THE NYMPHS III

The empty and dark room of her apartment offers no comfort for the moment. Jia had just arrived after a long ride to visit Fei’s only brother. The burial was very short with only the three of them and a guy to help them bury the urn of ashes.

She is still having a hard time digesting the fact that the one she thought of as an ally and a friend is actually the one trying to put their group to an end. The deafening silence that abounds her room offers those bits and flash or her horrible past to come and visit her once again.

*Meng Jia’s Reminiscence*

The screaming and yelling forced the sixteen-year old Jia to close her eyes and cover her ears. Despite her effort, the nagging voice of her mother and bellowing voice of her father seeped on her hands to invade her ears.

She is the only one left among her five other sisters. She doesn’t know where they had gone to. All she can remember is that they left together with their father and never came back with him at the end of the day.

“YOU RASCAL! DON’T EVEN THINK OF DRAGGING JIA WITH YOU THIS INSTANT! I WILL MURDER YOU!” her mother yelled.

She crouched from where she is kept; right on their barren closet hoping her father would not find her.

“YOU !”

She heard a slap and a thud. She moved closer to peek on the small holes of the closet and saw her mother struggling to stand up.

“YOU DON’T OWN THEM! I AM THEIR FATHER SO I HAVE THE SOLE RIGHTS IN THEM!”

Her heart started to hammer wildly again in her chest when she saw her father turn around, trying to locate her.

Her mother stood up and started to stop him, ”ENOUGH OF YOUR RIGHTS!”

The next thing Jia saw made her motionless for moments. Her eyes witnessed how her father gripped her mother in the neck, suffocating and cutting the circulation of air from her. His voice is low and very menacing, “You are not their mother and you know that so don’t go acting like you care for them,” then threw her on the floor.

He pulled something silver and heavy at his back and pointed it towards the weak woman in front of him. A loud bang filled Jia’s ears. Her eyes widened as she peeked from the hole and saw how the blood pools on her mother’s place.

Her most dreaded nightmare came to life when her father found her on the closet and dragged her away from the said furniture. She tried to pull herself away from the powerful grip of her father but her attempts were futile against the strong hold of her father.

She was pushed on the back seat of a black Sedan that soon zoomed on the dark night. Her frantic hands tried to pull the lock so she can jump out of the car but she can’t locate any lock. She tried to get hold of the headboard of the driver’s seat but a thick, clear glass wall prevented her from doing so. She is trapped and she had no way of escaping.

The car soon stopped in front of enormous building. She was soon dragged by her father straight to the front door. Instead of getting on the elevator, they proceeded to get to the garden. She was helpless because all of the people they pass by look at her indifferently like this is not the first time they witness a scene like that.

More than twenty men in black surprised her when they finally get there. From afar, she could see a table with four seats but only one of it is occupied. She was soon dragged again and pushed in front of the man sitting on the table.

“There, you can have her,” her father said.

Her eyes widened in fear as she looks up at the wrinkled face who grinned maliciously at her. She started to scramble on her feet to run away but two men stopped her.

She started wailing and struggled to free herself off the hold on her but her screams was soon muted when she felt a force at the back of her neck followed by pitch darkness.

When she woke up, she was startled to feel the soft mattress and the warmth of the blanket. Everything inside her started to panic when everything that happened started to rush back in her mind. She started to scream and ran for the door but a strong hold stopped her from moving further. She whipped her head and was welcomed by a concerned face of a twenty one years old Shin Min Ah.

*End of Reminiscence*

There was much more that she needs to know at that time but Shin Min Ah decided to give her all those information bit by bit s she can progress each properly. For ten years they had been together. There were times when they felt like giving up but what made them push through is the thought that they need to prove something. They need to prove to those people that their lives can still be better even if they have this horrible past to begin with.

**********

Luna is very much aware of the history the other member of the group had gone through. She did not experience such cruelty in her life up to now. She is not born neglected of everything; in fact, she is part of a large and wealthy family. She can be categorized as one of those few privileged born with a golden spoon in their mouths. But she sympathize them much like she had gone through all of those horrible pasts.

Life had never been kind for them and being with them made her protective of them. After all, she’s the only child. It’s nice to actually have someone t act like your sisters.

She decided to take a walk around the block to think and clear off her mind. She plugged her earphone on her ears to let some music soothe her mind.

Getting too occupied on walking and thinking, she did not hear the warning from the guy riding a bicycle. There was a loud crash. She was hit but not that severely, just a little scratch on her elbow since she is still standing. The guy fell on a heap, the wheels of the bicycle still turning from the crash and is also in a heap from a few feet away.

She is not that cruel so she moved to help the guy who is wincing in pain. He had a few bruises already. His pants were torn also in the knee part while the left part was bleeding from the scratch he had got.

“I’m sorry,” she removed her earphone and reached for her handkerchief to stop the bleeding on his knees.

“I’m quite lucky to have no broken bones or anything,” he chuckled and wiped off the dust from his face with the sleeves of his jacket.

She was taken aback from his reaction. Normally, a guy would curse and accuse things after the accident but here comes this guy, chuckling like nothing serious happened.

“Don’t worry, I will not sue you or not. I was being careless too so it’s partially my fault,” he smiled again, his eyes crinkling from the gesture.

She felt her cheeks heat up from the immediate eye contact that made her avert her eyes away from him. She moved back as he moves to press the cloth himself and check his wound.

“Can you walk? I just leave a block from here. We can treat your wound at my place,” she offered, avoiding the silence.

“That will be too much for you, but if you insist,” he smiled again and tried to stand up but limps and whimpers when he pressed his left foot.

She offered her hand, “Here, let me help you walk.”

He gave a shy smile and looked at his disabled bike a few feet from them. Completely getting what he means, she walked to get the bike and pull it up so they both cab drag it to her place.

He just decided to stay out and wait for her to get the medicine kit. When she came back, he is trying to fix the wheels while his left leg is stretched; the blood from the cut is already drying up.

She worked on cleaning it up first. She rolled up new bandages and some wet gauze after cleaning it. She placed ointments so it won’t scar, pressed the wet gauze then wrapped it up with a bandage. While she is busy on his knee, he picked up a band-aid and covered the little scratch on her elbow. She froze for a moment, the very little contact of his fingertips on her skin made her feel tingling. But she has to tend to his wound so she shoved the feeling off her.

“You have soft hands,” he remarked as she clears up her mess and the medicine kit. She looked at him, a brow raised.

“I would presume you are the only child, am I right?” he smiled again, that smile she finds annoying already because she would feel her cheeks warm up again.

“Yes, I am the only child,” she replied and settled beside him as they stayed there in silence.

There were no more exchange of words, just the silence but she can feel her heart beat somehow irregularly in her chest. She suddenly feels conscious of herself and tries on assessing herself when he speaks again.

“It’s getting late, I’ll go ahead,” he tried to stand up as she follows.

“Are you sure you can go on your own? I can send home you instead,” she offered, feeling guilty in seeing him struggle in walking.

“I’m fine. I’ll have to return this bike anyways and I can call them there so they can pick me up,” and offered another smile.

‘Why does he have to always smile?’ she thought.

Since she cannot stop him, she watched him limp slowly away when she remembered something.

“WAIT UP!” she exclaimed.

He turned his head.

“WHAT’S YOUR NAME?” she asked.

“KIM JONG DAE!” he smiled and gave a wave before starting again in his struggle, pulling the bike with him.

“Kim Jong Dae.”

The name seems to easily roll of her tongue as she tries to repeat it again. Finding it hard to suppress it anymore, she let the smile bloom on her lips as she remembers his contagious smile.