17 DAYS TO GO | KWON SOONYOUNG

31

Hana

"I need to go guys. My mom's home"

With that I had rushed towards my home. Though the dark of night had dawned and the streets were pretty deserted, my happiness knew no bounds. Prancing and bouncing on my way, I hummed a merry tune.

The pedestrians and passersby might deem me as crazy or cracked but who cares? Mom was home after a long time and 'long' as in, pretty LONG. Clutching my backpack closer to myself, I finally reached our neighborhood.

Trailing my gaze towards the house opposite of me, I suddenly missed Soonyoung. He didn't offer a single word or even a glance towards me. I wonder if he's pissed off at me or upset about something. Moving these thoughts in the back of my mind, my brows were furrowed when I noticed that my mom's car wasn't parked in the driveway.

Which was weird.

"She certainly had taken the car with her" The lights of the house weren't switched on so i guesses that maybe she had gone grocery shopping or was rather fast asleep. Though I missed her and wanted to tell her everything, cuddling into her warm embrace didn't seem a bad idea either.

"I'm home"

The small bulb hanging in the kitchen was turned on but Mom wasn't in sight. Inching closer towards the kitchen, I called out to her several times. "Mom" Yet I received no response. "Where are you?"

Clenching my fists in a tight grip, I breathed in deeply. "Well" My blood ran cold. The voice that I dreaded yet longed for the most had called out to me. "Look who's all grown up" Gulping the bile trying to find it's way to my mouth, I gradually turned around.

My Mother wasn't here. She wasn't the one who texted me. Her car wasn't parked in the driveway and now I knew the reason. "D-Dad?" I backed away in fear as the man ahead inched closer towards me.

"So you do remember me?" With a hint of amusement in his voice, he spoke. I almost scoffed but held it in when I realised he wasn't my father, he was a murderer who probably escaped from prison.

"How could I forget monster who haunts me daily?" I needed to get this off my chest and I hoped it would sting him a little-No..stab him gravely but it barely fazed him. "Monster?! I see"

My fingers were curled around my uniform skirt, finding comfort in the pain that wrapped around my palms. Whistling and humming, he took a seat on the couch. It had been years and though it was pitch dark, I could define his features pretty perfectly.

He looked the same to me. The same man who would twirl me in his arms, play with me and read me bedtime stories. My breathing was getting raspier as the seconds went by, eager to sprint out of the house but I knew that It wasn't that easier. I didn't know why he was here in the first place.

"W-why are you here?" my annotation was more strained than I had imagined it to be, my whole being shaking with terror. "What do you mean why am I here?" Swiftly pushing his legs atop the small table infront of him, he looked straight in my eyes.

"I'm here to see my family" Bullshit. I wanted to yell in his face but I held it all in because he wasn't the same dear and loving father I once grew up with. "Don't kid me. You're family died the day you became a murdered."

Roaming my hands around in the air, I looked for something that could protect me if things go haywire. I wanted to believe that my father wouldn't hurt but his presence here was enough to tell me that he was upto something, something worse.

"That isn't the way to talk to your father" He screamed as I flinched at his pitch, "Your mother failed miserably in your upbringing" "Like you failed in being a father....being a human?"

I whimpered in pain as a heavy object collided with my temple, red liquid seeping out of it. My so called father had just thrown a flower vase at me. "Shut that mouth of yours" I prayed that someone would come get me, just like the times when I had wished for my mom to come pick me up in middle school when my classmates would bully and harrass me regarding my father.

"No father would hit their child like this" I cried out. "And no father would want a child like you" it felt as if someone had pierced my heart with a sword. His words seemed very familiar...they were thrown at me, everytime I failed to do something.

"You're just like your mother. Always running your trap" "Don't you dare speak about her with that filthy mouth of yours. You don't even deserve to be standing in this house"

With long striding steps, he was infront of me, yanking my hair back with one hand and harshly grabbing my face with another. "L-leave M-me" an agonising pain spread through my body as he tightened his grip.

"I need to teach you some manners that your mother forgot to instill in you"