Stars and Summer Skies (ZB1 Ricky X Female OC) [COMPLETED]

Ch. 4: Rivers, of Tears and Blood

"It's your father, isn't it?"

Yeoreum had asked, her grim expression still intact as she looked at the boy who stood a few feet away from her.

Ricky grabbed his arm, like he was protecting it from any further harm. And he looked at the girl with a cautious expression. But then her question took him off guard, and his eyes widened, before he looked away.

The atmosphere around was calm, in contrast with the turbulent emotions between the two. The river continued to flow beneath but the boy could only hear his heart pounding in his ears.

Yeoreum approached him quickly, only to slow down and gently stop as she reached him. "Hey..."

"You're right," the boy spoke abruptly. But his voice shook, and he gripped his arm tighter only for that to cause him more pain. He bit the inside of his cheek to suppress it. "You... You're right. My father... "

He didn't finish his sentence. He only breathed out, but said nothing more as he continued to squeeze his heavily bruised arm.

☆

The matter only continued to haunt Yeoreum. She thought about it, after they had gone back to school and she had made it to her classroom. She had thought about it, too, as the teacher discussed and she looked out the window, barely listening. And she had thought about it, even after coming home and getting into bed.

But it's not that she wanted to think about it. It bothered her. Greatly. She didn't know what to do with the thought. It haunted her continuously and kept coming back right when she thought it was finally disappearing.

And then it began to haunt her in her dreams, as well.

Slap!

A cry from a young boy echoed out, followed by the sound of thuds and slaps. Yeoreum flinched as she watched a man beat up a child infront of her with a belt.

The slaps came again and again, and for each one, the child screamed and cried, the sound getting louder and louder with every second. The disturbing screams would echo through Yeoreum's ears, entering her brain and clouding her in this terrifying atmosphere.

It was suffocating. It was grabbing at her throat and pressing on her chest so she couldn't breathe. It was killing her.

She flinched, again and again, and the child screamed and screamed as the leather went down on him. Again and again and again. The slapping sound came at Yeoreum like one bomb detonating after another.

And yet it kept on going and going, like it wanted her to suffer. Like it wanted the child dead! The boy screamed, and he cried, and his body turned red as welts covered it, and the belt still continued to come down on him, and he kept screaming and crying until suddenly...

The screaming stopped.

But it did not help.

Yeoreum stood frozen as the man stood back and she saw the child. His eyes were wide open, but he wasn't moving at all. Not a single sound came out of him. And he was bleeding profusely from all over his body.

But most especially, his arms. The black and blue arms of the boy bled the most. And they bled so much, a pool of blood began to form around him, getting wider and wider as it slowly reached Yeoreum...

She shouted the next second, only to find herself back in her room. Awake. With the lights off. The boy and the man had disappeared.

But the grip on her throat and the pressure on her chest haven't. Yeoreum grabbed her chest, heaving and shaking as tears quickly formed in her eyes and rolled down her face. And her mind returned to the dream she just had.

She couldn't do anything. She couldn't move at all. She couldn't even speak. Even if she wanted to say something, no matter how much she wanted to scream, she couldn't say anything. She couldn't even mover her mouth. She was completely frozen all except for her flinching like it was the only form of movement in her system.

And the child... She definitely knew who that child was.

A throaty cry came out of Yeoreum. Her voice shook and her throat became rough as she grabbed her hair. And she wailed, yet remained silent enough so the sound would not escape her room. She was heaving at this point. And even her breaths have become raspy.

It would take quite some time again for her to calm down.