𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄�...

Ten-year old Yiseul got back home after playing with her friends in the park. She was a lovely child, always smiling ear-to-ear. But that day turned her life upside down. She used to live in a huge bungalow near the forest at the side of the city. As she got upstairs, she started searching for her mother who was a housewife. "Mom! Mom!", her thin voice called. "Mom, are you again playing hide and seek with me?", she asked in a loud voice with a little giggle. "C'mon I am not little anymore. Mom!!!"

She twisted the door knob of her parents' room but surprisingly it seemed to be locked from inside. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she started banging on the door. "Mom! Are you sleeping? Are you in there?"

The maid came to the first floor and asked, "What happened, Yiseul?"

"Aunty! Mom is not opening the door. Is she even at home?"

"Before I went out for grocery shopping, she was still at home."

"Then, why is she not opening the door?" The kid frowned, continuing to bang at the door. "MOM!!! PLEASE!!! OPEN THE DOOR!!!"

"Let me see", the woman said and moved her away as she knocked on the door. "Mrs. Jung, are you in there? Mrs. Jung, please open the door. Yiseul wants to see you. Mrs. Jung!!!"

The girl started panicking, biting her lower lip in fear.

The maid rushed downstairs and came up with a hammer. "I need to break in." She used the hammer to break the door knob in such a way that the door finally unlocked. Both of them barged inside the room as they were completely horrified.

"MOM!!!" Yiseul's mouth went wide open as she dropped on the floor. Tears automatically streamed down her cheeks when she saw the amount of red blood on the white bedsheet. There was her pale mother- lying on her bed, in a peaceful sleep of death with a cut on her wrist. She went far away, so far that there was no possibility of her returning back.

"She's dead", the maid confirmed after placing her fingers infront of the dead body's nose. The woman turned around and rushed to pull the child in a hug.

The ten-year old let the sobs rule as she kept shouting, "Mom!!! Mom!!! No!!! This can't happen!!!" The last sight of her mother left a scar on her beautiful life.

Yiseul took a deep breath and sat up instantly. The room was dark but maybe not darker than her life. She took heavy breaths and wiped off the sweats formed on her forehead and neck. The girl pulled her legs closer, hugging her knees when her pupils started trembling. She licked her lips as her throat started drying. She saw it again- the worst nightmare of her life. As her eyes shut close, sweet and sour memories came flooding.

She was seven that time when her mother was combing her hair. "Mom, should I cut my hair short?"

"Why? Long hair suits you more." The motherly figure beamed at her daughter.

"Really?", she cutely asked.

"You are a princess, right? And princesses look pretty in long hair."

Yiseul giggled and nodded her head.

She was eighteen when someone grabbed her long hair from the back and pushed her on the floor. There stood her father who was a monster in her eyes as she noticed him unbuckling his belt. Soon, screams of pain echoed in the room as the belt hit her skin.

Yiseul pushed off the duvet with a screeching scream and turned on the lamp. The twenty-year old started searching for something in the drawer and finally she found it- scissors. She stood infront of the big mirror and took a handful of her black hair. After taking a long breath, she shut her eyes close and did what she needed to do at the moment.

The door opened and a very worried Jaehyun came in sight after hearing the scream. He saw her short unevenly chopped hair as he ran to her, throwing away the scissors from her hand. He hugged her tight and began caressing her back. "Yiseul, what's wrong? Why did you cut your hair?" His heart was beating frantically. "What happened?"

He cupped her face but saw her small smile, making him baffled. "Why is my life like this?"

"What happened?" He was so tensed to her in such a distressed state.

"Oppa... I saw it again. Mom. Blood. She was there and-"

"Don't speak. Everything's fine, Yiseul." He hugged her once again while she kept a blank face, looked tired and showed no hint of any emotion.

"She didn't take her own life. It wasn't a sucide-"

"Jung Yiseul! Calm down."

"Is everything alright?", Winwin who was standing in his pajamas at the door, asked in worry.

"Oh Winwin? Nah it's fine. She just had a nightmare."

"Then, let me bring some hot milk. It will help her to sleep."

Jaehyun dragged his sister to bed and covered her with the duvet. He caressed her hair. "It's been ten years. Stop thinking about her death. Mom... left us. She betrayed us."

"Oppa..."

"Yes. Don't think about it. Don't be scared. I am here with you. Your oppa is here."

¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤•¤

Next day.

"Aigo~ What's wrong with your hair?", the lady asked in disappointment, seeing the new customer's unevenly chopping hair.

Yiseul looked into the mirror and saw the hairstylist judging her hair.

Jaehyun who brought his sister to a family parlour the next morning, stood beside the girl. "Sorry but can you fix her hair?"

The lady named Yeeun showed him the scissors in her hand. "Ofcourse! Trust me and my scissors. These are magical."

The younger girl sighed in her seat, losing her patience. "Can you start?"

"Oh yes. But why did you cut your hair like this?", Yeeun asked but didn't get any response from her.

"Stress. She did it out of stress", Jaehyun answered which was not so true.

The hairstylist nodded and began doing her job. Few minutes later, the ravenette saw her reflection on the mirror. 'I don't look that bad in short hair I guess.' Her hair landed just above her shoulders. She flashed a satisfying grin.

"Woah! Yiseul-ah, I think it's my first time seeing you in short hair except when you were a baby. You look cool though. My sister is so pretty", the brother said in awe.

"Oppa, can I have some highlights on my hair?", she asked suddenly.

"You want highlights? I am fine with it if you want to have some."

Yeeun smiled. "Nice idea. A change is always needed. Which colour do you want?"

The now short-haired girl looked into her own eyes through the reflection with a straight face. "Red... The color of blood."

○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Next day.

3:30 p.m.

The twenty-year old girl entered through the university gate. The campus never looked so cheerful in the last ten days after she joined. The college festival had finally begun and many stalls were installed in the campus. Students were hanging out with their friends, playing games, eating food, etc. So many smiles, so much happiness made her scoff. "Looks like I have to tolerate this shit for a week", she muttered under her breath.

She walked through the crowd when she locked eyes with someone- Lee Nabi. The younger girl didn't talk to her for the last few days. Yiseul was glad because there was no one to annoy her. But why did the ravenette kind of miss her hyperness? Ignoring the feeling, she started walking towards her. As she was about to pass by Nabi, the freshman spoke up, "Yiseul... sunbaenim, why do you look so hot?"

The short-haired girl snapped her head towards her direction with a surprised face. "What?!"

The eighteen-year old smiled. "Really you look pretty. I almost did not recognize you. I like your new hair. It suits you."

"Thanks...", she replied awkwardly.

"Isn't this Yiseul? That girl who challenged Celestial?", Nabi's same-aged friend, Lami asked.

"Mhmm."

"Are you friends with her?", Another boy named Seunghan inquired, being astonished.

"No! I am a fan of hers."

"Fan?" Both of her friends were in a state of confusion.

The brunette nodded her head. "Sorry... sunbae, I didn't talk to you for a week."

"Why?"

"You only told me to leave you alone." Her voice died down.

"Then, why are you talking now?"

She flashed a smile, eyes turning half-moon. "I want to be like you. Brave. Cool. And hot", she whispered the last word. "Afterall, I am your fan. So, I need to talk to you."

Yiseul chuckled in amusement. No one had ever told her that they wanted to be like her. "You are really something."

Sudden excitement took over her. "So, are we friends now?"

"No."

Her shoulders dropped down as she sighed.

"But we can have senior-junior relationship", she said, looking away. 'Maybe having a company is not that bad.'

"Really? YAYYY!!!" The brunette gave the older a quick tight hug making the latter's eyes wide.

'I regret saying that now.'

"Hi! We are Nabi's friends. I am Kim Lami." A pretty long black-haired girl waved her hand.

"And my name is Hong Seunghan." A shy young boy bowed at her.

Yiseul stared at them before turning around and walking away.

"Don't worry. She is rude at first. She will warm up soon." The girl patted on her friends' shoulders and turned around to see the senior almost getting lost in the crowd. "Yiseul!!! I mean sunbae!!! Wait for me!!!"

She caught up with her when the latter said, "Don't follow me."

"But I am you stalker fan", she joked.

Yiseul looked at her weirdly but kept walking in silent with the junior. Members of different clubs were distributing flyers to the students.

"Oh Mark!!!" Nabi ran to a specific stall, seeing a familiar person.

"Nabi-ah, are you doing well?" The Canadian beamed back.

"Yeah. Are you recruiting new members for your drama club?"

"Oh yes. Do you wanna join?"

"No~ I can't act. I don't have that talent."

Mark giggled. "Okay, if you have a friend interested, send them to us."

"Sure! But you are doing master degree on physics. Then, why are you still in the drama club? Don't you have to study a lot?"

"I love literature and this drama club gives me peace. It feels like home. I really like acting different characters but now I am teaching the younger students. A new experience."

"Sunbae!!!", a girl named Herin who was also a member of the drama club, called as she approached the stall with another girl. "She is a freshman. She is interested in joining our club."

"Oh Yuna?" Nabi immediately recognized the beautiful tall girl.

"Hi!", Yuna greeted.

"You guys know each other?", Herin asked.

"Yeah. She is in my class", the taller girl answered.

"Hello Yuna. Thanks for joining our club. Please fill up this form." Mark handed her a paper.

Yiseul was standing there for a while, not knowing why even she was waiting for the younger girl.

The older male squinted his eyes at the female standing at a distance. "Jung Yiseul! You are Jung Yisuel, right?"

The said girl raised a brow. "No." She started walking away. 'Am I that famous now? Oh God! Fuck you, Lee Haechan.'

"Really?"

"Yeah she is", the twenty-year old whispered the truth. "Bye guys. Bye Mark!"

"Oh bye!"

"Do you know everyone here?", Yiseul asked as they walked through the crowds again.

"It's not like that."

"But you talk way too much."

"I am an extrovert. ESFJ. You must be an introvert. What's your mbti?"

"I don't do these stupid things."

She snorted. After a while, the girl asked, "Wasn't he cute?" She suppressed a smile.

"Who?"

"Mark!"

"That guy?", she further inquired non-chalantly.

"Yeah. I used to have a crush on him on sixth grade." The brunette laughed off, feeling embarrassed. "We are actually really close. He visits our house often since he is my brother's bestfriend."

"Who? That bastard Haechan?"

"Uh no. Hyuck oppa."

"Hyuck? Oh Donghyuck?"

"Hmm."

"Speaking of Haechan, I wonder what that bastard is doing." She scoffed.

"Probably planning to take revenge on you." His sister threw her head back, laughing.

ᝰ ೃ࿔₊ᝰ ೃ࿔₊ᝰ ೃ࿔₊ᝰ ೃ࿔₊

"I can't take this anymore. It's killing me!!!", he spoke up in a much louder voice, completely irritated.

"Haechan! Forget it. It's been almost a week", Renjun said.

"It's because of you! How can you lose to her?"

"I told you sorry for a hundred times. For God's sake, how would I know she was that good at chess?", the Chinese retorted.

A suppressed laugh was heard from the corner which grabbed everyone's attention.

"Na Jaemin, you are laughing?" Haechan looked at the boy at the keyboard in disbelief.

"Sorry. But it's fascinating how a girl can make you so pissed."

"Oh man! Jeno, tell him to shut up." He threw his head back.

"He is not lying though. We have never seen you like this. What's wrong, Haechan?", Jeno asked.

"He is taking it too far. Forget about her", Renjun said.

"Never. Have you noticed her eyes?"

"What's so special about her eyes?", the muscular boy asked.

"They hold no emotion. So dark."

"Really?"

"I locked eyes with hers at the end of the chess match. She doesn't fear anything. And her attitude proves it."

"But when you blackmailed her, she was scared", Jaemin pointed.

"Not really. She wasn't scared for herself. But I swear I will make her cry infront of me." He had fire burning in his eyes.

"Seriously? She is bothering you so much?", Renjun asked in disbelief.

"I thought you love girls. So, why don't you try to seduce her?", Jeno suggested as a joke.

"Why would I seduce that shitty girl? I have a better idea." A playful smirk was plastered on his face.

"What are you thinking?", Jaemin questioned, a little worried.

"We need to find out why she was transferred here? Because I know changing colleges is not so easy. Something definitely happened with her."

I have started posting edits of my stories on insta just for fun since I have lot of free time now. If you want, you can check it out. @/_drippin.__

Favourite actor/actress?

My new fav is Lee Dohyun 🥺💗

Thank you~