√ 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 // 𝐻𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑦𝑢𝑛𝑗𝑖𝑛

three.

After seeing this, Hyunjin simply stood there. More than anything in the world, he could relate to this. The solitude, the pain, the endless tears. It was more familiar to him than his own face. It never showed, of course, and that was long ago, but the memory felt painfully fresh in the boy's mind.

But he shoved away those memories and locked them in a steel cage. Never again would those days haunt him.

Willing his hands to stop shaking, Hyunjin grabbed his phone and dialed Chan's number. The leader picked up right away.

"Yes?" he asked, his voice tired.

Hyunjin cleared his throat. "I found her."

"Excellent."

° ° °

Nari's p.o.v.

Beeeep~beeeep~beeeep~

The blaring alarm woke Nari, and she threw her hands over her ears.

"Nooooo," she moaned. She slammed her hand on the clock, punctuating each smack with her words. "Shut. Up. Stupid. Siren. Of. Death."

When it finally stopped buzzing, she rolled over, rubbed the haze of sleep from her eyes, and yawned. How dare sunrise come this early. Didn't it realize she needed a few more hours of sleep? How insensitive. School wasn't going to wait either though.

Legs flailing, Nari tumbled out of bed and pulled a fresh uniform out of her closet. Smoothing the wrinkles out, she recalled when her mother had done this for her, and packed her lunch too. Brushed her hair, bought her ribbons. She had done a lot of things Nari had taken for granted.

Brushing memories aside, Nari went into her bathroom and turned on the shower, causing the steam to fog up the mirror. She hopped in and carefully washed her body, being gentle around the bruises on her wrists, shoulders, legs and waist. How did she get them? Sometimes bullies, and sometimes she wasn't able to make it to her room after school before running into her uncle.

Stepping out of the steam, she dried her hair and got dressed, wearing several bracelets to hide the marks on her arms. Nari glanced at the clock, which read 7:42. School started at 8:15.

"Crap!" she yelped. Being late for school happened more than it should have for her. But sometimes one couldn't help their natural talent for sleeping.

Grabbing her backpack and phone, Nari raced out of her room and plucked an apple from the kitchen counter on her way through. Just as she reached the door, a rough hand grabbed her wrist. A bolt of fear went down her spine, but she stayed still.

"You come straight home after school, you hear me?"

The greasy man behind her squinted. Nari could smell the alcohol fumes radiating off of him. "I expect you to answer when your uncle tells you something," he rumbled, shaking her wrist firmly.

Nari swallowed hard. "Yes, uncle."

Apparently satisfied, he released her arm and trudged back somewhere in the house. Nari let out a shaky breath and left the building.

She almost sprinted all the way to school in fear of being late. The gate whooshed past her. The front doors, the hallway, the lockers. Finally, she made it to her class and slowly opened the door. The teacher was still absent!

She made eye contact with Jisoo, who was frantically waving her over. Quick as a rabbit she slid into her desk. A few moments later, the bell rang. Nari sighed with relief and then tried to catch her breath. Her friend turned to her.