Work Text:
|6:34 am February 12|
—"Look at her. She doesn’t even cry anymore,"
Sujin laughed, flicking the ash from her cigarette right onto the toe of Eunseo’s cheap shoe.
—"Hey. Are you deaf now, too?"
Eunseo didn’t look up. She kept her gaze fixed on a crack in the pavement.
Min-ah, leaning against the railing, smirked and grabbed a handful of Eunseo’s hair, yanking her head back.
—"Sujin asked you a question, bitch. Look at us when we're—"
"Drop it."
The voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the damp air like a blade.
Both the girls froze.
Walking down the steps was Geum Seongje.
The Geum Seongje from Ganghak High.
Everyone knew who Seongje was.
One word from him to his family's lawyers,
Min-ah and Sujin would find themselves expelled, blacklisted, and their parents ruined by sunset.
Sujin instantly let go of Eunseo, stumbling back a step.
—"O-oppa. We were just... we were just talking."
Seongje didn't look at the bullies. He stepped right past them, his expensive shoes clicking against the concrete, and stopped directly in front of Eunseo.
He tilted his head, inspecting the dirt on her cheek and the dull, empty look in her eyes.
—"You're making a mess of my view,"
Seongje said smoothly, his voice devoid of warmth.
He looked back over his shoulder at Min-ah and Sujin.
—"If I see either of you in this stairwell again, I’ll make sure your parents' shops lose their leases by tomorrow morning. Am I clear?"
Sujin turned pale, grabbing Min-ah's arm.
—"Yes. Yes, clear. We're leaving."
They practically tripped over themselves scrambling up the stairs, the sound of their panicked footsteps fading.
Silence fell over the stairwell.
Seongje reached out, his thumb brushing a smudge of dirt off her cheek.
—"Get up," he murmured.
Eunseo whispered, her voice cracking.
—"Why do you care?"
"Because you're boring,"
he said smoothly, pulling a crisp silk handkerchief from his pocket and tossing it into her lap.
—"And watching them ruin you is getting repetitive. It ruins my peace and quiet."
That was a lie, and they both knew it. Seongje didn't care about peace and quiet. He cared about control.
Eunseo clutched the handkerchief.
—"They'll just wait until you're not looking,"
she muttered.
—"You won't always be here."
A slow calm smile spread across Seongje's lips. He leaned in just a fraction closer.
—"Then I guess I'll just have to stay by your side,"
he whispered.
—"Let's see what happens to their families when they realize they got themselves into this shit."
—"Come on,"
his voice echoed down the stairwell.
—"You're from Yeongwon high, right?"
He checked her up and down, inspecting the uniform she had on which was ruffled up.
—"teachers there are strict about students being late."
Eunseo stared down at her lap, her fingers tightening around the silk handkerchief.
—"I.. I have to go to class."
Seongje didn't answer. He looked down at her, catching the tear in her sleeve and the dirt smudged across her shoulder.
A dismissive click of his tongue echoed in the alley.
—"Like that?"
—"You look like a stray that just got dragged out of a gutter."
—"Follow me."
Eunseo hesitated for a second.
A part of her brain told her that skipping class would only make her life harder. But looking up at the figure of Geum Seongje, she realized she didn't really have a choice.
She stood up, brushing the dust from her skirt, and followed behind his... Cheap sneakers?
|7:23 am|
The back parking lot was quiet, shielded from the rest of the campus by a thick row of manicured hedges.
Waiting there was a sleek, midnight-black sedan with windows darkly tinted.
The driver instantly stepped out, opening the rear door without a single question.
He didn't even blink at Eunseo’s disheveled appearance. To Seongje’s people, whatever Seongje brought entirely became his business.
—"Get in,"
Seongje murmured, stepping aside to let her pass.
Eunseo slid into the backseat.
The interior smelled faintly of expensive leather, erased the suffocating scent of the stairwell.
A second later, the door clicked shut, and Seongje slid into the seat right next to her.
The car glided away from the curb.
—"Sir?"
the driver asked quietly, looking through the rearview mirror.
—"Should we head back to the estate?"
—"nah,"
Seongje said smoothly, leaning his head back against the headrest.
—"Call the boutique. Have them bring a fresh Songmin High uniform to the penthouse. And Size..."
He paused, his gaze dropping to her frame, measuring her with precision. —"...medium."
—"Right away, sir."
—"You don't... you don't have to do this,"
eunseo whispered, her hands knotting together in her lap.
—"I can just go home. I don't need a new uniform."
Seongje leaned over slightly, his long fingers catching the frayed edge of her collar, pulling her just an inch closer so she had no choice but to look into his eyes.
—"I already told you back there,"
—"They got themselves into this shit. And since you're the one who brought them into my view, you don't get to run away now."
Eunseo didn't answer and held her head low.
—"you've already done so much for me."
—"i don't even know how to repay you."
Eunseo sniffled, shedding a few tears, not because of the girls.. but because she's relieved to have a friend like seongje.
—"you dont have to repay, I can take care of myself."
He gazed at her face for a beat longer, as if memorizing the look of her before finally looking away, his eyes back to the dimmed screen of his phone.
|10:36 pm February 28|§
It was pouring.
Eunseo walked with her head down, her cheap shoes completely soaked through. She didn't bother holding her umbrella straight. She just wanted to get home.
A black sedan pulled up to the curb, blocking her path.
The rear window rolled down. Seongje was sitting in the back, staring straight ahead.
—"You're slow,"
—"I'm going home."
Seongje finally turned his head to look at her. His eyes were cold. He reached over and pushed the door open.
—"Get in,"
—"You're getting the street dirty."
Eunseo hesitated, the rain dripping from her hair down her neck. She closed her wet umbrella and got in.
She sat pressed against the door, trying to occupy as little space as possible.
Water immediately pooled on the dark leather seat, dripping onto the clean floor mat.
—"Where to, sir?"
the driver asked.
—"The apartment,"
Seongje said. He didn't look at her. He unlocked his phone texting one of his other friends.
Eunseo stared at her lap.
—"I should go home."
Seongje didn't look up from his phone,
—"Fine, take her home."
Eunseo whispered her address.
The car turned away from the bright city lights, heading deep into the cramped, older district.
The neat concrete roads turned into cracked asphalt and muddy, overflowing gutters.
The sedan finally pulled to a stop, it was at the bottom of a steep, pitch-black alley.
The only light came from a single, flickering streetlamp at the corner. It looked abandoned.
Eunseo reached for the door handle, but the lock stayed down.
She looked back at Seongje.
He was staring out the window at the dark alleyway, his expression flat.
—"You walk down this alone every night?"
—"Yes."
Seongje clicked his tongue. He unlocked the doors, but before she could push hers open, he grabbed her wrist.
—"I'm walking you to your door,"
—"Get out."
They got out into the pouring rain.
Seongje didn't have an umbrella, but he didn't care. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets and walked right next to her.
The alley was narrow, smelling of wet trash and damp brick.
They stopped in front of a rusted metal door with peeling paint.
—"This is it," Eunseo whispered.
Seongje looked at the flimsy lock on the door, then back at her. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small slip of paper with a number scribbled on it, and shoved it into her hand.
—"Call it if they show up at your house,"
he said, his voice flat against the sound of the rain.
—"Lock the door."
She didn't take the slip of paper. She just stared at it in his hand, the rain quickly turning the edges soggy.
—"Why didn't you tell me?"
Seongje’s voice suddenly cut through the rain.
—"How long has this been going on? Months? A year?"
—"It doesn't matter."
—"It does matter,"
he snapped, stepping closer, forcing her to look at him.
—"You let them drag you into stairwells. You let them ruin your clothes and treat you like dirt, and you just stay quiet."
—"Are you stupid? If you had just said something—"
—"Said what?!"
Eunseo’s head snapped up.
—"What was I supposed to say, Seongje?"
she yelled, her voice cracking over the sound of the downpour.
—"You think everyone has a family like yours? You think a phone call just magically fixes everything for people like me?"
—"If I tell a teacher, they target me worse. If I fight back, they beat me harder. You don't know anything about my life!"
Seongje stared at her, caught off guard by the sudden rawness of her voice.
—"You get to sit in your expensive car and play hero when you're bored,"
she spit out, tears finally mixing with the rain on her cheeks.
—"But tomorrow, you go back to your perfect world. I still have to live here."
She snatched the wet slip of paper from his hand, crumpled it up and threw it at his chest.
Before he could say a single word Eunseo turned and grabbed the rusted handle of her door, and slammed it shut behind her. The heavy click of the deadbolt echoing from the inside was final.
Seongje stood frozen in the dark, pouring rain.
His hair was soaked, plastering to his forehead, and his school coat was heavy with water.
He stared at the chipped, peeling paint of the locked door, his jaw clenching so hard the muscles in his cheek twitched.
With a low curse, he swung his foot back and kicked a rusted trash can on the side of the alley. It clattered violently against the brick wall, spilling wet garbage across the muddy pavement.
He didn't look back as he turned and walked out of the alley alone.
|12:12 am February 29|
The bathroom smelled like damp tile and cheap laundry soap.
Eunseo stood over the sink, her knuckles stung red as she rubbed the coarse fabric of her blazer together.
The muddy rainwater from the alley had dried into dark, stubborn patches. She scrubbed hard, but the stains only faded to a dull, bruised grey.
She didn't have a spare.
On the cracked edge of the porcelain sink lay the crumpled slip of paper.
She had gone back out into the mud to pick it up after his car drove away.
Now, the paper was dry, the edges stiff and warped. The blue ink of his number had bled into a messy, unreadable smudge.
Eunseo wrung out the heavy blazer, the cold water dripping onto her bare feet. She hung it over the shower rod, knowing it wouldn't be dry by the time she had to leave.
|7:45 am|
The alleyway staircase smelled of damp concrete and cheap cigarettes.
Eunseo walked in wearing her stiff, still-damp blazer. It felt freezing against her skin.
As she reached the top of the concrete stairwell, Sujin and Min-ah stepped out, blocking her path.
They didn't look smug today. They looked pale, their eyes darting around everywhere.
They even had a thick cap and beanie to hide their identity, how gullible.
Sujin thrust a thick paper envelope into Eunseo's chest.
—"Take it,"
Sujin muttered, her voice low and rushed.
—"It’s enough to buy five new uniforms. Just... tell them we made up."
Eunseo looked down at the envelope. It was stuffed with cash. Seongje had clearly done something to terrify them overnight, and now they were desperate.
Eunseo didnt reply, she gave the envelope back.
—"Please, unnie. Take it, we can't afford anything else. Other... Otherwise seongje will take our parents shops down."
Min-ah held Eunseo's arm in desperation.
—"i don't want your money. Just leave me alone."
Sujin and Min-ah exchanged a quick, relieved look. The fear in their eyes vanished instantly, replaced by their usual cold smirks.
—"See? I told you she'd be easy," Min-ah laughed, stepping into Eunseo's space. She reached out, flicking the damp collar of Eunseo’s blazer.
—"God, you smell like mildew. Still acting proud when you live in a dump?"
Sujin pocketed the envelope, her posture shifting back to a lazy slump.
—"Seriously. We've never even seen your parents. Does your mom actually work, or did she just abandon you like your dad did?"
—"No wonder you're like this. You have absolutely no one—"
Sujin’s heels caught on the edge of the concrete step. Her eyes went wide with sudden, genuine terror as she lost her balance.
She fell backward.
It was a loud, heavy, sickening sound. Thud after thud as her body tumbled down the steep concrete flight.
Then, silence.
Sujin lay crumpled at the bottom of the landing, her head twisted at an unnatural angle. Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the sky.
She didn't move. She didn't wake up.
Min-ah stopped breathing.
She stared down the stairs, her face losing every drop of color.
She looked at Sujin, then slowly turned her head to look at Eunseo. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
She was trembling so hard she had to grab the handrail to keep from collapsing.
—"S-Sujin?"
Sujin didn't blink. A thin, dark trickle of red began to seep from the back of her head, staining the gray concrete.
Eunseo looked down at her own hands. They were still red from scrubbing her blazer this morning. They didn't feel like her hands anymore.
The silence in the stairwell was suffocating, punctuated only by the distant sound of a bell ringing for the start of class.
Min-ah let out a sharp, choked gasp, took two steps backward away from Eunseo, and then turned and bolted down the alley.
Eunseo was left alone at the top of the stairs.
|6:54 pm March 3|
Min-ah sat in the metal chair, hunched over. Her fingers were shredded, the cuticles bitten down until they were jagged and raw.
She chewed on a piece of loose skin near her thumb, her eyes darting around the room, tracking every cop.
Across from her, the detective didn't move.
He stared, waiting for her to fill the silence.
Min-ah let out a shaky, wet breath, wiped her nose with her sleeve, and started picking at her nail again.
—"She wouldn't stop," Min-ah whispered. Her voice was thin, cracking with every word.
—"Who?"
—"Eunseo."
—"Sujin just wanted to talk. We were trying to apologize... we had money for her. We just wanted her to stop."
—"So you were harassing her?"
—"No!" Min-ah’s head snapped up, her eyes wide and desperate.
—"We were scared of her. She’s... she’s not normal. She looked at us like we were already dead."
She pulled at her thumbnail, drawing a bead of blood, she didn't seem to notice. She leaned forward, the metal chair screeching against the concrete floor.
—"She grabbed Sujin," Min-ah sobbed,
—"I watched her.. Eunseo lunged at her with both hands and shoved her. She pushed her down the stairs on purpose."
—"She killed her. She just pushed her and walked away like nothing happened. You have to believe me. She’s the one who did it."
—"so where's the body now? It was gone when investigation took place."
—"God knows where it is now! Just arrest her, she scares everyone! She's a loner, a creep!" Min-ah couldn't stop balling her eyes.
The detectives looked at each other, they just had to get Eunseo's part now...
|7:48 pm|
The detectives knocked hard on the rusted door.
Eunseo opened it a crack.
—"Eunseo? We just need to talk to you about what happened to Han Sujin at school today."
Eunseo stayed completely blank.
—"Exams are near," she said.
—"Can't we do this later?"
—"You're a prime suspect. We need you now."
The younger detective grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the doorway.
A few feet away, Seongje was leaning against the alley wall.
He had his arms crossed, watching them in the dark. He didn't move or say a word as they dragged her past him
They sat Eunseo down in a small room with nothing but a metal table and two chairs.
The cuffs on her wrists clicked against the cold steel surface every time she moved.
The older detective sat across from her, dropping a thick manila folder onto the table.
_"Min-ah says you pushed her," he said, leaning forward.
—"She says you two had a fight by the stairs, and you threw her down."
—"I didn't."
—'Then what happened?"
—"She slipped."
—"The stairs were wet from the rain. They were bothering me about money, and Sujin lost her balance."
The detective stared at her, trying to read her blank face.
—"Min-ah was hysterical, Eunseo. She was biting her fingers to the bone. And you're sitting here talking about exams. You don't look like someone who just watched her classmate die."
Eunseo finally looked up, her eyes dull.
—"If I cry, will she wake up?"
—"I told you what happened. She slipped."
The detective looked at her for a long moment, then flipped the folder shut.
—"We found the envelope,"
he said, tapping the cardboard cover.
—"The one with the cash. It was in Sujin’s pocket, soaked with blood. Why would she be offering you money if she wasn't terrified of you?"
—"It wasn't her money."
—"Then whose was it?"
—"I don't know,"
The detective leaned back, his chair creaking loudly in the small room.
—"Min-ah told us everything, Eunseo. She told us how they've been treating you at school. But things changed today. You didn't look like a victim out there on that landing."
Eunseo kept her eyes fixed on the metal table.
—"People fall down stairs every day."
—"Not like that," the detective said.
He stood up, pulling his jacket straight.
—"The forensic department is looking at the bruising on her chest right now. If there are handprints under those wet clothes, your story falls apart."
He walked to the door, his heavy boots thudding against the floor.
—"Sit tight,"
—"We're going to see what the tape says."
The door slammed shut, and the lock clicked into place.
The silence in the room grew heavier. Eunseo sat perfectly still, her hands resting on the cold metal table.
|7:58 pm|
Ten minutes passed.
The lock clicked, and the heavy door swung open again.
The detective walked back in, but he didn't sit down.
He stood by the door, holding the folder loosely by his side.
—"The school security cameras," the detective said, his voice flat.
Eunseo didn't move. She didn't look up.
—"The stairwell is a blind spot,"
_"The camera in the main hallway shows you walking toward the stairs. It shows Sujin and Min-ah going in after you. But it doesn't show the landing."
He walked over, dropping the folder onto the table with a dull thud.
—"But the camera by the rear exit caught something else,"
he said, leaning against the edge of the table.
—"Right after Min-ah ran out screaming for help, a boy left the building. Do you know him?"
Eunseo’s fingers twitched slightly against the metal, but her face remained blank.
The detective slid a blurry, printed photo across the metal table.
It showed a tall boy in a school uniform, his face half-hidden by his glasses, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
The detective didn't take his eyes off her face once.
Eunseo stared at the blurry photo. Her face stayed blank, but inside, her chest went rigid.
He was seen.
Seongje wasn't invisible. He had walked right past a camera in a Ganghak blazer. If the police realized he was the same guy standing outside her apartment three days ago, everything would fall apart.
The detective leaned down,
—"You didn't look surprised when I mentioned a boy. You knew he was there, didn't you?"
Eunseo kept her eyes on the blurry printout, refusing to look at him.
—"Lots of boys from Ganghak hang around the neighborhood after school."
—"Not inside an all-girls campus, of course."
—"And certainly not right outside a stairwell where a girl just plummeted to her death."
He tapped the photo again, his finger hitting the paper with a sharp snap.
—"Ganghak boys don't just wander onto an all-girls campus, Eunseo,"
—"They bring trouble wherever they go. If he was there, he had a reason. Did he push her, or did you?"
|10:32 pm|
Seongje’s family money had moved mountains overnight.
The hallway security footage from Yeongwon High had been wiped clean, the police reports were quietly filed away, and Sujin’s death was officially ruled an accidental fall.
Seongje had assured her every trace was gone.
|2:46 pm March 7|
Eunseo stood by her locker, reaching for her notebook, when a phone slammed against the metal right next to her head.
Eunseo didn't flinch, but her eyes slid to the screen.
Sujin loosing her balance, and the horrific drop that followed.
The camera angle wasn't from the school's security network.
—"Pretty good quality, right?"
Min-ah leaned against the locker next to hers, a satisfied smirk on her face.
—"Fooling the police was easy, wasn't it Unnie?"
Min-ah whispered, stepping close enough that her breath brushed Eunseo’s ear.
—"And your rich boyfriend thought wiping the server would fix everything. Too bad he didn't know I hacked the cache before he bought off the IT department."
Eunseo kept her face completely void of emotion,
—"What do you want, Min-ah?"
—"Simple," Min-ah said, leaning back and holding her phone out of reach.
_"I’ve been watching Geum Seongje for months. I know who his family is. I know what he is. And someone like you doesn't deserve to sit next to him."
She tapped the screen, pausing the video right on Eunseo's face.
—"Set up a date between me and Seongje. Tell him you want him to meet you at the café near the station tonight."
—"Then you back off, block his number, and leave him to me."
—"If you refuse, or if you tell him I blackmailed you... I hit upload. The police, the news, the school board— everyone gets a copy. You'll be in a cell before dinner."
Eunseo stared at her for a long, silent second
—"Fine,"
—"Tonight at eight. The café near the station."
|5:40 pm|
Eunseo stared at her phone screen in the dim lighting of her room.
Her fingers hovered over Seongje’s contact.
He picked up on the second ring,
—"Eunseo?"
—"Are you busy tonight?" Eunseo asked, keeping her voice completely level.
—"At eight. Meet me at the café near the station."
On the other end, Seongje paused. He leaned back against his desk, a smirk pulling at his lips.
—"The café by the station? It's kind of late," he said, lazily twirling his car keys around his finger.
—"Why? Missing me already?"
—"Just be there," Eunseo said simply, and hung up before he could push further.
|7:55 pm|
Seongje stepped into the café. He swapped his school uniform for a clean, sharp black jacket, his hair styled back just enough to look casual.
His eyes scanned the small, quiet tables near the back window, expecting to see Eunseo sitting alone with a cold drink.
Instead, a girl waved at him from a corner booth.
It wasn't Eunseo.
Min-ah sat there, her hair freshly done, wearing heavy makeup and a practiced sweet smile. The table was set with two drinks.
Seongje expression flattened in an instant.
—"Oppa!" Min-ah said, her voice dripping with charm as she gestured to the seat across from her.
—"Eunseo told me you guys were hanging out, but she had an emergency and had to leave. She asked me to keep you company instead—"
Seongje didn't even let her finish the sentence.
He stared at Min-ah for a fraction of a second.
Without uttering a single word, he turned on his heel and walked straight out the glass doors, the bell ringing sharply above him.
He pulled out his phone, and dialed Eunseo's number.
"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable... Please try again la—"
She had blocked him.
|March 12|
Eunseo rewrote her life into back alleys and side streets
She woke up at five in the morning, taking a walk through the neighborhood to reach Yeongwon High before the sun rose.
The moment the final bell rang, she slipped out through a broken gate before any of Seongje could pull up to the front entrance.
She traded her device for a cheap burner with no contacts saved.
Across town, Seongje was losing his mind.
He stood outside her apartment during midnights, leaning against his sedan.
He already sent three different men to wait by her front gates, but she never showed up.
Inside his car, Seongje’s hands gripped the seatbelt so hard his knuckles turned white.
He pulled his phone and dialed another contact.
—"I don't care how many guys you need to put on the street,"
—"Find her."
—"Track every camera within the school. The second you see her, grab her."
Eunseo pulled her hood down lower, quickening her pace.
She was only two blocks away from the cheap rental she planned to hide in for the night.
A heavy cloth was pressed firmly over her nose and mouth.
She screamed wildly, her nails clawed at the arm wrapped around her neck, but the smell flooded her lungs.
Within seconds, her vision blurred.
When Eunseo opened her eyes, her head was pounding.
She tried to move her hands, but heavy rope cut tight into her wrists, binded behind a wooden chair. Her ankles secured to the chair legs.
Footsteps echoed softly against the floor.
Seongje stepped into the circle of light.
He walked up to her, kneeling down on one knee so his face was level with hers.
His hand reached out, his thumb gently tracing the line of her cheekbone.
—"Where were you?" he whispered.
—"Where did you go, Eunseo? Do you have any idea what I was going to do to this city if my men didn't find you tonight?"
Eunseo's heart hammered against her ribs. She thrashed against the ropes, her eyes wide with fear, muffling frantic screams.
—"Don't ever leave me again," he murmured, his fingers sliding into her hair and pulling her face closer.
—"You belong to me now."
He reached up and ripped the cloth off her mouth in one motion.
—"Let me go, you lunatic!" Eunseo gasped, coughing as the air hit her throat.
—"Let me out of here! Are you crazy?!"
—"Not a chance," Seongje said flatly, and towering over her.
_"You don't get to run away from me. Now tell me— why'd you leave me with that bitch?"
—"...Min-ah," Eunseo's voice trembled.
—"She had a phone hidden and.. recovered the footage from the cache before your people wiped the server."
—"She has the whole thing, Seongje— the stairwell, Sujin, everything."
Seongje’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
—"She blackmailed me," Eunseo continued.
—"She said if I didn't set you two up and completely disappear from your life, she'd send the video to the police. I did it so I wouldn't go to prison."
—"I did it to protect mysel— us! To protect us both!"
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Seongje didn't yell.
He slowly reached into his inner jacket pocket, pulled out his phone, and speed-dialed a contact.
—"What is it?" a deep voice answered from the speaker.
—"Min-ah," Seongje said softly, his tone completely flat. "The girl from Yeongwon High. Track her phone, and make sure she never speaks again.*
—"Got it."
Seongje ended the call and tossed the phone onto his desk. He walked back to Eunseo, kneeling down once more.
He reached out and gently unbuckled the heavy straps around her ankles, then reached behind her to cut the ropes on her wrists with a small pocket knife.
Eunseo scrambled out of the chair, clutching her reddened wrists to her chest.
—"You're free of Min-ah now,"
—"Then let me go home," Eunseo demanded, her eyes darting toward the heavy wooden door.
Seongje let out a short laugh
—"Go home? To a cheap rental or an empty apartment?"
—"You're staying right here. You'll go to school under my driver's supervision, and you'll come straight back here every afternoon."
—"You can't keep me locked up like an animal!"
—"You tried to run once, Eunseo. I won't give you a second chance."
|March 26|
For two weeks, Eunseo’s world was a suffocating.
Every morning, Seongje’s private driver escorted her from his penthouse to Yeongwon High.
Every afternoon, a tall man in a suit stood waiting outside her classroom door before the final bell finished ringing.
At school, news of Min-ah’s sudden "transfer" swept through the hallways, but no one asked questions.
|3:46 pm|
Eunseo saw her chance to escape.
While everyone was busy in art class on the third floor, she excused herself to the bathroom.
She shoved through the metal crash doors and hit the wet road, running faster than she ever had in her life.
The rain drizzled her face as she ran through narrow alley, ditching her heavy school blazer in a trash bin so she wouldn't stand out.
Her heart hammered in her ears. Just get to the train station.
Just get out of the district.
She made it four blocks before a heavy black SUV turned the corner.
The doors flew open.
Before Eunseo could turn and run, two guards grabbed her by the arms, dragging her backward.
She thrashed and screamed, but the door slammed shut, locking her inside.
When they brought her back to the penthouse, Seongje was waiting in the living room.
The room was eerily quiet.
"You really don't learn, do you?" he said softly, walking over to her.
He grabbed her wrist,
Dragging a chair into the center of the room, sat her down, and knelt in front of her.
"I tried giving you freedom," Seongje whispered.
"I let you go to school. I gave you space. And you threw it in my face."
"You're holding me prisoner!" Eunseo snapped.
exhaustion spilled over.
"I hate you, Seongje! I hate this!"
Seongje leaned in, his forehead almost touching hers.
That slow, tilted smile spread across his face.
"Hate me all you want, Eunseo. But you're never stepping outside this penthouse again."
|August ??|
Seongje didn't lock her in a dark room or chain her to a bed anymore.
He didn't need to.
He changed his strategy entirely. The brute force was replaced by warmth.
He brought her everything she could ever.
She had clothes, books, warm food cooked to her exact liking.
He spent every night sitting on the edge of her bed, stroking her hair when she drifted off to sleep.
“No one can touch you here,”
“Out there, they’ll throw you into the cell for Sujin. Out there, you’re a murderer.
"But here, You’re safe. I’m the only one who can protect you, Eunseo.”
Slowly, she saw herself through the mirror.
she didn't see the girl she used to be, Instead, it was someone exhausted, and completely out of options.
Her memories of life before the penthouse faded.
Her desire to escape slowly ended.
When he held her hand, she stopped pulling away.
When he kissed her forehead, she leaned into it.
The night of her eighteenth birthday, the rain tapped softly against the penthouse glass.
A small elegant cake sat on the marble table alongside a black velvet box.
Seongje stood behind her, his arms wrapped securely around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.
He popped the velvet box open, revealing a heavy platinum ring with a flawless diamond.
"You're eighteen today, Eunseo," Seongje whispered into her ear, slipping the ring onto her left finger.
It fit perfectly.
Eunseo looked down at her hand.
"When is the wedding?" she asked, her voice emotionless.
Seongje smiled against her neck.
"Next month," he murmured.
"And this time, you won't think about running."