Chapter 17

Friend?

~Ju Kyu’s POV~

“Ya! You filthy , get up!” I heard a man’s voice say as I felt a strong kick on my stomach.

I coughed and coughed, but I couldn’t open my eyes due to the pain of his continuous kicking.

“! You filthy little thing, wake up and do your job!!!!” He roared.

I groaned in pain. I wanted to cry. I wanted to open my eyes and run away, but my body wasn’t cooperating with me.

Through all his shouts and endless hits, I heard a soft whimper from somewhere near.

“Chun Ji, please! Stop hurting her!” A woman’s voice begged.

“Why would I? She was so stubborn last night! I wasn’t even satisfied.” The man’s voice growled. “! Get up and clean yourself! Follow me into my room!”

With one last kick, he turned and left me with the sobbing woman.

“Han Myeul.” Her voice called out.

I just cried in response. My whole body was aching, especially my private part.

I continued crying even when the woman’s footsteps faded.

“Help me.” I kept on saying with my hoarse voice. “Help me.”

“Ju Kyu-shii!” I heard a male voice again.

“No.” I muttered.

“Ju Kyu-shii.” The voice said again.

“No. Don’t hurt me, please.”

“Why would I hurt you, Ju Kyu?” He said again, then I felt a hand on my arm.

I instantly shuddered and panicked. “No! Don’t! Leave me alone! Don’t touch me!” I started kicking and wriggling around like crazy, even if the person’s hand wasn’t on me anymore. “No!” I screamed again. “NO!!!”

“Ju Kyu! Ju Kyu!” There went the voice again. And his hands were on me again, shaking me like mad. “Ju Kyu, Ju Kyu, wake up! I won’t hurt you!”

“NO! GET AWAY FROM ME! I HATE YOU!” I shouted again.

“Ju Kyu! Wake up! Open your eyes! It’s me, Jonghyun!”

When I heard what he said, I opened my eyes, sitting bolt upright and realized it was all just a dream, a bad dream, a nightmare. I looked around and found myself in my room. I was too scared to even ask how and why he got inside my house. All I cared about was that his hand was on my cheek and was rubbing my tears away. For the first time in years, I felt comfort.

I was breathing heavily, still having visions of my dream. Jonghyun watched me silently, waiting for me to relax. I couldn’t believe I was still having those nightmares after 5 years. I shivered when a cool breeze blew through the window, so Jonghyun pulled my covers up to my arms. After a few minutes, my breathing was already even, but tears were still flowing slowly.

“So, is it a good thing that I decided to visit you?” He finally spoke.

“How—“ I started to ask, but he cut me off.

“I’ll explain later, okay? For now, I will take care of you.” He said. “You don’t look fine, Ju Kyu.”

“I’m all right.” I whispered.

“You’re not.” He said flatly. “We may not have known each other for long and you may not treat me as a friend, but I know when you’re fine or not. You don’t have to act all tough in front of me, Ju Kyu. I’ve seen you cry already. I don’t care if you soak my shirt with your tears. Just let me be here for you.”

I shook my head.

“Ju Kyu.” He whispered again. He was looking straight into my eyes, but I was staring at his shirt while he sat in front of me. “I’ve heard things about you, but I doubt any of them was true.”

“So much things about me fly around school.” I muttered. “They think they know me.”

‘Exactly.” He said. “I know that all of them are lies, so I want to know the truth. Ju Kyu, I want to be your friend. You may think you don’t need one, but you’re suffering now. At least you want someone to throw your anger at? I won’t mind your punching me and all.”

As much as I didn’t want anybody, especially boys, to see my weak side, I knew I had nobody else but him. Unknowingly, tears started flowing down my cheeks again.