ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ꜱᴇɴᴅ ┆|| ┆ni-ki

~seventeen~

Eunha hurried down the stairs, her phone buzzing in her pocket with another text from Eunji saying that she was already waiting for her at the mall.

Her sneakers tapped lightly against the wooden steps, but as she reached the bottom, a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Eunha froze, her heart immediately racing. She quickly composed herself before turning around, forcing a smile. "I'm, uh, going to study with my friend." she lied, hoping it would pass without much questioning.

Her mom's eyes narrowed, clearly unconvinced. "Study? Since when do you actually care about your grades?"

Eunha swallowed hard, keeping her gaze down to avoid eye contact. "It's just—Eunji is helping me with some assignments, that's all."

Her mother's lips curled into a bitter smile, her eyes narrowing. "Eunji, huh? That loudmouth girl you call a friend? You think I'm stupid?"

Eunha clenched her jaw, feeling her nails dig into her palm. Her body tensed as her mother stepped closer. "I'm not doing anything of what you're thinking. We're just studying. That's it," she murmured, trying to keep her voice steady.

Without warning, her mother's hand shot out, striking her hard across the shoulder. Eunha stumbled back, her head hitting the wall.

Instinctively, she lifted her hand to touch her forehead, only to pull it away and find blood smeared on her fingertips. Her breath hitched in her throat, the sight of blood making her feel dizzy for a moment.

The sharp sting of pain bloomed across her skin, but she didn't dare react. She'd learned how to keep her face blank, how to not show the hurt, even when it felt like her chest was about to cave in.

"Don't talk back to me," her mom snapped, her voice low. "You think you can just lie to my face and get away with it? You're just like your father—useless, pathetic."

Eunha's heart squeezed painfully at her words, but she stayed quiet. She wanted to scream, to fight back, to tell her mom how wrong she was, but she couldn't.

Her mother took a step back, shaking her head in disgust. "Your father's coming home tonight," she said, her voice cold. "Do your bandages before he gets here. I don't want him asking questions about why you look like you do. And don't you dare say anything, Eunha. Not a word. You'll keep your mouth shut like you always do."

Eunha blinked, the words hitting her like a punch to the gut. Her bandages. Right.

Her dad didn't know, about any of this. He didn't know what her mom did when he wasn't around.

"I'll be back before dinner." she managed to whisper, her voice barely audible.

Her mom gave her one last look of contempt before turning away, muttering under her breath, "You better. And make sure you wear something new and elegant tonight."

With that, her mother disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving Eunha standing there, frozen in place.

She took a shaky breath, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill. Crying wasn't an option, not here, not now. She'd done enough of that in the past.

She glanced at the clock on the wall, realizing she was even later than before. Eunji was probably already waiting, maybe even annoyed that Eunha hadn't shown up yet.

"Just hold it together. You'll be out of here soon. Just a little longer." she told herself, grabbing her jacket off the hook by the door.

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