[SJFF] Real Face - Chapter 6
Title: Real Face
Characters: Donghae, Heechul, OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama, Angst
Type: Novel
Summary: She finally managed to escape from the one place that she hates the most in order to begin a new life in Seoul, but is still unable to get over the hatred for the male species. Would her heart be softened eventually?
~ * ~
06
"Ae-young, where are you…?"
Her eyes widened when she recognised the voice, and immediately turned frantic when she realised that it was drunken and slurred. Turning her head in every direction, she tried her best to identify a proper location to convert into her hiding place, but the blood-rush to her head was impeding her proper judgment. In a last ditch attempt, she ran to the nearest room and slammed the door shut behind her, blocking it with the heaviest piece of furniture she could move and hid herself in a secluded corner.
Intertwining her fingers together, she bowed her head low to pray that he wouldn't find her. Nonetheless, the intense trembling of her hands made it impossible for her to concentrate. She jumped in fear when someone banged heavily on the door, and the tears were reflexively triggered as she slowly inched further away from the entrance of the room, shaking her head in horror. She gasped in surprise when her back connected with the wall, but the fear that grappled her intensified further. She was trapped.
"I know you're in there, Ae-young… you can run, but you can't hide from me. Why don't you just be a good girl and come out of the room…?" the owner of the voice said, his tone low and eerie. She covered her ears and screamed her lungs out, pleading for him to go away. Day after day, this would happen to her, and she was about to lose her mind from the torture she was being put through.
The blood immediately drained from her face when the door suddenly flung open, revealing the man that she was trying so hard to avoid. A victorious smirk was evident on his face as he placed a strong grip around her wrist, dragging her off the floor. "I told you, there's no way you can hide. Now let me give you some punishment…"
"NO!" Sanghee shrieked, sitting upright on her bed with the tears still streaming continuously down her face. Her breathing was laboured, and her nightdress was drenched in sweat from the nightmare that she had just experienced. It took her quite some time to register the fact that she was safe, away from the person that was always making her life miserable.
Wiping the moisture that stained her cheeks, she hopped off her bed in a frustrated manner, heading towards the bathroom in order to clean her face. She couldn't help but glare at her own reflection in the mirror, feeling disgusted at herself for the thousandth time in her lifetime. And she silently hoped that people would be wise enough to avoid from talking to her that day, because her mood certainly wasn't going to be all sunshine.
* * * * *
"You look like someone had just killed your entire family," Donghae commented as he threw his bag onto the floor and eased into his seat, quirking an eyebrow at his seat mate with a dark look on her face. Even though she did not have a smile on her face most of the time either, it was different today. He could feel the deathly aura emanating from her, but it wasn't enough to intimidate him.
"If that ever happened, you would see me smiling widely instead," she spat, crossing her arms in front of her chest in an angry huff. From the side, Donghae noticed that she had her eyes narrowed, and it was rather evident that she was seething with rage. That piqued his interest even more, because it was only the beginning of the school day. It was pretty impossible for someone apart from him to have annoyed her already, considering the fact that not much people would interact with her anyway. Hyesu, on the other hand, hadn't arrived at school yet, so it definitely wasn't her either.
"Are you being sarcastic?" he enquired, looking at her with an expression that rivalled his tone in puzzlement. Something about her intonation made him feel as though she was being serious, but knowing Sanghee, he could never be sure about it.
"What do you think?" she shot back sardonically, an annoyed look apparent on her face.
"Well, I would say that you are being sarcastic," he mused, ignoring the scathing intonation that she was using and leaned back on the hind legs of his chair. "I mean, no one would curse their own family, would they?"
At the sound of his question, Sanghee's irascibility went through the roof, and she angrily stood up from her seat. "Stop talking as though you know me that well, Lee Donghae," she snarled and stomped out of the classroom, but not after deftly tripping the hind legs of Donghae's seat with her left leg.
The whole class turned silent when a loud thud came from the back of the classroom, all craning their necks to see what was actually happening. The girls started exclaiming in alarm when they found Donghae sprawled on the floor, but he quickly waved them off after reassuring that he was fine. When he finally stood up after the worst of the throbbing pain on his backside had subsided, he came face to face with the grinning faces of his group of friends.
"Seriously Donghae, I've warned you not to balance yourself on the hind legs of your chair, but you wouldn't listen…" Sungmin chuckled, shaking his head in amusement at how the younger male was still rubbing his back. Donghae winced when he had accidentally placed too much pressure on the sore spot, before replying to Sungmin's comment with a mirthless smile.
Nonetheless, Youngwoon found the situation too amusing to not take advantage of, because he landed a hard slap to the back on Donghae, who yelled out in pain. "Did the new kid do this to you? Because if he did, I'm gonna have to go teach him some manners," he commented, craning his neck in search of Sanghee's whereabouts.
"Youngwoon, when will you stop being abusive to your friends? I think you just broke a bone…" Donghae mumbled, but quickly adding "don't even think about doing anything like that. He's in a bad mood, that's all."
"Even if he's in a bad mood, his actions were unwarranted," Siwon said, frowning in response.
"Oh, so Youngwoon's an exception to the rule?" Hyukjae asked, but quickly dodged behind Siwon when said person shot a murderous glare in his direction. Their three other friends, however, laughed and agreed with Hyukjae's comments, because Youngwoon had some… aggressive tendencies whenever his mood wasn't too good. But at least he had someone - them - to rein him in whenever things get out of control.
"Why are you being so protective over the new kid anyway?" Youngwoon huffed when their laughter died down. Through the numerous conversations that they had exchanged, everyone in the group could see how Donghae would try to help Sanghee out whenever they said something about her. He was also the one who asked Youngwoon not to give her such a tough life in school, which the latter had grudgingly complied with because he valued the group's friendship more than his idea of having fun.
"He certainly looks rather feminine for a guy, though…" Hyukjae mused, then gasped dramatically when something crossed his mind. "You don't happen to like him, do you?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow in Donghae's direction. The younger one of the pair immediately went wide-eyed at the connotation.
"Hyukjae, what the hell? I don't swing the opposite way!" Donghae exclaimed, throwing a light punch at the red-head's arm. However, before any of them could pass any more comments about the topic, their homeroom teacher casually strolled into the room, and all of them scrambled back to their own seats before the psychotic teacher threw detentions at them. The man had a reputation of doing that after all, and the group was no stranger to his ministrations.
Ignoring Sungmin's advice, Donghae leaned back casually on the hind legs of his chair again, shooting a wistful look in Sanghee's now-empty seat. Lots of things went through his mind, but the most dominant one was his overwhelming curiosity about his seat mate's past before he had joined Neulparan. Judging by the way that he closes himself away from the world - except Hyesu, occasionally - and the way he had responded to his questions earlier, there was definitely something that Sanghee had wanted to forget. But what was it?
* * * * *
Glancing around at her surroundings, Sanghee realised that she was currently in an unknown part of her school - one which she hadn't explored yet, though it wasn't as if she ventured anywhere else apart from the rooftop and her classroom. She had allowed her feet to bring her wherever they pleased after that little outburst at Donghae earlier, and had somehow ended up in the garden. Her mood calmed down significantly, thanks to the calm atmosphere, and she took a deep whiff of the morning air which was interlaced with the fresh fragrance of the blooming flowers around her.
Several paces more later, Sanghee found a stone bench hidden under the foliage, and made herself comfortable on its cold surface. She sighed as she reflected on her actions earlier, feeling a little guilty for taking her anger out on her seat mate, even though he was only trying to guess what her intonation meant. However, the guilt disappeared in the next moment when she recalled how he touched on the subject of her family. While she knew it wasn't his fault, she just couldn't prevent herself from being irritated the moment the others ask about her past. She was guarding it safely for a particular reason, and she wasn't about to let anyone unearth it so easily.
A shiver ran down her spine when Sanghee remembered about the nightmare that had ultimately contributed to her foul mood today. The images were so vivid that it repulsed her just by thinking about it. But ultimately, the nightmare was an indication that her past was going to haunt her for a much longer time than she thought that they would.
"Hmm, fancy seeing someone skipping classes here as well," an amused voice approached Sanghee from behind, and was followed by the sound of leaves crunching under the person's shoes. Sanghee swerved around, only to find a feminine-looking boy - not that she was in any position to say that, considering the fact that she was a female in boyish outfits after all - looking at her curiously, though a small smile was playing on his lips. She merely nodded slightly in acknowledgement of his presence, but made no move to make any verbal comments.
Nonetheless, she froze upon hearing the next thing that came out of his mouth. "I'm surprised to see a girl ditching classes. You'd think that they would be the hardworking ones sweating it out in class, and the guys to be the ones who would be seen loitering outside," he mused, and she shot a wary look at him.
"Do I really look like a girl to you?" she asked carefully, trying her best to confuse him. However, he wasn't buying any of it.
"Are you trying to fool the great Kim Heechul?" the boy exclaimed indignantly, feeling offended by her comments. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to try harder. Do you think I really can't differentiate between males and females?"
"I didn't - I don't - I mean, it's just hard to wrap my head around the fact that someone actually sees me as a female in this school," she admitted, though she wasn't complaining about it. It was perfect for her when people were viewing her more as a male student, but she definitely didn't expect someone to be able to see through her cover so soon.
"So you're admitting that you're a girl?" he smirked victoriously, and she felt tempted to sigh in defeat. However, she held her chin high, pretending that she wasn't the least bit affected by his words.
"Whatever floats your boat. And besides, that's an awfully prejudiced view you have of girls. Not all of us are as hardworking as you deem us to be. Just for the record, I'm ditching classes because there's an annoying person in class whom I don't feel like facing for the entirety of my lesson," she shot back coolly, a little irritated at the fact that he was generalising everyone. That was exactly the kind of remarks that she didn't like to hear.
"You really can't take a joke, can you?" he frowned in response. "And judging by how young you look, you must be a junior. So that's sunbae to you, you insolent little creep. At least learn how to address your seniors accordingly when you see them," Heechul scoffed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sunbae," she muttered incredulously, wondering why on earth he was being so particular about the formalities when they weren't exactly on good talking terms. They weren't even formally introduced to the other either. Deciding that it was enough drama for the time being, Sanghee abruptly stood up from her seat and brushed off the pollen from her jeans, before stalking off in the direction of the rooftop - her sanctuary.
However, mere seconds after she had walked off, the senior named Heechul called back after her. "Yah you brat, I haven't even gotten your name yet!"
"Sanghee," she shouted back, before waving lightly over her shoulder at him. As she headed to her next destination to play truant, Sanghee sighed at how persistent the senior was at getting his way with things. The weird thing was, no matter how much she tried to get angry at him, she just couldn't. In fact, she even found him interesting despite his earlier comments.
Characters: Donghae, Heechul, OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama, Angst
Type: Novel
Summary: She finally managed to escape from the one place that she hates the most in order to begin a new life in Seoul, but is still unable to get over the hatred for the male species. Would her heart be softened eventually?
~ * ~
06
"Ae-young, where are you…?"
Her eyes widened when she recognised the voice, and immediately turned frantic when she realised that it was drunken and slurred. Turning her head in every direction, she tried her best to identify a proper location to convert into her hiding place, but the blood-rush to her head was impeding her proper judgment. In a last ditch attempt, she ran to the nearest room and slammed the door shut behind her, blocking it with the heaviest piece of furniture she could move and hid herself in a secluded corner.
Intertwining her fingers together, she bowed her head low to pray that he wouldn't find her. Nonetheless, the intense trembling of her hands made it impossible for her to concentrate. She jumped in fear when someone banged heavily on the door, and the tears were reflexively triggered as she slowly inched further away from the entrance of the room, shaking her head in horror. She gasped in surprise when her back connected with the wall, but the fear that grappled her intensified further. She was trapped.
"I know you're in there, Ae-young… you can run, but you can't hide from me. Why don't you just be a good girl and come out of the room…?" the owner of the voice said, his tone low and eerie. She covered her ears and screamed her lungs out, pleading for him to go away. Day after day, this would happen to her, and she was about to lose her mind from the torture she was being put through.
The blood immediately drained from her face when the door suddenly flung open, revealing the man that she was trying so hard to avoid. A victorious smirk was evident on his face as he placed a strong grip around her wrist, dragging her off the floor. "I told you, there's no way you can hide. Now let me give you some punishment…"
"NO!" Sanghee shrieked, sitting upright on her bed with the tears still streaming continuously down her face. Her breathing was laboured, and her nightdress was drenched in sweat from the nightmare that she had just experienced. It took her quite some time to register the fact that she was safe, away from the person that was always making her life miserable.
Wiping the moisture that stained her cheeks, she hopped off her bed in a frustrated manner, heading towards the bathroom in order to clean her face. She couldn't help but glare at her own reflection in the mirror, feeling disgusted at herself for the thousandth time in her lifetime. And she silently hoped that people would be wise enough to avoid from talking to her that day, because her mood certainly wasn't going to be all sunshine.
* * * * *
"You look like someone had just killed your entire family," Donghae commented as he threw his bag onto the floor and eased into his seat, quirking an eyebrow at his seat mate with a dark look on her face. Even though she did not have a smile on her face most of the time either, it was different today. He could feel the deathly aura emanating from her, but it wasn't enough to intimidate him.
"If that ever happened, you would see me smiling widely instead," she spat, crossing her arms in front of her chest in an angry huff. From the side, Donghae noticed that she had her eyes narrowed, and it was rather evident that she was seething with rage. That piqued his interest even more, because it was only the beginning of the school day. It was pretty impossible for someone apart from him to have annoyed her already, considering the fact that not much people would interact with her anyway. Hyesu, on the other hand, hadn't arrived at school yet, so it definitely wasn't her either.
"Are you being sarcastic?" he enquired, looking at her with an expression that rivalled his tone in puzzlement. Something about her intonation made him feel as though she was being serious, but knowing Sanghee, he could never be sure about it.
"What do you think?" she shot back sardonically, an annoyed look apparent on her face.
"Well, I would say that you are being sarcastic," he mused, ignoring the scathing intonation that she was using and leaned back on the hind legs of his chair. "I mean, no one would curse their own family, would they?"
At the sound of his question, Sanghee's irascibility went through the roof, and she angrily stood up from her seat. "Stop talking as though you know me that well, Lee Donghae," she snarled and stomped out of the classroom, but not after deftly tripping the hind legs of Donghae's seat with her left leg.
The whole class turned silent when a loud thud came from the back of the classroom, all craning their necks to see what was actually happening. The girls started exclaiming in alarm when they found Donghae sprawled on the floor, but he quickly waved them off after reassuring that he was fine. When he finally stood up after the worst of the throbbing pain on his backside had subsided, he came face to face with the grinning faces of his group of friends.
"Seriously Donghae, I've warned you not to balance yourself on the hind legs of your chair, but you wouldn't listen…" Sungmin chuckled, shaking his head in amusement at how the younger male was still rubbing his back. Donghae winced when he had accidentally placed too much pressure on the sore spot, before replying to Sungmin's comment with a mirthless smile.
Nonetheless, Youngwoon found the situation too amusing to not take advantage of, because he landed a hard slap to the back on Donghae, who yelled out in pain. "Did the new kid do this to you? Because if he did, I'm gonna have to go teach him some manners," he commented, craning his neck in search of Sanghee's whereabouts.
"Youngwoon, when will you stop being abusive to your friends? I think you just broke a bone…" Donghae mumbled, but quickly adding "don't even think about doing anything like that. He's in a bad mood, that's all."
"Even if he's in a bad mood, his actions were unwarranted," Siwon said, frowning in response.
"Oh, so Youngwoon's an exception to the rule?" Hyukjae asked, but quickly dodged behind Siwon when said person shot a murderous glare in his direction. Their three other friends, however, laughed and agreed with Hyukjae's comments, because Youngwoon had some… aggressive tendencies whenever his mood wasn't too good. But at least he had someone - them - to rein him in whenever things get out of control.
"Why are you being so protective over the new kid anyway?" Youngwoon huffed when their laughter died down. Through the numerous conversations that they had exchanged, everyone in the group could see how Donghae would try to help Sanghee out whenever they said something about her. He was also the one who asked Youngwoon not to give her such a tough life in school, which the latter had grudgingly complied with because he valued the group's friendship more than his idea of having fun.
"He certainly looks rather feminine for a guy, though…" Hyukjae mused, then gasped dramatically when something crossed his mind. "You don't happen to like him, do you?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow in Donghae's direction. The younger one of the pair immediately went wide-eyed at the connotation.
"Hyukjae, what the hell? I don't swing the opposite way!" Donghae exclaimed, throwing a light punch at the red-head's arm. However, before any of them could pass any more comments about the topic, their homeroom teacher casually strolled into the room, and all of them scrambled back to their own seats before the psychotic teacher threw detentions at them. The man had a reputation of doing that after all, and the group was no stranger to his ministrations.
Ignoring Sungmin's advice, Donghae leaned back casually on the hind legs of his chair again, shooting a wistful look in Sanghee's now-empty seat. Lots of things went through his mind, but the most dominant one was his overwhelming curiosity about his seat mate's past before he had joined Neulparan. Judging by the way that he closes himself away from the world - except Hyesu, occasionally - and the way he had responded to his questions earlier, there was definitely something that Sanghee had wanted to forget. But what was it?
* * * * *
Glancing around at her surroundings, Sanghee realised that she was currently in an unknown part of her school - one which she hadn't explored yet, though it wasn't as if she ventured anywhere else apart from the rooftop and her classroom. She had allowed her feet to bring her wherever they pleased after that little outburst at Donghae earlier, and had somehow ended up in the garden. Her mood calmed down significantly, thanks to the calm atmosphere, and she took a deep whiff of the morning air which was interlaced with the fresh fragrance of the blooming flowers around her.
Several paces more later, Sanghee found a stone bench hidden under the foliage, and made herself comfortable on its cold surface. She sighed as she reflected on her actions earlier, feeling a little guilty for taking her anger out on her seat mate, even though he was only trying to guess what her intonation meant. However, the guilt disappeared in the next moment when she recalled how he touched on the subject of her family. While she knew it wasn't his fault, she just couldn't prevent herself from being irritated the moment the others ask about her past. She was guarding it safely for a particular reason, and she wasn't about to let anyone unearth it so easily.
A shiver ran down her spine when Sanghee remembered about the nightmare that had ultimately contributed to her foul mood today. The images were so vivid that it repulsed her just by thinking about it. But ultimately, the nightmare was an indication that her past was going to haunt her for a much longer time than she thought that they would.
"Hmm, fancy seeing someone skipping classes here as well," an amused voice approached Sanghee from behind, and was followed by the sound of leaves crunching under the person's shoes. Sanghee swerved around, only to find a feminine-looking boy - not that she was in any position to say that, considering the fact that she was a female in boyish outfits after all - looking at her curiously, though a small smile was playing on his lips. She merely nodded slightly in acknowledgement of his presence, but made no move to make any verbal comments.
Nonetheless, she froze upon hearing the next thing that came out of his mouth. "I'm surprised to see a girl ditching classes. You'd think that they would be the hardworking ones sweating it out in class, and the guys to be the ones who would be seen loitering outside," he mused, and she shot a wary look at him.
"Do I really look like a girl to you?" she asked carefully, trying her best to confuse him. However, he wasn't buying any of it.
"Are you trying to fool the great Kim Heechul?" the boy exclaimed indignantly, feeling offended by her comments. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to try harder. Do you think I really can't differentiate between males and females?"
"I didn't - I don't - I mean, it's just hard to wrap my head around the fact that someone actually sees me as a female in this school," she admitted, though she wasn't complaining about it. It was perfect for her when people were viewing her more as a male student, but she definitely didn't expect someone to be able to see through her cover so soon.
"So you're admitting that you're a girl?" he smirked victoriously, and she felt tempted to sigh in defeat. However, she held her chin high, pretending that she wasn't the least bit affected by his words.
"Whatever floats your boat. And besides, that's an awfully prejudiced view you have of girls. Not all of us are as hardworking as you deem us to be. Just for the record, I'm ditching classes because there's an annoying person in class whom I don't feel like facing for the entirety of my lesson," she shot back coolly, a little irritated at the fact that he was generalising everyone. That was exactly the kind of remarks that she didn't like to hear.
"You really can't take a joke, can you?" he frowned in response. "And judging by how young you look, you must be a junior. So that's sunbae to you, you insolent little creep. At least learn how to address your seniors accordingly when you see them," Heechul scoffed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sunbae," she muttered incredulously, wondering why on earth he was being so particular about the formalities when they weren't exactly on good talking terms. They weren't even formally introduced to the other either. Deciding that it was enough drama for the time being, Sanghee abruptly stood up from her seat and brushed off the pollen from her jeans, before stalking off in the direction of the rooftop - her sanctuary.
However, mere seconds after she had walked off, the senior named Heechul called back after her. "Yah you brat, I haven't even gotten your name yet!"
"Sanghee," she shouted back, before waving lightly over her shoulder at him. As she headed to her next destination to play truant, Sanghee sighed at how persistent the senior was at getting his way with things. The weird thing was, no matter how much she tried to get angry at him, she just couldn't. In fact, she even found him interesting despite his earlier comments.