we the cursed, nct dream ✔

part forty

⇉ the one with the funeral.

part forty

"It happened again."

Ri-el's eyes rove over her closest friend's frame, taking in the cuts and bruises that seem like they've almost become permanent landmarks on her body. Reina takes a step into the room, and promptly collapses. Ri-el rushes to catch her before her body hits the floor. "It's okay. I'm used to it now. I just shut my eyes until it's over."

But somehow, it is those words that anger Ri-el more than anything. "You shouldn't be used to it! That's not fucking normal, and it's not okay! It will never be fucking okay." She's the one trembling now, but with rage. "You should speak to the counselor again-"

"I did!" Reina's voice is shrill. "I told her everything. And you know what? She said they'd investigate. That's it. What else was I supposed to do?!"

Ri-el deflates a little, some of her anger dissipating at her friend's words. Of course the guidance counselor had said that; it was what she always said. She knows how the cycle works: Reina would ask for some help from the school regarding the bullying, then admin would "investigate," which really just meant that they would lecture the bullies and slap them with a few detention hours, which of course would clue them in to the fact that Reina had squealed, and then they'd hurt her even more for it. Repeat.

Even now, it makes Ri-el's blood boil. "Rei-"

"What else can we do?" Her friend's voice breaks, tears filling her large eyes. "I've tried everything. Even training more has barely increased my strength. Is this how it's going to be until we leave this place?"

"No, no, of course not." Ri-el smooths a hand over her friend's hair. "We'll step it up. We'll train harder, go nowhere alone, and-"

"It doesn't matter!" Reina shouts. "It doesn't matter, none of it, because they will always be able to get to me. Don't you get it? If I want even the slightest possibility of them stopping, I have to shut up. And you can't even help because they're stronger than you too." A shuddering breath leaves her. "I'm so tired, Ri. I'm so damn tired."

Ri-el just holds Reina tighter, words failing her momentarily. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"I can't call upon my flair the minute I see them, you know that?" Reina sobs screwing her eyes shut tight. "It's like I'm paralyzed. I can't do anything except just take it. Maybe they'd have left me alone if I wasn't so fucking pathetic-"

"No. None of this is your fault. Never." Ri-el's voice is hard. "I'm serious. One day, you'll be strong, and you'll give them all exactly what they gave to you."

Reina chuckles through her tears. "Sure."

"I mean it, Rei. All we have to do is make you stronger."

"Sometimes... I dream that it'll happen overnight, you know? It's so stupid, but I dream that one day I'll just wake up and be stronger than them and better than them and enough to hurt them just the way they hurt me. I wish I could really show them, even just once, just what it feels like. Each of them, one by one."

Ri-el's quiet.

"I sound absolutely horrible, I know." Reina leans back against the bed, hand over her face. 

"No. Of course you're angry. They've been giving you hell, and nothing's being done about it," Ri-el reassures. "And that anger is what will motivate you to take action."

Reina, movements hysterical, agitated, and almost neurotic, reaches for the pad of paper and pen lying on the nearby desk. "I would start with Jihyi," she whispers, writing the girl's name down boldly at the very top. "She is the cause of all of it."