Jieun

I'm seated in the principal's office with my luggage and my jittery leg while my father filled out some forms and spoke in a hush hush voice to the people behind the counter.

Nothing about this place sat right with me. The guards with big bulky guns, tall grey walls with barbed wire and even the air seemed to whisper to me to go back as I was walking to the office through the hallway.

My father comes back and smiles at me kindly. I loved his smile a whole lot because his eyes would crinkle and there was so much love in each smile he gave.

"My little girl is growing up so fast." He fondly pats my head.

I smile at him. "What next?"

His smile slightly dwindles. "I have to get going. I've done the legal paperwork and all of that so you don't need to worry. Find the dorms and get a key from the lady in charge."

I nod at his instructions and watch him retreat down the hallway after waving goodbye to me while I'm left all alone in the quiet.

I find the dorms pretty easily thanks to the mini map they'd provided and the receptionist explained a whole bunch of things to me and then handed me my keys with a label that read 3-5. So third floor 5th room?

I got to the room and there seemed to be nobody around which I assumed was because classes were going on. Not that I was complaining, I wanted to avoid interaction as much as possible.

I unlocked the door to my room and see it empty with no sign of anybody else. To my surprise it's quite spacious. I pass through the mini kitchen, living room and then a bigger room with beds on opposite sides with a sliding door in between.

It wasn't too bad. White walls with wood and cream decor. I'm sure it'd look much more homely after i begin to live in it.

I sit down on the bed and lay back shutting my eyes only momentarily when I heard a key in the door.

My eyes opened and I saw a girl with short jet black hair hurriedly entering with her own suitcase and she seemed surprised to see another pair of shoes and then she finally looks up to meet my eyes.

"Oh." She mutters and then goes to her side of the room. I don't bother waiting for an introduction.

"Hey I'm Na-"
"I know who you are." She rudely cuts me off.

I give her a look. "Okay but I don't know YOU."

She sets her duffel bag down with force. "I'm Gaeul. Don't try to be friends with me, I'll kill you."

I blink. "Alright then."

Both of us silently settle into our respective beds. I moved mine a little closer to the window but not too close because I wanted my study table close to the window though the scenery wasn't that great. There was only a tree and another building facing us.

I clear my throat and muster up the courage to speak. "Why'd you join late as well?"

Gaeul glares at me but I remain unphased. "What's it to you."

"I'd atleast like to get to know my roommate better." I say as if it were the most obvious thing

The girl looks as if I'm the most exhausting person ever. "Because I was suspended. Happy?"

I nod at the new information. "Ah alright.  I'm assuming you want me to keep that to myself?"

Gaeul gives me a look. "Nobody cares about it around here. They all have secrets and in their closets is a whole graveyard of skeletons."

I tilt my head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She scoffs. "You don't know? This is a school especially for the kids who's parents are involved in underground stuff. Gangs, drugs, the mafia, you name it."

I'm clearly taken aback as i stare in shock. School for kids of criminals? And they put me here? And my father didn't say anything?? I had so many questions.

"Oh." I mutter out eventually but Gaeul has gone back to unpacking her bags and doesn't pay me any mind.

"Hey uh." I shift. "I know you said you don't want to be friends but would it bother you if we stuck together?"

Gaeul looks at me as if I'd asked her a scandalous question. "I told you-"

"And i remember. We don't need to be friends but we just need to stick together like for lunches and whatever," I explain casually while my roommate might very well be losing her mind.

"Look Jiwon-"
"It's Jieun."
She scoffs at me correcting her and walks over, crosses the partion and walked into my space before tackling me to the bed, one hand on my neck.

I flail around struggling to breathe under the pressure of her hand on me. My hand grabs onto the back of her shirt and using all the strength I have, I reverse out positions and now she's trapped with both her hands bound by mine.

I pant and look down at her disgruntled expression. "Just because i might look like I don't know how to fight doesn't mean that i actually don't know how to."

Gaeul's ebony eyes slightly widen as if she was not expecting me to stand up to her or to even have her in this position. But unlike her I don't restrict her airways so I get off and straighten out my shirt.

"Now," i put my hands into my pocket. "How do you know me?"

She looks at me warily before diverting her eyes elsewhere. "Your mom is a household name."

I try to catch the tone behind her statement but I cannot figure out if that's good or bad. My mother does make enemies quite frequently.

"I hope she has been on your good side." I say quietly and Gaeul looks up at me.

"And if she is not?"

"Then I apologise."

Gaeul chuckled for the first time and I see her smile humourlessly at the ground before looking at me.

"You're quite hard to understand you know. One minute you're all sunshine and the next minute you're the opposite." She says, her stare boring into mine.

"Well that's the first time I've been indirectly called an Enigma but I'll take it as a compliment." I bite back a smile.                 

                                   ☯❦

Is it really an imblueandgrey book if someone isn't getting straddled in a murderous way in the first few chapters?