Tainted

Chapter 3.

Recommended song- Ruth B- Dandelions (Slowed & Reverb)

Nari dug through her backpack, a huff of frustration sending a strand of her hair fluttering into the air. Her history textbook was nowhere to be found and she was becoming sure she never put it back in her backpack after flinging it somewhere in her room the day before. The struggle continued and she flicked through book after book when the blur of an object being dropped on her table made her look up, Gwang-il's soft and glittering. 

Nari looked down at the novel laying on her desk and wondered if she should accept it or reject it and focus fully on her schoolwork.

'You can be a kid...'

The thought took a second to rush through Nari's mind after which she looked up at Gwang-il and flashed a genuine smile filled with gratitude, a smile that she had never shown anyone ever before. Her bangs fell gracefully on the side of her face, doe eyes puffed in happiness and squishy pink gums on full display.
Nari watched his face twitch into shock through crescent moons before something deadly manifested and flashed through his expression, his soft eyes falling into hooded blades. Nari's smile melted into choking suffocation, the blood running from her face as she watched him gently jerk an eyebrow up to greet her and walk away with a lazy hand tucked into his pocket, annoyance oozing out from under his messy dress shirt.

Nari gripped her skirt, blood rushing to the places in her palm where her nails dug painfully. Her breathing increased, almost on the edge of hyperventilation as a ball of pulsating lava seeped down her throat. She sunk into her chair, a shaky hand clasping her nose and mouth shut in an attempt to stop any hiccups of sadness from spilling out, the other wrapping around her body and digging into her ribs, desperately trying to stop her body from jerking.

Never again. Never again would she show emotion. This was it. If this was the cost of living with feeling it wasn't worth it because this was the worst feeling and Nari could barely bear it.

Once again Nari was mentally absent from her class, her heart drowning quietly in a cesspool of agony as vocabulary and formulas faded into the background. 

However, halfway through the class a small, but broken giggle slipped past her puffy lips, causing the sound of chalk screech on the board to halt. 

This is what she wanted, THIS is what Nari wanted...to feel something and by god did Gwang-il deliver. And the giggle was a clue to how stupid Nari found herself once she realized this is what she wanted. 

Mr. Park stared worryingly at Nari, her glossy eyes staring back at him for what felt like an eternity before her chair finally shattered the quiet by jittering against the tile floor. "Excuse me," Nari mumbled as confused gazes escorted her from the class. 

- 

At the end of an excruciatingly long day of hiding away in the restrooms, Nari stood bravely stood in front of Gwang-il's car, waiting to burn any of the bridges that had been built between them, and if she could she would stay and watch them sizzle with the reassuring hand of her mother resting on her shoulder.

Nari licked her crackling lips as she watched the undulating group of boys approach her, his eyes already on her.

"I knew she would be back." One of them slithered up to Nari and twirled a piece of her hair around his finger.

Nari ignored him with a grimace and held the book out to Gwang-il, "Take it." Her voice was monotone, "I don't want anything from you."

Gwang-il stared at her, blinking softly, his hand resting in his pants pockets, "You didn't finish it." He pointed out, noticing the bookmark still in the front of the book. He tilted his head, watching Nari like a lion watching its prey, intense, focused, and dangerous. The deep corner of his plump lip threatened to pull into a smirk,