Limitless || Mark Lee

Chapter 1

Mirae walked through the hallways of her school, it was the end of the day and she was excited for the weekend. She was a 3rd year at Seoul National University majoring in Biology and General Medicine.

She never met her real family, found on her adoptive parent's doorstep when she was only a year old. While her adoptive parents were in America for work, she lived with her adoptive older brother, Woobin.

She approached her locker to see six boys waiting in front of it.

"Hey guys."

"Mirae, what took you so long!"

"Sorry, Renjun, my teacher kept us late."

"how was your day, Mi?"

"It was pretty good, I'm just happy the week is over. What are we doing today?" she watched as her best friends exchanged glances with one another, nervous smiles on their faces.

"Sorry, Mirae, I don't think we can hang out today." Her shoulders dropped in disappointment at Jisung's words, the smile fading from her lips.

"Oh.... but we always hang out on Fridays." She said with a pout, making the boys feel horrible. Eventually Jaemin, her best friend of 13 years, cracked, grabbing her hand and going to stand next to her.

"I can stay with you, I'm free for a little bit." He smiled at his best friend as her eyes lit up. "You guys go do whatever you need to do."

The five other boys looked at one another, meeting Jaemin's stern gaze before nodding.

"Alright, see you guys later!" With that, the other boys ran off, disappearing in the sea of students.

"So, Mirae, what do you want to do? I don't have to go for a few more hours, so it's completely up to you."

The two of them walked through the halls, all of the students quickly clearing out and rushing to start the weekend.

"Hmmm.... want to go back to my place and watch a movie? Woobin shouldn't be home until later."

"Sure, let's do it."

The pair walked from school to her apartment, talking about the events of the week. They had known each other since grade school, the two of them instantly becoming best friends. They met the others a few years later and quickly their pair grew into a small group. Once they reached her apartment, she unlocked the door and walked in.

"Did Woobin come back late last night again?"
Jaemin asked as he carefully stepped over the broken glass of alcohol bottles that littered the hallway.

"Yeah, he was out with his friends again and got drunk, as usual."

She rolled her eyes, throwing her backpack onto the floor of her bedroom. Jaemin watched her with concern, quickly scanning over her body for any bruises or marks.

"Did he hurt you again?" Jaemin asked with a small voice, cupping her face carefully.

"No, I was smart enough to lock my door when I heard him come home and smash the bottle on the ground."

Jaemin let out a sigh of relief, walking over and pulling her into a hug.

"I hate having to leave you alone here. Promise me you'll always lock your door at night so he can't get to you."

He felt her nod her head into his chest before releasing her.

"Let's not talk about Woobin anymore please. I'll be careful. I promise."

She walked over to her bed, patting the spot next to her for Jaemin to sit as she chose a movie. He settled in beside her while 'Spider Man' started playing on her TV.

- - -

Jaemin looked at his phone as he noticed it getting dark outside, seeing a few urgent messages popping up on the screen. Sighing to himself, he sat up and paused the movie with a small whine of protest from Mirae.

"Sorry, Mi, I need to get going."

"It's fine, I'll walk you out."

They walked out of her room and into the main living area of her apartment. She sighed to herself as she saw all the broken glass, empty alcohol bottles, and garbage that littered the room, knowing she'd have to clean it before her brother got home.

"I'll see you on Monday ok? Call me if you need anything."

"Thanks Jaemin, I'll see you-"

She was cut off as their front door slammed open, the rugged silhouette of her brother standing in the doorway. He walked into the apartment, reeking of alcohol, as he looked around. Finally his eyes landed on Mirae, taking no notice of Jaemin.

"You little ungrateful bitch, didn't I tell you this morning to clean this up before I got home?" He started walking towards her, anger evident in each of his steps.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I was just about to do that!" She stuttered out, backing away from her brother.

"You can't do anything right, can you?"

She covered her face as he raised his arm to slap her, but the hit never came. Opening her eyes, she saw Jaemin gripping her brother's arm, the two boys staring each other down.

"Don't fucking touch her, you bastard." Jaemin spat out at her brother, shoving him backwards and making him stumble a bit.

"Oh it's you." Woobin sneered at him before turning to look at Mirae. "You didn't clean this house because you were too busy with you're little boy toy, huh? God, you're such a fucking slut."

"How dare you speak to her that way!"

"And who the fuck are you, pretty boy? What are you gonna do about it?"

Woobin walked right up to Jaemin, only inches apart as they stared each other down, Jaemin fighting back the urge to punch him in the face.

"Jaemin, just go."

Mirae ran up to her friend, pulling him away from her brother and lightly pushing him towards the door.

"I'm not leaving you with-"

"Please, I'm fine. You need to go. Now."

"Mirae, I-" he was cut off by his phone buzzing. He quickly silenced it and looked at Mirae.

He saw the pleading in her eyes, his phone continuing to blow up with messages in his back pocket. He forced out a breath, taking one last look at the poor girl before nodding his head and walking towards the door.

"I'll text you later, ok?" She nodded in response as he regretfully walked out of her apartment and closed the door.

The second the door locked, Woobin turned to Mirae with a smirk. He shoved her against the wall, a loud slap resonating throughout the room as his palm made contact with her cheek.

"I'm going out again, and when I get home, this apartment better be spotless and that fridge better be stocked or else you'll get a lot more than just a slap."

He slammed the door as he left, leaving her to crumble to the ground with tears in her eyes before she started carefully cleaning their apartment.

- - -

She had finally finished picking up all the broken bottles and wiping the alcohol off the floor. Her hands were cut up from the small shards of glass, making her wince slightly as she moved. She walked over to one of their cabinets to pull out the first aid kit only to see it missing bandaids.

Well he wanted me to stock the fridge anyway, so I might as well go out and buy some bandaids too.

She sighed to herself, dabbing up some of the blood from her hands before grabbing her keys and leaving their apartment.

Soon, she reached the convenience store, moving through the aisles quickly as she grabbed what she needed. The store was basically empty, with the cashier being the only other person inside besides her. She made her way to the first aid aisle, looking for bandaids, when she heard the front door open. The sound of heavy footsteps disturbed the silence but she thought nothing of it until a loud voice spoke from the front of the store.

"Put your fucking hands up if you don't want us to shoot you right here."