"Ah!"

A short, sharp scream escapes my lips as burning pain spreads from my shoulder towards my chest— a thick spiderweb of agony.

The cup I'd been holding slips from my fingers, shattering upon contact with the hard, cold ground.

It burns.

Tears sting my agonized eyes as I claw at my shoulder, gritting my teeth from the pain. I'd been so stupid— so distracted with V.

So distracted that I'd poured an entire cup of hot coffee on myself.

Not even bothering to take off my clothes, I dash to the washroom. My eyes blur with tears as I scrabble for the shower dial, cranking it all the way down to the cold water as soon as I feel the metallic handle.

The freezing water soon cascades down my face and body, reducing the blazing pain into occasional sharp tingles that made me wince.

I spend an eternity in there before I finally decide that the heat wouldn't come back.

Shutting off the cold douse of water, the first thing I do when I come out of the stall is to examine the damage the coffee had done.

I wince.

The skin is raw and bright red— with rivulets of blood around the outside edges. My disgust grows as I slide down the rest of my shirt, realizing that the burns had left severe marks down my chest.

I was never drinking coffee again.

Sighing, I gingerly change out of my soaked clothing. Even the slightest movement sent fire blazing up my body, and I was already positive my face was flushed a brighter red than the burned area.

Making sure that the shirt I'd changed into didn't expose the burns, I select a lunchbox from the pile I'd skipped eating today.

I'd completely lost my appetite ever since yesterday night, and now that I'd burned myself with the first type of food I'd tried to eat—

My appetite had gone down even lower than before.

Thoughts consumed with those of V and the last glimpse I'd gotten of him, I tenderly walk down the cold hallway. It seemed warmer today— but that was probably just the after effect of the burns.

Sighing at my miserable state, I reach his cell to find him already awake. The frustration from before was thankfully replaced with an emptiness— which I didn't know whether to interpret as a good or a bad sign.

"Here," I say in monotone without meaning to. My own lack of emotion surprises me, and I instantly paste a fake smile on my face when his eyes shift.

"Come closer."

I don't bother to conceal the shock that fills my eyes when he says that, but I obediently follow through. As soon as I'm within range, his hand flashes out and wraps around my upper arm.

"Ow!"

At my pained cry, he immediately withdraws his hand. My mouth knots into a grimace as I glare at him, wincing as the cloth rubs against the raw skin.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you?" He points at my shoulder, face direct and unconcerned. "Show me."

"V, I really can't deal with this right now," I say tiredly as a sudden wave of dizziness washes over me. I'd barely gotten sleep last night, and had skipped both dinner and breakfast.

All thanks to my stupid, distracted mind who had apparently decided to set its topic on this frustrating, frustrating boy.

And just like a scene from a movie, everything goes black as night.

___________________________

V's POV

Her eyes close, and I know what's going to happen— what has happened already. My fingers wrap around her shirt, and her body flinches unconsciously as I guide her head away from the metal post of the bed.

She skipped her meals again, didn't she?

When I pull down the cloth covering her shoulder, I catch glimpses of bright burns. And it's not just one— there's a series of them, spiraling down from her shoulder to her chest.

A sigh rocks my body.

I close off the conflict in my mind as I take a roll of gauze and a tube of ointment she'd left for my hands— the ones that she'd refused to return to the infirmary even after they'd healed.

She was stubborn like that.

"It's okay," I mutter unconsciously when she groans painfully from the thick ointment I spread over her burns. But her eyes remain tightly closed, even though she twists and flinches from the sting.

"It's fine."

There's only an occasional flutter of her lashes for the rest of the time I bandage her wounds. She sleeps quietly— so peacefully that I wouldn't have ever imagined what caused this.

Where had the burns come from?

Then the roll of bandage drops from my hands.

Shock and numb terror races through me like fire as I gasp, shifting away from her as fast as possible. Why was there no revolt? Why hadn't I felt anything?

I accustomed to her touch.

My mind sets itself on a murderous blaze as I realize what that meant.

It meant emotions. It meant life— it meant that she'd somehow gotten through my barriers like it was no problem at all.

There'd been so many warnings, and I'd never recognized even one of them.

Until now.

Of course— why else would I have risked myself to protect her from her brother? Why else would my haphephobia let me touch her so freely?

I was accustoming to her, and that scared me more than anything I'd ever been through.

Her.

I didn't even know her name.

A strangled noise escapes my tight throat as I gasp, reaching for the ring of keys attached to the band of her pants. Hands trembling, I find the one she'd been using for my door.

I'd let her in.

And I hadn't even known.

The key is cold against my palm as panic blurs my eyes, stings at my throat. I miss the keyhole five times before I finally grip myself enough to find the minuscule ridge.

This isn't who I am. Who I'm supposed to be.

She's changed me.

I force myself not to look back as I see the door creak open— and drop the metallic ring onto the ground. The keys clink against the cement, inches from her motionless form.

Run.

My hand slams heavily against the walls as I stumble outside, my mind a vicious chaos. Everything is spinning— but in the midst of the hurricane, there is one thing I can only find myself concentrating on.

She was sweet poison— something you didn't notice until it engulfed your entire being. I'd been too intoxicated by her very presence— her inhuman beauty, her soft-pitched voice.

I'd been too distracted, too loose on my defenses. And she'd broken every single wall I'd surrounded my heart with a single smile.

How stupid I've been.

And I couldn't stop the corruption. No matter how hard I'd tried to forget her soft words, her bright doe eyes—

I couldn't.

And the urge only got stronger, until all I could think about around her was how soft her skin would be under mine.

I hated myself for thinking this way. How weak I turned out to be, after I'd thought that the walls I'd built over the years was impenetrable.

But by the time she would find me, I'd already be gone.