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Chapter 31

That Night

"What happened that made you like this?"

Gayoung furrowed her eyebrows in offence as Hoseok's eyes widened. He shook his hands vigorously.

"No! That's not what I meant! I- I just want to help you,"

He confessed, his eyes lowering down to his fingers before he lifted his head up to look at Gayoung in the eyes. Their eyes locked and Gayoung felt this strong urge to tell him everything. His eyes held so much sincerity. She felt like he was the only person who would respect her and understand.
So, with a sigh, she bit her lip before slowly sitting down on a nearby bench. Hoseok sat down beside her as she clenched her fists tightly. The blood was drained from her face as her hands started to shake. She had kept this to herself for so long that she had no idea how to start. But she trusted Hoseok. She felt certain that he would listen to her.

*trigger warning*

"It was the 7th of June 2018. I wore a midnight blue dress with sequin sparkles adorned on it. The moonlight reflected against each and every one of them as I shone brightly in the dark night,"

Gayoung said, her smile fading immediately as her hands shook violently. Hoseok saw her hands shaking and grabbed them. He felt her ice cold hands in his warm ones slowly stop shaking.

"There, I saw an alleyway. The same one me and Yeona always took as a shortcut back from school to my mother's vet clinic. Out of habit, I took that alley way. I recalled the moments I had at the party I had just come back from, smiling from ear to ear until I saw a large and dark shadow that loomed over me,"

Gayoung's voice quivered as tear drops started flowing down her cheeks.

"There laid my midnight blue dress, ripped to pieces. I could... I could feel the cold ground, against my bare skin. I felt exposed. My body, my dignity, my sanity were all ripped apart like that one dress. I never felt so humiliated and angry at myself,"

Gayoung covered her face with her hands and sobbed, her body shook as the salty tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt anger, humiliation and shame all coalesce into one sharp knife, stabbing through her. Hoseok watched her cry with the most amount of anger, shame and embarrassment. He felt his heart slowly breaking.

"Then, Yeona found me. I laid there hopelessly and humiliated by how weak I was. The anger I felt, she could feel it too. Not towards me but towards the man who... who,"

Gayoung got choked up by her tears as they ran endlessly down her cheeks. The images of that day flashed in her head as she felt herself growing sick in her stomach. She turned to look at Hoseok but his face morphed into the man's face. Her eyes met the scar that ran down his face and his brazen smirk. 
Her breathing grew rapid as she suddenly stood up. She was panting as she started sprinting. The only thing that went through her head was that she had to run. 

To run away from him. 

Her rapist. 

Then, everything went black.