Run

"Kim Hyun-Gi, wait!" I heard Miss Chan called my name from behind.

I couldn't take it anymore. The humiliation, the pain, everything. I have had it with everyone. I could still hear their voices as I ran out the classroom and down a hallway.

"It's only her first day."

"I pity her, a lot."

"Where do you think she's going now?"

I ran faster, my oversized shoes almost falling off my feet each time I took a step. It was kind for Miss Chan to help me. She was the only person who had put effort to help me ever since I stepped into that school. I wanted to turn back and apologize to her, but my feet couldn't stop running. My body needed to escape from everyone.

"Argh!" I growled, feeling my anger grow within my heart.

My heart was angry. It was punching hard against my chest, as if wanting to break through my rib cage and tear my flesh open. I found it strange how a heart, which was made for you to live and love, can also be filled with hatred and darkness. While other people's hearts went boom boom, mine went PUNCH! CRACK! BREAK! It truly hurt like hell.

The image of the Caretaker suddenly popped up in my mind. I tried to shake it off, but it remained glued onto my brain. It didn't make sense to me. The Caretaker was no longer alive to make my life miserable. In fact, he wasn't alive to do anything at all. It was Lee Haeyoung I was supposed to be mad at, not the Caretaker. A person can't hold a grudge against a dead soul. To me, that was not how anger worked.

I had lost track of where I went in the school building. I stopped running, and found myself in the middle of a dark hallway. This hallway was different from the others. There were no decorations, no paintings, and no colour. Just plain white walls. There were also no windows, which gave that place the right amount of spookiness. The only thing I noticed on the wall was a black clock. It had no hands to tell the time. It just hung there, with no purpose.

"Hello?" I called. No one but the echoes of my voice spoke up

I was lost in the middle of a building. No one could hear me, since Miss Chan and the class were on the other side of the building. I should've known that running away without knowing where I was going was a bad idea.

"Hello? Miss Chan? Bae? Can anyone hear me? I think I'm lost."

I slowly walked down the hallway. I could only hear my feet stomping, and the heaviness of my breathing. I tried my best not to feel fear, because feeling fear did no good for me. Fear made me useless, so it was a terrible time to be a coward.

I pulled my sleeves up and postured myself up straight, just like Bae did with confidence. I was Kim Hyun-Gi. If I could handle the darkness in the orphanage, I could handle a stupid hallway with a broken clock and no windows.

As I walked, I stepped on something soft and squishy. I looked down and found a pink teddy bear under my foot. I picked it up and observed it carefully.

The teddy bear was covered in dust and had a strong, horrible smell. One of its eye buttons was gone, and its side was ripped, revealing the stuffing inside. It was evident that the teddy bear had been there for a considerable period of time. I wondered if any of my classmates owned it.

"But aren't they too old for teddy bears?" I asked myself

I turned the teddy bear around and noticed something very questioning on its back side. There was a red stain. I wanted to guess that it was probably a ketchup stain, but that stain looked far too thick to be just a ketchup stain. Could it have been...blood? I couldn't help but think that that school was more than just normal.

"What are you doing here?"

"Aah!" I startled when I heard a voice speak from behind me. It didn't sound like any of my classmates, nor did it sound like Miss Chan. Now was a very good time to heighten my fear levels just a bit.

I didn't dare to turn around. I feared that I might encounter a ghost if I did. But then I remembered that ghosts weren't real, and you can't fear what wasn't real. What wasn't real couldn't hurt you either. It was as simple as that. I swallowed my fear and turned around. I let out a breath of relief once I saw who it was.

"Shin Yerim!" I exclaimed, running up to her to give her a hug

Shin Yerim hadn't said a word ever since I got to this school. That was why I didn't recognize her voice. She didn't get a chance to introduce herself to me, except by puking all over the floor and introducing me to her morning breakfast. I was surprised she even showed up to class after that happened.

"I didn't mean to startle you." She spoke in a small voice

Her facial expressions were poker. It made her look like a ghost, especially since her skin is a milky white colour and her hair hung loose on the one side of her face. Her eyes were wide with a foggy grey colour, just like Tsuki's. Her lips were dry and pale.

"What are you doing here?" I asked

"I should be asking you that."

"Oh...well..."

She giggled, "I'm just kidding. Forgive my manners. I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself earlier. My name is Shin Yerim, but you can call me Yerim, or just Yeri." She stuck her hand out to me, and I took it to shake. Her hand was extremely bony. I feared that I might break it if I squeezed it too much.

"I'm sorry for my behaviour today. I'm not always pale and sickly like this. But don't worry. I will be back in shape and you will get to know the true me." She smiled a smile that might haunt me for the rest of my life. I never knew sick people could be so scary.

"Well, I hope you get better soon." I said

She looked at the teddy bear in my hand.

"That's Tsuki's doll. She's been looking for it everywhere." Yerim took the teddy bear from my hand and observed it.

"I found it here on the floor. How did no one notice it?" I asked, confused

She looked hesitant before she could answer,"

"It, um, must have crossed our minds."

Just then, Bae came rushing towards us with Tsuki,"Kim Hyun-gi! Shin Yerim! There you guys are."

I was still embarrassed with what had happened in class, so I still didn't have the guts to look them in the eye. Plus, I ran out of the classroom, which meant that I probably broke more than one rule in the rule book. Miss Chan was going to kill me.

"Kim Hyun-gi, are you okay?" Tsuki asked

"Look, about what happened in class--" Bae began, but I interrupted her

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. Thanks for being concerned though." I said

"Of course! We're hear for you, Kim Hyun-Gi." Tsuki said, "By the way, can we call you Hyun-Gi?"

"Sure. I don't mind." I said, with a smile

"Yay! We're all friends now." Tsuki pulled all of us together and gave us a group hug

"Ow...!" Yerim winced in pain

"That's a bit too tight, Tsuki!" Bae struggled out of Tsuki's grip.

"You might as well get used to this, because we're going to be doing this for as long as we're friends."

Friends. That word sounded like music to my ears. All this time I had been worried about my humiliation and unhappiness. But really, that actually caused me to make friends. I didn't know how, but it definitely worked.

"I should probably get back to the class and apologize to Miss Chan for running away." I said

"Miss Chan dismissed the class. She wanted us to make sure that you are okay." Yerim said

"Yes. And that we should be back by the time the next class begins." Bae added

"Oh. Then that gives us time to...bond?" I shyly suggested. I still wasn't familiar with how friendships worked

"Yay! Sister-bonding time." Tsuki cheered, jumping up and down with excitement

"Sisters? But, we don't originate from the same family." I said

"No, silly!" Bae laughed, "It's just what we call our bonding time. We do it together all the time. Excluding Lee Haeyoung, of course."

"That girl keeps getting meaner every single day." Yerim said

"And I don't plan on changing." A voice from behind took us by surprise

It was Lee Haeyoung. She looked happier than ever, even though she got herself into trouble. I guessed that was how bullies worked. They were proud of their horrid behaviour, and they acted fearless whenever they were in trouble.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Miss Chan's office?" Bae asked, folding her arms

"So what? It's not like Miss Chan can hurt me. All she does is yell at me and then tell me to do stupid chores." Lee Haeyoung rolled her eyes with amusement. She really was a baddie.

"You know, it would be a good idea to apologize to Miss Chan and Hyun-gi for what you did today. That behaviour was unacceptable." Bae growled at Lee Haeyoung

"'That behaviour was unacceptable'. Blah blah blah." Lee Haeyoung mimicked Bae, "Stop trying to sound like Miss Chan. And plus, you should all be thanking me for letting us bunk Art class. That class really sucked."

"No it didn't." My mouth decided to speak on its own. I was such a fool.

"Well, would you look at that. The newbie has a voice." Lee Haeyoung was approaching me now. I didn't know any self-defense skills, so I was already ready to receive my punch.

She stood in front of me and grabbed my face roughly. She squeezed my cheeks with her large fingers and moved my face around as if I was a doll. I hoped she wouldn't tear me apart like Tsuki's pink teddy.

"Lee Haeyoung, stop!" Tsuki yelled

"Relax. Me and our newbie are just getting along." Lee Haeyoung insisted

I was too weak to defend myself. Lee Haeyoung was taller and stronger than me, so I had no chance against her. Even if I tried, I would just find myself on the ground with a bloody nose.

Before Lee Haeyoung got a chance to eat me alive, we heard footsteps approaching us from behind. We knew it was Miss Chan, so we all lined up in a row and neatly waited for her to address us.

When she appeared from around the corner, she seemed to have calmed down from today's incident. She delicately glided towards us, just like Cinderella walking down her stairs with her heavenly ball gown. But Miss Chan aced it, even without the ball gown.

"Girls, what on earth are you all doing here?" She questioned, searching our faces for an answer.

I locked my lips shut. I wasn't about to make another mistake.

"Miss Chan, we all came to look for Kim Hyun-gi as you instructed. But I'm not very sure what Lee Haeyoung is doing here." Bae explained

Miss Chan eyed Lee Haeyoung wryly

"I came to apologize to Kim Hyun-gi. I realized my behaviour was quite... unreasonable." Lee Haeyoung lied with pride. It rhymes.

"Is that so?" Miss Chan looked at me for a response. I could hear Lee Haeyoung crack her knuckles behind her back as her way of threatening me. I had to answer carefully. I only had two options: To lie, or to fry.

"It is true. She came to apologize to me." I lied

Miss Chan's eyes widened with surprise, "Oh! That's an improvement. I'm so proud of you Lee Haeyoung."

The other girls looked at me from the side, wondering why I defended the bully.

"Alright. I will leave you all to bond then. Be back by the next class, okay?"

"Yes, mistress." We all said in unison

After Miss Chan left, we all disassembled from our row. The other girls gave Lee Haeyoung the stink eye, while she smiled at them instead.

"We are heading for class. Hyun-gi, you should come too." Yerim said, before leaving with Tsuki and Bae.

Right as I was about to go after them, Lee Haeyoung seized my arm and pulled me towards her. The word she softly uttered in my ear instilled a sense of unease within me. At that instant, I realized that I couldn't afford to feel at ease around that school.

"Run." She whispered