TW // harsh language, violence, sexual assault (implicit)
The smell of the first rain had always reminded him about the man from his dream. Jungkook knew he should have forgotten the dream from 6 years ago, but he thought that whoever the man is, even if he wasn't real (which is not), remembering him would be nice knowing he died alone in the corner of a cold alley.
Jungkook didn't actually know if the guy actually died in his dream, but the fact that the stab on the stomach felt so painful and deep kind of confirmed it.
"Ah!" Someone shrieked. Jungkook came back to his senses and realized that he just bumped into a woman and caused her to drop her books. How cliche, he thought. He immediately shook it off and bent down to help her.
"I'm so sorry-"
"No, it's fine." He heard the crack on her voice when she said that. Is she crying? "I'm the one who should apologize, I didn't see you coming. I'm sorry."
Jungkook didn't know what to say, so he kept helping her pick up her books. Her soft voice sounded so familiar, making his mind wonder again.
"Thank you," she said. She didn't wait for his response and instantly rushed on her path.
-
"Father please," Lisa pleaded. "I need to study for the test next week, I don't have time for this."
"Oh c'mon, don't be a bitch for once can you?" The yelling still made her scared. She took a deep breath. "I told you, this man is so famous and rich. He made so much in a year and he even has properties in the states! You should be grateful that he even considered meeting a person like you, you know."
She felt the weight again. She wondered once again why the father couldn't leave her alone.
"Father, I'll talk about this with you next week, how's that sound?" She put on her happiest tone so that the father wouldn't be mad at her.
There was silence before he talked again. "Fine, but I don't want to hear a no. And if you ever try to fool me again we'll find you," He continued with a lighter tone, "I told you, this man will be the man of your life. My friends were so happy when I said he'll marry you, you know?" He laughed. His pride must be on the roof now.
She ended the call. Her anxiety rose again and her heart thumped, filled with fear. She really tried to run away from her family but somehow her father was always able to find her.
She came to South Korea 5 years ago to end the misery, but last year he found her new phone number and started bugging her again almost every day. He kept telling her to get married with the men of his choice, the thing he always did since she turned 20. She was 26 this year, and the frequency of the calls was getting so disturbing with all the threats and insults.
Lisa thought she might be going crazy from this alone. She lived her best life in SoKor with her friends without anyone knowing who she was, and was able to start therapy again. The father didn't approve her to do therapy when she was in Thailand, he said that was a waste of money and only crazy people can go to therapy. But Lisa was crazy indeed back then, she did think she deserves to go to therapy.
She wondered what made her who she is. Is it the trauma? Yes. But some people had it worse yet they became a better person, unlike her. She was so reckless back then, when her father was still alive. Her biological father. Her tall, calm, and friendly father. The person she admires so much.
Her mom and dad taught her kindness and happiness in a fun way. Her family was wealthy and respected in society, as her dad had a company in Switzerland and her mom was a well-known heart surgeon in Thailand.
Even with their busy schedule, her mom and dad would always make time to travel around the world with her to enjoy the nice weather. They took so many pictures of her and supported her dreams. They watched her performance together and bought her her favorite toys and flowers. They would sing her to sleep and make her breakfast.
They did everything for her every single day, and every day felt like a weekend for her. She was so happy when they were alive.
The person she called father today wasn't even related to her in any way. He was an acquaintance of her father, a person she found so disturbing since the day they first met at a party when she was 13.
His son was 3 years older than her and she knew right then that the boy was attracted to her. She tried so many ways to avoid him but he kept trying, for a whole year whenever their family met each other.
She wasn't just annoyed because he flirted with her, a 13-year old girl, but the whole family was so creepy from the outside. She always trusts her intuition because that's what her mother had taught her, and she knew that the family was a no from the very start.
But there she was, 2 years ago, at age 15, moving into the family's house in Thailand. They were also a wealthy family with multiple properties owned in Thailand, but the reputation, not so good.
The father was a corrupt CEO and he's known for his non-ethical values. Lisa's father didn't even enjoy talking with him although he was a friendly person.
The mother was an elegant woman. She was Chinese, a very detailed and strict person. She was the one who organized and managed the whole properties they have.
TW // sexual harassment
The worst part of the family came from the son, David. He was a smart young man with a very entitled and perverted attitude. He showed a big interest in Lisa since he was 16, and it just got worse when she became a part of the family. He had tried to barge into her room in the middle of the night or in the very morning when she was asleep.
She wasn't the type of person that could wake up easily before, but she had woken up once at 2 AM because of the pain she felt on her left breast. He was groping her!
She tried to scream but he shut her mouth, threatening to kill her. She felt so scared and weak, that she stayed silent while he was abusing her chest for another 5 minutes before he walked away.
She told the family next morning that she wanted to be able to lock the door at night, the thing the father never allowed her to do since she moved in. They still didn't allow her to lock her room, which the mother said that this house is the safest place in Thailand and nobody would do anything to a skinny girl like her. Lisa could see the smirk on David's face when she said that.
The tragedy happened to her once more before she decided to lock herself in the bathroom every night. She slept in the tub for 5 whole months, and when she thinks back about it she hated herself for trusting them once more when they clearly never tried to protect her.
She thought she would be able to sleep on the bed when David was gone to college. The news about him leaving was great for her so she started to look happier and cheerful to the family, but apparently David hated that.
He came to her room before he left and left a note when she was at school. He told her that the plan to adopt her came from him and he wanted her to be close to him, so she should be thankful.
He promised her that he would do something big for her the moment he came back from college. Apparently he was never able to do anything 'big' on her, but that promise did nothing but grew anxiety on her.
TW // Violence
After David left, the mother seemed more harsh to her. Lisa didn't have to call them mother and father before, but now they were adamant that she should call them exactly 'Mother' and 'Father' everytime she talked to them.
Lisa had once forgotten to call them that first. The mother, hearing this, immediately stood up and slapped her face hard, yelling at her.
The father seemed okay with it and read his newspaper as if nothing happened. Lisa wanted to run to her room and cry, but the mother insisted she not leave her spot until she finished her breakfast.
The abuse started to happen more and more often, from slapping to kicking, to insults and degradations. Every single day Lisa couldn't imagine worse, but it was always worse than before.
The mother always made a problem from the slightest irrational things, just to make excuses to hurt her. And the father never did anything to help her. If anything, he only commented on some things and told the mother to train Lisa to be a more proper woman.
When David came back from college for holiday, he would continue the habit of sneaking into Lisa's room. He would go there drunk and whispering degrading things about Lisa, the words she thought nobody would ever say to another person because no one deserves it.
Lisa always had to sleep in the bathtub every time David came back for holidays, and every now and then she would sleep in the tub even though David's not home just to comfort herself. She even customized her bathroom and brought a lot of blankets and pillows so that the tub wouldn't feel so cold.
She endured the weirdness of the family and never actually told anyone about it, even her closest friends at school when they asked why her cheeks bruised or why her thighs bandaged. But she thought maybe they actually knew from the very start.
They were her best friends since elementary school, and the changes of appearance and personality of Lisa was so clear as glass to them. From the news of her parents' death to her moving in with the family she barely knew, they realized that something bad happened to her at home.
Knowing that, they started to make excuses to the mother to let Lisa spend more time with them. The mother, with the thin reputation she wanted to maintain, always said yes with a big sweet smile to them while secretly glaring at Lisa. Lisa went home to a very angry woman, and got some insults and yelling again before she went to bed.
Lisa wasn't legally able to manage her parents' money when she was a minor, so she planned to run away when she turned 20, the legal age in Thailand. She wanted to go to South Korea since she was little, because that was the only country her parents recommended to travel to but never got to visit.
But when she was 19 she overheard the parents talking about marrying her immediately when she turned 20. They were so excited talking about how the man was from South Korea and was one of the richest in the country.
Lisa didn't understand their obsession of owning Lisa, because the family never cared about her parents' money nor her as a human being. She didn't want to stay with them anymore, and she thought they wanted her to leave the family as soon as she turned to her legal age because she always felt like the mother's burden.
When she talked to her best friend, Minnie, her theory was the father wanted to extend his business using Lisa as his pawn. Lisa agreed with her, she thought this was the only logical explanation.
Lisa was able to run away 4 months before her birthday. But somehow they found her just in 3 weeks. David was the one who found her, he was already inside when Lisa got home from her job at a dance studio. He was so angry and punched her on the stomach, groped her again and kissed her before forcing her to go to the airport with him immediately. Lisa was crying the whole time, she couldn't even try to escape again because his bodyguard was on her left and right side all the time.
When Lisa thought her life couldn't be more dramatic, she found herself in a wedding dress in an altar 6 months later. She didn't even know the guy she married, he was a lot older than her and looked so proud for marrying such a beautiful girl. He was evidently rich because the wedding was so big and expensive, with hundreds of guests and food.
Lisa ended up being raped at her 20s, with her 'husband', at a beautiful hotel with amazing view in Jeju. Ironic, because she always wanted to visit the place when she could go to SoKor.
He was actually asked for her consent at first, to which Lisa responded with the shake of her head. But he couldn't take it apparently, because after that he pushed himself onto her after touching and kissing her here and there. The husband devoured her and enjoyed the nights, with her body going numb each time he touched her.
She cried every time the husband went outside. He didn't look as bad as the father, he seemed to trust her and was actually pleased to be her husband. But Lisa didn't feel the same despite every touch and praise he muttered for her. She already feels disgusted and scared at him, there was no way she could let herself be the wife of that person.
She wanted the control to stop. She desires to live her life freely, the life she lived when everything wasn't this bad.
So, she escaped. Lisa ran away and booked a flight to Seoul. She ran away with her dream that night, with the hope to make her life better.
2364 words
Published 2 December 2022