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Trapped In The Name of Love

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Lisa pushed her blanket aside as she uncovered her face. It took her a moment to shed the sleep from her brain, to move from that which she creates on a whim to things more fixed and real. Streaks of sunlight penetrated the window and blind her. She sat up, forced herself out of bed, and rubbed her eyes. Just as Lisa was about to head to the bathroom, she stared at the person who was lying next to her. He slept as peaceful as a baby would. Lisa stared at him with sorrowful yet angry eyes. Another night of humiliation and abuse.

Lisa studied her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot red and they were puffy. Her face was bloated and had several bruises on them. Her hair was in a mess; her clothes torn apart, and her left hanging out of her bra. She looked like a disaster. Her makeup was smudged and apart from that, her body was also covered with contusions. She wept silently, afraid of being heard. How did it come to this? She was once happy. She never thought that things would turn out like this. Did she deserve all this? She had no idea.

“Lisa!” A gruff and masculine voice interrupted Lisa’s thoughts, which made her jump in fright. She swiftly wiped the tears that escaped from her eyes and scrambled to where the voice was coming from. A man sat on the bed, facing Lisa. He let out a charming yet menacing smile. “Who gave you permission to leave my side?”

She was in deep trouble, and she knew it. She cautiously went towards Mingyu, stammering, “I… I… was just about to make you breakfast, Mingyu…”

“Cut down that crap. You can’t cook for .”

“Come here.” Lisa looked at him goggle-eyed for a few seconds before hesitantly going towards him. She knew that tone of voice; it meant that she was going to get beaten up to a pulp again. Without another word, a hefty punch swings at Lisa’s face, knocking her back a few feet, and she was aggressively pinned to the nearest wall. Mingyu grabbed her by her neck, practically trying to strangle her. Lisa winced in pain, with tears racing down her bruised cheek. She got used to Mingyu’s abusive behavior, but it still hurts every single time Mingyu does this to her. Although her body was in pain, nothing could ever beat the pain that she felt in her heart. Mingyu once took her with care and loved her with all his heart. At the beginning of their relationship, he was as sweet as sugar and shy, even. He was so shy to the point where he would address Lisa as “Lisa Noona”, even though Lisa was just a month older than him.

The higher Mingyu raised Lisa, the harder Lisa could breathe. Lisa started to struggle, desperately gasping for air. “Mingyu… Please…” She said in a faint voice, tears falling uncontrollably. “Oh? What’s that? I can’t hear you.” With his teeth clenched, he proceeded to grip her with all of his strength. Lisa grunted in pain and made inaudible noises; she never thought that her life would end like this.

At that critical moment, the doorbell rang. “Is Miss Lisa here?” Fortunately for Lisa, she managed to live to see another day, and unfortunately for her, she has to face this kind of torture for her entire lifetime. Mingyu growled in anger, patently furious that his plan had foiled. He empathically pushed Lisa into the bathroom and gave her a huge scowl. “You better hide your bruises with makeup and thick clothes. If anyone notices them,” He glanced at a knives placed beside the stove and stared coldly into her eyes. “You’re dead meat.” Lisa nodded in fear, not wanting to anger Mingyu and come to terms with him harming her for the nth time.”That’s my girl,” Mingyu ruffled Lisa’s bangs and smiled alluringly at her.

That smile… It was the very same smile that Lisa had once fallen for. When she first arrived in Korea, nobody wanted to be friends with her. Despite the fact that she was a visual, everyone was awfully harsh on her just because of her race. Instead of considering their own character flaws, people would be happy to mock Lisa’s Korean accent and make fun of her skin color. Consequently, Lisa would begin isolating herself, making her alone most of the time. And because of the fear of being judged, she never joined any clubs, and rarely participated in activities. Her dignity and her will to live slowly died each day; she was exhausted of receiving this kind of treatment. She never hated the people who made her feel worthless; instead, she put the blame on herself. She would cry herself to sleep every single night but she had to fake her smile and tell her parents that everything was fine and that she was happy with her new life whenever they video-called. She was living in hell – until Mingyu showed up. On one occasion, three bullies mortified her in the cafeteria. Hundreds of students –even teachers- were there and witnessed the whole thing, but no one had the courage to step up and defend Lisa, as the trio came from rich and powerful families. Students didn’t want to get to get blacklisted by the bullies; meanwhile the teachers didn’t want to lose their job, as they all had families to feed. No one battered an eye, and minded their own business, as if nothing was happening. Disappointed in humanity, she stopped crying out for help and just accepted their behavior towards her.

Seeing that Lisa was eating alone during lunch, the trio aimed their target on her, approached her and sat beside her. “So this is how it feels to be sitting next to a monkey.” The leader of the trio, Park Sooyoung, also known as Joy announced, with her two sidekicks, Lee Taeyong and Son Chaeyoung giggling hysterically like a pack of hyenas. For someone who’s name is Joy, she surely finds joy in other people’s misery.

Lisa kept a straight face and carried on eating her food. Flustered, Joy whistled to get Taeyong’s attention. She took a glimpse at Lisa’s food, and he understood what she meant right away. He spit an excessive amount of saliva into Lisa’s lunch and snickered at his own actions, like he was proud of what he just did.

“Eat it.”

Lisa was startled by their actions; she closed her eyes, silently waiting for this moment to just pass. Lisa hoped to escape this situation by just keeping shut, but her reaction just made Joy turned into Anger in a few seconds. In a fit of pique, she shoved Lisa to the ground in a belligerent manner, causing Lisa to fall over roughly. Lisa gave a grimace of pain, but Joy wasn’t done with her just yet. Joy Lisa’s cheek, tracing her hands down to Lisa’s chin, while raising it up. “Do you think that this is a joke?” Lisa sniffled discretely, her eyes welled with tears.

Joy scoffed at her, “You’re a joke.” She stood up, and gestured Taeyong to pour food over Lisa’s head. Taeyong obeyed her orders, not forgetting to pour milk all over her. Lisa was completely quiet, and kept her eyes on the ground the whole time. Joy squatted down to make eye contact with Lisa, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you eating?” Joy pushed Lisa’s head vigorously towards the food that had fallen on the ground. At the same time, a dozen tears had rolled down Lisa’s face