01.

“No, no, please spare me– NOOOOOO!”

Jiyong was disoriented as his mind came to life. The veins on his head were pulsing and each throb was similar to the feeling of a hammer coming in direct contact with his bare skull. The vividness of his dream– or nightmare, to be more apt– was still engraved at the back of his mind. He took a deep breath and willed himself to forget about the bloody night.

He focused on the sensations he physically felt. He was already expecting the rough prison floor and the cacophony of noises made on police stations early in the morning, but there was nothing. To his surprise, instead of lying on the prison cell’s cold concrete, his back was getting comfortable on a soft bed and the smell of freshly laundered sheets assaulted his senses. His eyes immediately opened and he figured that the small but neat room he was in at the moment was indeed a far cry from the place behind the prison bars he was expecting.

He quietly surveyed his surroundings. The window’s floral curtains were pulled back, allowing the gentle warmth of the sunlight to stream inside and light the whole room up. There was a small shelf filled with different types of books and guessing from the abandoned paperback on top of the bedside table, it would be safe to conclude that the room owner was a voracious reader. A tiny wooden closet was situated on the other side of the room and next to that was a small bureau housing a few picture frames.

He was about to stand up to take a closer look when the room door opened, revealing a tiny girl carrying a tray of food. “Oh!” She smiled, and Jiyong thought that the sunshine was nowhere near comparable. “You’re up!” She entered the room while still wearing her sunny smile and placing the tray on his bed. “How are you feeling? Does your body feel sore?” She questioned as her huge eyes stare at him in curiosity.

He wanted to open his mouth but he’s not quite sure what to say. How did I get here, anyway? Who is this girl? Why am I here? His mouth felt dry all of a sudden. Somehow, he doesn’t want to disappoint her honest eyes. “Who… are you?” He asked first, figuring that it was the safest question.

To his surprise, she began laughing. “Oh my, I’m sorry!” She apologized while grinning. “Of course you’ll be curious about that. I just brought you here in my home and well, I’m a stranger…” She shrugged her tiny shoulders before introducing herself. “I’m Park Sandara, but feel free to call me Dara! My friends usually call me that and yeah, I admit that my name’s kind of weird since it has three syllables unlike the usual two-syllabled Korean names. Weird, right? Tss. I don’t know what’s wrong with my dad! Mom said that he was the one who thought of that name since it means something about a butterfly, if I remember correctly? Still though, it’s okay with me. I mean, it’s really unique and a lot of people are surprised when they learn my full name. Ah yeah, what’s your name, by the way?”

Jiyong felt blown away at the excessive energy displayed by the girl– Dara. She seemed so hyper for someone awake early in the morning. “…Jiyong.” He simply answered, unlike Dara who managed to volunteer her life story just because he made the mistake of asking for her name. Not only her name is weird, she is also a weird girl.

“Hello, Jiyong! As I’ve said, I’m Dara and are you feeling well now? You were bruised pretty badly the other day and while I did my best to clean you up, I’m still really worried–”

“Wait, wait.” His brows furrowed. “The other day? You mean…”

Dara nodded enthusiastically. “You’ve been here for three days now! I was really worried– which was what I was supposed to say before you cut me off–” She shot him a look. “–and I really debated whether I should bring you to the hospital but guessing from your appearance…” Her voice instantly lowered and she averted her gaze. “I didn’t think that that would be a good idea.”

“If you noticed that I didn’t look so… legal,” he began, “Then why didn’t you just turn me in? Which brings me to the question that I should be asking: Why did you even bring me home? I could be a or a murderer who lures innocent young women and do ungodly things to them. You don’t just bring strangers home, Dara– especially strangers like me.”

She bit her lip and her eyes turned left and right in hopes of avoiding Jiyong’s question. “I… couldn’t bear to leave you alone on that dark alleyway.” She mumbled while still avoiding his eyes. She began fiddling with her thumbs as Jiyong sighed.

He couldn’t believe this girl at all! Who would bring home a suspicious man just because of pity?! People pity beggars all the time, but some don’t even have the heart to throw a coin or two on their way. People pity orphans, but they don’t adopt them just because of that! He was torn wondering if the girl was just very generous or simply reckless.

“How did you find me?” I was so sure that the police would find me first. “Why are you even walking around that dark alleyway?”

She blinked a number of times but otherwise kept mum. After a minute, she raised her eyes and met his steady gaze with a smile. “Just eat for now, Jiyong. The food will get cold!” She cheerfully said before turning her back and leaving the room hurriedly. “Call me when you’re done!” She shouted when she was on the other side of the door. Muffled footsteps followed and soon enough, she was gone.

--👼--👼--👼--

Jiyong wasn’t sure if he was allowed to roam the house just as he pleased. He went out of the room earlier to bring the used dishes to the kitchen and tried calling Dara’s name, but no one answered. At the moment, he figured that Dara left. He ended up washing the plates he used and going back to the room. Damn it, why am I acting like a thirteen-year old schoolboy who had been grounded by his mother?! He questioned himself as he lay motionless on the bed.

His own subconscious responded, because things would be much, much worse than a grounded schoolboy if those policemen managed to get you before Dara did.

He loudly sighed before rubbing his tired eyes. He felt the familiar craving for the comfort provided to him by his favorite pills. He was sweating bullets and the headache from earlier had returned. He pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead in hopes to soothe it, but the pain only shot up as he did so. He sat up on the bed and began fiddling with the drawers in hopes of finding a pill to cure his headache.

However, the drawers were empty aside from used candy wrappers and some pieces of paper. He disregarded those as he stood up, his mind spinning like a toy top. He then walked towards the bureau in hopes of finding any medicine when the picture frames stole his attention.

There were about four frames resting on top of the bureau. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the reason why they caught his attention. All of the frames weren’t filled with actual photos. Rather, the pictures that come with frames when they were newly bought were still inside. There was a laughing young girl, an elder man and woman who seem to resemble parents, a bunch of girls smiling candidly towards the camera, and lovers who were embracing each other in front of the Eiffel Tower.

His curiosity was piqued as he trained his eyes on the frames. It was the first time that he had seen someone buy frames just to keep it as it is. Don’t people buy picture frames to place their family photos, or even pictures with friends or lovers? He shook his head as his headache blended into the background as a dull throb. She’s not just weird, she’s mysterious.