Gift Me Your Wings - Jibo

10: Through the descending red light

[Chapter title from the lyrics of 'Jazz Bar' by Dreamcatcher]

! TW: Mentions of Alcohol, Sexual Assault, Prostitution !

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"Can I start from the very beginning?"

Minji's facial expressions softened, reaching for the other woman's hand on the other side of the table and clutching it in her hold. "Of course,"

Bora breathed in, trying to wrap the strength around her heart and the lump that appeared in her throat. She hated when that happened. But she knew she wanted to tell, to share, when she was feeling Minji's hand carefully holding hers, caressing her skin, warming up her worry with the soft expression she wore on her face.

"As I said, I grew up in Changwon. I was an only child, and I was very young when my mom passed away." She paused, looking at all the shades of dark red wine in her glass, and how much it reminded her of Minji's lipstick colour. She realized it made her feel more relieved whenever she associated something, anything, with Minji, and it worked this time, too. "So after that, only me and my dad were left. That is where things turned... difficult."

Minji listened intently, not interrupting Bora's speech, just stroking her skin using her thumb from time to time, which she noticed helped her relax more.

"He started drinking and became more dissociated with life and me, his daughter, as years went by, and it truly became unbearable. I patiently waited to turn 18, legal age to buy a ticket from there to Seoul, because I wanted out of my apartment, away from his stale tequila breath and heavy hand. So I worked a bit, collected some money, and left the exact same day I turned eighteen. Finally managed to escape, leaving my old apartment and father behind without any note or a goodbye."

The wine in her glass looked a bit more dark now, darker than any lipstick shade Bora had seen Minji wear, darker than the blush of her cheeks and her manicured nails. This time, it reminded her of blood, dark blood. Cold, blunt, terrifying.

Bora gulped down around the ball that was growing in her throat, "But I was young, didn't realize there could be even worse things out there than my own father."

Suddenly a frown bowed Minji's lips like a bushed eyebrow, but Bora didn't let that reaction stop her, she continued. "I didn't know what I was doing. And it appeared that I really did not have any clue of what was happening around me once I was forced inside the train's washroom, with a harsh hold of a man I didn't know."

The words echoed in Minji's mind, throbbing with each pulse of her headache. Her brow fuddled in confusion as she looked at Bora. A frigid snake writhed in her stomach and sweat sheened her palms; One which Bora might have felt, with them still holding hands together on the table.

"It all happened really fast, and I-" The wind outside the windows ate her whispered words. The temperature of the house had dropped, and a cold shiver trickled down her spine. "I didn't remember everything, but I could recall enough to know what had happened when the train already reached Seoul." The glittering layer of tears threatened to shed, but Bora bit the inside of her cheek hard. The memories washed over her body like harsh freezing water, and her hand clenched tightly, fingers tangling with Minji's as she attempted to measure her breathing. "It happened on my birthday, and all I could think about when pushed against the floor of the dirty washroom was how I spent my birthdays with my family, one that wasn't shattered, yet. With my mom baking me my favourite cake, a chocolate one with strawberries on top. I'd eat all the strawberries, and I knew mom would never scold me for that. Then my dad would come from work with a present in his hands, a doll that I had wanted for a while, or some kind of a board game. I loved board games and puzzles..."