Her father, again for the nth time, came home in a drunken situation. Naeun, who’s in her room, sighing hard. She went out from the room after her father shouted her name many times.

‘Here it goes again…’

Naeun took a deep breath; expecting whatever his father would did to her.

 After her mother died 3 years ago, her father changed, a lot. Her father that once was a kind, hardworking, responsibility and loving father had turn into an alcoholic addict beast. Coming home late at every night with a bottle of soju in his hand.

Every late at night, the moment she opens the door, her father will push her, throw the soju bottle to the wall and sometimes, if he had a really bad day that time, he will pulled her hair, scratch her arm or face just to release his stress.

All this time she believed that her father will changed after a month or two of her mother’s dead but no, not even a slight of change. Tell her, she’s crazy because she still stayed in that living hell for 3 years since her mother died. At that time, she’s still 18, a girl who had a long way to go. Her mother had happened to die on the last paper of her final exam. After the school ended, her phone rang and that time, her heart was beating fast and she felt anxious too. She answered the phone. After for a few seconds of hearing what the other line said, her eyes widen and her heart felt like it would fell off from its place.

“Your mother is at Seoul Hospital now. She had an accident with a car. The driver was unknown since he or she ran away .If you could, please come here quickly for further information about your mother condition as well as your signature to further the process of your mother checkup,”

As soon as she got there, it was too late. Her mother already passed away and she was only 5 minutes late. Who could she blame to? The doctor who just want a freaking sign before they could further her mother checkup? Or the hell traffic jams when she’s on the bus? Or is it the freaking driver who ran away?

She looks at her mother pale and peaceful face, for the last time before she was buried under the earth. She could saw a slight curve on her lips like she was smiling. Tears by tears started to fall down. She still remembered this morning that her mother woke her up, made her breakfast, kissed her forehead and the last one, she was smiling as she waved goodbye to her. Her cried started to get louder and louder.

15 minutes later, she slowly went out from the corpse’s room since the doctor needed to do something. She sat at one of the chairs in front of the information desk. She sighed and at that time, it hit her. Her father. Where is he went his wife was in the hospital and already dead? Maybe her father was busy with works, that’s what she thought.

She went home late, at around almost 9 p.m. to ease her feelings.  The house was dark, obviously since her father didn’t came back from work yet but to her surprise, her father was sitting on the sofa, drinking. She assumed that her father heard the news and he might be depressed about it. But, the thought of it flew away when her father said something to himself that almost gave her a heart attack.

“I’m sorry....I’m sorry for killing you, Mieun....”

The bag that she held it strap fell down.

“What?”

The day that her mother died, was the day her father start to change into someone else or she call it, a ‘beast’. A beast that was afraid that he would end up behind the bars. That’s exactly the main reason why her father starts to hurt and torture her.

Today is the day that she decided to leave the house. Before his father came home, she packed all her things and money that she had collected in her school’s days. It’s enough for a while. The money was hidden in her bathroom, behind one of the tile of the wall. That’s why her father never found it.

At around 10 p.m., she went out from her house. Just when she took a few steps away from her house, her father already back.

‘Oh no…’ she thought. Before she could even start to run away, her father already spotted her.

“Son Naeun! Come back here!”

The shouting voice of her father was like a sign to her that she should start running.

Being an athletic, once in high school, running was her thing. Even with the heavy backpack behind her back, it doesn’t even slow her down a bit. She just kept running and running, but to where? She doesn’t know.

The shouting voice of her father was slowly fading. Her pace was slowing down and she turned to look whether her father is already gone or not. She took a deep breathe of relief.

‘Guess father already loss my trace,’ she thought.

She walked slowly to the busy night at Seoul. She doesn’t even remember when the last time she went out from her house was. All this time, she had been stuck in the house of living hell.

She walked and walked with no direction and just goes with her heart. She walked until she found a wooden bench and sat there. She heaved a heavy sigh.

“I don’t know where I should go now. More importantly, where would I sleep tonight?”

She mumbles to herself. Another heavy sigh escape from her cold lips. It was the end of January and the temperature that night doesn’t did any good.

She grabbed her backpack from her back and s the bag. She took out another sweater to warm herself up. The clothes she brought were not that much since she had never shop for new cloth ever since her mother died. With the sudden thought of her mother, she had made a decision to go visit her mother’s grave.

At 12 a.m., Naeun had arrived at her mother’s grave by foot. Thankfully, it was up on a hill and her father doesn’t know about it since he doesn’t come when the day that her mother was buried. Probably feeling guilty or he doesn’t want to come.

Naeun sit beside the grave and her eyes began watery. One drop fell and another came. She misses her so much. The last time she visited her was 3 years ago. Yes, that day only.

“Mom, I’m so, so, sorry for not visiting you…” Her voice was cracking.

“If only…If only dad doesn’t kill you, I’ll be attending college, hanging out with friends and...Be a daughter you will be proud of,”

“Until now, I don’t even know what reasons dad had to kill you. What exactly his motive? “

Yes, all this time she doesn’t even know why her father killed her mother. She wanted to ask him but she’s too afraid if he will be mad to her and start to slap her.

For that whole night, she had been sitting beside her mother’s grave and talk to her like she’s alive. Even though she doesn’t get any respond but at least she was happy to let all of her feelings out.  

As the time pass by, her eyelids were slowly getting heavy as she began to sleep under the sky full of stars, on top of a hill, beside her mother’s grave.

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Author Notes:

So,how was it? Tell me if something was off

or had spelling/grammar error~