I don’t know why but now that Ji Won
was this close (practically laying on top of
me) made me feel better. It’s probably
cause I’ve never been this close to a
person in a long time. Soon I began to fall
asleep too…
November 1, 1993
Ji Won opened his eyes and found himself laying
partially on Mina’s body. He blushed and
slowly moved away from her. Then he just lay
near her watching her sleep.
Suddenly it caught his eyes. The sleeves and
pant legs of her pajamas were lifted up and
he got a good look at her arms and legs. Dark
purple bruises cover her entire body. There
were several scars on her legs and arms too.
Red lines run across her legs and it made Ji
Won wince because it looked so painful.
He didn’t want to disturb Mina but he
was really curious. She turned over and Ji Won
lifted the back of her shirt. It was even worse
than her legs. Ji Won opened his mouth lightly
in shock and touched her bare back delicately,
fearing that he might hurt her. Mina began to
stir.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I saw Ji Won
looking at me with this sad expression on his
face. “What’s wrong oppa?”
I asked.
“Who did this to you?”
Then he lifted the sleeve of my shirt. I opened
my mouth in shock. I tried to hide it but I
couldn’t believe he saw my bruises.
As I tried to answer him, I heard my stepmom’s
footsteps heading towards my room. “Oppa!”
I yelled, turning back to Ji Won, who was rubbing
my bruises. “You have to get out of here!
My mom is coming!”
Ji Won looked at me surprised but I opened
my window for him to climb out. “Climb
down this tree. Goodbye Ji Wonee,” I said
to him with tears in my eyes.
Ji Won remained silent the whole time as he
left her room. But he didn’t leave though.
He sat on the branch of her tree and looked
through her window. He couldn’t hear what
Mina and her mom were talking about but he saw
it.
