True Love and Other Disasters || KTH

01 | Boy Meets Evil

— some bruises are on the inside #NoMoreBullying

Ten years earlier . . .

Biting my nails anxiously, I swayed my body to the right and peered through the small space between the door and the side wall of this small cubicle. She was not there. I sucked in my breath, my heart thumping crazily in my chest as I leaned forward and glued my face on the door, hoping to find ... well, hoping to find no one outside.

She was not there. I sagged in relief. The devil was nowhere to be seen; they had left me alone at last.

Why had I done it? What had happened last night was not something that I usually did. Maybe because for once, someone paid attention to me, a guy paid attention to me. I knew I should not have done it, after all, he and I were from different social classes. He was Mr. Popular and I was just Ms. Fat Nobody.

Tears brimming on my eyes threatened to fall and I sucked a deep breath. Why had I let myself believe that for once someone like him would like someone like me? And to top it all, he was her ex-boyfriend. Even though I knew she would go livid if she knew, the stupid and selfish part of me had not cared. For once, I wanted to feel happiness. I wanted to have a taste of love and being loved. My parents were too busy working to pay the bills, my older brother was Mr. Popular too in his school so he hardly had time for me, and lastly, my little brother was only two years old. Sometimes I did tell him stuff but it was impossible to expect decent advice or reply from a baby.

Still, this was not their fault. It was mine. I should have known better. Even though he had been so sweet to me, which was hard to believe, I should not have let him kiss me. At least not in school where everyone who walked by could see and just my luck, one of her followers had seen it and no doubt reported it to her.

I dragged myself to my feet and carefully turned the lock. It did not take ten seconds before someone pushed the door inward, shoving me all the way to the back of the toilet. My behind hit the seat with a loud thud.

"There you are," said the voice of my nightmare. "We have been looking for you everywhere."

Even though I knew exactly who it was, I glanced up and my eyes met the prettiest eyes I had ever seen. Her beauty always left me wondering why there was an ugly person like me in the world where there were people like her.

Life was not fair.

The corners of her lips turned upward as a cunning smile formed on her face. "Get the bucket and call Sang-Wook," she barked her orders to her minions. Reaching to her pocket, she pulled out a camera recorder and turned it on. "Let's finish what we started last night, shall we?"

My legs were numb and my body was sore but I forced myself to get up. I could only reach the door when two guys came into the toilet and shoved me back into the cubicle. I was heavier but even I was no match for two males' strength. I recognized them a tad later, they were Jae-Hwa and Chong-Pil. Both were Sang-Wook's friends and also members of the soccer team. There was no way I could get past them. They were simply too strong.

I turned to Hye-Ji with both hands clasped in front of my chest. "Hye-Ji, please spare me today. I am begging you. Please let me leave."

Her brows arched perfectly and the next thing I knew, she laughed as if I had told her the funniest joke. "Now why would I do that?"

There was a rustle before I watched Sang-Wook emerging in front of the double doors of girls' bathroom. His eyes scanned the room and for a few seconds when our eyes met, I saw guilt in his eyes and something else, pity. He brought his wall back up, and the connection broke but something told me he did not want this. Whatever Hye-Ji had planned, he did not want to be a part of it.