November 1, 1993

Seung Ho opened his eyes and found himself lying partially on Ji Yeon’s body. He blushed and slowly moved away from her. Then, he just lay near her watching her sleep.

Suddenly something caught his eyes. The sleeves and pant parts of her pyjamas were lifted up and he got a good look at her arms and legs. Dark purple bruises covered her entire body. There were several scars on her arms and legs too. Red lines ran across her legs and it made Seung Ho wince because it looked so painful. He didn’t want to disturb Ji Yeon but he was really curious. She turned over and Seung Ho lifted the back of her shirt. Her back was in a worse state as compared to her legs. Seung Ho opened his mouth lightly in shock and touched her delicately, fearing that he might hurt her. Ji Yeon began to stir.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I saw Seung Ho looking at me with this sad expression on his face.

“What’s wrong oppa?” I asked.

“Who did this to you?” Then he lifted the sleeve of my shirt. I opened my mouth in shock. I tried to hide it but I couldn’t believe he saw my bruises. As I tried to answer him, I heard my stepmom’s footsteps heading towards my room.

“Oppa!” I yelled, turning back to Seung Ho who was rubbing my bruises.

“You have to get out of here! My mom is coming!” Seung Ho looked at me in surprise but I opened my window for him to climb out.

“Climb down this tree. Goodbye Seung Ho-nee,” I said to him with tears in my eyes.

Seung Ho remained silent the whole time as he left her room. But he didn’t leave though. He sat on the branch of the adjacent tree and looked through her window. He couldn’t hear what Ji Yeon and her mom were talking about but he saw it. He saw Ji Yeon’s mom bringing out a small wooden stick and whacked Ji Yeon with it several times. Seung Ho couldn’t take it anymore. He busted back into Ji Yeon’s room.

---> to be continued...