Chapter 2
1137words
She had always been the girl people admired—the gentle smile, the quick mind, the kindness that made her seem untouchable. But perfection has a way of attracting shadows, and shadows had already found her.
Her father’s promotion forced the family to uproot their lives. They left behind their friends, their church, the streets that knew their names. They crossed into a different land, where the language was foreign and the rules of life were not the same.
Chaerin carried with her only one piece of the old world: a small flowerpot containing her beloved white lily. To her, it was more than a plant. It was her anchor. A piece of her soul. And yet, even the purest soul can tremble.
“Both of you, wake up!” her mother called one morning. “You’ll be late.”
“Yes, we’re coming!” Chaerin answered along with her father.
Her mother kissed their foreheads before they left. “Best wishes for both of you. Take care.”
Chaerin hugged her father tightly. “Goodbye, Father. Take care of yourself.”
“Take care, my dear,” he whispered, holding her with a warmth she did not know she would soon long for.
That warmth faded quickly.
On her very first bus ride to school, the world bared its teeth. A senior shoved a younger boy against the seat, mocking him until tears streaked down his face. Instinctively, Chaerin rose to help—her heart pulling her toward the cruelty.
But a cold hand caught her wrist.
“Don’t,” a voice hissed.
Chaerin turned. Erika stood beside her, her smile small and sharp, like a blade hidden in silk.
“This isn’t your home anymore,” she murmured. “If you want to survive here, don’t interfere.”
Chaerin’s lips trembled. “But this is wrong. Someone has to stop him—”
Erika leaned closer, her breath brushing Chaerin’s ear. “Do you really think goodness keeps you alive? No. It makes you prey.”
The bullied boy’s sobs grew louder, echoing unnaturally in Chaerin’s ears, like a curse she could not shake. Her hands fell limp. She sat back down.
For a moment, in the window beside her, she swore she saw her own reflection smiling back. But the smile was cruel.
At lunch, Erika scrolled through her phone with the precision of a puppeteer pulling strings. “Look. This boy already likes me. He’ll do anything I want.”
Nora leaned in, smirking as her screen glowed. “I got two hundred likes today. Chaerin, do you see? The more they want you, the more power you hold.”
Chaerin frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, Chaerin, nothing serious,” Erika replied smoothly, her tone sweet as poisoned honey. “We’re just… in control. Don’t you want people to notice you?”
“I… I have Instagram, but—”
Nora laughed, cutting her off. “Pathetic. If no one sees you, you don’t exist. Invisible girls never get boyfriends. Never matter.”
Chaerin’s chest tightened. Their words sank like venom into her veins. She had never cared about such things—but suddenly, she wondered. Maybe they were right. Maybe purity was just another word for weakness.
She shook her head, trying to silence the thought. But when she blinked, Nora’s grin stretched too wide, her teeth too sharp.
That night, Chaerin sat before her lily. Its petals glowed faintly under the lamplight, the last candle of her innocence.
Am I strange? Am I Teachering out?
Her phone rang. Asumi’s voice spilled through the speaker, warm and familiar.
“Chaerin! I’ve Teachered you so much.”
“I Teachered you too,” Chaerin whispered.
They laughed, they reminisced, but the joy drained from Chaerin’s voice. “Asumi… tell me the truth. Am I strange? Everyone here is free. They party, they drink, they fall in love without fear. And me? I feel trapped. Maybe I want to taste it too.”
Asumi froze, her pulse quickening. She had feared this moment.
“No, Chaerin. You’re not strange. You’re pure. This world lies to us—it convinces us that corruption is freedom. Don’t let it trick you. You are different. Chosen. Even Teacher Wae used to say so.”
Chaerin laughed softly, but the sound was hollow. “Yeah… maybe.”
When the call ended, Asumi shivered. Something in Chaerin’s voice had changed. It was colder. Distant. As if another voice had spoken through her.
That night, Chaerin dreamed of her lily wilting. The soil beneath it darkened, and from its roots seeped blood
The next day, Nora waved in the hallway. “Chaerin! Free tonight?”
Chaerin smiled weakly. “No, I need to water my lily.”
Erika burst into laughter. “You’d rather worship a flower than live?”
Nora leaned close, her voice soft and serpentine. “Come with us. We’ll show you freedom.”
“I… I need to ask my parents,” Chaerin said.
Erika’s expression hardened, her voice sharp. “Parents? Still clinging to them like a child? You’ll never be free if you stay chained to them. Just once. Come with us. They don’t have to know.”
Nora’s whisper slithered into her ear. “Lie, Chaerin. Lie to them. Only then will you belong.”
The air grew heavy. Chaerin felt their words coil around her like snakes, tightening, suffocating. Her hands shook.
She thought of her lily. For a heartbeat, its petals shone white in her mind. But then she heard it—a faint hiss that seemed to rise from the soil itself.
Her lips parted.
“Okay,” she whispered.
The voice that answered was no longer her own.
That night, she sat in the dark, her lily silhouetted against the window. The flower still stood tall, white and pure.
But in the glass beside it, her reflection stared back with eyes that gleamed—not with innocence, but with hunger.
Her journey into corruption had begun.
Chaerin’s friends waited outside the school gates, whispering and laughing. She finally arrived, fixing her bag strap nervously.
Chaerin: “I hope I’m not late.”
Erika: “No, you’re not. So, you lied to your parents to come out? You’re a brave weirdo!”
Chaerin: with a smirk “Yeah, I just told them I was going to the school library. Because I want to have the same fun as you two. I think I deserve a little bit of freedom.”
Chaerin: “By the way, where are we going?”
Erika: excitedly “There’s a guy I like. He invited me to hang out with him.”
Chaerin: frowning “If he wants to hang out with you, why did you invite us then?”
Nora: rolling her eyes “Oww… stupid! Because he’s not going to come alone. Just like us, he’ll bring his friends.”
Erika: “Yeah! And Chaerin, as a good friend of mine, I don’t want you to die alone. Get yourself a boy and have fun with him.”
Chaerin: hesitant “I don’t know whether I’d be comfortable with that kind of thing.”
Erika: mocking “Thing? Girl, this is your life. Don’t you want to enjoy it? Me and Nora are just helping you.”
