apter Four
Just when I thought I’d be tormented forever, trapped under Sarah’s shadow for eternity, a ray of sunlight unexpectedly illuminated me in the midst of my darkness.
It was an ordinary winter morning.
Holding a warm cup of soy milk close to my chest, I walked carefully along the snow–covered street.
At some point, bullying me seemed to become the class’s favorite pastime.
Whenever they saw me, they’d rush over, eager to kick me a few times.
That day, as usual, someone kicked me into a freshly shoveled pile of snow.
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The snow, mixed with the smell of dirt, was strange and unpleasant.
The girl leading the group rifled through my things, finally pulling out the warm soy milk I hadn’t yet drunk.
She held it up to my face, squeezed the carton until it burst, and splashed the contents all over my face.
Thankfully, the soy milk wasn’t too hot; otherwise, I might have been burned.
Usually, if I just endured it, they’d quickly get bored and let me go.
But this time, something was different. Instead of laughing at the sight of me, my face covered in white soy milk, they kept kicking me hard in the stomach.
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Once, twice, three times…
The cold weather dulled the pain in my body, if only a little.
I had no idea how many times they kicked me. My vision blurred, but through it, I saw the person attacking me suddenly fly back, thrown by someone.
The light in front of me dimmed, and I tried to speak, but no words came out.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in the school nurse’s office.
A boy sat in front of me, dozing off.
He was Matt, a new student who had just transferred to our class.
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In the second year of my bullying, he appeared like sunlight, melting the chill that had wrapped around me.
After he saved me, no one dared to bully me again.
I enjoyed a long, quiet period of warmth and
peace.
We went to and from school together, did our homework together, went on dates together.
When the New Year approached, he took me out of the house to watch the most unforgettable fireworks of my life.
In that moment, we kissed.
Amidst an atmosphere of ambiguity, we confirmed our romantic relationship.
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Even after I returned home, where my mother greeted me with venomous insults.
“It’s New Year’s, and you went out with a boy?! Have you no shame? I still have some, at least! If word of this gets out, what will people say about our family? They’ll call me the mother of a worthless daughter, sneaking around with men in the dead of night!”
“And you’ve got the nerve to come back here? Why don’t you marry him already?! The bride price can’t be any less! It’s $380,000! You bitch!”
But I had never told my mother that I was going out with a boy.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Sarah hiding in my room, a smug glint in her eyes.
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* Paint
Oh.
My room hadn’t belonged to me for a long time now.
Ever since Sarah came into our family, I’d been driven to sleep in the attic.
Back then, even as my mother scolded me, I still clung to some beautiful illusion of the world.
But that illusion was shattered by Matt himself.
The sunlight turned to night’s fangs, sharp and merciless, lunging toward me.
Chapter Five
