Bada woke up the next morning with swollen eyes.
She cried so much the day before that even her pillow was still a little damp. When she looked in the mirror, she gasped.
Her eyelids were puffy.
Her nose was red.
Her cheeks were blotchy.
Mina was going to tease her.
Ray was going to worry.
Hori was going to stare and ask gentle questions.
Bada groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"Why am I like this…?"
Her friends always said she cried too easily, but this—
Crying because of a stranger?
A girl who didn't even want to look at her?
It was embarrassing.
But every time she tried to forget, that image resurfaced:
Saeles punching the bag with furious, terrifying focus.
Her jaw tight.
Her shoulders stiff.
Her eyes empty and hollow like they had forgotten what emotions were for.
And that made Bada cry all over again.
When she arrived at school…
Mina spotted her immediately.
"Oh NO, you cried yourself into a balloon!" she exclaimed.
Ray leaned closer. "Your eyes look like two tomatoes."
Hori gently poked her cheek. "Are you okay?"
Bada nodded quickly, but her lip quivered a little.
"I-I'm fine… really…"
Her friends sighed in unison.
"You said that yesterday."
"And the day before."
"And the day before that!"
Bada let out a small, trembling laugh. "I'm just… sensitive."
Ray nudged her. "You're going to get wrinkles by age ten."
That made Bada sniffle—
and then she cried again.
Little, quiet sobs.
The kind that made her shoulders shake.
"Oh my god—she's crying again!" Mina cried.
"Group hug!" shouted Ray.
"Don't suffocate her," Hori added, but joined in anyway.
Her friends wrapped around her like a warm blanket of chaos.
But the ache in Bada's chest didn't fade.
She still saw Saeles's face behind her eyelids.
After school…
Bada tried to go home with her friends. She really did. She walked with them halfway down the street, laughing through leftover tears as they joked loudly.
But when they reached the corner where they usually split—
Something tugged her backward.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like a string attached to her ribs.
Her friends noticed her hesitation.
"You wanna cry somewhere again?" Mina asked bluntly.
Bada winced. "No…"
Ray raised a brow. "Is this about the 'sad thing' from yesterday?"
Hori tilted his head. "You can tell us, you know."
Bada shook her head quickly, tears gathering again.
They exchanged looks.
"…She's gonna cry again," Mina whispered.
"I'm not!" Bada insisted, voice wobbling.
She tried to smile for them.
Tried to reassure them.
"I just have to go home a different way today. That's all."
Mina narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Ray pouted.
Hori gave her a long, soft look.
But they let her go.
Bada waited until they turned the corner.
Then her smile faded.
And she walked straight to Saeles's house.
The house looked worse today.
The curtains were shut tighter.
The windows darker.
The air heavier.
Walking near it made Bada's chest feel tight.
She stepped closer anyway.
Her heart thudded painfully—part fear, part curiosity, part something much more fragile.
Then she heard something.
Thud.
Thud.
THUD.
Inside, Saeles was hitting something harder than yesterday.
The sound wasn't in rhythm.
It was violent.
Sharp.
Desperate.
Bada's breath caught.
She shouldn't be here.
She shouldn't be listening.
She shouldn't care.
But she did.
Too much.
She wiped her tears and crept closer.
Just one look, she told herself.
Just one—
And then the door rattled.
Not a gentle shake.
A violent slam from inside.
Bada yelped and jumped back, landing painfully on the dirt.
Her eyes filled instantly with tears.
"O-ow…!"
The door swung open.
Saeles stood there.
Her hair disheveled.
Her knuckles bleeding.
Her breathing fast.
Her expression dead—but her eyes sharp and electric with anger.
Then she saw Bada.
Bada froze.
Saeles stared at her for a long, quiet moment.
Then she said, voice cold,
"…Why are you crying again?"
Bada's tears spilled immediately, uncontrollably.
"I-I'm sorry…! I wasn't—I didn't mean—I just—!"
She curled into herself like a trembling rabbit.
Saeles exhaled through her nose, annoyed.
"You're so loud," she muttered.
"And you keep showing up."
Bada wiped her face frantically.
"I'm s-sorry! I j-just wanted to… to…!"
She didn't know what she wanted.
She didn't have a reason she could explain.
Her tears fell harder from the frustration of it.
Saeles stared at her again.
Not with softness.
Not with curiosity.
With confusion.
As if she couldn't understand why someone would cry for her.
As if Bada's tears were something alien.
"…Stop crying," Saeles finally said.
Not gentle.
Not comforting.
Just a blunt order.
But Bada nodded rapidly.
"O-okay…!"
She wiped her face again, still sniffling.
She looked so small, so breakable, so foolish.
Saeles turned away wordlessly and closed the door.
But she didn't slam it.
That was the difference.
Bada sat there for a long time, hands trembling, tears steadily falling down her cheeks.
Her knees hurt.
Her pride hurt.
Her heart hurt most of all.
And yet—
When she finally stood up to go home…
She found herself whispering:
"…I want to see her again."
The first bruise had settled onto Bada's heart.
It wouldn't be the last.