Outside, Bada could no longer contain herself. Despite her bruises, her trembling body, and the aching in every joint, she stepped closer to the house, determined to reach Saeles.
"Saeles… please…" she whispered, her voice cracking. "I just… I want to help… I want to… stay with you…"
The words barely left her lips before Saeles appeared at the door, eyes wide and cold, fists clenched instinctively.
"You again?" Saeles snapped. "I told you to leave! Didn't I tell you to never come back?"
Bada trembled but refused to move. "I… I don't care… I'll never leave…" she said, barely audible, bloodied and bruised but unbroken in her devotion.
Saeles's fists moved almost automatically, grabbing Bada by her shirt and pulling her inside. Pain exploded through Bada's body as she hit the floor, but she whispered again, "I… I'm here… I won't leave…"
For a brief moment, something flickered in Saeles's eyes—a strange, conflicted emotion, quickly replaced by cold detachment. She slammed her fists into Bada again, and the small room echoed with the sounds of pain, cries, and relentless fury.
Outside, the wind whispered through the empty street, carrying the cries of a girl who would endure anything for love, and the presence of a girl whose life had been consumed by abuse, shaping her into a relentless storm of violence.
The obsession, the violence, and the psychological pressure were converging. Both girls were teetering on the edge, and no one could foresee which way the first step into darkness would fall.