I'm home. I'm back home. I miss ChaeMin's house already. It was so free. I'm back in my room, sitting on my bed and staring at my unpacked suitcases. It's quiet and I don't like it.

 

After my dad yelled at TaeHyung, he grabbed my hand and pushed me in the front seat. He drove us home and then that was it. We got home. I got inside and went straight to my room. Mom was in the kitchen just sitting at the dining table. Dad didn't even yell. He's in the house, I can hear him mumbling to himself in his room. But, he's not yelling at Mom or me. I'm confused. I thought he'd beat me as soon as we got home.

 

Then, I realized at this moment the reason why my dad is so quiet. Sirens grew louder, and blue and red lights were flashing through my window curtains. That's when I realized how smart my dad is. He didn't hit us because he knew the cops were coming. Maybe TaeHyung called them. Or maybe ChaeMin and her family did. Maybe they heard what happened in front of their house.

 

There was a huge bang on the door.

 

 

I looked at my room door and heard my father walk downstairs. I hear the front door open and the cops started yelling.

 

"Where's your daughter?" The cop shouted.

 

"In her room, what's going on?" I can hear my father ask, faintly through my room door. I quietly get up and go to my door. I open it a little bit to try and hear better.

 

"Bring her down here." The cop shouts.

 

"She's asleep." My father lied.

 

"Bring her down here or we'll go up there." The cop says but more calm. I hear footsteps coming towards the stairs and I quickly run to my bed. What am I doing? Do I want to defend my father in this? I wasn't sleeping at all.

 

I get up from my bed and go to sit at my dresser. I stare at the door, waiting for either the cops or my father to come in.

 

It was the cops.

 

"Are you Park JaeEun?" The tall cop asks. I nodded.

 

"Would you mind going outside to talk to us for a quick second?" He asked. I shook my head and followed them out my house.

 

My dad was standing at the front door. As I was walking out, he gave me the scariest glare I have ever seen. I knew what he was trying to tell me with just his face.

 

 

I'm starting to think that even if I say nothing, I will still suffer.

 

The cops close the door and then walk farther away from the front door or opened windows. They're smart. I admire the cops intelligence about situations like these. They made my back face the window as well.

 

"We got a call from a person who wants to remain anonymous saying that you were being treated unfair and harsh in your home." The shorter one says, holding out a small notepad and pen. I stayed quiet. I'm still debating on whether to tell the truth or not. He raised an eyebrow and wrote something down.

 

"Do you feel safe when you're at home?" The shorter one asks. Again, I stay silent. I don't know why they even bother if you stay silent. Shouldn't it be obvious that something's going wrong if you say nothing? I don't want to tell them the truth, but I want them to figure out. So, if my dad asks if I told them anything, I don't need to lie. I can just say that I said nothing. The cop writes something down again.

 

After several minutes of them asking me questions that I hardly answered to, they nodded their heads and said that they got what they needed. I walked back into the house and they called out both my mother and my father. I went straight to my room and called ChaeMin.

 

Me: "Did you call the cops?"

 

ChaeMin: "No. Why?"

 

Me: "They're here. They're questioning my whole family. I didn't say anything. I'm so scared."

 

ChaeMin was quiet on the other line. Tears started to form in my eyes and I tried so hard not to cry over the phone.

 

ChaeMin: "JaeEun, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

 

Me: "No. But I'm scared."

 

ChaeMin: "Of?"

 

"Park JaeEun! Get down here now!" I hear my father yell from downstairs. Were the cops done asking them questions already? Did they really already leave?

 

Me: "Got to go."

 

ChaeMin: "Wait-"

 

I hung up. I put the phone on my dresser and slowly walked downstairs, afraid inside. I saw my mother sitting on the couch crying and my dad standing near her.

 

Dad sees me go down the stairs.

 

"Come here." He says, gesturing me to come closer with his pointer finger. I nodded and slowly walked up to him. As soon as I stepped foot in front of him, he slapped me hard with the back of his hand. My mom stayed crying.

 

"Did you call the cops?" He yells at me.

 

"No!" I shout. He slaps me again which causes me to fall on the floor.

 

"Did you tell them anything?" He yells.

 

"No!" I shout again. He's not listening to me at all. He grabs my hair and stands me up.

 

"You told that boy didn't you?" He yells at my face. I'm crying. I'm scared. I don't know what to do. I didn't do anything, and that made Dad yank my hair down causing me to fall back to the floor.

 

"You did." He says, taking off his belt. I tried to crawl away as fast as I could but he whipped my back with his belt. He whipped me again and I just kept crying in pain.

 

My mom finally stood up for me. She got up from the couch and grabbed my dad's arm. He got out of her grip and slapped her and she fell down as well. Tonight, we both got hurt.

 

 

 

I didn't go to school the next day. I didn't want anyone to see my bruises or scars from my father's belt. ChaeMin kept calling me and so did an unknown number. Maybe it was TaeHyung, but they kept calling. I turned off my phone and stayed in bed. I made sure my room door was locked so nobody can come in.

 

I stayed lying on my bed, staring at the wall. I felt so numb. My emotions are numb, my body is numb. I don't feel anything, just fear. I felt my cheeks; they were badly swollen.

 

I put my hand inside my shirt and tried to feel my back. I feel the bumps from the belt. They still hurt when I touch it.

 

Hours have passed. I don't even know what time it is. I get up and grab my phone, turning it on. I see 54 missed calls. The majority was from the unknown number. For some reason, I called the unknown number back.

 

"Hello? Who's this?" I ask in the most normal tone.

 

"JaeEun? This is TaeHyung. Are you okay?" He asks.

 

"How'd you get my number?"

 

"ChaeMin gave it to me. Are you okay? She said you aren't in school. Why?" He asks fast. I stood silent.

 

"Are you hurt? Is your dad home?" He adds. I kept silent.

 

"JaeEun? Answer me please." TaeHyung says. I can hear the worry in his voice.

 

"Did you call the cops?" I asked. He didn't say anything.

 

"TaeHyung..." I ask, and he sighs at the other end.

 

"I got so afraid after your dad yelled at me. I felt like I did bad and he was going to hurt you for it at home." He says. My eyes teared up.

 

"He hurt me because you called the cops!" I yell. My voice cracked and he didn't say anything.

 

"After the police interrogated us, he called me downstairs and asked if I called the cops. He asked if I told you about this. He asked if I told the police anything." I say, my voice cracking from me trying not to cry.

 

"Did you say anything?" He asks. I shook my head, even though he can't see me.

 

"No. And he slapped me, he yanked my hair, and he whipped me. He even abused my mom after she tried to stop him. TaeHyung I don't know what to do! You shouldn't have called them!" I yell at him and finally broke down.

 

I put the phone down on my dresser, it still being on call, and I kneeled down onto the floor and cried. I cried so hard and I cried very loud. I didn't even care at the time if my mom heard me. My dad's at work so it's not a problem.

 

After I calmed down, I stood back up and wiped my tears. I looked into my dresser's mirror and saw how hideous I looked. I wiped my eyes again. Then, my phone rang. He hung up? I looked at it to see the unknown number call again. It has to be TaeHyung. I answered.

 

"H-hello?" I barely let out.

 

"You feeling better?" He asks. I nodded, again as if he can see me.

 

"Is your dad home?" He asks.

 

"Why?" I faintly say.

 

"Because come outside." I looked at the time on my phone. It should be 5th period right now. Did he skip his class to come to me? I hung up and threw on a sweater, putting the hood over my head to try and use it to hide my face. I walked out my room, and out the house. My dad's at work. He won't come home for about another two hours.

 

I open the door and see TaeHyung sitting on the front steps. As soon as I close it, he turns his head my way and stands up. He walks towards me and I have the bottom half of my face covered, with the sleeve of my sweater. He didn't mind not seeing my nose or mouth, he studied my eyes.

 

He pulled me in and hugged me. I couldn't help but cry into his chest. He walked us to the front steps and sat us down. He scooted closer to me and let me cry on his shoulder. He was rubbing my hair, saying "Shhh."

 

I calmed down a little, but choking trying to breathe. He sat me up straight and pulled my hands away from my face. He grabbed the end of my hood and put it down. He then cupped my cheeks softly. I whinced and his thumbs slowly caressed my swollen cheeks.

 

"I'm so sorry." He says. "I shouldn't have. I was just so worried."

 

I just stared at him.

 

"I should've known that he would hurt you after. Oh gosh, how am I so stupid?" He continues. "I'm sorry."

 

He uncupped my cheeks and lifted the sleeve of my sweater up. There were some bruises on it, when my dad tried to whip my back and he missed, hitting my arm. He gently rubbed his fingers on it and I bit my bottom lip. It hurt a little.

 

"This was the worst." I said faintly. I thought it would come out loud and strong, but I could barely even say it. He heard what I said, though. He shook his head and apologized again.

 

"Shouldn't you be at school?" I ask him.

 

"Seriously?" He goes. "JaeEun I'm so worried about you right now. I don't care about school at the moment."

 

I look at him as he keeps examining the bruises on my arm. He then hugged me tight and I whinced a little. He released and looked at me, his hands on my shoulders. He then slid his hands down and purposely felt my back. I whinced again, biting my bottom lip. He shook his head and removed his hands from me, facing forward and looking down at the floor.

 

"I did this to you." He says.

 

"No, TaeHyung. He would've hit me even if you didn't call the cops." I say, hoping he wouldn't blame himself for this, even though I did a few minutes ago.

 

"But he wouldn't have hit you this bad. You're sore everywhere and your cheeks are badly swollen." He says, looking back at me. I sigh.

 

"Look." He goes, grabbing my hands."If this happens again, you run out of this house and towards that park where I saw you last time." He quickly says. I look at him, confused.

 

"W-why?" I ask. He shakes his head.

 

"I don't want you getting hurt this bad again. I don't want you getting hurt at all."

 

"I could go to ChaeMin's."

 

"That's the first place he'd look for you, JaeEun. Just, run to that park and call me. I'll go as quick as I can to you. Please, if it happens again do that." I look at him and shake my head.

 

"No, TaeHyung. You have your own problems at home. You should stay home and take care of your sister. I don't want to be a burden to you." I tell him.

 

"JaeEun, you won't. I really do care about you. Just please. Do it." He says. I keep shaking my head, refusing to have him worry about me. Refusing to have me become another problem in his life.

 

"TaeHyung...I don't want you to-" He kisses me. His hands are nowhere touching me, but he kisses me. One soft passionate kiss. He pulls away and I look at him, a tear falling down.

 

"Please?" He asks, one more time. I gave in, and nodded.