Use Me Like A Drug

Maybe In Another Lifetime

(⚠️Mention of Suicide⚠️)
(Final Chapter)

The atmosphere at school had long since changed. It had been different since you'd started to hang out with the group of five. There were many speculations about how you had some sort of hazing ritual to allow you to be a part of the group. You'd even heard the girl who used to whisper falsehoods about HueningKai to you talking about how she thought you'd killed someone's cat before.

Now that you were on the other side of things, you viewed the gossip in a different way. No matter what kind of things they said about you, they would never truly know what you had to go through. It was almost frustrating to have people spreading falsehoods and judging you based on an assumed facade.

You hadn't stayed with your birth parents once. You'd even collected your things from their hotel room and kept them at Soobin and Taehyun's house. You checked in every once and a while, but you never stayed for long. Needless to say, you were certainly surprised when you were called down to a teachers classroom, and you were displeased to find out why.

The detention room brought back memories from not too long ago. Still, they were fond memories that you could reflect on happily. Those memories were tainted when you saw your birth parents sitting across from the teacher.

"(Y/N)," your birth mother started, the name sounding foreign on her tongue. She looked uncomfortable using it. "We wanted a place to talk in private."

"Does that mean you want me to leave, or...?" The teacher asked. He was still as sarcastic and existential as always.

"We've bought a house in town. We want you to come live with us," your birth father told you.

"Am I just invisible?" The teacher asked, slumping back in his seat.

"We spent so much time searching for you... surely you can trust us."

The teacher stood up and began walking out of the door to give you three privacy and on his way out you could hear him mumbling 'if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it even make a sound?' You almost felt bad for the man.

You remained silent as the two of them looked at you with fleeting hope in their eyes. You couldn't say anything. You weren't sure what to say. You could think of so many responses, so many ways to say no, and yet every single one fell short of expressing your true feelings.

"Seohyun, please. We've searched for so long. Can't you see we just want you to be happy?" Your birth mother asked.

  "Do you want me to be happy, or do you want to be happy?" Your question was followed by silence and it left the air thick. "I understand that you two have been searching for your child for years and I get that it must feel shitty to lose your child in such a fashion. I just don't know what you were expecting from me. Are you expecting me to embrace two strangers when my main parental figures have been lying to me my whole life? Are you expecting me to change my name, when I've been living as (Y/N) for years? I get that you're trying, but I can't match your efforts. You're two strangers who claim to be my parents and I can't even confirm that statement. My entire life is based off of a lie and every aspect of who I am was built off a lie. Am I really the person I think I am? Is my entire being just a product of Stockholm syndrome? Who can I trust? Certainly not to strangers who call me by a name I don't identify with."

  The two stared in disbelief. They were at a loss for words, unable to speak. You felt nervous as they tried to formulate a thought. They almost seemed to grow frustrated as they tried to sputter out a response. You felt that you had told the truth and you hoped that they would understand.

  You heard shuffling outside and then the doorknob jiggled and the door opened a sliver, revealing the teacher. The door was then pushed further open and five familiar figures skipped in, ready to save you like they always did. You knew that if you could trust anyone, it would be them.