"Sorry jagiya, but I’m stuck at work. I’ll be home by dinner though.” I smiled as I hung up the phone.

I wasn’t actually stuck at work; I was going to pick up the engagement ring I secretly ordered. I was going to surprise her tonight with the ring, so I lied.

 

On the way home from the jeweler, I stopped to stare at the ring. Even though there were so many more expensive rings, this was the only ring that made me think of her. I’m not one to show my feelings much, but when I love someone I make sure that they know it.

I never thought I would have loved someone like this in my 20 years of living, but I just can’t help it when I’m around her. She’s really special to me, and I want her to always be.

 

I put the ring back into the bag and continued walking up until I saw a bunch of people surrounding something in an alleyway. I walked closer and saw barricades set up by the police, which got me curious to what happened.

I then saw an arm lying on the ground and figured someone was injured or killed. When I walked closer, I saw it.

I dropped the bag the ring was in and ran towards the body. It was her; my special someone.

The police held me back as I called out her name.

“I’m her boyfriend! Let me through!” I yelled.

They released me, but told me not to touch the body.

I fell to my knees beside her head, and stared down at her motionless body. No matter how much I want to cry, the tears won’t come out.

“Jagiya...Jagiya it’s me…Yoongi…Please say something.” I cried out. I looked down to her stomach and saw a stab wound along with a sheet covering up her bottom half.

There was a bag of groceries lying beside her. She went out to buy ingredients for dinner. We usually go together since I became more interested in cooking since we were together.

An officer approached me and started telling me about what happened. “I’m sorry about your loss. It seems like she was stabbed either before or during the ual assault.”

My eyes widened as I heard those words. I immediately lifted up the sheet and saw that her pants and were off.

It was now that the tears came pouring out. Why on earth would someone do such a thing? It’s all my fault. Because I wanted to surprise her with the ring, I wasn’t there for her. Because I lied, it caused her to lose her life. If only I was there to prevent this, she would still be alive.

 

I got up and looked over at the officer.

“Was the person who did this caught?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “We don’t have any leads as of now. We’ll take her body in and perform an autopsy to see if there’s any DNA within her, if that’s alright with you.”

I looked back down at her body and thought for a bit.

“Do it. Do whatever it takes to catch that .” I replied.

I walked passed him and picked up the bag I dropped and headed to our apartment.

 

When I got there, I closed the door and dropped onto the floor. I couldn’t stop the tears from coming out. She’s gone and I won’t see her again.

I took out the ring again and wiped my tears so I could see it.

I crawled over to the coffee table and picked up a picture of the both of us together. I pressed my back against the sofa and looked at her in the picture.

“You would have said yes, right? You were going to be mine forever.” I said out loud, still staring at her. “We would have been a family and we would have grown old together.”

I then caressed her face in the picture as my tears fell on it. “I always thought you were special even though you never thought you were. You were the only person to ever make a huge impact on me. I always thought my job was everything, but then you came along and made it 50/50.” I chocked on my tears. “I never got to tell you those words.”

I curled up and hugged the picture. “Why did you have to leave me?”

After a good long cry, I found a chain and took the ring to wear it around my neck so I would always have her memory with me.

---

After a week, an officer told me everything that happened, and who and murdered my girlfriend. It was some nobody that has no respect for women or himself and decided to have some “fun”. He then told me that she tried to resist, but was most likely stabbed as she tried to. She was then ually assaulted and the man fled the scene. They found his DNA inside her, and this man has prior history of assault on women. The officer was even kind enough to show me a picture of him; I’ll never forget his face.

I asked the officer for a favour, if I could speak with the before they arrest him. He said it was alright as long as I didn’t do anything to him. He said that they would get there “late” to give me time. Even they don’t appreciate such a disgusting crime.

I decided to bring a baseball bat with me as I visited this “person”.

 

I approached an alleyway with my necklace siting perfectly on my chest, where I noticed him hanging out by himself.

“You’re Jiyoung, right?” I asked as I walked towards him.

“Yeah, who wants to know?” he replied as trying to provoke me.

“I think you remember my girlfriend from a week ago. You gave her such a warm welcome.” I said as I stretched with the bat.

“Oh yeah…her.” He responded. “She wasn’t cooperative at all. I feel sorry for you; you had to put up with a woman who doesn’t know her place.”

I slammed the bat against the fence to release a bit of the anger.

“She’s dead.” I said.

“So? She got what she deserved.” He casually said.

I slammed the bat against the fence again. “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t beat you to a pulp.”

He stood there and looked a bit startled, as if he didn’t expect that I would actually use the bat.

“I’ll give you a reason. It’s because of that woman you murdered. She was against violence and I respected that about her. She always said that ‘violence is never the answer; it doesn’t solve anything’. She taught me many things, and tolerance was one of them.” I told him. “The cops told me not to touch you, but I don’t care about the law. She’s the reason why you’re still standing.”

The cops then came in behind me and the same officer as before took my bat away. I turned back at Jiyoung and lost it.

“I DON’T GIVE A WHAT HAPPENED IN YOUR LIFE TO TREAT WOMEN LIKE THAT, BUT LOOK AT WHAT IT’S LED YOU TO! YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS AND I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” I yelled.

The cops handcuffed him and walked him towards the car.

“Oh I think I should warn you, people in prison don’t take well to rapists. Don’t expect to get a second chance at life; it’s far too late for that.” I finished.

The colour in his face disappeared as the cops put him in the car.

---

I packed a few of my things up and paid for the remaining rent for our apartment. I quit my job and decided not to live in this apartment anymore. I want to get away from all the memories of her, but I also don’t want to forget them.

I took my necklace off, took the ring out of the chain, and placed it in my pocket. If I don’t have a home, I won’t be remembered of the memories I had with her. I want to get over all of this, even if it takes 50 years.

It hurt the most on her 20^th birthday, and also on my 21^st birthday. I was staring at a can of beans for both of them and cried all day as I remembered the times we celebrated them together.