The bright, sunny morning, Bluebirds soaring through the cloudy sky, and a short, young girl picking berries from the freshly green bushes.
A village was handmade by my grandmother since the day I was left alone outside her newly made door. "Here are the berries!" I ran to my grandmother carrying a basket of raspberries. "It's time for you to head to the new high school I recently enrolled you in, sweetheart." She softly spoke. I nodded politely. Something about Grandma feels off today.
I arrived at the school gates, and the school was massive, luxurious and modern. I took a deep breath and entered. How did Grandma afford this? Every student wore expensive clothing brands and gossiped about a new student named Jae-won. Young couples chase each other along the hallway, shoving my shoulder. I examined my timetable, "A05", I muttered. My eyes shifted towards 'A05' and a sudden crowd of girls shrieked in excitement, blocking the staircase to my class. I nervously walked closer and saw a Grade 12 student with short, straight black hair, wearing non-affordable clothes. The sight nearly blinded my sky-blue eyes.
School had ended, and I peacefully walked on the footpath. Fading sirens drew closer to me, hospital vans drove past immediately, so I carelessly followed and ran after them. The door from my home was widely open, and as nurses rushed inside, I too. "Grandma!" I panicked. Flesh-red stained the wooden floorboards. I panted frantically as I gasped for air. The nurses' arms shifted, blocking my way to Grandma, "Kid, move aside, please." That Grade 12 student from earlier stood still with broad shoulders beside his old-looking mother. I pushed the nurses' hands aside and crouched down to check if my grandmother was still breathing. Grandma, why'd you do this to me? I turned my head around as the boy gestured for me to grab the white aloe vera tissues. Outside, I noticed his mother slip a thick envelope to the nurses, who giggled among themselves. "Are you okay, Shiro?" He talked softly, bending his knees to reassure me. The dripping, raw red soaked into my old villager clothes, hands shaking, with eyes twitching rapidly. I grabbed a knife stained in blood beside my grandmother…
"What are you doing, little girl?" His mother came in with a huge crowd of bodyguards dressed in black protective suits. Outside and surrounded. I immediately dropped the blunt kitchen knife. "Jaewon, are you hurt?" His mother ran to him as the bodyguards held my arms back. "Bodyguards, release Shiro." His eyes lifted, pupils clouded by a dull, empty expression. "Ah… yes, master." The bodyguards let my arms free, and my knees immediately gave out. As I cried ridiculously, I hesitantly picked up the knife that had been stabbed in my grandma, as I glared at Jae-won's terrified mother. A pair of cold hands gripped me around the waist, pulling me back from her. "Bodyguards, take her to the car, and lock her in there, A deep, calming voice spoke – The person holding me back was…
"Jaewon." The word blurted out as a shaky whisper.
They carelessly pushed me into the car. A few minutes later, Jaewon came in the car by himself. No bodyguards, no mother, and no grandma – Grandma was dead, the bodyguards patiently waited, leaning their backs against the wall in the cottage, while Jae-won's mother looked paralysed. Jae-won crawled to me, knee by knee, as I shuffled backwards. *Chomp* I flinched when he stroked a strand of my ink-black hair around my blushed ear, after biting my collarbone. Droplets of water streamed down my face. The long-held cry I could no longer hold in made me feel useless and rotten to the core. "Do you want to know who killed your 'so-called beloved' grandma?" He grimly smiled. I shoved him away using hostile force; the anger rushed through my veins, making me ponder if there was a special meaning in life. No, there isn't. The world revolves around money, 'luxury, fame and privacy'.
Before I could slap his cheek, he grabbed my wrist and moved his face closer to mine. I could smell his expensive cologne.
He pulled me into a rough, slow-paced kiss. I could taste his saliva, sweet yet savoury. Saliva drooled down my chin as I tried to scream for instant help. He hugged me tighter than my grandma could have done. A string of sticky saliva pulled away from his mouth, as he glared at me soullessly, giving me an unreadable expression. I could hear his heavy breathing echo in my ear, once his breathing slowed down to a light breath. He grabbed my hands together and pushed them over my head, pulling me into another kiss. But this time it felt different; I could sense him craving me, as he sucked my lips intensely. A knock tapped continuously from outside the car's window. His eyes lifted, then he sighed deeply. He formally walked out of the car like nothing ever happened or mattered. The young woman looked around, Jae-won's age, dressed up fancy with her face powdered with foundation.
Following him, I exited, as the door creaked open from my village, a spike of pain hammered against my ribs when I thought of the body covered in blood.
"Jae-won!!" His mother came running out.
Jae-won, whose future was all set out, and his mother, a young woman appearing as his future girlfriend, acted as if a human being never mattered.
I gasped for air when I woke up to hear my alarm. In the past, I tried to bury deep within my thoughts, but eventually they rose to the surface. My fingers were shaking as I turned off my alarm. My heart pounded in a slow pattern.
Today is the day I start the first job interview.
Ever since my grandma died, I've been living in debt as I moved to the city. The village was bound to visit, and the hand-killed body was shoved beneath the grass.
I want to end everything here. My head ached as I thought about it. But if I pass the interview, it will save me a load of effort.
- Silent Truth -