"It was a mistake!" Hyunsuk tried to defend himself infront of his stepfather, her mom refraining her husband from hitting her son.
"He told you it was just an accident or a mistake maybe their school props were not in good condition! Stop hitting him!" She held his arms.
"What if something worse happened to her sister what will you do?!" he faced her.
"Hyejoo please tell your father it was an accident" she pleaded to her stepdaughter but Hyejoo looked away.
"If something happened like this again I won't hesitate to disown you!" he threatened.
"Fine do it! I'm gonna leave you!" she exclaimed.
"Leave me?" he scoffed.
"It won't happen again" Hyunsuk promised and bowed to his father to avoid further harm.
"Go apologise to your sister" then he left them.
"This is your fault Hyejoo" Her stepmom told her after she passed by to her.
______
This is her worst winter vacation, weeks had passed yet she couldn't stand straight, if she could only walk normally it would be nice for her atleast to go outside away from their house which is suffocating for her. It was a routine for her that her dad always go to work her stepmom and brother will put blame on her everytime something negative occured, heated arguments and violence from them.
She had bruises which she always hid from her father, she could only cry during at night and pretend like nothing happened. As time goes by her fragile self turns slowly losing her will, she had no communications with her friend except for her bestfriend, Yves would often visit her outside her window, she was prohibited by her evil mom to go outside.
"Sooyoung" she said staring outside of her room.
"Woah it's been long time since I heard you call my real name, what is it" Yves is sure that the younger had a serious situation.
"Would you miss me when I die? " she said but she's just staring somewhere.
"Don't make me laugh"
"I'm serious" she remove her hoodie she was wearing revealing bruises and cuts on her body including the injured part.
"Hey why didn't you tell me about that?!" The older got worried so she entered through the window.
"They're right I'm nothing but a failure" she laughed and stared at Yves who's worried about her appearance.
"No don't think like that" she hold both of her shoulders.
"You changed a lot when you had friends, maybe you're just like that because you didn't have any chance to hang out with us, all of us are worried about you they always ask about your situation"
"Hey you're not alone we won't leave you" The girl embraced Hyejoo.
The younger started to cry but it was silent, tears went down her face while being comforted by her friend. Sooyoung is afraid to leave Hyejoo, she might harm herself or even take her own life.
_______
Sooyoung's
[two weeks ago]
"Sooyoung, I mean Yves" Chaewon said through the phone.
"Does Olivia's usually abuse her?" Yves got startled by what she heard from the other line.
"Why did you asked?" she was curious for the information.
"I went to her place to do our project but when her Mom arrived, she excused her and I saw how she threatened Olivia then she told me to go home , I got worried so I called you"
I told her everything what I knew about Hyejoo, how her parents treated her, including about how her own father himself doesn't know a thing they do to Hyejoo, he's completely dumb and naive.
_______
That's the reason I visit Hyejoo daily to check her and afyer seeing her situation, my heart slowly sank, I couldn't even help my own bestfriend.
Chaewon always asked me about Hyejoo's state, I would often tell her about it.
I felt her sincere concern for Hyejoo they used to be enemies before and I'm glad Chaewon showed her care and affection for her. Maybe she could help Hyejoo to feel worthy, I could see Chaewon's effort for Hyejoo. But whenever I ask her the reasons about her efforts she will just respond 'of course she's also my friend and who wouldn't right? ' it was justifiable reason since she knew Hyejoo was abused.
It would be a problem if we informed others about this, Hyejoo doesn't like people helping her. She may look tough but she is fragile she always overthink and felt anxious about her environment. Chaewon got a plan after this vacation she asked me for assistance connected to Hyejoo but I wasn't sure about her concrete plan, I will do this for my bestfriend.
