDF board underneath. Mr Lee kept droning on. I wasn't quite sure what the topic was, some evaporation or something like that. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Taking a quick peek at Mr Lee, I took my phone out and read the notification. 

Wanna take a package? Received 12:43

I knew exactly what it was. My mother had told me not to, ever, be associated with any of these things, or people. However I also knew how much it paid. I needed money. My family needed money. I've been doing this for a few months now, selling drugs. So far I haven't gotten into any trouble and I could always send a few hundreds back to my family in America. It was nice to earn your own extra allowance too. Well, not that I've not been given any allowance. I owe it all to my aunt. I've been living in her house ever since I've moved to Korea. She has a son, Donghyuk, a cheerful boy. Sometimes too overly cheerful. But I loved him dearly. He was just a really fragile looking person that you just feel like you had to take care of him. And he cannot ever find out that I've been selling drugs to people, if not I'm not sure what he'll think of doing. 

Ok. Sent 12:46
 

The sun was above my head, baking my dark hair, slowly simmering my brain in its cerebral fluid. I wanted to seek shade but that would only make me later, and I was already late enough. As my feet pounded the hot tarmac, I kept an eye on my shadow. Any significant shape beyond this blobby puddle that lapped my toes and I'm in deep . Getting there later than four o'clock meant being fired, and these gangs don't just hand you a pink slip. Despite the heat, I began to run.
 

A nudge to my arm made me jerk awake to see Hanbin's stolid face. "Morning." He said. Ugh, not a good sight to see after waking up from nap. I was stuck with Hanbin again in the second year. Our seating arrangements remained the same. I guess it'd be the same for the rest of the school year since Mr Lee decided that it was perfect. The hell, even our homeroom teacher would be the same for all three years. Is this school short of teachers or what? I stretched myself as I yawned rather loudly. "Tsk, can you act like a girl for once?" Yunhyeong commented. I shot him an annoyed look. Hanbin stood up and told us, "Let's go, they're probably waiting for us." 

At our usual lunch table, four people were already seated down, waiting for us. There was always nine of us. It was quite a big group. "Jennie noona!" Donghyuk called out, waving at me. "Aw Donghyukie!" I smiled widely, going over and giving him a quick hug. He was no doubt my favourite. He was always smiling and everything about him was just lovable. Not to mention he had abs of steel. Who knew he could have killer abs beneath that adorable face of his! "Hey noona." The other boy next to Donghyuk chanted. He's Chanwoo, the youngest of the lot. I don't talk much to him, but he's cool, I guess. I shifted my focus towards the boy seated opposite Chanwoo and Donghyuk, scruntinizing him from head to toe. Thoughts along the lines of "rude" and "can't sit with me at lunch" ran throughout my head like a broken tape recorder. "Hey! Treat me to lunch." I said, obviously trying to annoy him. Goo Junhwe, the meanest of them all. He was y as hell, worse than I was. I didn't even know how I got to dislike him so much, it was probably his face. The feeling was mutual though. A forced smile crept onto his lips. He despised me ever since he felt my presence around. "Sure, why not? Maybe some leftover spaghetti found in the trashbin?" He replied.

I snickered. "Oh Junhwe, you are so funny." Rolling my eyes, I sat down at the other end of the table.

"You guys need to chill." Yunhyeong stated before sitting down as well.

"Where's Jiwon hyung?" Donghyuk asked.

"He said he had some business to attend to." Hanbin said, poking at his food.

Jisoo got up all of a sudden, "Hey, you guys, I have to go. See you all tomorrow." she apologized, shifting uncomfortably as she kept her phone.

"We just started eating!" Yunhyeong exclaimed, pouting slightly. "Let me walk you to the school gate at least?" He offered and stood up. "I can follow too, noona!" Junhwe said, raising his hand up high. I scoffed. Jisoo let out a hearty laugh. "It's alright guys! Enjoy your meal!" Jisoo gave us a last wave and made her way out of the cafeteria. Yunhyeong sat down and propped his elbows up, his chin resting against his palm. He sighed to himself. 

"There goes my angel."
 

I've never been afraid of monsters. I do believe they exist, I just don't think they are furry and live under my bed or in my closet. I knew a monster once. In fact, I loved him. He played tennis with me and spoiled me with lots of gifts. He had deep brown eyes and a smile nearly identical to my own. I thanked God for my own monster, every night. My monster didn't have sharp talons. The only things sharp about him was the knife that made the gash on my upper chest. My monster wasn't green, blue, or purple. He didn't even like purple, that's why he made me have all of the purple on my body. My monster didn't come out and scare me after I had fallen asleep. My monster only scared me when he came home. My monster gave me bad dreams, too. My monster was okay with laying his hand on the one he swore he loved. It was the loud bang that left a hole in the wall, the thump of the flying vase and the crash of the figure coming in contact with the floor. It was the unapologetic "sorry", the oh so loving laughter and the slur of a drunken fool. My monster that had created the sounds were replaying in the back of my mind. These were the sounds made by the man that called himself my father. He was the monster that had damaged me forever. I thought I managed to make my monster leave, like the case with normal childhood monsters, but no, it was not the case. Here I am, standing in my living room, my mother cowered into her hiding place, trying to breathe softly in spite of her state of panic. And me, coming face to face with the monster, a sinister grin plastered on his face. He came back, my monster came back.
 

the writer's words