Chapter 68: Incense Burner(8).

The table in front of her rattled. Her vision rapidly receded, and Father, Unni, and Arena all moved away. The background all retreated. No, that wasn’t it. She was backing away.

“Hoo-ahk, Hoo-ahk-!”

Rough breathing was heard. Trembling was conveyed in the breathing. Who was trembling like this? Even she felt breathless. Stop, stop trembling. Take a breath.

“…Ah, eu-ah, ah…”

Heart sounds. Pulse sounds. A zzzzz, buzzing tinnitus in her ears. It was noisy. High frequency. Beeee- What was it. Her ear hurt. Eventually, it dulled.

Ah, she had heard this sound before. She always heard this sound after getting slapped hard on the cheek. Her back touched a wall.

Pressure was applied. What was it. That’s right. She was pushing. While flailing her arms and legs, she was trying her best to go back. How foolish. Her back had already touched the wall. What was she doing.

“Stop it, Chayeon-ah! Go inside quickly!”

Someone embraced her. Was it Unni? Was it Arena? No. It was Mother. A gaunt Mother was embracing her with a skeletal appearance.

Her hair was curled to the side, emphasizing her prominent cheekbones on that bony face even more.

“Chayeon-ah! Go inside quickly!”

Mother screamed with a cracked voice. That’s right, she had to go inside the room quickly. Ah, where was the room?

“Eu, eu-aee, …Ack!”

Her feet tangled, and the floor became closer. Her whole body was trembling, making it difficult to move.

What was she doing, Jeon Chayeon. Go inside the room quickly. She had to listen to her mother.

Where was the room?

It was all blocked by black stone walls.

The darkness that had been constantly forcing its way in through the gap in the glass door to the yard was filling all sides tightly.

Stone wall, stone wall, stone wall. All sides were full of stone. Was there a hole to escape? Ah! There was a glass door in front of her. A black dog was staring at her from beyond the glass door.

Huh?

It was a room. No, it was a living room. A fluorescent light was shining brightly.

“Chayeon-ah! Run away quickly!”

Her Unni’s voice hit her ear. When she turned around, Unni was blocking Heokgu with her arms wide open. That’s right, it was a home visit. Heokgu’s eyes were red. Deep red. She had seen that light somewhere before.

“Chayeon-ah, let’s go quickly.”

What she had thought was constricting and stuffy was Arena embracing her tightly. She raised her body, relying on Arena’s support.

She remembered.

Suddenly, Teacher Heokgu hit Unni and Arena. Wait, was this memory right? Why, for what reason? With a loud slapping sound, Unni staggered.

“Unni!”

The black dog was still sitting still and looking at her. It grinned. How could a dog grin? Did dogs even have expressions?

“Don’t underestimate me!”

At that moment, Heokgu shouted loudly, and the world was submerged in darkness again.

She couldn’t see. She couldn’t see anything. Where did Arena go? Where was Unni? Seohee Teacher, where are you. Huh? Seohee Unni! Unni? Where are you?

The spot where Heokgu had been was swelling, and a shadow of a giant fox began to emerge.

That jet-black fox with nine tails was looking at the black dog with red eyes shining ominously. The black dog was also looking at the fox and raising its tail.

Black rain fell, tuduk-tuduk. The world was submerged in the rain. The world was now full of black sea. She was drifting on the sea.

The dog lowered its tail, jumped twice in place, and disappeared over the fence.

Her vision staggered.

The light of a dim incandescent light faintly brightened the surroundings. Where was she. It was a stone wall.

A traditional toilet was installed next to her, and there was a large iron door in front of her. Above, bars were tightly embedded to allow air to pass through, and there was one more small door below.

It was a place she had seen a lot somewhere.

“That cunning demon b*tch.”

Likewise, it was a sound she had heard somewhere.

“…Ah, aah….”

Her heart was beating like crazy. It was that man.

The man who had beaten her so much, the man in the prison. He was huge. His body was so big that she couldn’t see the end no matter how much she bent her neck and looked up.

The large man was approaching. Don’t come. Don’t come. Stop it. Don’t come. Please, please, stop it.

“Chayeon-ah! Hide quickly!”

Seohee popped out. Seohee was hugging the guard’s waist tightly and preventing him from coming to Chayeon.

The guard twisted his waist and then swung his lid-like hand. A loud sound comparable to the sound of thunder was heard, and Seohee’s neck snapped back with a pak.

“Unni will block it here! Chayeon, hide!”

Ah, right. Let’s move. Hide, hide. She had to hide. The surroundings were full of darkness. Why was it so dark. That’s right, it was because the lights were off.

In order to save on electricity bills, they rarely turned on the lights even in the evening. But where should she hide? Ah, there was a blanket over there. Her blanket. She squeezed her body inside and crawled in. She felt cozy.

Like a mole cricket, she pushed her head in and then wriggled her pelvis further inside. Her own castle. It was safe here. She didn’t have to get hit.

-Jeon Chayeon, how long are you going to stay holed up! Get up!

“Chayeon-ah, I’ll take care of it. Just hide here quietly!”

Different voices of Arena echoed from both sides at the same time. Arena, what will change even if I go out? Yeah, she was this small and petite. Look at this arm. Is this a man’s arm? She hadn’t even hit puberty yet.

When she looked at the kids in the same class, they were all hitting puberty, getting acne, and growing taller. She was still standing at the very front when they moved in groups, and her seat was also the first seat. It couldn’t be helped. She was born that way.

“You can stay here quietly. We’ll take care of everything.”

Yeah, Arena. Thank you. That’s right. What help would she be even if she went out? While Mom was stopping Father, she was helping by curling up in her blanket in her room.

If she went out, Father would hit her too, and hit Mom even more because he was angry. That’s how she was helping. There was nothing she could do.

“Aaaak!”

A piercing scream. Huh. This was definitely Arena’s voice? Why was Arena in their house? Arena? Arena-ya? Was Arena the one outside?

Let’s just check the outside situation for a moment. Just a moment.

When she poked her head out, Heokgu was hitting Arena.

What, why. What was he doing. Why was he hitting Arena! Don’t harass Arena! Huh? No, Father was hitting Mom. That’s right. It was the same as usual.

Father, with his face completely red and his unfocused, blurry eyes, was wildly swinging those thick arms and legs. Mom was, ah, Mom only had bones like her.

No, she was the one who resembled Mom. What was she saying. The thick legs were constantly slamming down on that small body, which only had bones and was curled up.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Honey, it’s all my fault.”

Mom’s sobbing. No, Mom wasn’t at fault. What was she saying. What fault did Mom have? She was getting angry. Father, stop it. Mom is really going to die like that. Stop, stop it! Let’s go out.

She would stop him. But, if she went out, would she be able to stop Father? How? How? Her vision was shaking.

The clicking sound that had been coming from before was noisy. It was noisy, what if they heard her. Ah, it was the sound coming from her teeth.

“Chayeon-ah, it’s okay. You can stay still. Unni will take care of it.”

Before she knew it, Seohee Unni had come into the blanket. Ah, it was cozy. It was like that night. The day she had sleep paralysis and was scared of the thunder, so she had crawled into her Unni’s arms.

Unni hugged her tightly from behind and stroked her hair. It’s okay, Chayeon-ah. Everything is okay. Chayeon could just stay still. Leave it all to Unni. That’s right, good girl, our Chayeon.

Seohee had gone out and was blocking Heokgu before she knew it. Seohee rushed in. Ah, but Heokgu was so strong. Heokgu was choking Seohee’s neck. Choking her neck? Ah, that was that kid.

Was it Meridi? The brat who resembled her and made her feel bad. Meridi was laughing in a voice unique to children, heeheehee, and choking Seohee’s neck. Don’t do that. If you did that, the teacher would only be left with her neck. Only a neck dangling, dangling.

Still, she was lying in the blanket.

Father was choking Mother’s neck. Mother’s face was becoming reddish, then bluish, and now the two were mixed and she was coughing while slapping Father’s arm with a purple face.

But the lid-like hand was fixed in place and showed no sign of moving. You useless b*tch! Who did you have an affair with! A shouting sound was heard. Keok, keok, keok.

<<Are you going to stay still like this?>>

A strange mumbling was heard in her head. It was a voice that seemed to be coming from inside a cave.

<<Even this time, you’re just going to curl up and hide?>>

Hiding?

<<If you leave it like that, you’re going to lose your mother again. Are you asking if you’re going to repeat such a mistake?>>

That couldn’t be happening. She had changed. Now she had also grown her body, and she was strong enough that she wouldn’t lose to anyone. Uh, but why wouldn’t her body move? The blanket was wrapping her tightly.

It wouldn’t move. Right, this couldn’t be helped. That’s because the blanket was tying her up so she couldn’t move. No, it was an excuse. Move. Move, I said. She had to stop it. Father, stop it. Please stop it.

“Even this time, you won’t be able to protect her.”

The father, who had been choking her mother’s neck, opened his mouth. She had thought it was her father, but it wasn’t. It was Heokgu who was choking Seohee’s neck. A light was flowing out from his red eyes.

The jet-black hair, which was as black as the surroundings, was trembling. Ah, it wasn’t Heokgu. That was that kid. Joo Jiho, that unlucky bastard.

The large and firm muscles were revealed outside his top. The one who was under him was a girl she had never seen before.

Her body was about as small as hers, her hair had red tips like Heokgu, and her eyes were a beautiful and bright red that reminded her of rubies.

The girl was coughing while drooling because her neck was being choked. No. She had never seen that girl before. Why was it so familiar? Who was that child?

The center of Joo Jiho’s pupils were shining red. It was as if a toy laser pointer that was being sold in front of the school was shining alone on the wall in the dark room.

The red light was gradually spreading and swelling in volume, and now the entire pupil was shining red. Red hair fluttered. Ahahahahaha A piercing laughter was heard.

It was Rubrum-Luna. Rubrum-Luna was sitting on Arena and breaking her fingers one by one. Aaaaak! Arena’s scream. Arena! Wait! I’m going! No, Chayeon-ah. Don’t come! Just hide there!

She was flailing under the blanket as she was trying to stand up.

There were strange men and women outside. A large man she had never seen before was choking a skinny woman.

The woman had bruises and swelling all over her arms and face. Who were those people? They were familiar faces.

More than that, where had Unni gone. Where had Arena gone again. When would Mom and Dad return from their business trip? Come to think of it, when had they left.

The skinny woman’s flailing began to subside. The strength in her arms disappeared, and the hand that had been holding the man’s lid-like elbow slipped down. Her movements were subsiding. The coughing sounds were scattering and disappearing into the darkness.

It was a scene she had seen somewhere before.

Why was it so familiar. It was strangely familiar.

It was a scene she had really seen a lot.

Where had she seen this scene?

-That day, when Chayeon brought home a thin one-line report card with ‘5’ written in the ranking section, Mom bought fried chicken from the market.

It was the first time in a long time that they were eating fried chicken.