December 2, 2016, 9 p.m.
"Jiyoung-ah!" is the first thing I hear the moment I step into the house.
I look up to see Dad rushing towards me, his strong arms engulfing me into a warm embrace. I freeze, not pushing him away, but not hugging back either - just standing there a little awkwardly as my father proceeds to rake my body for any signs of injury.
"Dad, I'm fine," I assure him, though my tone is flat.
"I was worried sick!" he exclaims, before pulling me into yet another hug. "I'm so glad you're alright. Don't go off on your own next time, alright?! Imagine if Yoongi didn't take the initiative to go after you. You would have been dead by now!"
At the mention of Yoongi, my gaze subconsciously flits behind me, towards my mint-haired bodyguard. I feel like thanking him, but considering his ego, he'd probably take advantage of my gratefulness instead of appreciating it.
"He told you about Hoseok and Namjoon?" I ask, gently pulling away from Dad's embrace.
Dad sighs, whether in relief or in exasperation, I do not know. "He doesn't need to tell me for me to know that they attacked you," he tells me, a little mysteriously. Pinching my cheeks, he adds on, in a more lighthearted tone, "I always have my eye on you, so don't you dare do anything stupid!"
I give him a small smile. "Stop being a nag," I tease, before turning to Yoongi. "We should go get your wounds treated," I say, about to bring him to the kitchen where the first aid kit is, but Dad interrupts before I can put in another word.
"Yoongi got hurt?" he asks, concern written all over his face. Walking towards the green-haired boy, he grabs Yoongi's hand and pulls it into his line of sight. "Your joints are all jacked up," he mutters, "You must have hit really hard."
"I'm fine, Mr. Park," Yoongi assures him, but Dad shakes his head.
"Jiyoung is right, we need to get these treated," Dad pauses, snapping his fingers as a gesture for one of the maids to come forward. "Get the first aid kit and help Yoongi wrap up his fist," he orders her, and the maid nods, leading the boy into the kitchen.
"I'll be in my room if you need me," I excuse myself, before heading upstairs.
Dad opens his mouth, as if to say something more, but thinks better of it, deciding to bring it up another time. "Good night," he says with a small grin.
"Night, Dad."
***
A ear-piercing clash resonates throughout the apartment, the sound of glass shattering into a million pieces. The clash is immediately followed by the fearful cries of a woman, her voice all too familiar.
Even though I haven't heard her voice in almost six years, I recognize it immediately.
Mommy.
Widening my eyes, I dash out of my room, to see my mother cowering in the corner of the living room, her knees hugged to her chest and her head buried in her hands. In front of her, the glass vase has ruptured into a million crystals, as if a gigantic glacier vomited all over our carpet.
At the sound of my footsteps, my mother, shivering in utter terror, turns towards me, her face streaked with tears. "Jiyoung, baby," she forces a smile, "Go back inside the room, alright? Everything will be fine."
Although her voice calls my name, her eyes aren't staring straight into mine - she's staring behind me. Matching her gaze, I turn to see a little girl standing beside me, a stuffed bear in her hands.
Isn't that... me?
I watch as my twelve-year-old self runs towards my mom, abandoning the bear as she wraps herself in my mother's embrace. "Mommy," she starts to cry as well.
The next scene, I remember all too well.
"Your daughter is beautiful."
A voice beside me suddenly says, and I turn to see a figure emerging from the master bedroom, slowly approaching my mother with a sly smirk on his face.
"Jung Minho," my mother's voice suddenly hardens, her eyebrows scrunching together to form a glare. Protectively, she shoves the little girl behind her, extending her hands outwards to shield the twelve-year-old me. "Leave my daughter alone."
No.
The man's smirk widens at her words, and from the side, I see the sharp glint of metal standing out from his dull-colored jeans.
No, no, no.
"Leave your daughter alone?" Jung Minho draws the dagger from his pocket, twirling it in his hands as he crouches down to meet Mom's aggressive stare. "But if I leave her alone, who will pay the price for your beloved husband?"
"Mommy," my twelve-year-old self mumbles softly, voice trembling in terror as she shakes her head vigorously.
I might have been young back then, but I knew full well what was going to happen next.
"I will," Mom tells him, slowly getting to her feet and staring the man in the eye. "Take me, and leave my family alone."
Jung Minho contemplates this, cocking his head to the side as he ponders. "You have a son too, don't you?"
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" Mom yells, before raising a hand and bringing it down across the man's face.
"YOU BITCH," Jung Minho roars, before lifting the hand holding the blade. With hardly any hesitation, he buries the knife into Mom's gut.
With little effort, the knife slices through my mother's skin and digs straight in.
"MOM!" I cry out, sprinting towards her.
Red liquid spurts from her mouth as she falls to the ground, the knife still stuck in her gut. But she doesn't scream. She doesn't yell. She doesn't even groan in pain.
"Jiyoung-ah," she turns her head slightly backwards, glancing at her young daughter, still sitting in the corner as she watches the life slowly drain out of the bleeding woman.
Collapsing beside my mother, I try to stop the bleeding, but my hand passes right through her, as if she were air.
"MOM!" I yell again, but she hardly notices me, her gaze lingering on the twelve-year-old girl behind her.
Beside me, Jung Minho laughs. "Keep the knife as a souvenir," he winks at the dying woman, before sauntering out the front door, his feet thudding steadily against the ground with every step.
"No, no, no, no," I shake my head furiously, attempting to remove the knife, but just like before, my hand goes right through it.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I turn to scream at the twelve-year-old girl, still shivering in horror as she watches her mom die in front of her.
"Jiyoung-ah," my mother repeats, her voice a bare whisper this time.
I look back down at her, my eyes watering as more blood spurts from her mouth.
"I love you."
***
"Park Jiyoung!"
A voice jolts me out of dreamland, and I immediately bolt upright on the soft mattress. Breathing heavily as if I've just run a marathon, I turn to meet the worried gaze of Min Yoongi.
"You were screaming the whole house down!" he scolds, his worry quickly turning to annoyance.
"So-sorry," I mutter. "I'm sorry," I say again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
I burst into tears, my already-sore eyes telling me that I was crying in my sleep.
"I'm sorry," I choke, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Yoongi freezes, his eyes widening as he watches me break down, this situation all too familiar to him. "H-hey, don't cry," he mutters awkwardly. "Oh gosh, why do I always get myself into these kind of situations," he mumbles.
Stepping forward, he wraps his arms around my shoulders, pressing my head to his stomach with one hand. "Alright, don't cry, or your father will say I've been bullying you and my pay will be cut," he consoles me, "You can scream all you want, okay? I won't interrupt anymore, just stop crying alright?"
"You ass," I sob, the muscles of my chin trembling like a small-child's, "if this is how you comfort a girl, then good luck on getting a girlfriend when you grow up!"
"Oh my god, you're the first person I've seen who talks this much when crying," he tells me, his hand forming a steady rhythm on the side of my skull. Taking a deep breath, he softens his voice by a few tones, "It was just a bad dream, okay? Don't cry, or your eyes will swell and you'll become even uglier than you already are."
"You're such an ass," I weep, but allow him to continue soothing my shaking body.
Soon, I start to calm down, and my breathing evens. With a few more pats on my head, I find the lids of my eyes slowly getting heavier, and before I know it, I've drifted off to sleep.
+
this book is so draggy omg but it'll get better i promise <3 thanks for reading ~~
<hoseokieomo>
p.s. HOLY CRAP DID Y'ALL WATCH MAMA YESTERDAY OMG MY BABIES WON ARTIST OF THE YEAR I'M SO PROUD OF THEM YOU CAN'T IMAGINE T^T