CHAPTER 017.
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Okay, f*ck!

Maybe you shouldn't have chosen to run at all. Maybe you should have just stayed with Dark and pretended that everything was alright. Maybe you should have not let those get to you and just did that.

You haven't really discovered the reason why they were acting so weird around you. You just run. It was only then that it did occur to you that things might only turn out worse if you acted rashly.

However, that train of thought arrived too late. You failed to employ the advice as you had already ran out of the VIP room. And unfortunately for you, things actually did turn out for the worse.

After you took up the decision to flee, instead of easing your predicament, the number of these people that were chasing you seemed to even slightly increase. It confuses the h*ck out of you.

How did this even f*cking happen?!

You don't know.

You clearly had no idea as you were, after all, only supposed to be a spectator for the (Y/N) who lives inside this story; but well, as the author of the story, l should be kind and enlighten you, right?

So you see...

After gaining that moment of realization, the realization that people were actually being hexed by you, your book persona was instantly consumed by worry.

Seized by it, you, in turn, failed to focus on the path you were taking.

It eventually and tragically led you into bumping into more strangers, which then inadvertently layered their gazes with hazes of affection.

"Excuse me! Please!"

As you run, one even dares to scream behind you—their tone clearly reeking of desperation to learn your name, of their darling's identity.

But of course you didn't pay any heed to their anguished calls, only focusing on running until you find the exit of this place.
Never daring to look behind.

Because why would you need to?

The haywire noise that you can pick up from your back mainly warns you of the choas that your fuck luck had caused.

Who knows what might happen if you even dare to tilt your head so slightly? A horde of love crazed zombies, maybe?

You'll never know.

It was never in your plans to create an army of (Y/N)-fanatics.

That said chaos slowly gets overtaken by the sound of your heart. Violently pounding against your ribcage— like how you wanted to pound yourself out of this ridiculous situation.

Sweat dripping down your face.

Eyes focused ahead of you.

Heaving panting from the run.

It takes you a few more minutes before you—you—finally caught sight of the exit. Maybe it's because of exhaustion, but you can somehow imagine some light radiating from its little wooden corners.

Freedom, you exhale.

A little, tired smile being released.

Just one more. One more push. And you can finally get your awaited freedom!

You shut your eyes tight, forcing out a breath of exhale from your slightly ajar lips.

For the present time being, you've decided to focus on exerting more energy in every fiber of your muscles to accelerate your speed.

Gradually though, you started to feel sore; but you can still say that it worth it when you manage to place your palm on the smooth wooden texture.

The burst of relief surging inside you. Your sweaty red face broke out into a smile as you pushed yourself into your desired choice.

And yes, you did get your freedom.

You did manage to escape all those crazy horde, but the question right now for you is...

What comes next?

✭ 𝕱𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖍𝖇𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝕰𝖓𝖉𝖘 ✭

"Meow."

Your palm still on your temple; you look at the cat with the most distressed expression that you ever had in your life.

Because—

How in the f*ck can you not?

THAT was the most distressful experience that you ever had.

Not only were you kidnapped by a famous idol, you did not expect for the fuck luck to manifest a horde of love-sick waiters.

I mean—sure, you were grateful for the food. But still, isn't that just too weird? And creepy?

And it might be very random, but you couldn't help but think about the bill. With the long list of meals that they ordered for you, the total cost would definitely be skyrocketing.

Now you could not help but feel bad for the person who ordered you those meals.

How on earth did this happen anyways?

The F*ck Luck before was not as active and blatant as this. While you had met several celebrities before this, they were never influenced so severely like earlier; so such sight was really a shock.

You suddenly stiffen.

A light bulb suddenly igniting itself within you.

A sweat tricked. Oh no.

What if...

What if Star and Dark were never affected by the fuck luck to begin with and it was only just now that you're able to experience it?

So those waiters...

Is this to imply that my standards can only reach to their level, and I was just deluding myself the whole freaking time that I have the charm to catch the attention of those big-time celebrities?!

"Ha..."

You let out a laugh of disbelief.

So all along you were just a presumptious little bitch.

Fortune blinks its yellow eyes as he watches your hands roughly run across your disbeveled hair—making your messy appearance more disorderly and more deranged-looking than ever.

As you were having an internal dilemma at that moment, the beige door to your bedroom suddenly got flung open and in came your "favorite" sister.

The first thing you noticed on her is a broom.

It was raised in the air as if she was ready to smack any foolish intruders that might have dared to sneak in their house.

And yes, of course—as someone who experienced such violence firsthand, you can attest that freaking broom is not just a mere show of threat.

If she really wants to, she can attack anyone without any hesitation.

You pause at your movements. Then after a second, you lift your hands as if to conceal your head from whatever she might be planning to do.

She stares at you, unblinking.

You gulp.

The silence seeming to warn you for the worst to come. You have a small feeling that your sister will still smack you with that broom even though you are not exactly an intruder.

Because why not?

She's probably mad right now because you're here once again tainting her eyes. After all, she did declare to you before that looking at you had always soured her mood.

To her, you are always unpleasant to look at, even when you guys were siblings.

Okay, sure.

You won't deny the truth that Nikki might be a hundred times prettier than you. But even so, that doesn't mean you're actually ugly!

And besides!

You guys still share a few similarities.

To the point that there were even times that people would still mistake you as her. That's probably enough to be considered a sign that you don't actually look that bad like she appeared to claim so.

Ugh, just because she's a narcissist, that does not mean that she has to drag you down to pull her ego up.

Geez! Are the school grades not enough that this bitch even has to nitpick your looks
.
So consumed by your thoughts, you fail to observe your sister starting to head towards your form. Only did you realize when her arms finally wrapped around your tiny pitiful form.

"(Y/N), you came back!" she cries out.

"Nikki?"

Your eyes went wide. You did not expect your sister to suddenly hug you like she actually misses you.

But with her warmth against yours, you couldn't just claim that this was all an illusion. She is really hugging you! And also strangely crying?

You can feel her tears being absorbed by your fabric as she has her head buried over your shoulder.

"I thought you'll never come back."

She sniffs, finally pulling away and letting you breathe.

Looking at her tear-stained face, you try detect for any irregularity but see none.

She looks really just happy to have you back.

"I thought you guys don't want me back," you answer, hesitating but truthfully.

"What?!"

Nikki gives you an incredulous look. "Is that what you have been thinking of all this time? That we do not care about you?"

"Is it not the truth?"

Your volume tones down to whisper as you start to get less confident with your belief.

With your sister before you acting the complete opposite of what you expected for her to be, your mind can't help but be in a state of disarray.

"(Y/N)?!"

Nikki slaps her temple with her palm, then stares at you with just pure disbelief.

"(Y/N), we are family! We may have some disagreements but at the end of the day we can still not deny that we share the same blood. People— they will come and go, but we..."

Her forehead slightly creases as she stares at you quite earnestly, "We will always stay by your side."

You stare at her.

Somehow instead of being touched by her speech, you have the quiet urge to scoff. You don't believe in such a ridiculous statement, and you refuse to believe that she actually does too.

Does she really believe in that saying when both of you have personally witnessed a family abandoning each other in hard times.

In fact, you guys have once thought that their family was perfect and happy. But who knows that it was just all a facade, only revealing the true state of their kinship when your maternal aunt died.

Her husband did not even bat an eye when he ditched their three children for a third party that he had been meeting years prior.

He was truly a d*ck.

"Where's Mom?" you ask, choosing to ignore her senseless speech and also choosing to ignore that you left out inquiries of your dad.

Not that you really hated your dad.

You only didn't bother to ask because you're a one hundred percent certain that he's possibly staying in another residence right now.

Your family's residence; not another's. Your uncle could have been a dick, but not your father. He was only occupied with work.

Considering that his work is located at the complete opposite side of the country, he has no choice but to live separately from you if he wants you guys to get schooled in a good educational institution.

The province that he was currently working in didn't really have a school that fits the highest standards that he's seeking for his children.

And you don't blame him. You would never. You understand that your parents only wants the best for you guys, and you're grateful for that.

You do try your best to reach their expectation, studying in order to get a decent grade, so that their efforts for your education won't be wasted.

But still you can't help but resent how vastly different the treatment you received from them, compared to your sister.
You constantly feel brushed aside.

Well, actually being dismissed would have been okay; but the fact that they easily let your sister off the hook after she violently hurts you is just a no.

You only want them to scold her, but nothing! Instead you're the only who gets scolded for aggravating your sister into hurting you.

Their mindset is just wow.

"Probably sleeping. It's 4:30 am, you know." Your sister huffs out, stating it as if it was the most obvious answer in the whole world.

"It's 4:30 am and yet you're awake," you point out in rebuttal.
By this time she doesn't even look the slightest pleased with your presence like earlier. She had already wiped the remaining traces of tears off her face.

"You know how school is for me." She shrugged, turning her gaze away from you as she focused it on the lampshade that was glowing warm orange.

The lighting inside your room was currently really dim, but you can still spot the large bags beneath her eyes.

"Oh."

You don't have any rebuttal—not when it's related to her studies. Your sister wasn't naturally a smart person. Like you, she had also worked hard to achieve it. The only difference is that her efforts always paid off; she even gets to be part of the top five of the class while you're just an average student.

"Then—" You swallow your saliva. "you're probably busy right now? Since you already saw me here, then you can go back. Don't let me distract you."

You stand up and try to grab her hand, attempting to pull her out; but she was quick to slap it off.

"Hello? Are you crazy? You're already kicking me out?! While I care about my studies, I'm not that heartless enough to pretend that everything's alright?!"

Your sister started to make some noise again, not caring about how your entire neighborhood was probably in their dream world right now.

In fear that she'll wake up your mother who's staying a few rooms away from you, you rush to your door that was opened and shut it.

You then narrow your eyes at her and place your index finger before your lips, urging her to lower her volume.

"I never said you're heartless," you whisper, "I'm just concerned for you. I think it's better we talk when both of us actually have some time to spare. Plus it's so early in the morning and both of us lacked sleep, we're obviously not in the state to talk."

"Concerned?"

She raises a brow as if skeptic before letting out a little scoff. "If you're really concerned for me, then why did you run away from home? Why did you decide to make us worry?"

And here she goes again, asking about your reason. You feel a hammer starting to pound on your head. "I told you, I thought you guys don't care about me."

"Is that really it?"

Nikki eyes you, and you nod profusely, just wanting things to get this done. You weren't lying when you told her that you're exhausted. Even though all your memories before was portrayed as a dream, you still feel so tired—so sore from running.

Staring at you for a few more seconds, she finally presses her lips as if to yield, sensing that you're really not in the state to be interrogated.

"Fine," she huffs out. "Later, we'll talk."

You nod and take a step to the side, making way for her to pass through while also opening the door.

"Okay, night," you softly mutter while her figure walks by you. She directs you a quick glance as she does so. Her weary gaze, clearly expressing desire to speak to you more.

Just for a moment, you thought that she'll start again with the questionings but thank goodness she didn't and still decided to listen to your request, ending the fruitless conversation with a "night" too.

Carefully closing the door behind you, you hastily turn around. Your gaze eventually dropping on the persian white cat that was lying down on the floor the whole time, quietly licking its paw.

As if he suddenly felt your eyes on him, he looks up. His yellow eyes glinting for a second, and at that exact moment you simultaneously feel the hair on your arms stood up.

A premonition, maybe? You don't really understand what's going on, and you also absolutely hate it. Should you just throw this cat outside?

But... will that even work and erase my curse?

You chew your bottom lips, and you turn your attention away from the adorable menace.

You then immediately rush to your bed, tucking yourself under the blanket as soon as you sprawl yourself on it, as if you were desperately seeking an escape from the misfortune that you stumbled on.

Despite being covered though head to toe though, you don't feel safe. A heavy feeling has been lingering inside of you since a moment ago, you just couldn't contain it any further.

The silence didn't really help as it also has its own intentions. Feeling lonely, it only coaxes you to pour those feelings out, wanting you to accompany its stillness with your little, sad cries.

And so you did.

You cried yourself to sleep that hour of day, hoping that when you wake up, everything will be back to normal and you won't have a curse following your trails anymore.

But sadly, in your case, reality only has disappointments to offer to you.

Because, the truth is...

Hope is nothing but a vain word.

While you might have been clinging to hope, hope is also clinging onto that desire of yours. And no matter how tightly you hold on, the weight is simply too much to bear.

You and your hopes can only fall in the end.

That is your reality.