It’s a cold day. It’s winter, and it’s snowing and the sky is gray. It’s nearing Christmas season, so the downtown is really crowded and bustling with people that are buying last minute gifts for friends and family. Lights are hung up on lamp posts, and the little shops and cafes down the street have glittering signs and people dressed up as Santa Claus. It’s a cozy time to be downtown, everyone is feeling the Christmas spirit and trying to make the most of the time that they have off of work and school. I pull my fluffy white scarf closer around me as I make my way down the street.

    “So how far is this bakery from here?” Kai looks at me from the corner of his eye as we walk around a group of adults eating and talking under a tree.

    “Not far,” I reply. Kai’s been my best friend since elementary school. He’s tall and tanned, and really popular with the girls at school. He’s got these high cheekbones and a sharp jawline and just a nice face in general. He’s a sweetheart, but he’s got his moments where his cheeky side comes out as well.

    “We’ve been walking for almost fifteen minutes now,” Chanyeol says from my left. Chanyeol’s just as a close of a friend to me as Kai is. Kai and I had met him in the sixth grade when he was being threatened for his lunch money by a little punk named Kyungsoo, who had been significantly shorter than Chanyeol. It’s sort of weird and embarrassing, Chanyeol’s the tallest person I know, he’s even taller than Kai. But he can’t hurt a fly, he’s always smiley and could never be angry with someone for long.

    I’m about to whack him across the head and scold him for being impatient, but I barely get a word out of my mouth before I’m violently shoved to the side. My knees buckle easily, and I’m on the ground before I know it. I have to hold in the cuss word that’s about to come out of my mouth, and I instead watch as a man keeps making his way down the road, people naturally clearing the way for him. He’s dressed from head to toe in white, and he’s holding a flagpole of some sort that’s around eight or nine feet tall. The flag is plain white with a red embellishment in the center, the embellishment of our town. A cold feeling settles in the air, and I exchange a look with Chanyeol, who looks wary.

    A line of officials follow after the official with the flag, marching in place perfectly, pressing forwards without sparing a glance at the ones they push out of the way. They all have stoic faces, no emotion at all; they’re like robots.

    And then it happens, and I try not to puke in my mouth. Following after the line of officials is two more men in white suits, dragging along a man. No, I realize, he’s not a man. He’s young, maybe twenty or twenty-one, which is not old at all in our town. His hands are cuffed behind his back, twisted in a horrid way, and he’s walking with his head down. The officials show no mercy as they harshly yank him forward if he falters in his step.  

    As they pass by us, I’m still on the ground. The young man tilts his head up just a little so that he can make eye contact, and oh god, my heart drops right there and then. The young man has got dark circles under his eyes and bruises all over his face, no doubt from constant beatings from the officials. He must’ve done something, maybe stolen a car or something, to be receiving this punishment, and I try to tell myself that he deserves what he is getting. But as his eyes meet mine, all I can see in his blank brown eyes are a look of pleading. They’re screaming, save me, please, save me. I swallow the bile that begins to rise in my throat as I watch the beautiful young man falter in his steps, staring at me as if I can do something to help him.

    I don’t know what he has done, why he’s being held custody, but all I can see is a handsome young man that is trying hard to endure what he’s receiving. The officials, without looking behind them, yank his shoulders harshly so that he keeps moving. I see his eyes widen in surprise and he lurches forward, falling onto his knees because his arms can’t support him. I flinch as his knees harshly scrape against the road, drawing blood. His jaw clenches and stands up shakily by himself, because it’s obvious that the officials won’t move a finger to help him.

    And then, they’re walking again, robotically pressing forward. And I’m not sure why I do it, but when they begin to walk away from where I am, I get onto my feet and reach out for the young man. I don’t know what makes me do it, I don’t know this man, and for all I know, he can easily be a killer.  But there’s something that seems to pull me towards him, and it’s quite puzzling to say the least.

    Before I get in reach of the young man, a hand grasps my arm and harshly pulls me back. I’m pulled into Kai’s chest, and I remember, all at once, where I am and who’s around me. Kai is staring at me and so is Chanyeol, and I shrink a little under their gazes.

    “Are you crazy?” Kai asks, a frown is etched onto his face. “You’ll get hurt. Those officials are merciless when it comes to punishments, whether you’re a harmless female or not.”

    Chanyeol doesn’t make a comment but I know that he’s thinking the same thing, and I know that Kai is right. I’ve even seen it myself. I shudder a little. I remember when a teenage girl had been caught stealing bread in my neighborhood. She’d been not only slapped until she bled, but she was forced to be kicked out of her house, despite her parents’ protests. I vaguely remember walking past her on the sidewalk and seeing her, sleeping and shivering in the rain, on a beaten down mattress. It’s true; the government is merciless and cruel.

    “Let’s go,” I say, grabbing Chanyeol’s hand in my right hand, and Kai’s hand in my left. I drag them in the direction that the officials went in. Many people have already gone on their way, to see what exactly that young man has done to deserve a public punishment in the town square. I’m already bracing myself for what I might or might not see. I push through the growing circle of people standing around the center of the square. Kai grabs me back, warning me with his eyes, telling me not to go any closer because he knows and I know and everyone knows that whatever this punishment is, it’s not something anyone wants to see.

    And there they are, in the center of the town square. It’s almost disgusting, the thought of publicizing a punishment to utterly humiliate the victim. My eyes travel to the young man. He’s now chained to a tall pole in the center of the square, on his knees with his hands behind his back. His eyes are glued to the ground, his rainbow locks of hair are crazily messed up, as if someone had pulled his hair. It hurts my heart to see him like this, and I have to remind myself that this is a stranger that I don’t know.

    A man in a grey suit stands a few feet away from the rainbow-haired young man. He has greying hair and harsh eyes, and I recognize him as the head of the punishment and crime department. His eyes are scanning the crowd, and I swear that I see a look of satisfaction on his face. I hate it. How can someone be so emotionless, I wonder, so cruel?

    “Oh Sehun,” the head says. It clicks in my brain that Sehun is the young man’s name. The one with the rainbow dyed hair, with the beautiful eyes and the hollow look on his face. Oh Sehun. It’s nice, I decide.

    “Do you accept this public punishment as you’re repayment of sinning?” the head says, and his face almost seems bored. I inwardly scoff, because what’s the point of asking anyway? They’re going to be punished, whether they say yes or no. I subconsciously grab both Chanyeol’s and Kai’s hands, squeezing tightly because for some reason, I’m nervous.

Sehun raises his head to stare at the head. He has no emotion on his face whatsoever. “I do.” he says curtly. His voice is deep and velvety, and it matches him well.

“Do you admit to killing your family?”

Everything seems to freeze, and my mind becomes dizzy. What? It’s all I can think of because I’m so shocked. This boy, this young man, the one with beautiful eyes, he killed his family? A chill rests among the crowd, and I can feel Kai’s hands tightening around mine, squeezing protectively.  No, I don’t believe it. I don’t have a reason to. A young man like him, he couldn’t have killed his family, or any other person, for that matter. I stare at Sehun, trying to read his face because I can’t tell whether he’s shaken or not.

Sehun levels his gaze with the head, almost challengingly. “I’ve already said,” he spits at the ground. “I did not kill my family.”

A murmur spreads through the crowd as everyone is whispering and pointing, trying to decide whether Sehun is lying or not. I stare straight at him, because I can tell that he isn’t lying. He can’t be.

“So I see, you’re a liar as well as a cold blooded murderer, eh?” the head says, almost threateningly. He chuckles a little, and I glare at him even though he can’t see me.

“I’m not lying,” he growls.

I let out a gasp as he is hit.

One of the officials behind Sehun steps forward and strikes his face, hard. It leaves a red mark, and there’s blood at the corner of his mouth, trickling down his chin. “Show some respect,” the official hisses. I can feel Kai my thumb comfortingly because he knows as well as Chanyeol does that I hate violence and I hate seeing people being hit like this.

And then a second official steps forward, and I feel my heart plummet.

    He’s holding a whip. He hands it to the head, who takes it by the handle, smiling almost wickedly. No, I begin to chant in my head, because that’s all I can do. No, no, no, no, no. Chanyeol stiffens behind me, and he rests a reassuring hand at the small of my waist.  I watch in horror as the head raises his arm above his head.

    The first lash is rough. Sehun lets out a hiss of pain, and I know that it hurts more than he’s letting people see. He has his jaw clenched and he’s biting his lip so hard that it’s drawing blood. The lashes keep coming, continuously, and I can’t stand to see Sehun in pain, to see him being punished. I turn away, covering my mouth with one hand. I can still hear it. The pained grunts and the smack of the whip colliding with skin. God, it’s just cruel, and I hate it.

    “I didn’t-” Sehun is talking, oh god, he’s talking. I turn back. He’s said two words before letting out a cry of pain, and I flinch visibly.

    Even the head pauses, his arm in midair. I hold my breath.

    “Do you need to say something, Oh Sehun?” the head almost snarls at the bleeding battered boy at his feet.

    “I didn’t kill my family.”

    I swear I see a look of uncertainty pass through the head’s eyes before he whips him again.

    Sehun passes out after a couple more rounds, and I know he’s held out longer than a usual person would. He even spoke, for god’s sake, he spoke in the middle of a whipping. I know and everyone else knows full well that this man did not kill his family. But the lashes don’t stop, in fact, it seems as if the head is just whipping him harder. I want to vomit, I want to scream, I don’t know what I want to do. I just want him to stop hurting Sehun because he’s already received enough lashings for a lifetime.

    “Stop it.”

    Everything just stops. The air seems to get colder and everyone seems to stiffen. The head almost drops the whip. Chanyeol and Kai tighten their grips. Someone had said for the head to stop the punishment. Someone had interrupted the punishment.

    Only then did I realize that I had been the one to say those two words, stop it.

    “You,” the head turns towards me, narrowing his eyes. “Who are you? Who do you think you are, talking like that? Interrupting a punishment?”

    I freeze in my place. Oh god, oh god, oh god. I’d done this. What am I to do now? It’s inevitable; I’m good as dead, trying to talk back to the head of the department.

    And maybe that’s why I hold my ground. I know that I’m in big trouble, and that pushes a new feeling of courage inside me.

    “He’s passed out already,” I’m trembling. From fear, from anger, or even from the cold, I’m not sure.  I clench my fists together to stop myself from shaking, and I manage to step forward a little bit. “He’s passed out already, so why are you still whipping him? Why is it that you accuse him of being a liar and a killer, when you don’t know yourself whether he has actually committed murder? Why are you whipping him when you don’t know whether he’s at fault or not?!” my voice rises at the end, and I stop shaking. I’m angry. I’m angry and upset and I don’t know why I’m feeling so defensive over this man.

    Silence. All I hear is silence. No one moves, no one says a word. All I can hear is the soft breathing of the ones around me, and suddenly, I’m afraid. I’m scared of what is to come. All the adrenaline that had been rushing through my veins just moments before have disappeared. I begin to tremble again because I know that the head can kill me if he really wants to.  

    “It’s too harsh,” my voice wavers and almost breaks. “These punishments you’re giving out. It’s inhumane, it’s cruel, it’s not right. Throw him into prison, lock him in there for a lifetime for all I care. Why do you insist on whipping? Why do you insist on these inhuman, unusual and just plain cruel punishments?”

    Silence. Again, I’m met with silence. No words are uttered, no one even has the guts to look at me anymore. I almost choke when Kai removes his hand from mine.

    As I finally drag my gaze from the ground to look at the head, I shiver. His face is stony, passive, and I know that everything I’ve said is a waste. It’s a waste and I might as well die right there and now, because there won’t be a difference. He moves towards me, and I don’t make a motion to move. There’s no point in running away. Either way, I’ll face the consequences of my rashness.

    So I stay put, close my eyes, and wait for the blow to come.