Chapter 1: Prologue  

Having escaped from her desperation and hopelessness, SoYoon walked on with fervor, still thinking about the call she had received an hour before.

I’m sorry, SoYoon. I’ve made a mistake. I can’t believe I fell for such a lie. I must have been out of my mind. Can we meet up and talk about it? I’ll figure out the school situation—can we please talk face to face? I miss you, SoYoon.

Her boyfriend, DongHyun, was handsome and upright, with a reputable upbringing. He was intelligent, and he was the only son of a wealthy family that owned several buildings in Gangnam. There was no way that such an eligible bachelor would be left alone. Before DongHyun had started going out with SoYoon, he’d been surrounded by girls.

When DongHyun and SoYoon had started dating, DongHyun had made it clear that he had a girlfriend, yet the girls refused to give up so easily. Some treated SoYoon as if she were a thief who had stolen something meant exclusively for them. They attacked her character, ostracized her, and spread rumors about her. She became the target of all sorts of scandalous gossip, and the attacks against her spread like wildfire. The rumors had caused her friends—and even DongHyun—to start to suspect her.

SoYoon had tried to convince them of her innocence, but there was no one left to lend her their ears. Her words were twisted and torn apart by the scoundrels. After becoming the laughing stock of her classmates, whom she barely knew, she no longer even wanted to step outside.

As SoYoon thought back to her past, she stopped walking.

Can all this really be repaired? Can I put my trust in DongHyun’s message?

She shook her head at the thought.

“Well, how could this possibly get any worse?” SoYoon mumbled to herself and resolutely resumed walking.

When SoYoon arrived at the specified location for their meeting, unfriendly eyes penetrated her from all directions. Names she couldn’t even have imagined hearing a couple of days before were now being shot at her. Gold digger. The brand-obsessed prostitute. But DongHyun must have tried to remedy the situation, because she noticed that some of the people she had once thought of as her friends were now hesitantly walking toward her.

“SoYoon…”

SoYoon clutched at her bag. Inside was a thick textbook.

No, not yet, she thought.

This was not the place to use this. SoYoon ignored them and moved away from them.

As she turned the corner, she heard a single word.

“Die!”

Even in the shadows, the knife flashed bright silver as it descended upon her. The blade penetrated her stomach—then her chest, arm, and neck.

A moment later, SoYoon, lying in a pool of her own blood, looked up at the girl who had stabbed her. The same girl who had poisoned DongHyun’s ears stood above SoYoon: Wi GaHyun. SoYoon tried to whisper her name, but all that came out of her lips was the sound of escaping air.

“Die, you undeserving b*tch! If it weren’t for you, DongHyun Oppa would never have done this to me!”

SoYoon could see the venom in GaHyun’s eyes. It was unbelievable. She clearly felt no remorse for what she had just done, acting like she was the victim, glaring at her with those vicious eyes…

“Ahh!”

A piercing scream resounded. People were running this way. But not a single person tried to stop GaHyun.

SoYoon suddenly realized how naive she had been to have kept quiet about GaHyun, trusting that her friends would know better. The knife continued to penetrate her body, but SoYoon could no longer feel the pain. Weakly, her eyes rolled back into her head.

From her open bag, two books had fallen out. One had been meant for Joo DongHyung. She had intended to smack him over the head with it. The other was a library book she had borrowed on the last day she had gone to school. It was a novel about Alice, who searched for the answers to her parents’ mysterious deaths and the crazed men who loved her—a story of a strange place called Wonderland. She was supposed to return the book tomorrow.

“Look at you now!” GaHyun laughed maniacally.

Sensing the delight in her attacker’s laughter, SoYoon suddenly felt a surge of hatred. She collected all her remaining strength, grabbed GaHyun’s ankle, and twisted it sharply.

“Stay out of my life forever… What—what the?!” GaHyun said in surprise.

GaHyun quickly escaped SoYoon’s grasp, but a red line remained where her hand had been. SoYoon, entranced by the mark, stared at it. Even as her vision blackened around her, that mark was still visible in the darkness.

Clank!

The blade hitting the floor was the last sound SoYoon heard. Then something heavy seemed to push her body into the ground.

***

Beep, beep, beep…

The repetitive sound of machines was becoming bothersome.

SoYoon opened her heavy eyes slowly. People in white gowns were approaching her, saying something she couldn’t quite hear. Strange machines surrounded her. She could smell hints of chemicals in the air.

I must have been taken to the hospital after I passed out.

Relieved, SoYoon closed her eyes again.

I survived… What a relief.