𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲━𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐧

7

the day before.
yerin came home to a seemingly empty house as her dad wasn't in his usual spot on the couch. she checked his room next but he wasn't there either. she sighed to herself and went to her room. as she closed the door, she heard her dad's voice behind her. "i got a call from the school. how dare you act up? that embarrasses me and it embarrasses this family's name!" he yelled without even getting to hear what yerin had to say. "d-did you answer the cal-" "and now you're talking back! i ought to teach you a lesson!" he yelled, raising his belt and beating yerin with it. screams of agonizing pain left yerin's mouth as the leather hit her skin over and over. yerin passed out on the cold floor that night.

the same day.

yerin woke up with welts all over her arms and legs from the belt. she was in no condition to go to school that day but she forced herself to get up anyway. she showered and even got dressed but she sat on her bed for one second and ended up falling asleep immediately. when she woke up, it was already eleven. "i'm gonna get in so much trouble!" yerin said aloud to herself, panicking and grabbing her bag before dashing out the door. she ran all the way there and got there in eight minutes tops. once she was on school campus, she stopped running and hunched over, gagging due to too much running. after she caught her breath, she entered the office to sign in.

"hey, yerin!" sinb greeted, rather enthusiastically. the first thing yerin's eyes landed on was the busted lip she had. "are you okay? what happened?" yerin asked, grazing the pad of her thumb against sinb's bleeding lip. yerin realized how weird it was for her to touch sinb like that so she retracted her hand and took a step back, her face burning from embarrassment. "some asshole punched me in the mouth but it's all good. he got what was coming. anyway, where were you this morning? i couldn't find you." sinb said, biting her lip to hide the smile from yerin's action. "y-you were looking for me?" yerin asked shyly. sinb was always more of a blunt person so she had no problem saying yes. yerin blushed lightly, covering her face to hide it. "oh... i'm sorry. i overslept." yerin replied.

sinb smiled at the girl's shyness. "i got this from the vending machine but i wasn't hungry. i've seen you get these before so i assumed you liked them." sinb said, reaching into her bag and grabbing a partially melted candy bar. "i'm sorry. it kind of melted." sinb said with an awkward laugh and gave it to yerin. yerin felt a genuine smile tug at her lips. "they're my favorite." yerin said softly, looking at sinb with a look in her eyes that, strangely, made sinb happy. "miss hwang, your mom is here to pick you up." the desk lady said, ruining yerin and sinb's little sweet moment. "you're leaving?" yerin asked, her facial expression sinking. "yeah, i kind of got sent home." sinb said, chuckling quietly.

"oh, okay. i'll see you tomorrow, i guess." yerin mumbled, a certain sadness in her tone. "actually, you won't because i'm suspended for the rest of the week." sinb said, making yerin's mood drop even further. "a-ah, really? okay, i'll see you next week." yerin said, forcing a smile on her lips. "don't be so bummed out, i'll be back to bully you on monday." sinb joked. but yerin was actually upset. she was never alone at school when sinb was around even if she did harass and use her. "bye, ducky. if anyone fucks with you while i'm gone, tell them i'll beat their ass when i get back." sinb joked one last time, winking at yerin before leaving the school.

and surely enough, the next two days without sinb was miserable for yerin. sinb's fangirls wouldn't let her breathe after the pictures of them hugging. they'd follow her in the bathroom and dump water into her stall, they'd leave threat notes in her locker, they'd throw her food on the floor and make her eat it. and eunwoo came back since sinb wasn't there. quite frankly, he was worse than sinb. he'd call her degrading names, tell her that she'd never be anything more than a house pet, make her sit next to him on the floor like a dog. and on the weekend, she was stuck at home with her abusive father.

yerin was in desperate need of help.