Hyo-Jin shot up from her bed at an alarming speed. What did she just experience? The pain, the feeling which weighed heavily on her heart. It all seemed so real. Her head felt heavy and she touched her forehead. It was wet. Wet with sweat. Hyo-Jin realised that her whole body was all sticky and wet. She had dreamed that she was held hostage in a dark place. She was beaten up repeatedly and she could taste the blood in . She remembered from the dream that she could hear a male's sarcastic chuckle but she couldn't see him. 

        Hyo-Jin was rather traumatised by the nightmare. It was her first time dreaming of such a thing. She cuddled up by herself, hugging her knees. Tears flowed uncontrollably even though she knew that it was not real. She wanted to run into someone's embrace and it scared her that the first person who popped into her mind was Changjo instead of AJ. Her boyfriend. Hyo-Jin shook her head and frowned at that thought. She sniffled and got up from her bed to wash up. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and walked determinedly towards the door. Today was the day she was going to find out the truth. 

      Hyo-Jin wore a peach coloured cardigan with a white shirt inside and on the bottom, she wore a navy blue skater skirt with a brown belt. A pair of wine red flats adorned her feet. She carried a black messenger bag which was big enough to carry her wallet and mobile phone. She knew that first impressions mattered and she always made sure that she thought it through before wearing the outfit out. 

        She took a bus and sat near the window. She loved looking at the beautiful city she was borned in. New buildings and attractions appear everyday. Then her mind wandered off from the sights. She started day-dreaming and thought of the possibilty that she might have been involved in a gang fight and a cute guy saved her before they beat the life out of her. Hyo-Jin heaved a breath and smiled dreamily. She would have fallen for that guy despite his complicated background and they would constantly be on the run, running away from those thugs. The ring in the bus indicating that they had arrived at a bus stop shattered Hyo-Jin's thoughts. Hyo-Jin realised that it was her stop and tapped out into the familiar surroundings.

        She put her feet into the entrance slowly. Her heart was beating faster than ever and the butterflies in her stomach threatened to fly up her guts. Hyo-Jin tightened her grip on the strap of her bag. She breathed in the smell of antiseptic and quickened her steps before her feet could carry her away from the building. Hyo-Jin eyed her surroundings for the reception counter. She laid eyes on a lady wearing a baby blue uniform standing behind a counter. Hyo-Jin's steps became slower and her eyes flicked to the ground. She took slow and quiet steps as though the nurse will kill her upon laying eyes on her. Hyo-Jin stopped in front of the counter and slowly lifted her head up. She met eyes with the pleasant looking lady who was smiling at her genuinely. 

        "Hello there, how may I help you?" The nurse asked.

        "Ah-ah. Ummm I-I came to m-make an enquiry." Hyo-Jin replied. 

        "O-K. About what?" The nurse nodded her head slowly as she asked.

        "Actually, I wanted to know why I was admitted to this hospital earlier this year. Everytime I ask my family, they always find ways to avoid it." 

        "I see. Whats your name? I will search for your records. Oh and I need your identification card for verification." The nurse said.

         Hyo-Jin took her wallet out and removed her card to be given to the nurse. The nurse received the card with two hands and started typing into the computer. She turned to look at Hyo-Jin with sympathetic eyes.

        "Ms Kim, you were admitted to this hospital because you received a heavy blow to your head and you had minor fractures. You also suffered from bruises around your body. I don't know what happened but it seemed as if you had been beaten up." The nurse explained. 

        "Is that all you know?" Hyo-Jin asked. 

        The nurse nodded. Hyo-Jin's heart fell. Looks like she would have to continue with her search. Hyo-Jin thanked the nurse and headed out of the hospital. 

         Meanwhile, Eunjung happened to see Hyo-Jin at the reception counter as she was doing her rounds. She got curious and her mind started to wander into possible scenarios such as Hyo-Jin being pregnant with AJ's child. Eunjung widened her eyes and shook her head. She stopped doing her rounds for a while and approached the nurse behind the counter. 

          "Hey Rin. Why was that girl here?" Eunjung asked.

          "Who? The girl wearing the peach cardigan?" The nurse whose name was Rin asked.

          Eunjung looked at Hyo-Jin again and nodded. 

          "Oh, she just wanted to know why she was admitted to this hospital. Thats all. Why? Do you know her?"

          "Yeah. We became acquaintances while she was a patient here." Eunjung replied, not looking at Rin's face.

           She wanted to exclude the fact that she had actually been jealous of Hyo-Jin and AJ. She knew she'll pour everything out if she looked at Rin. Rin seemed to have that ability to make people tell the truth just by looking at her face.

           "Alright then, I have to get on with my rounds or Dr. Woo will start nagging at me." Eunjung laughed and walked away. 

           Eunjung thought about Hyo-Jin as she walked away. Does she want to find out the reason behind her injuries? Should I tell AJ? Because he's always worried over Hyo-Jin. Maybe I'll tell him after work. Can't really use my phone now. Eunjung shrugged her shoulders and slipped her hands into her uniform pocket. 

           Hyo-Jin took the bus once again and she was rather disapointed that the nurse didn't know the reason behind her injuries. She thought of her injuries and realises that it was quite serious. It may have been reported to the police so Hyo-Jin thought of going to the police station to try her luck. She knew that those police officers would try their best not to reveal certain things but if you don't try you would never know. 

           Hyo-Jin stood outside the police station and looked at its signboard. It emitted a sense of honour and dignity which made Hyo-Jin feel safe. She smiled and walked in as she was reminded of how AJ gave out that same feeling. Upon entering, Hyo-Jin was surprised by how rowdy the place was. Men with blood at the side of their mouth and women scantily dressed looking annoyed. This was not what Hyo-Jin expected. She thought the police station would probably have one or two troublemakers and the police officers would be busy typing reports. However here she saw countless of those people. 

           She walked towards a police officer who looked free as nobody was talking to him. 

           "Excuse me," Hyo-Jin started.

           The policeman looked up at Hyo-Jin. "Yes?"

           "Can I make an enquiry?" Hyo-Jin asked. 

           "Ok what?" 

           Hyo-Jin thought of how different two people of different occupational status could be. One was gentle while the other was gruff. Hyo-Jin snapped out of her thoughts.

           "I wanted to know if there had been a report about a girl being beaten up badly earlier this year."

           "Hmmm there are a lot. Whose this girl you're trying to find out about?"

           "Kim Hyo-Jin. 17 years old," Hyo-Jin said. 

           The policeman typed into the computer and said, "I can't access that information because its been blocked. The 'higher ups' must have wanted this case to be low profile but it can never be kept away from the press." The gruff man chuckled.

           Hyo-Jin thanked him and walked out of the building. The press huh. Hyo-Jin tried searching for news on the Internet on her phone's network. Surprisingly enough, results for her searches appeared and she read the article. She looked for a place to sit and saw a bench. She sat down with her eyes still glued on her phone. 

The news said:   A 17 year-old-girl whose name is unknown was kidnapped and beaten up at an abandoned amusement park in Suwon. We thought that it was a gang feud but we found out that it was actually an old family feud linked to the old incident where husband and wife were killed in a car accident. The reported girl was rushed out of the scene in a state of unconsciousness into an ambulance headed for a hospital in Seoul. The said girl was wearing her school uniform. Police hauled out a boy in handcuffs. Another man in his 30s was handcuffed onto a stretcher and we assume that he was involved in the kidnapping. The boy in handcuffs was a gang leader's son and carried out the kidnapping upon the said girl. Apparently both the boy in handcuffs and the girl was from the same school, wearing the same uniform at the scene. 

          "From the same school?" Hyo-Jin asked out loud. 

           Images appeared in her mind and Hyo-Jin was overwhelmed. She held on to her throbbing head and tried standing but her head felt dizzy and the things she saw became unstable. Hyo-Jin shut her eyes tight and walked backwards as she knew there was a bench behind. She tripped on the bench and fell on it. She passed out on the bench.        

            Passers-by looked at her with uncertainty but continued walking. Most of them merely shot her a glance and walked away. Hyo-Jin stirred and her eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was the green leaves of the tree which stood there, sheltering her from the sun's heat. Hyo-Jin still felt a little dizzy and allowed herself to sit there while looking at a spot to allow her vision to stabilise. When her headache had gone away, Hyo-Jin could feel the anger rising up her body. That nightmare she had that night really did happen. It was actually a part of her memory. Hyo-Jin held back her tears. She was still confused on what to do afterwards.