Chapter 37

Tiffany closed her front door & leaned against it as she cried uncontrollably. Donggun, who had been watching some comedic stage performance on tv with a beer in his hand, stopped laughing as he whipped his head around to see who the source of disrupting his entertainment was. When he saw that it was Tiffany, he glared at her, “Oh, it’s you.” He continued to flip through the channels before stopping immediately as Jejung’s face appeared on the screen. Tiffany’s heart did a little somersault as she heard his loving voice that laughed at something the reporter said.

On the screen, Jejung was standing outside a lodge up in the mountains. It was during the time where he & Tiffany had their brief winter paradise, “So, Jejung, it’s been rumored that you have been seen to be awfully close with this girl here. Could you tell us her name & how you met her?” Jejung’s face softened at the mention of the girl. Donggun let out a laugh & slapped his knee as he pointed to the tv, “Look at him girl, he’s clearly hooked on you.” He rubbed his hands together, “Donggun is going to score some riches. Oh, yeah.” He whooped before putting his attention on the program again.

Jejung smiled at the reporter & shook his head, “She is to be kept a secret. She’s probably going to kill me for saying anything remotely relating to our relationship but I just want to tell the world that I’m indeed in love as I have never been before & it is a wonderful feeling.” The reporter laughed, “That girl must be very lucky then. There are going to be many jealous females out there all around the world.” Jejung shook his head, “I really hope not because I wish for everyone to love her as much as they love me. She is a beautiful & great person.” Jejung focused on the camera as if speaking to every single person who was watching, “To my fans, I just want to tell you all that I love you & please don’t be upset that I have found my soulmate & one true love in my life because, believe me, you will all eventually find that special someone as well. God made one person for all of us & I have found her as you will find yours.”

At those words, more tears fell from Tiffany’s eyes. She hadn’t known that he had said those words after his concert. Hearing them now, she wished that he could say those three beloved words to her now to ease her heartbreak. She wiped away her tears & proceeded to go upstairs to her room when Donggun suddenly turned off the tv after the program was over, “Hey girl, where do you think you are going? I have some questions to ask you.” Tiffany stiffened. She didn’t want to deal with her stepfather right now but she slowly turned around to face him.

“How come I haven’t see Jejung around here lately?” He took a swig of his beer, “I’m running short on some cash right now & was wondering if you could help me get some from him.” Tiffany couldn’t bear to meet his eyes & was slightly thankful when she couldn’t really focus on him, “I don’t think so.” Donggun finished the rest of his bottle & stared furiously at Tiffany, “What do you mean you don’t think so?” He made his way over to her which made her back up a bit. She looked down, “He won’t be coming around anymore. We broke up.” Donggun’s eyes darkened immensely at those words, “What do you mean you broke up?” Tiffany started to run upstairs but Donggun yanked at her arm, causing her to fall down a couple of steps & hit the floor. She quickly got up into a sitting position & scooted backwards against the wall, fear overcoming her.

“What did you do to make him break up with you?!” Donggun yelled. He smashed the bottle against the floor & it broke into little shards, a few spraying towards Tiffany, giving her some little cuts on her arms & legs & one on her face. He pulled her hair back, causing her to look up at him with tears of emotional & physical pain in her eyes, “You insolent girl, you are a good for nothing piece of unwanted baggage. Maybe I don’t blame Jejung for dumping you. You don’t deserve to be loved & you are not worthy of anybody. Shameless tramp!” He spit at her. Tiffany whimpered. She knew all was lost to her & she prepared herself for her fate.

The first blow he gave her was across her face, causing her lips to split opened. He then punched her in the stomach & then raked his broken bottle across her white drawstring pants, slashing it open from the ankle to the knee, leaving an angry bleeding gash. Tiffany cried out in pain but that only angered him more, “Please stop? Don’t hit me anymore? Please don’t hit me in the head anymore?” He slapped her in the face, “Don’t hit you in the head? Well, guess what, the part of love hitting you the most is the head.” & with that, Donggun hit her across the face again, slapping her until her cheeks went red & raw. Tiffany cried & tried to block his blows but to no avail.

After beating her up a bit more, he bashed her in the head with the of the broken bottle & blackness overtook her. He left her like that & left the run down house in search for more alcohol, feeling satisfied that he had taught her a lesson. He felt good since it had been a long time since he had abused her. Blood started to seep into the carpet from Tiffany’s wounds. Eight hours later, a figure stepped into the house, finding the door open & screamed in terror at the sight of a battered Tiffany, lying unconscious with her rose pouch clutched tightly in her hand.