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C H A P T E R F I F T E E N
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»Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don't get up for a third.«
– Brandon Sanderson, Steelheart

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"Wanna crash a party with me?"

I choked on my own spit. "Excuse me, what?"

"I'm serious. Let's teach this bitch a lesson."

"With bitch you mean Ten?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Nalin nodded. "He sabotaged my date!"

I groaned. "Nalin. Absolutely not. How do you even know he had anything to do with it? Apart from that, we don't even know where Jaehyun lives." I looked at the clock, it was way past midnight, the party would certainly be in full swing.

"I just know it." Annoyed, she stroked a blond strand behind her ear and held out her hand. "By the way, I know where Jaehyun lives. Come on. This will be great fun."

I was feeling sick and not in the mood at all. The day had already started crappy, I didn't want it to end in a disaster because of Taeyong, or Nalin, or Ten. How was she even sure Jaehyun would let us in?

It wasn't like we were friends with him. He was Taeyong's best friend, sure, who happened to be my father's partner's son, that's about it. Jaehyun wasn't even in the inner circle of our families, so I didn't even talk to him properly before.

"Nalin, you're drunk. How do you want to go to a party in this state?" Although I wanted to dissuade her from the idea, I still grabbed her hand and stood up. She linked her arm with mine and dragged me behind her.

Apparently, the girl was now completely sober. Which was no wonder, because the adrenalin also rushed through my own body.

"Things are going great!" Laughing, she hopped. "See? That's why I love life so much: you never know how the day will end. Earlier, I thought I was gonna get drunk alone and fall asleep on the bench and now we're gonna crash a fucking party."

I tried to keep up with her pace. "Why the hell would you fall asleep on the bench? Are you crazy?"

Of course the little one is crazy. Do you notice that only now?

She spat out the chewing gum and then clicked her tongue.

"I lied and told my parents that I'd stay with Hyerin. They wouldn't allow me to go to Jaehyun's party. Especially not with Taeyong as my date. They know a lot about the two, because of my stupid brother. He really can't keep anything to himself. Well, when he ditched me, I went out and got the bottles of wine. After the first bottle, I called Hyerin, but the stupid bitch didn't answer my call. And I couldn't just go to her house and knock on their door at this hour. Her parents don't really like me anyway..."

Oh, was that so? Since when did Madame have any inhibitions or a sense of decency? That was really new to me.

"And couldn't you've stayed at any other friend's house?"

"All cowards. I'm always there for them, would even guide them through the window if they needed a place to sleep, but those chickens apparently can't do the same for me."

We turned into a dark alley, a shortcut according to her.

I felt sorry for her. Nalin was truly unique, a personality that certainly didn't exist often. However, people like her were often lonely just because they had no one who could keep up with them and were just as crazy as them.

"Listen", I relented, "We're gonna check the situation, and then disappear again just as quickly. I don't care if Ten sees you or if you show off or anything, but I don't want him, Jaehyun or Taeyong to see me under any circumstances, is that clear?!"

"All right, boss."

She was terribly excited, I really couldn't keep up with her.

After five minutes, she raised her index finger. We had arrived in a street lined up with many family houses, the street lights barely lit our way, only a few lights in the houses were still burning.

"Do you see the house at the end of the street?" She pointed with her index finger to a large house, but I couldn't see much.

Whether people were in the front yard or something like that. After all, I didn't want the asshole known as Lee Taeyong to see me. In the end, he would call me a stalker and after all the fucked up shit that he had pulled off with me, I would probably have to kill him.

"Hey, girls!" Nalin stopped abruptly, involuntarily pulling me back, because I didn't react as fast as she did.

"Do you know him?" she asked me and I turned around. I saw a guy running up to us, around my age maybe, leather jacket, dark jeans, black hair and pretty tall.

I clung to Nalin. "No, keep walking. Fast."

Before we could react, he shouted something again. "I think you've lost something." My bag was closed, the phone and all the other stuff was in it too. I looked at Nalin, but she shook her head.

Without responding, I dragged her with me. But with a groan, we stopped again.

Two more guys stood in front of us. Out of nowhere, they had suddenly appeared in front of us.

I swallowed hard and tried not to stare, or provoke them. "We ain't looking for trouble," Nalin shouted, trying to run past them, but they cut our way.

The three of them were damn tall and although I was sure that I didn't know them, I didn't let go of the tense feeling as if I had seen them somewhere before. For a brief moment.

"Give us your handbags", said one of the guys, emphasizing his words calmly and quietly.

I felt sick. They smelt like cheap aftershave, their hair shining horribly in the dim light of the streetlight as if they'd used two tons of hair gel for that licked hairstyle. I wanted to yell at them and punch my fist right in their faces, but strangely enough, I was silent.

"Didn't you hear?!" The second guy; his poison green eyes pierced through me.

It was Nalin who was the first to break free and obey them. She literally threw her handbag in his face, so much contempt was in her eyes, something I wasn't used to.

Adrenaline pumped through my body, I clenched my hands into a fist, and gasped in shock the next moment, when the third guy standing behind us suddenly pushed me violently in the back.

I slammed full force on the bastard in front of me, who also pushed me away.

"Your fucking handbag!" he repeated.

They could've taken my bag by force, but I was sure that they didn't want to cause an uproar. I would scream and immediately the whole neighborhood would be awake.

He pulled out his knife, the light of the street lamp refracted in the blade.

"Carmen, come on," Nalin whispered scared when she saw the knife.

I threw my bag in his face as well, my whole body trembled, that's how much adrenaline pumped through my body. Fuck that damn bag, that wasn't what it was all about.

What kind of fucking asshole would you have to be to threaten and rob two girls in the street with a knife?

"Come on, let's go," I heard the creep behind me calling.

And suddenly it got through me. For a moment, I lost control, just for a second. As if I was about to explode in anger.

I pulled out and with all my strength, I kicked the bastard in front of me between his legs, he groaned in agony, Nalin screamed.

"Bitch!", I heard the second guy shouting angrily. His poisonous green eyes stared at me furiously and he pulled out.

I had no chance to dodge or react in any way. His fist hit me hard on my cheek and my head flew to the side.

And then I dreamt of Icarus.

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to be continued