"Is this the place? Why is it so hidden…"
Everyone turned toward the unfamiliar voice.
A boy stepped into view, light brown hair framing his face as it caught the afternoon light, falling neatly to his neck. His features were soft and clean long lashes, calm eyes, and a natural composure that made him striking at first glance. There was a quiet prettiness to him, balanced and refined, the kind that often got people mistaking him for an idol trainee without him even trying.
He glanced around, slightly awkward. "Hey… you guys are here already? Sorry I'm late. It's my first time coming to a place like this."
Then his gaze dropped.
His steps halted.
Blood smeared across the ground.
A body slumped there, barely moving.
Kwangwoon lifted his head weakly, swollen eyes struggling to focus.
His lips parted, voice hoarse and thin.
"…Giryang."
Suwon squinted, instinctively shielding his eyes for a second, as if the guy had walked in glowing.
Huh!? Who is this guy?An absolute pretty boy!!
The newcomer's expression shattered.
"Kw-Kwangwoon?!" Giryang rushed forward, panic flooding his voice. "What the hell happened to you?!"
-
Outside the girls' bathroom, someone rattled the door.
"Is someone smoking in there?"
"Ugh, hurry up, I need to brush my teeth."
Inside, Hai-an's back was pressed stiffly against the wall, her face was ghostly pale.
"W-why are you like this, Hyorim…?" she asked, voice shaking.
Seol Hyorim looked at her calmly but her eyes were cold.
"Don't act like we're close," she said. "Don't you have something to say?"
Hai-an blinked. "H-huh…?"
"Not to me," Seol Hyorim continued, her jaw tightening. "To Irina."
Hong Aera, standing off to the side, frowned in confusion. "What the hell is going on?"
Seol Hyorim clenched her teeth."Seriously? You're pretending nothing happened?"
"You live in H Apartments, right? Or do you want me to remind you what I saw last night so your memory can start working?
Hai-an stiffened.
Color drained from her face as panic crept in.
Hong Aera grabbed Seol Hyorim's arm. "Hey what's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this toward her?"
Her voice rose. "I don't know what you think you saw, but she's not that kind of person!"
Seol Hyorim looked down at the hand gripping her arm.
"…Let go."
Her eyes flicked back to Hai-an."Wow. You were really sneaky. Your best friend doesn't even know, huh?"
Then she turned to Hong Aera, her voice dropping into something sharp and dangerous.
"And if you curse one more time, I'll shove a mop in your damn mouth. Tall and lanky, acting all high and mighty I didn't even know you existed before high school. Go smoke somewhere else and get lost."
Hong Aera was trembling with anger face twitching.
Seol Hyorim ignored her and stepped closer to Hai-an again."Hey. Can't hear me? Answer."
Hai-an swallowed hard. "Th-that's.."
"You.." Hong Aera's voice broke as she raised her hand. "You crazy bitch!"
Smack!!.
The sound echoed sharply, loud enough to be heard outside.
"…Are they fighting?"
"No way…"
Inside, a red headband lay on the floor.
Hong Aera's chest heaved. "You think you can mess with anyone you want? Why the hell are you picking a fight with someone innocent?"
Her hands were shaking now, heart pounding out of control.
"Your brother's the one who's something not you. And do you really think you're special just because you're dating Yoon Seojin?"
She force herself despite the fear. "You're fucking crazy."
Seol Hyorim stood there, one hand pressed against her stinging cheek.
She didn't like her brother.
She never had.
But there was one thing they undeniably shared.
Slowly, she lifted her head and muttered, low and steady, "Hey… beanpole."
Hong Aera swallowed hard.
Her chin trembled, eyes wide, fear bleeding through the anger she'd tried so hard to hold onto.
Seol Hyorim continued, her voice eerily calm.
"Even if we fight… and even if I end up losing…"
Her eyes sharpened, locking onto Hong Aera with a cold, merciless glare.
"I swear I'll rip something off you."
They were both hot-tempered.
Always had been.
But Hyorim's fury didn't come from nowhere.
Since she was young, no matter how much she hated it, she'd been forced to watch it.
Elementary school, sixth grade.
A narrow alley in their neighborhood.
Seol Minsoo, still a boy himself, gripping another boy's cheek with one hand. Bruises bloomed purple and blood was smeared across the kid's face as tears streamed down, his sobs swallowed by the concrete walls.
Middle school, third year.
Another alley, this time behind the school.
Seol Minsoo again, fists moving without hesitation, someone else crumpling under him.
High school, third year.
Downtown, late evening. Seol Minsoo crouched in the middle of an alley, surrounded by kneeling students, their heads bowed, shoulders shaking. That same face expressionless, terrifying, absolute.
No matter where she looked, she saw that terrifying face of her brother.
That face made her hate even those who looked just a little like him.
That was Seol Hyorim.
Yet before she even realized it, she had learned how to fight just like him.
Just like him.
Seol Hyorim grabbed the collar of Hong Aera's uniform and yanked her forward.
"Let go fuck…!!"
"Let go?" Hyorim sneered. "Why would I?"
Hai-an stood frozen nearby, eyes wide, watching the two of them like she'd walked straight into a nightmare.
Hong Aera snarled and grabbed a fistful of Hyorim's hair. In the same instant, Hyorim's right hand snapped across Aera's face.
Smack.
While her left hand kept a right grip on her collar.
Aera staggered, one hand flying to her cheek.
A single tear welled up in the corner of her eye from the pain of the slap.
Why is your hand like a damn mace, you bitch…!
Hyorim yanked her hair downward. "I didn't even have any business with you."
"Ah!"
"Don't fuck with me."
Aera glared back through clenched teeth. "Why are you picking on an innocent girl?! What the hell does she even have to do with you?!"
Hyorim didn't flinch. Her eyes burned. "Innocent?"
she spat. "You're the real idiot for being clueless. Is your friend the only one who matters to you?"
Aera slapped her again. "You psycho bitch!!"
The force knocked Hyorim back a step but only for a second.
She lunged forward, fingers tangling in Aera's hair.
"Yaaaargh!!"
Outside, voices erupted as a crowd gathered.
"They're seriously fighting!!"
"Open the door!!"
"Wait, I'll get something to unlock it!"
"Don't if you open it, you'll get dragged in!"
Im Yongin smirked, a Papico stick dangling from his lips. "Sounds like a fight in the girls' bathroom. Damn, this school's a mess. Lol."
Kang Hyuk frowned. "Why is everyone fighting lately…?"
Jisung was standing among the crowd. "Park Mijin what's going on?"
Park Mijin the classmate of Seol Hyorim who wore a glasses, shook her head. "No idea. Looks like a fight."
Jisung muttered. "A fight? Who…?"
Hong Aera's hair was twisted tight in Seol Hyorim's fist, yanked hard enough to make her scalp burn.
"You're dead, you rude bitch!" Hong Aera shrieked, blindly grabbing at Hyorim's hair in return.
Both of them staggered, locked together, teeth bared.
Hyorim drove her feet downward to Hong Aera knee.
"Agh!"
Hong Aera's leg buckled.
She collapsed halfway down, clutching her knee as pain shot through it like lightning. "Fuck! My knee!!"
Seol Hyorim loomed over her, breathing hard, eyes blazing.
"Manners?" she said coldly.
Then.
Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.
Both fists came down on Hong Aera's head.
"MANNERS?!" Hyorim screamed. "YOU'RE THE ONE WITH NO FUCKING MANNERS, YOU PSYCHO BITCH!!"
Her voice echoed so loudly it penetrated through the walls of the bathroom.
Outside, people froze.
"…That voice" Jinkyung and Jisung both muttered at the same time, cold sweat forming recognizing whose voice it is.
Inside, Hyorim barely registered anything else.
She grabbed Hai-an's hair next, yanking her down without hesitation.
"Whose fault do you think this is?!" she snarled, dragging her closer.
"KYAAAH!!" Hai-an screamed, hands scrambling uselessly.
Hyorim stood between them now, fists buried in hair on both sides, breathing ragged, eyes wild.
There was one thing Seol Hyorim had learned growing up watching Seol Minsu
It was to never lose.
"You're all fucking dead today," she hissed, voice shaking with fury gripping her hold to their head tighter. "Every last one of you, you dipshits."