Relief || kth

Chapter 2: Detention

Hana awakened to the sound of her alarm.

It's another day.

So far she was still alive, she feels the beads of sweat on her face and body, rolling and soaking her clothes. Another nightmare last night, she thought to herself, wiping off sweat on her forehead.

She doesn't exactly remember when her nightmares started. She couldn't control them and the memory of those dreams dies when she wakes up. All she knows that everytime she wakes up, she usually feels panicked and afraid. Today, it lacked that feeling.

Hana stood up from her bed, groggily and tired but prepared her uniform and materials for school. She checked if everything was intact then proceeded to knock on her sister's door, her usual routine. She also passed by her parent's room, it was open but saw only her father who still wore his clothes from last night, drunk, as expected.

Mom is probably still at her friend's house. She also thought.

She then went to her bathroom and showered, doing her usual hygienic routine. After, she wore her uniform and in time, her sister woke up too. Hana does the cooking her self alot, this morning was no different. She cooked breakfast for her family and prepared water and pain relieving medicine for her dad's hangover.

While Hana prepared ingredients and tools,  her sister goes to the bathroom. She continues to stir fry some vegetables when suddenly the creak of their house's front door resounded, then quickly turned into a hard slam to the wall beside it. Her mother had barged in the house loudly through the door, furious.

Hana didn't really flinched since it was right on time, some shit would happen everyday in each second. This was on schedule, she knew her mother was mad at something stupid again and would put all the blame on her eldest daughter.

She was fuming but didn't let a sound slip her mouth, Hana just continued whatever but she could sense there was anger directed at her.

"You Brat, stop that and come here!" Her mother ordered. She stood in living room right across the kitchen. Hana stopped her cooking activity, turning off the stove.

She uncaringly walked towards her mother, this made her even mad. "What." Hana responded, coldly.

Abruptly, she gave the loudest slap to her daughter's face. Hana just looked to the side as she felt the sting on her cheek, she lifted her hand to feel it. There was a small trickle of blood, that's when she knew that whilst her mom slapped her, a nail had sliced her skin.

By this time, Jihye had gotten out of the bathroom. She knew what was happening but she went into her room insteads, removing herself from the situation. Hana had always told her, if her parent's fight or if they do their daily abuse, she should stay in her room because she would be lead into the fight and get hurt in the process. This is of convenience to Jihye because she didn't want to see her family hurt each other but she felt guilty and hopeless because she couldn't do anything.

"You spent my money in the last week haven't you! You little piece of shit, I don't make money for you to spend it, fucking ungrateful child." Her mother spat, jabbing a finger into Hana's forehead. Hana had spent some money, because there hadn't been enough food for the family to eat if she hadn't gone out and bought groceries.

"Yeah, sorry." Hana says. She wouldn't shout back, because she knew it would solve nothing. Her parents had blocks in their ears that prevented them to listen to anyone. Her mother gave her another less painful slap then walked away shoving her daughter aside. "I'll fucking kick you out of the house, if you spend my money again." Her mother exasperated after slamming a door to another room where her father wasn't inside.