Promise me

When they arrived at office, DX told her to take half day off since she was probably tired from the lack of sleep.

Since they were at office, they cannot openly be affectionate towards each other.

So, Kai Xin who had went into his office with a stack of files pretended to wave her hand as if she was explaining certain terms to him when she was actually asking,

"What about you?"

To maintain the appearance, DX kept a stoic face as he replied her, "I would be taking a nap when I'm in the flight later. Don't worry about me."

"Don't lie to me. You intended to continue to work later."

DX slammed his pen down.

The secretary that was peeking at them from the outside quickly turned back to her laptop when she saw President Du slammed his pen down.

About 10 seconds later, when she turned back, the transparent glass of President Du's office had turned opaque.

At that moment, she felt bad for Kai Xin even though she was one of those who frequently talked bad about Kai Xin.

Meanwhile, inside the office, DX had left his desk and he was currently caressing Kai Xin's face as he reassured her,

"I'm fine. Don't worry too much about me."

"Promise me you will sleep. I know the deal is important but so is your health."

"I..." DX hesitated as he placed his chin on the top of her head. He did not want to break any promises to her.

Kai Xin rested her head on his chest and in a soft voice, she said,

"You know, it's almost the end of the 3 months period. Promise me that you will take good care of yourself and I would let you know the answer the moment you are back."

Surprised, DX blinked at her before nodding, "I promise I will take good care of myself."

...

When she arrived home, Kai Xin went straight to her room.

Taking out the hidden box in her closet, she rubbed the words on the bunny's petticoat as she thought regretfully,

"Maybe I should make a new one with your name, Zi Han..."

Sitting down on the bed, she held the sealed letter in her hands. The white envelope had turned yellowish over the years.

With her eyes closed, she placed the envelope on her chest as memories started to flood her mind.

...

14 years old Kai Xin stayed on the dirty floor until she can no longer hear anything.

No footsteps or the clicking sound of camera... or the laughter of the boys.

Her body was hurting everywhere and all she wanted to do was to go home, take a hot shower, and sleep.

She hoped that when she wakes up tomorrow, everything would go back to normal.

That nothing bad happened to her. That everything was just a really really bad dream.

Kai Xin's eyes were swollen and her throat was so parched from screaming that even breathing hurt.

She tried to fight at first. She did! But they were too strong.

"Urgh..." she moaned when she felt the pain from her stomach.

Shangguan Xing had punched her repeatedly when she kicked him in her attempt to escape.

In the end, instead of begging for him to release her, she had to beg him to stop.

"I...I'll be good. I won't escape..." cried Kai Xin as she begged him, "Please stop...It hurts... "

Kai Xin felt the soreness in her scalp.

Shangguan Xing had grabbed onto her hair and pulled it harshly earlier when he threatened her, "You dirty whore...You will take it and you better like it or I'm going to kill you."

She laid down on her back. As she stared up at the ceiling, she felt a sudden urge to laugh.

No matter how she fought, she could not escape. Why did she fought so hard then?

Pushing herself up, she relied on a desk to keep herself in an upright position.

She took a quick look at her clothes.

Her uniform was badly torn and stained with blood and some other things. Her underwear which was ripped in two by Luo Yin was thrown at a corner.

As she stared at the blood stained floor and then at mixture of blood and sticky white liquid that was flowing down her feet, she did not know what to feel.

There were bruises all over her thighs and legs.

"I'm dirty..." murmured Kai Xin, "I need to shower..."

She saw a shadow moving from outside the room and her legs started to tremble out of fear that they were back again.

They finally gave in and she collapsed on the floor.

She felt a lump in her throat as she whispered to herself, "N-no more...please...."

However, what she heard then was an unknown boy's choked voice saying over and over again,

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

She heard the sound of his footsteps running away from the room the moment he was done apologizing.

Kai Xin did not know why he was apologizing.

She would never forget their voices and he was definitely not one of them.

She dragged herself up again. She wanted to go home but she did not know how she was going to get home in such an embarrassing state.

Picking up her bag, she stuffed her underwear in before she went out of the classroom.

A set of tracksuit was on the floor right next to the door.

Without thinking too much, she took the clothes and went to change in the toilet.

When she was done changing, she stood in front of the mirror.

The first time she saw her face in the aftermath of the attack, she felt an anger that she had never felt before.

Grabbing the stone from the mini Zen Garden in the toilet, she threw it at the mirror and she did not stop with just one.

"ARGHHHHH! WHY ME! WHY ME!!!"

Yelling, she continued until she broke every mirrors in there. Even though her throat hurt, she kept yelling until her voice was completely gone.

By the time she was done taking out her frustration, there were shards of glasses everywhere in the toilet.

Exhausted, she collapsed on the toilet floor.

The broken pieces of mirrors stabbed into her palms but she was unable to feel anything.

Taking out her phone, she tried to call her mother but her mother's phone was off.

Wiping the blood off her phone, she finally saw the message from her mother,

[Xin, I would be home late tonight. Don't wait up. Get something to eat before you go home. Don't forget to lock the door before you sleep.]

Then, she called Kai An with the hope that he could come and pick her up. She was too tired to go home.

However, when he finally picked up the phone, the first thing he said was, "Xin, I'm a little busy now. I will talk to you later."

Kai An hung up the phone before she can say anything.

At that moment, she felt lonelier than ever.

She had her family and friends, yet at that moment, there was no one she could talk to.

Staring at her phone, Kai Xin thought of calling Ki Hong but the idea of another man touching her, even if he was not touching her inappropriately, caused her to vomit.

She looked into the toilet bowl. There was blood mixed with the vomit. She knew that it must had happened when they stuffed it in her.

The thought caused her to retch again and she kept going even though there was nothing left in her.

When she was done, she slumped down next to the toilet bowl.

She wanted to cry but no tears came out of her.

Sighing, she picked herself up, washed her face and rinsed her mouth.

She took her bag, stuffed the soiled clothes in and with heavy steps, she went to the bus stop.

"Are you alright, honey?" asked the kind bus driver when she boarded the bus and he saw her badly bruised face.

However, Kai Xin ignored him and everyone else who asked the same question.

She went straight to the back of the bus and closed her eyes, still hoping that everything was just a dream.