Scars of the Dead (15)
Scars of the Dead (15)
.....
*20 Minutes Ago*
Jina was scrawled on the floor, busy scribbling something on a paper while Siwan was eyeing her with contempt. She ignored the bully who was throwing daggers at her through his eyes. Her concentration was on the task in hand.
Shinho was also sitting next to her but he kept on glancing at his older brother. He never interacted with his brother but he had seen him from his cellar. His older brother was a well groomed and properly maintained boy. From top to bottom, Siwan's whole demeanor screamed elegance. Shinho looked from his older brother's fine clothes then to his own shabby clothes. He was buried in an old, torn t-shirt and shaggy jeans. The contrast between them was stark and visible.
"This kid is up to no good," Yumi noted. She was on the bed, keeping an eye on the boy who was probably going to harm Jina. Casper, on the other hand, was monitoring what Jina was doing. He was awed by her calligraphy. It was not the best but he was still silently cheering the little girl for her efforts. She was trying to stylishly write his, Yumi's and Shinho's names on three separate papers but it took a lot of effort. The little girl was very much engrossed in it, tearing up papers if even a line went awry.
Jina heard Shinho's loud sigh. Even though she wanted to ask him what he was thinking but she did not dare to do so in front of Siwan. She was focused on her work.
"I know that you were the one who played a prank on me that night at the camp!" Siwan suddenly spoke up.
Jina ignored him and kept on writing on the paper. Siwan was becoming irritated by the minute. He hated to be ignored and the brat was not even acknowledging his presence!
"I am talking to you," he gritted.
"But I am not talking to you," she said absentmindedly. Siwan's nostrils flared. He stood up, enraged by her behavior.
"You will listen to me when I'm talking!" he exclaimed.
"No," she simply said. "If you don't mind, can you be quiet? I'm working here! Unlike you, I have a busy schedule."
Siwan had enough of her rudeness. The girl was infuriating and he knew that she was hiding something. She had somehow manipulated the events and caused him to humiliate himself at the camp.
He stood up and rushed towards her. Casper was about to stop him but Yumi pulled him back.
"I want to see what he does," Yumi said in a hard tone. She knew the boy was up to no good but she still wanted to see how far that brat would go. Was it possible for a child this small to be this insolent and out of control? No way!
But to her shock, Siwan pulled Jina by the arm so hard that the girl screamed out "OW!"
He gripped her arm tightly. The skin he had grabbed was turning red and Jina was crying in pain.
"What the hell are you doing?" she cried. Tears fell from her eyes, rolling down her cheek but he was unflinching in his stance.
"What did you do that night?" he demanded." How did you make those things fly?"
"Stop it!" Jina cried, beating his hand with hers but his grip was too strong. She could not pull herself free from his grasp.
"What did you do?" he shouted at her. "You must have drugged me!"
"I don't know what that means!" Jina cried. She was now sobbing harder. Yumi and Casper were now enraged. The boy was crossing all limits and dared to hurt a girl!
But before they could act, something small rushed past and pushed Siwan backwards. He yelped, his hand letting go of Jina's and he stumbled on the floor.
"AHHHH!" he yelled, rolling over in apparent pain. Jina stopped crying and was staring at Shinho who was very angry at what his brother was doing to his friend. He moved in front of her as if protecting her from Siwan while glaring down at the latter who was still on the floor.
"Is he hurt?" Yumi asked. This is not good, she thought.
Just then the door burst open. Gayoon had rushed in followed by Doyoung who was shocked to see her son on the floor.
"Siwan!"
"Jina!"
Both the mothers ran forward to help their respective children. Jina was too shocked to talk while Siwan was doubling in pain.
"She pushed me!" he accused Jina, weakly pointing at her. "Mom...she hurt me…"
"What?" Doyoung frowned. She glanced at the little girl who was tightly hugging her mother. But she noticed the red mark on the girl's arm.
"Jina, what happened?" Gayoon asked in a gentle tone. She would never believe that her daughter would hurt a person intentionally. There simply was no way a good girl like Jina would do that.
"Lady Cop it was me," Shinho's small voice came from nearby. "I pushed him. He was hurting her."
Upon hearing that, it did not take Gayoon long to figure out what might have transpired. It was obvious that Siwan was hurting Jina but was now pointing the blame at her. She was not angry at Siwan but pitied the boy. He must have learnt such tendencies from his abusive father and was now treating everyone else like that.
But how was she going to explain to Doyoung?
Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face Doyoung. The latter stood up, still hugging her son. But she was giving Jina an unscrutinable look. Gayoon was confused how to explain it to her.
From behind his mother, Siwan flashed a smirk at Jina.
"He's faking it!" Yumi realized. "Why that cheating bas-"
Casper held her mouth shut. She muffled out a series of slangs at the rude kid from underneath his palm, glaring at Siwan.
Gayoon opened her mouth to explain but Doyoung beat her to it.
"I think this was just a childrens' mess up!" she laughed. "It happens. Let's forget about it."
She laughed and Gayoon was relieved. Jina hugged her even more tightly, scared of Siwan. Even though she had played a prank on him a few nights ago, she made sure that he would merely be spooked and not seriously hurt. But his sudden actions caught her off guard and she was more scared of him than she was of evil spirits.
"Yeah," Gayoon agreed. "It was just a mishap. I'm sure no one was at fault."
"But she pushed me!" Siwan claimed. "She should be punished-"
He faltered under his mother's stern gaze. Doyoung turned back to Gayoon and added, "Let's not tell this to his father. Danny tends to overreact to these things. We won't tell him either. Will we Siwan?"
Gayoon smiled and patted the scared Jina in assurance. Shinho was silently watching everything. He was going to be punished for sure for his actions. What he did was wrong and the little boy was feeling guilty for hurting his brother. But when he saw Siwan abusing Jina, he could not stay still.
To his surprise, Jina quietly reached out to hold his pinky finger with hers. It was her way of saying that she would protect him just like he had protected her. No words passed between them but their faint bond was growing stronger.
"Dinner is ready," Gayoon said. "We should all go downstairs."
Doyoung nodded. "I'll help him wash up," she said. "Where's the washroom?"
"Down the hall then to your left," Gayoon instructed. Doyoung smiled and led Siwan away from the room. He glared at Jina, still boiling with anger. No matter what he did, the girl always managed to get away! She bewitched everyone including his own mother! Doyoung did not even let him have her punished.
He glared at his mother. She was supposed to take his side! Wasn't she his mother? Why did she not scold the girl or create a ruckus to ensure she was punished.
"In," Doyoung ordered in a calm tone. Siwan headed into the washroom and Doyoung locked the door behind her. As soon as she closed the door, she swooped down on her son like a hawk.
"Tell me the truth, Siwan," she demanded. "Did you hurt that little girl?"
"What?" Siwan feigned innocence. "No! I didn't! She was the one who pushed me! She even bullied me at camp! I swear it wasn't me!"
"I saw the marks on her hand," Doyoung revealed. "Those weren't on her arm when we left her. So let me repeat myself. Did you hurt her?"
She glared at him, adamant on finding the truth. The disturbing behavior he had exhibited was not normal and a child only learnt these from the parents. Doyoung never displayed any sort of violence in front of her son. She rarely used slang and was careful not to use them around Siwan. As far as she knew, he was not exposed to any sort of violent behavior either.
So there was only one person from whom he could have inherited such crassness.
"I didn't hurt her," Siwan lied. He was looking directly at her, not looking away. Doyoung was shocked to realize that not only her son was lying but also that he probably thought that he was doing nothing wrong.
"You have disappointed me tonight," she said, feeling hurt. "You shouldn't have hurt the little girl nor should you have lied-"
"Aren't you my mom?" Siwan sneered. "Why are you supporting her? You should believe me! Not her!"
With that, he darted out of the washroom, leaving Doyoung completely shocked. She slumped against the wall, burying her face in her hands in dismay. Her son was turning into something dreadful and she was doing nothing!
Will he be alright? She wondered sadly. But there was no answer to her question.