True Beauty: An Alternate Universe

Chapter One

Soojin:

My eyes fluttered open and I lifted my head. I rubbed my sore neck and looked at my surroundings. I had managed to fall asleep at my desk again, papers sprawled across it. I got up and stretched, loosening my back muscles. I went to the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water and brushed my teeth. I gave myself a once over in the mirror after putting on my uniform and brushing my hair, checking to see if any makeup was needed. As always I settled on no. I have been blessed with clear skin and no matter how tired I was, I never seemed to have dark circles. Just in case though I put on a peach velvet lip tint and put a concealer in my bag.

After putting my books and papers in my bag I walked down the stairs into the kitchen. I skipped dinner last night to study and was starving so I poured myself a bowl of cereal. As I was taking the milk out of the fridge my dad spoke from the eating table, "Shouldn't you be heading to the bus stop now Soojin? What are you still doing here?" he flipped over to the next page of his newspaper, mumbling disappointingly under his breath. "I'm just going to eat breakfast dad, I can catch the next bus, it's still early after all," I replied and placed the milk on the counter. "Well the point is to be as early as possible," he looked up from his paper, "You should aim to be early so you have time to study when you get to school," his voice was monotone but I could sense a rising anger in him.

I was also starting to fume, "I've been studying all night," I snapped suddenly, "I'm tired and hungry, how do you expect me to concentrate on an empty stomach?" I couldn't control myself. It all happened so fast, my dad stood up and slapped me across the face. Tears welled up in my eyes, I glanced at my mum, hoping she would do something, but as always, she was silent, sipping on her coffee. I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the house, leaving my breakfast on the counter untouched. When I got off the bus and stepped into school, I quickly wiped away my tears, and prayed that nobody would notice my puffy eyes. "Hey Kang Soojin!" I heard someone call from behind me. It was Suho Lee, my childhood friend. "Oh hey Suho" I plastered on the fake smile I have perfected by now. Suho ran up to me and smiled back, but it dropped quicker than he appeared, "What happened to your face?" he asked pointing to my cheek. I covered it with my hand, it must have been red from when I got slapped.

"It's nothing" I said, trying to avoid explaining. Suho's face twisted into concern, "Your dad hit you again, didn't he?" he removed my hand slowly from my face and examined it. I sighed and complied, there was nothing I could hide from Suho, he knew more than anyone else ever would. "What was it this time," he gently placed a hand on my back, leading me towards the school. "Well I was up late studying and felt hungry in the morning as I had skipped dinner, so, naturally I went down for some breakfast, but my dad said I should be going into school early to study more. I retaliated and told him I couldn't study on an empty stomach," I touched the cheek which still stung after being struck, "Then he slapped me, and I left the house after that," I looked up at Suho, smiling softly, hoping to reassure him that I was alright. "So," he began, "You haven't eaten for a while?" I nodded in response and brushed it off, saying I would just eat at lunch. Before I knew it we had made it to our classroom. "You go in first," Suho said, opening the door for me, "There is something I need to do," I nodded and watched as he walked quickly down the hall.