With A Thousand Tears

“This is the last stop for me,” Jiho confessed. He put the car in park, but didn’t let go of the wheel.

Her eyes widened. “Jiho…” she breathed.

“Listen to me. I want you to know everything. Think of it as my apology.” She said nothing. He took a breath and confessed, “My mom ran off on us. She was a druggie who only stayed because she knew what my dad was capable of. My dad’s an . He’s a cop who gets away with because he’s a cop. People don’t believe that the enforcers of the law break their own rules.”

His clenched, pale fists shook around the steering wheel.

“My dad isn’t a good person. Whenever he got mad, he used to smack me around a little. No big deal, I could handle it. But as I got older, he… he….” Jiho took a deep, shuddering breath. “I was eleven the first time he came into my room in the middle of the night. I still remember his touch. I remember crying out for help, and him telling me to shut the up, because no one was coming.”

Jiyoon didn’t notice the tears that streamed down her face as she listened to Jiho’s story. She didn’t know that everything was so awful for him. She didn’t know that he’d been suffering so badly with no one to save him. While she had Tao, Jiho had no one to pull them away from all the hurt.

Yet Jiho didn’t cry as he continued. “He would come into my room whenever I did something wrong, whenever he was mad, or whenever he felt like it. He touched me and he made me touch him. And no matter how much I cried for help, no one ever came.”

He shook his head, as if he didn’t believe something he’d just said. “I just can’t believe that, even with everything that happened to me, I let you be the outlet for my anger.”

“Jiho, I-I’m so…”

“Don’t you ing dare say that you’re sorry.” Jiho managed a weak smile. “Listen to me. There’s something you should see on this,” he handed her a smartphone, the one he always had with him. “Once you’re out of this car, call 119. Tell them there’s been an accident. Tell them… that everything will be explained on that.”

She stared at the phone in her hands. “I don’t understand,” she sputtered. Everything was happening so fast.

Jiho grinned, the one he only wore when he was satisfied with something he did.

“You will.” He unlocked the doors. “Get out.”

Jiyoon shook her head. “No. Jiho, whatever you’re planning, we can figure this out!” she pleaded. She knew that this scenario wouldn’t, couldn’t end well.

He frowned, glaring at her. He moved the front of his shirt away from him, lifting it a little. There was a standard police issue handgun in the waist of his jeans. “Get the out of this car or I will not hesitate to use this,” he practically growled, giving her the deadliest glare he could muster.

Jiyoon paled.

She wanted to be strong. She wanted to say no.

But she couldn’t afford to die just yet. She had to see Tao one last time. She had to be there for his last moments.

She slowly unbuckled her seatbelt. Reaching over, she opened the door. She took one last look at Jiho, who was staring out the front window again.

In that moment, she knew that there was no changing his mind. He was going to do whatever it was he’d set out to do.

She slipped out of the car, backing away as she unlocked the camera phone he’d given her. Dialing the numbers 119, she waited, listening for someone to pick up. As she did, she watched as Jiho began to rev up the car while it was still in park.

She paled even further.

She knew what he was about to do.

“Hello, 119, what is your emergency?” the operator asked. Jiyoon didn’t respond, simply stared in shock as Jiho looked over one last time.

He didn’t smirk or grin like what he’d always worn on his lips.

Instead, he smiled.

“Hello? 119, what is your emergency?”

Jiyoon ignored the operator as she felt more tears flow. “No, no, Jiho, no…” she chanted, hoping, just hoping that it’d change his mind.

It didn’t.

Within a split second, Jiho had shifted the gear, putting it in drive. The car, still with Jiho inside, shot forward like a rocket.

There was a loud screech and a crash.

“Miss?! What was that?!”

Jiyoon stared in shock at the rubble that was now the site of an accident.

There was a car, a huge, thick concrete building, and the boy inside the car.

It all registered at once.

 “Please, send help!” Jiyoon pleaded as she darted forward from her spot. “There’s been an accident! My… my friend, Jiho… he crashed his car into the side of a building! I can’t see him!” Her mind flew into a panic. “I can’t see him!”

The operator tried to calm her, “Miss, please, stay calm. What’s your name?”

She choked out, “Jiyoon. Seo Jiyoon. Oh god, please, send help… I can’t let another person die, please!”

“Help is on its way. Do you need me to stay on the line?”

She shook her head, not fully registering that