TRIGGER WARNING:
[ deteriorating health and bullying ]
**
‧TWO YEARS LATER‧
Your alarm clock went off for the third time that morning, but you didn't bother to get up for a while. You just lied there in your bed, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. You grew tired of waking up every morning, doing the same thing over and over again for nearly two years.
Wake up, think about Eunchae, get ready, go to school, get bullied, then come home and cry.
You absolutely hated your life. It's as if ever since Eunchae left, your life had taken a downward spiral. All the way down.
You started eating less-as regret started eating you up more and more-you barely got any sleep, you always looked like a mess, you were visibly paler and smaller, more anxious than you used to be, your grades were dropping, and you've grown physically and mentally weaker. Over the course of the last year, you've been hospitalized on a few occasions, due to the concern of the girls, who, even after what went down, have stayed by your side. It's as if the old you had simply vanished from existence. You felt that your life had no meaning anymore, and you don't know why the leave affected you this much.
With a tired sigh, you got out of your bed, got dressed, and lastly, walked out the door, skipping breakfast.
It didn't take you long before you reached your high school, seeing as you lived very close to it. You were now a senior, along with Leeseo, Liz, Chaewon, Kazuha, and Yunjin. Sakura has already graduated and is taking a gap year before going off to college, saying that she wanted to take care of all of you until you're all graduated.
While walking through the school's student parking lot, you noticed a bunch of students crowded around what you could only make out as a sleek, black car. You couldn't identify the person it belonged to, so you ignored it, deciding that, if it was a new student, you would most likely see them later anyway.
After going to your locker and setting your stuff down in homeroom, it was only ten minutes past eight, and you didn't have to actually be seated and present in homeroom until eight-thirty, so you decided to walk around the halls as you usually do to pass time. You hadn't made it very far down the hall before you took notice of the group of boys headed straight for you.
They looked as if they were going to beat someone's ass, and unfortunately, that someone was you.
Ever since Eunchae's leave, your reputation also took a big hit (pun intended). Plummeted all the way down to hell, essentially. Once known for never losing a fight, never backing down or taking shit from anybody, and putting assholes in their place, you were now just somebody those very same assholes could push around. And so the school fell into chaos. Without the old you there to stop the bullying and take care of things like such, the student body fell back into the way it was before you got there.
You mentally sighed, your head slightly dipping down as you looked at them blankly.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the school's reject, L/N Y/N! Did you enjoy the beatdown we gave you yesterday?" Sungheun snickered, his crew high-fiving him and laughing along with him.
Kim Sungheun, same grade and age as you, except he's a few days older. He's also the leader of a small crew that brings absolute despair into your school life.
Sungheun stopped laughing and scowled when he saw that you weren't reacting-like usual-and instead were staring down at your feet, biting back a snarky remark. One that you knew would get you beat to hell and back.
"Answer me when I speak to you, you fucking whore." You whimpered as Sungheun grabbed a fistful of your hair, pushing your front against the wall of lockers behind you.
With your face pressed against the cold metal of the locker, you struggled to get your words out, but got them out, nonetheless. "For- For s-someone who just got acc- accepted into the Student Gov, this sure seems l-like contradicting behavior... to me, Sunbaenim." You spat, referring to your current position.
An almost comical look of pure bewilderment was shown on Sungheun's face, and you could practically feel the anger bubbling inside of the other.
Sungheun raised his hand to hit you in the back of the head, but just before his hand could strike you, Sungheun was roughly shoved to the side. Someone had pushed him. You heard multiple footsteps in the area, some of them running away, others walking away slowly, and you heard someone being dragged, along with Sungheun's shouts to be let go of.
You gasped and kept your head down, hugging your bruised body as you dropped to the floor and pushed yourself into the lockers, trying to make yourself as small as possible. Especially when you heard urgent footsteps approaching you.
"Y/N!"
Eunchae? My Eunchae? No. It- It couldn't be. My mind's just playing tricks on me, she left. Eunchae would never come back for me, I'm a worthless piece of shit.
"Y/N!"
That can't be her voice, this can't be her touch. This can't be her warmth. Please, make it stop.
"-N! Y/N!" Your body started trembling in fear as someone sat beside you and wrapped their arms around your waist, pulling you onto their lap. You kept your eyes screwed shut, as you were too scared to open them. You were too scared to even breathe. To move. To do anything.
You heard the person sigh, "Y/N, you can open your eyes now. I-It's me. I would never hurt you... It's okay. You're okay." The voice whispered.
You couldn't handle this. She's been gone for so long.
"You're not real. You're not real. You're not real. You're not real." You repeatedly whispered as you sobbed in their arms. Your breathing picked up pace as your body shook.
"I'm real, baby, I promise you. I just need you to open your eyes and breathe, okay? I'm right here, and I'm- I'm never going to leave again, I swear. Just breathe." With a tiny feeling of slight assurance, your eyes hesitantly fluttered open, taking in the scene.
You were in the hallway, sitting on another person's lap, leaning against their chest. You were surrounded by a crowd of students who were holding their breaths.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. Look at me."
Your breath hitched as you looked up at the person whose lap you were straddling.
It was Hong Eun-fucking-chae.
You took a few moments to take in the younger's new appearance.
Her hair was jet black. It was pulled back into a simple ponytail, and she now had bangs; she looked effortlessly beautiful. She wore a black zip-up hoodie over a cropped white t-shirt. That, paired with the ripped black skinny jeans and combat boots she had on, contrasted heavily with the cute clothing and bright colors she wore three years ago. But in a good way.
To put it simply, she looked hot.
You let out a noise of happiness as your hands quickly moved up to cup her face. Eunchae smiled sweetly before looking over your shoulder and signaling to the other students to go to their classes.
Then she looked back at you, "I'm so sorry for leaving, Y/N... I'm so sorry. If I knew that this was gonna happen, I would have never left, believe me. But I'm here now, babe, I'm here." Eunchae teared up, hugging your waist tighter. She pressed a firm kiss to your forehead, before her eyes lit up in fear.
"Oh my god. Please tell me you don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend!" She exclaimed. You quietly chuckled, "No, I don't. And i-it's fine, Chae. Just... P-Please. Don't e-ever leave again. Please." You whispered, looking into the other's eyes.
"Oh, thank god... I'm here for good, babe. I'm here with you." Eunchae scanned over your figure and appearance, suddenly feeling even more guilty than she already did.
"Oh, Angel..." She gently laid her head against your chest, "Did- Did this happen because of me leaving?" She spoke, referring to the dark circles under your eyes, your sunken cheeks, your sickly pale skin, and your shrunken figure that was drowning in the oversized clothing you wore.
You fell silent and only nodded, fresh tears begging to fall from your sad eyes. You simply looked into each other's eyes in the silence, as you cried and she wiped your tears.
"I'm sor-" You started to apologize, but you were cut off by the sudden feeling of her lips on your own. After you got over the initial shock of the kiss, you finally let your eyes flutter shut as Eunchae led the kiss. It was nothing too crazy, but with the overwhelming feeling of butterflies in your stomachs, the both of you couldn't help but smile into the kiss before you pulled apart.
You rested your forehead against Eunchae's, and the two of you remained silent for a few moments, neither of you opening your eyes nor dropping your smiles.
You gave her a shy peck on the cheek, the action making her coo at you.
"We can talk about everything later, Chae, yeah? All that matters is that you're here, now." You smiled.
She nodded her head, smiling as she helped you stand up.
"Come on, let's get you to the nurse's office."