Chapter Thirty

[WARNING: SENSITIVE CONTENT]

Lisa•••

"I have to say Lisa, you must be the luckiest employee we've ever had."

That's enough to break some sense into me, past my fatigue.

It's been extremely exhausting, getting up at seven in the morning with a banging headache for a three hour long photoshoot, then rushing to a five hour long meeting- only to be extend for another two, all with just four and a half hours of sleep and no break in between.

I've been digging my nails on my arm to keep me awake and biting my tongue to suppress the irritation barking to come out of me every time an intern asks too many questions. If I dig any deeper or bite any harder, I'll draw blood.

It's been a terrible day all because I've been thinking of what happened yesterday.

"I'm still waiting on the details, but I am sure you would be a great asset to the team in New York."

"Sorry?" I'm not sure I caught that right. I lean toward his desk, wanting to make sure I hear him loud and clear through the ringing in my ears, loud enough to process it in my stale mind.

"New York!"

I'm startled back from his excitement.

"The big apple! The headquarters of Vogue Magazine." he draws out, aligning his vogue hands to frame my aghast agape.

I'm not processing this very well.

"They're getting photographers from all twenty-three international branches- Australia, India, Greece, the UK, all of them!"

All?

"You're gonna travel around the world,"

The world?

"for the biggest exposé known to high-fashion magazine."

"O-Oh..." I don't know what to say.

"And you have the honor of representing South Korea, Ms. Manoban." He continues on, gesturing his hands in exaggeration to put enthusiasm in the job offer just as much as he puts into his words. He tells me about the people, the trip around the world, the fashion, the food, the housing, the money. "All expenses paid with a salary you won't get anywhere else." he noted to cap it all off.

It sounds very exciting, whether or not Mr. Shin puts his elaborations to it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, delivered to my doorstep, just waiting for me to pick it up- could have been handed straight to another photographer's palms. But it is my decision that awaits and my career it will prosper.

"And how long will I be gone for?" it might just be the only hesitation.

"I can't say right now because I don't have all the details, but we're talking a pretty long time here."

I nod, even if my understanding could be wrong. I've dealt with long times before.

Four years training away from home, four years studying in college- it's only been a little over a month since I moved here, yet it seems I've been away from my parents for much, much longer.

And I don't know how many weeks, or months, or years would be considered as a long time for me to digest being away from the home I have built in such a short period. I don't know if I want to leave my friends again, not even just for a couple of days. If I'm being really honest, I don't think I could.

"Say, why don't you think it over and get back to me in a week or two after I hand you the specifics of the project." Mr. Shin says in earnest. "This is a huge project, Lisa. A lot of credit, a lot of experience, and a lot of bills."

•••

"It's closed." I tell Chaeyoung, eyeing the unlit sign of Grooving '94 and the notice that indeed says 'closed'.

"He must be up to something." she says in suspicion. "I told Jennie not to answer it, but he just keeps calling her phone- he's called twenty-four times!"

"Okay, calm down, Chipmunk." I try to stay relaxed myself. I pass by the empty pub hastily, not taking a chance of Kai seeing me in case he's inside. Though, I highly doubt as it appears to be pitch black in the establishment.

I hear Jennie's faint voice over the line. "I think he stopped."

"I'm almost at the camera store, so just wait for me until I get back, alright? Give me thirty minutes or so." I turn down a narrow road as the store should be somewhere around here.

"Okay," she says. "we'll be waiting."

"Don't answer the phone if he calls again."

I switch on to a call with Jisoo, asking her if she had talked to her family's connections. It would be helpful to show Jennie that we have people to give her advice on filing for the restraining order and a graver police report on Kai.

"I did, but they're booked and busy at the moment." she regrets to inform. "I'll keep trying, though."

I spot the Canon store up ahead, but I'm bewildered to see the sign is also, unlit. I pick up the pace.

"Can you come by later today?" Jennie needs all the support she can get.

"If I finish up at the studio early. Taehyung and I are almost finished."

"Perfect. I'll see you then."

The phone goes in my pocket and I brisk to the end of the street.

I wouldn't have expected a high-end brand to be located in a small area like this. It's like a drought- not many shops around and only a person or two walking along. Not to mention the street is dim under the moonlight.

When I'm close enough, I feel a wash of dismay.

The store is closed for renovations. I check the google page I had searched earlier and curse the un-updated information as it has led me all the way here for nothing. I even rushed out of work to make it in time before its supposed closing hour.

It's a total disappointment. I need the new camera in time for my next shoot, as I can't keep borrowing from the company's lending system. I'm not comfortable with their kind of gear.

The nearest branch I find is in Myeongdong, but I'm far too weary, and I have somewhere else to be.

In utter distress, I kick a can on the ground, launching it behind me.

And I hear it crush.

"What a shame,"

Ice cold chills surge through me.

"I thought you would be heading home."

I spin around.

His black loafers step off the pressed can and stride toward me. Without another second to spare or a chance to brace myself, I'm knocked to the ground by his rock hard fist to my face.

It burns and it throbs and I try to get up but the wind knocks out of me by a kick to my ribs.

"Where's Jennie?"

I'm dizzy and breathless—

"Tell me where she is!"

My face scrapes against the asphalt with another blow. Blood trickles down the side of my face, though I can't feel the sting of the wound as I've gone numb in a matter of seconds—

He fists my collar and lifts me inches off the ground. I've lost all feeling that I can't shake off his grip. His menacing eyes pierce through my blurry vision- his anger is terrifying- it's paralyzing and all I can do is wait for the next—

Slam.

Hard against the street, he pins me down. My chest is burning and the metallic taste- an iron bitterness- I cough up blood. I'm stuck under him.

"It doesn't feel so good" he punches, "being hit" and punches, "in the fucking face" and punches "does it?"

Tears fall relentlessly, regardless of the swelling of an eye- hurting me with sharp stings that ask for me to close my heavy lids forever but I'm staring up at Kai, who laughs amused, who I gave a perfect reason to plan a revenge plot against me and I wonder when he'll hit me hard enough to knock me out completely because I'm wishing for nothing more of this excruciating pain.

"Fucking bitch." his weight lifts off of me, but the struggle to breathe is just as compressed. I suck in a breath but I cough up the blood. Searing pain jabs on my side as I turn over to stop myself from choking.

I'm seeing double of the street lamps illuminating his mighty figure towering over me. He's panting from the extreme rage and he looks around for any witnesses- there aren't any this time.

I spot my phone slipped out from my pocket and I try to reach for it with all my efforts.

"Not so fast."

I scream— bones crack— it's unbearable pain, my hand crushed under his weight like the shriveled can.

He bends down to pick up my phone.

I'm completely defenseless.

The circulation is cutting as he doesn't get off. Everything is spinning and everything hurts and I just can't move- I can't even breathe or shout for help or stop him- beg him to—

"First, you hit it off with Momo,"

I watch him scroll through my recent contacts. "Kim Jisoo, hell of a body that one."

"Y-You— bastard." I spit out the blood.

"Park Chaeyoung... Rosé, isn't it? Not too bad herself."

I manage to clasp his ankle with my shaking hand and I dig my nails into his skin.

He grunts in pain, but doesn't lift off, only pressing harder with no mercy. "I guess you have a thing for the idols, Lisa."

I punch my knuckles into his ankle as hard as I can, over and over but—

"You fucking whore." His shoe goes smashing into my ribs, kicking me to loll on my other side. "Do you know an Irene? She's pretty, you should have a go at her."

I bring my hand to my bleeding face- his prints imbedded in the black and blue of its brokenness. I curl up in agonizing— just unbearable—

"There you go... Ruby Jane."

The phone drops to my side.

It rings for Jennie.

"N-No—" don't pick up

He crouches down. His hair is still perfectly gelled in place. "I told Jennie I would do this if she didn't come back to me."

If she picks up he'll know where—

I fling my hand to rid of his once its clasped around my throat, squeezing- choking—

"You've ruined everything, you know that?"

Please don't answer it Jennie

"The only thing stopping me from beating you dead is knowing how much you mean to Jennie... She'll never forgive me for that."

I claw at his face but I'm falling lightheaded and weaker and my burning eyes are begging to shut and maybe if I just close them then this will all be over and nothing can hurt me anymore but all I'm thinking about is Jennie's voice through the phone and I just don't want to hear it because she shouldn't pick up the—

My lungs gasp for air once I'm released. The thin bitterness whirls through me- I'm coughing up blood but I'm breathing. Still glued to the ground, I have to watch him walk away without putting up a fight.

In sharp, heavy blinks, like a camera's shutter trying to capture the slightest of movement in the dark, Kai disappears in the blur of the deserted road where I lie alone, where I wish he would have just ended me, together with the phone's dial on speaker as the only sound for company.

I try— I try to move an inch to stop it but I just can't without my body tearing itself apart.

"Lisa?"

I close my eyes.

"Hello?"

And cry these painful tears.

Jennie •••

"Lisa, stay with us okay? We're almost there." I talk to her, even if she doesn't say a word in response, I know she's listening.

Her staggered breaths and quiet grunts are putting unwanted images in my mind and I'm terrified to the bone.

Chaeyoung keeps her eyes strictly out the window, scanning the night streets as we pass by in search for Lisa and the camera store.

"Rosie—" I suck in a deep breath, feeling tears springing to my eyes at the immense anxiety of what's going on and the hard hitting reality of not knowing what is really happening. I want Rosie to tell me this is all just some prank she and Lisa pulled. That it's just one of their jokes and one of them will break first before it goes too far- it's already too far—

"Stop the car." she tells her bodyguard. "We're running from here— come on Jennie." We jump out and I sprint behind her as she leads the way down a familiar street of Hongdae, though it has never appeared as eerie as it does tonight.

"Lisa? Hey, can you hear me?" I clutch the phone closer, listening past my footsteps and breathing, for the slightest blow of hers. "We're coming, Lisa, just—"

Rosie tracks back and charges down the narrow road. "Lisa!"

I slam my feet on the pavement and run as fast as my forlorn escapes me because at the end of the road, "Lisa—" she lies unmoving.

Rosie gets to her first and when I drop to my knees by her side, my heart sinks as fear strikes.

It's so red.

She's tainted in her own blood and it trickles from her forehead, her lips, her nose- the bruises, the gashes, the pale face, the blue lips- I hesitate to touch her, but when her icy skin meets my finger tips I hope to warm her with the cup of my hands.

"R-Rosie call someone"

Chaeyoung scrambles for her phone and dials, "You're gonna be okay Lisa just hang on alright?" she assures behind her panic.

"Baby" I rest her head on my lap and touch her, hold her because I just can't believe this is happening- my stomach churns because I can't believe this is Lisa and I feel sick seeing my favorite face beat to almost unfamiliarity.

"Jen..." she barely lets out, opening her tearful eyes as she does.

"I'm here baby it's okay" my whisper goes above her shallow, chesty breathing. I remove my jacket and lay it over her and I run my thumb over her cheek as tenderly as I can to try and soothe any pain, any hurt, any suffering at all. I wipe her tears, careful not to hurt her.

Rosie's bodyguard calls out, running toward us.

"We're gonna get you to the hospital okay Lis" I tell her.

Her eyes fall closed again.

In seconds, Lisa is lifted carefully from my lap and in the arms of the bodyguard. Rosie wraps her coat around Lisa's fragility and in a minute or two, her bleeding head is on my lap again and I'm whispering comfort to her on the race to the emergency room.

"Jisoo's car is right behind us." Rosie says and I don't turn back to see for myself. I don't peel away from Lisa.

She looks lifeless under the faint lights of the street lamps we drive under. My mind is running thoughts just as fast- who and why- I'm feeling anger rise because I'm sure of both. I'm swallowing down my suffocating guilt because Kai told me he would do this the last time we spoke and if I just answered the phone— if I just did what he wanted—

The minutes of the drive flash in an instant, the door swings open and Lisa is taken from my arms.

Rosie pulls me out of the car, and in the emergency room, we're separated from Lisa.

"Oh god" it's all my fault.

"Rosie, Jennie" Jisoo jogs up to us. "What the fuck happened, is she okay?"

Oh god they don't have masks- people are staring.

Oh god oh god oh god

"Jennie, hey—"

I pull away from Rosie's touch.

"Jennie your phone"

I take it out of my pocket and find it's Wendy calling. Seventeen miss calls sit by her name.

"Answer it for fuck's sake." Rosie slams on the receiver and pushes it to my ear but I can't form any words- then just as fast, she yanks it from me and speaks, "Wendy, it's Chaeyoung." She runs her hands through her hair in frustration.

Jisoo turns to me in need of answers, but I just shake my head because she really won't want to hear it.

"Slow down, Wendy." Rosie says.

I watch the nurses tend to Lisa on a gurney, her body still senseless.

"Jennie, please talk to me." Jisoo holds me by the shoulders but I just can't look away from Lisa because I can't tell what's going on from all the way here.

"Holy fuck."

"What is it, Chaeyoung?" Jisoo breaks away from me.

The nurses roll Lisa towards the hall, "wait" I need to make sure she's going to be—

"Jennie," Rosie spins me back around, "you need to go to the police station."

"W-What?" I finally manage to utter a word.

"Jennie it was Kai."

I know it was Kai- no one else would have done this to Lisa—

"He was the one who tore up Coffee Pages." 

My breath hitches in my throat. "K-Kai..."

"Wendy is already there, Jennie you need to go."

"But Lisa"

"I'll make sure she's okay." Rosie hands me back my phone.

I stand in a daze. I don't want to go.

I don't need to know if it was him who ruined the café- I don't care about the goddamn café, none of that matters because I just know that Lisa is hurt, badly hurt and he was the one who did this to her- I just know it, and I need to be here in case he comes back to—

"The police are bringing him in, Jennie."

I take in her words with a heavy breath. "I don't know... I don't know what to—"

"I'll go with you, Jen." Jisoo tugs at my shirt, ready to dart for the exit.

I look back at Rosie.

"Go," she says softly, "find out if he did this to Lisa. They caught him, Jennie, it's gonna be okay."

•••

It's all so slow.

The brakes of the car, the smoke emitting between my chap lips, the opening doors, the bustling in the station, the approach of Wendy, all moving too slow, keeping me away from the hospital and away from Lisa.

My anger is brewing. "Where is he?" I'm getting impatient.

"They just caught him." Wendy says calmly, glancing back and forth between Jisoo and I. "Jisoo, your... Where's your mask—"

"How did they find out?" I question.

"Ms. Kim?"

"Yes." I immediately direct my attention to the police officer. After the swift introduction, Officer Lee leads us to a computer by the side desks and sits me down on the chair as he taps away.

"The liquor store diagonal to your café let us take their CCTV footage for investigation, since the front of your business is in perfect view. Although, the camera equipment of Mr. Go was too outdated so it was hard for our technicians to retrieve the files." A video of that night comes up on the screen. The three of us watch intently. "I'm sorry that it took around two weeks, but we were able to review the footage and it is indeed Mr. Kim Jongin who broke into your café."

He's a hooded figure as he approaches, carrying a bat in his hand. It is impossible to tell it's Kai if you didn't know him. Then, there goes the glass, the books, and further into the café he goes. The damage being done beyond the camera is merely heard. Moments later, he reappears, his hood drawn back and terrorizing eyes scanning down the street. He dashes off. A minute later, bedhead Ms. Yoong is standing outside the café in shock.

"Jennie..."

I lift my gaze to the doors opening.

His wicked stare isn't so sinister anymore.

I look at him and there's not an ounce of fright. He's looking at me and he's calling my name, "Tell them it wasn't me, Jennie, you know it wasn't me." he resists being dragged by the handcuffs behind his back.

"Here are his belongings." an officer hands Officer Lee a translucent bag. "His phone broke during the struggle."

The photo is gone.

"Ruby Jane!" he yells, shaking the walls of the station.

But I don't flinch.

"Jennie, don't—"

I cock back my hand, but before I can swing Wendy grabs me.

"You fucking bastard." but Jisoo does the honors.

Kai hisses to the painful slap Jisoo collides to his face.

"Ma'am." Officer Lee pulls her aside.

"My bad, I couldn't resist." she mutters.

I stand before Kai. "You're gonna get what you deserve, Kai. I'm not gonna turn a blind eye again- your ass is gonna sit in jail for vandalism and assault."

"I never hurt you—"

"I'm not talking about me."

Kai lunges, "The bitch deserved it!" but is restrained.

"Take him to the holding cell." Officer Lee intervenes. The officers drag him to the hall, controlling his fearless attempts to break free.

I watch as the beholder of my fear and trepidation is dragged, to be locked away in a box that can only be opened in the hands of justice. A right I fell impartial to when I was rejected of living in haven by the lack of evidence against fear himself.

I was wretched and hopeless, determined to remain unforgiving to the people who allowed Kai to walk free. I was lost in myself because I stood as one of them. I looked past the hurt of others. I had my head down and my mouth shut. I was ready to never forgive myself.

But as justice prevails nine months later, I am free, from my own box of endless darkness and haunting memories. 

•••

The curtains draw open.

"Holy shit." Jisoo curses, jaw dropped at Lisa's injuries.

I close the curtains for some privacy from the rest of the emergency room. Rosie plops back down on the chair.

"You look awful." Jisoo's not wrong, as Lisa is aided with gauze on her temple, bandaids on her skin, and hand in a cast, she is still in her dirtied clothes with dry blood on them- mine and Rosie's jackets still around her for warmth. She sits with her legs dangling off the bed, slouched in exhaustion.

"Thanks, Chu..." she chuckles, but in pain. "Hi, Jennie." she says delicately.

"Hi" I step closer to the edge of the bed, getting a closer look at her.

And god am I immodest. I just want to kiss every gash on her face away.

"What's gonna happen to Kai? Did you file the report too?" Rosie questions.

I fill the two in on his arrest. Jail time for vandalism and physical assault, as the police took down our testimonies and Kai's confession to what he did to Lisa. But as expected, he didn't confess to our past. Nevertheless, he's going to be locked up for a very long time. "Chu, finally fulfilled a dream of hers." I pat my friend on the back.

"You what?" Rosie asks.

Jisoo holds up her bruised fist in pride. "Jab-cross."

"You idiot." Lisa grins widely as we laugh.

Then we're joined by a doctor, who informs that after the few tests Lisa took, she is lucky to have no internal bleeding. Although, she'll suffer from bruised ribs for a couple days. After handing her some painkillers and schedules her return for when her broken hand is healed, the doctor files her discharge.

"What time is it?" Lisa croaks when the doctor leaves.

"Nearly one in the morning." Rosie yawns. "I should call my manager and talk to my bodyguard."

"I'll do the same." Jisoo takes her hand and flashes a wink at me for her swift move to leave Lisa and I alone.

I sit down next to her, taking her scratched, but unbroken hand on my lap. Only then, I notice the blood on my jeans.

I don't know if she wants to talk, about Kai or what happened or about anything at all. I don't think she has the energy for it, so I stay quiet. I fiddle with her fingers.

Never did I think we would end up this way.

Lisa's injuries as one and the reason sitting next to her on the hospital bed as another.

It was so easy to picture forever with Lisa. As early as slow dancing in Coffee Pages to walking down the road to her apartment almost everyday. I didn't have to think about the last time we would cook together, clean up the shop together, laugh together, watch movies together, talk about doing everything together, because there wasn't a single worry in my mind that we wouldn't do all those things without each other.

And because I never thought about lasts, I can't remember our last kiss. If I knew it back then, I would have held her longer, kissed her deeper, and taken back our forever.

"Jennie,"

I still would.

"could you pass me my phone?" I come back to my senses and I follow the vibrations on the bed. I hand her the ringing phone. It's her mother.

I stand from the bed. "I'll wait outside."

Lisa smiles lightly and answers once I've closed the curtains between us.

My eyes well in an instant.

"I wanna go home." she starts to cry.