I was on the school rooftop with Adit. He said he wanted to go home with me, but I still didn't want to return home. He said he wanted to talk, so I brought him here. No! That's not it! I tied him up in the small room on this rooftop. If I left him alone, he would keep interfering in my life. I was already dealing with so many problems, but he refused to understand.
I held both his cheeks and smiled kindly. “Are you okay?” I asked softly. I tightened my grip on his face until my long nails sank sweetly into his skin. Blood began streaming down his cheek. “You said you wanted to talk. Come on, talk. I'll listen to everything,” I said, the beautiful smile still plastered across my face.
He thrashed around in terror. Tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. In my opinion, it was such a shame for a face that handsome to cry so sadly. So I wiped away his tears with my hand, which was already covered in his blood.
His handsome face was now covered in his own blood. I smiled broadly without realizing it; my heart pounded hard. I gently stroked his cheek. “This is the first time I've ever felt this way about you. Am I finally falling in love with you, Adit?”
Adit didn't answer me. He only struggled against the pain. Seeing that, my face flushed; I was truly happy to see him like that. I licked the blood from his cheek, then roughly tore off the tape covering his mouth. I pressed my lips to his soft ones. “Is this what they call love?”
Still unsatisfied, I kissed every cut on his face, smiling happily from time to time. I forced his eyelids wide open, then kissed each of them. After that, I kissed his lips once more. My heart was still pounding hard. As if Adit's condition wasn't enough, I picked up the knife again and prepared to—
“Aora?” Adit called my name weakly, making me stop. I stared into his eyes, already red. “W-Wake up!” he said.
I jerked backward. I covered my mouth with both hands, which were drenched in blood. “What am I doing?” I muttered. I looked at Adit, who was in a pitiful state, and immediately ran toward him. With trembling hands, I tried to untie the ropes binding his hands.
But they were extremely difficult to loosen. It felt as though all my strength had vanished. “W-What's wrong, Dit?” I asked haltingly. But Adit only shook his head, showing me his sad face.
Crash!
Suddenly, the room's door was forced open, revealing someone wearing a black hoodie and a black face covering. The same person I'd encountered before. He grinned at me. “You're still the same as ever, huh? I like what you're doing here,” he said with a wide grin.
I steeled myself and grabbed a blood-soaked knife to cut the rope around Adit's hands. I smiled in relief when the rope snapped. But as I reached for the rope around Adit's feet, the hooded man grabbed my hand first. He knocked the knife from my grip, sending it skidding a fair distance away.
“I thought you could do it properly. But you got it wrong. You're still dull, not like you used to be.” He gripped my face hard, as if he wanted to crush it. He grinned again. “It's okay. I'll remind you how to do it properly,” he said.
I tried to fight back, but the man's strength was overwhelming. He tied both my hands with the rope that had been around Adit. Then he grabbed the remaining tape to cover my mouth. He smiled happily at the sight of me; now only my feet remained untied.
The man walked away to look for another rope. I took the opportunity to run, but when I saw Adit lying on the floor, I stopped to check on him. He might have passed out from blood loss. I nudged his body with my right foot, but he still didn't wake up.
“You won't be able to escape from here, so just wait for your lesson,” the man said. He had found a length of rope and was walking toward me with a wide grin. I backed away; I really didn't want to be caught.
The man came closer until he finally caught me. When he was about to tie my feet, I kicked him in the stomach with the last of my strength. He glared at me, then pinned my legs down while tying them. I couldn't do anything anymore.
He picked up a knife covered in blood and smeared it across my face. “I saw everything you did to him. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to cut your face. But don't be disappointed. I'll cut you somewhere else.”
He began moving the knife across my arm, slicing it several times until fresh blood spilled out. It hurt—so badly. I couldn't take it anymore; it felt as if my stomach were being wrung out. Seeing my own blood made me nauseous.
After he finished with my right arm, he slowly began cutting my left arm, making the pain many times worse. “I told you, didn't I? I'm going to teach you how to do it properly,” he said.
Then he tossed the knife aside, lifted my right arm, and licked it. He licked every cut he'd made. He did the same to my left arm. Tears streamed down my face. It felt sickening, absolutely disgusting. I remembered how that “old geezer” had treated me, and my nausea grew worse. But I couldn't throw up because my mouth was tightly covered.
When he was done, he looked into my eyes, forced them wide open, and kissed them one by one. I couldn't stand it anymore; I wanted to kill him. He roughly pulled away the covering over my mouth, causing an unbearable stinging pain. He brought his lips toward mine. I'd already given up, letting him play with them.
He picked up the knife again and turned his attention to my feet. Just as he was about to cut them, Adit suddenly woke up and smashed the man's head with a piece of wood. The man fell to the floor. When he saw his opponent trying to get back up, Adit struck his head repeatedly with the strength he had left.
Adit helped me stand. “We have to get out of here. Come on...” he whispered as he staggered forward. Before we could even step through the door, the man grabbed my leg, making me fall flat on my face.
My body already felt weak, so I prepared to accept my fate. I prepared to die. With great difficulty, I raised my head and looked at Adit's face, trembling with fear. “R-Run! L-Lea-ve me....”
At least Adit had to live. He was a good man with a bright future, unlike me. But Adit stopped and tried to free my leg from the man's grip. He slammed his fists into the man's body repeatedly, but the man caught his leg, making Adit fall too. The man released my leg, then picked up a knife lying nearby.
He brutally stabbed Adit in the stomach. “Damn! What a pain in the ass!” the man muttered after seeing Adit sprawled on the floor, no longer fighting back. I could only watch; I couldn't even scream. My tongue was numb.
With considerable effort, I finally made it to Adit's side. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around his body. “Hang on, Dit. Hang on,” I whispered.
Memories of my time with him flashed through my mind.
“What made you fall in love with me?”
“Because you love me!”
“What a disappointing answer. Your love isn't genuine. If that's the case, then once I stop loving you, your love for me will disappear too.”
I kept holding his body. My heart hurt more than the knife cuts.
“All you need to do to change your life is learn to open your heart. This world isn't as dark as you think. This world will be beautiful if you have someone who's always by your side. Someone who accepts your wounds. I'm sure that someday you'll find that bright, shining world.”
Every word he'd said came back to me with perfect clarity. Regret over realizing the meaning of his presence only now made me curse myself.
“A-Adit! Please hang on,” I whispered.
“A-o-ra,” Adit said in an incredibly faint voice. I gently touched both his cheeks. “You have to hang on. I promise I'll do anything for you. I won't pretend anymore. I'll do everything sincerely... please, hang on.”
Adit forced himself to smile. “A-o-ra, s-mi-le!” he said, then closed both his eyes.
He fell asleep. Even in a situation like this, he could still fall asleep. Adit really was funny; he always managed to cheer me up.
“Hahaha! Hahaha!” My laughter echoed throughout the room. I looked at his face one more time, then laughed again. Again and again, until my body felt light and my vision began to blur.
“Aora, smile!”
Adit's words passed through my mind. I lifted the corners of my lips, trying to smile sincerely. “I'll follow you, Dit,” I whispered.