Strangers (jaemin ff)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4
The invitation

"You worthless child! Get out! You're useless just like your mother." Her father growled as he slammed the front gate of their house. The 16 yr. old dane, got up after that painful slap her father planted on her cheek. Bruises were visible if you pay attention. Her legs were bleeding nonstop and yet she ignored treating her fresh wounds. Her eyes winced at the sudden pain from her right knee. She must've landed on the floor badly.

The neighbors kept their silence as they took a glance. The shadows of people whispering and pitying the appearance of the teenager. Dane acted lifeless. She didn't pay attention to those stupid neighbors spreading different types of gossip about her family. Dane couldn't understand the concept of gossiping, why must people discuss about the struggle of others? Is it satisfying to see people getting hurt?

"I pity this child. She looks beat. Her mother passed away 4 years ago."

"Wasn't she adopted? Her father keeps beating the crap out of her almost everyday."

"According to my daughter, she stopped attending school because students treated her badly."

"I heard her mother had her with another man."

"Poor child."

She closed her fists tightly. Isn't this too much? She's been abused all her life and its starting to get really painful. Hoping to feel numb with the pain she's feeling, she kept her eyes straight.

She ignored everyone's stares. Without even realizing that she's being followed by a certain boy from the neighborhood. The attractive student looked at the way she was limping. At first he shaked the thoughts of why the girl was limping while trembling due to the cold weather. But seeing her beat and broken made him feel terrible for no reason. He scanned the girl's face briefly. She seemed quite familiar, he thought. That was the moment when he realized that it was Dane Lee. The girl who's always isolating herself inside the classroom.

He noticed blood dripping from her knee and he wondered why this girl acted as if she isn't wounded. She observed silently, as she noticed that a stranger kept following her footsteps. The boy flinched when she turned to face him.

"What do you want? Money? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I have none left." She exclaimed with a harsh tone. Dane tried to hold her tears. Her hands were trembling with anger and frustration. After her father's endless torture this is what she gets? A stranger following her? It felt stupid and exhausting for the teenager. The pretty boy gazed at those hurting eyes. Without even answering her question he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to nowhere.

"Where the hell are yoy taking me?!? Let go stranger!" Dane tried pulling her wrist back. The boy chuckled at her remark. 'Stranger' he thought. Dane never really did pay attention at class. She had no friends. She didn't even recognize that the one dragging her was the famous student in their classroom. The one who's responsible for all the commotion at school.

Na Jaemin.

Jaemin thought it was odd. Dane was the only female student who didn't give a crap about his existence. She was too busy trying to escape the disruptive crowd. That made him amused with the girl's personality.

He pushed the glass door of a nearby convenience store. He immediately grabbed the pack of bandages and disinfectants stocked at the second floor of the shelf and made his way to the counter. Still holding dane's wrist he motioned her to take a seat. Jaemin kneeled in front of her, which made dane feel embarrassed with his actions.