Sanctuary of the Forgotten

Chapter V

She was running barefoot on a highway while the rain was pouring hard. Hours and hours of running and yet, she was still not going too far. She felt like she was running in endless circles. There was no way to escape and there was no one to help. She could feel the stinginess of her feet. The only thing that was on her mind was to save herself. She was beginning to lose her strength but her instincts told her that she should not stop running.

Just as when she thought she has gotten away, she felt someone gripping her nape. The next thing she knew, she was already lying on the wooden floor of his chambers while he was squeezing tightly her neck.

Help.

She screamed for help. She prayed to her God for her precious life. Life could be so hard on her but still, she wanted to live.

Just like the ill-fate of her mother 38 years ago, she saw herself struggling with the same situation. Back then, she did not understand how tough life was for her mom. All she knew was that her mother failed to protect her and herself. Way back then, she thought she was better than her mother who refused to leave her batterer. But years later, she found herself in the same position of failing to protect herself.

Tear were flowing like river from her eyes. How she wished to have someone to save her from all the things she's going through.

But it was just her and the person choking her. No one would ever come. No one would ever save her. No one would hear because no one dared to listen. The silence of the society to the abuse of the relevant number of women has caused broken dreams, crooked lives and even cruel deaths.

All she could ever hear was her struggled breathing and the deafening noise of his laughter. And when she was to take her final breath, the noise stopped.

And then, she woke up, lying on the couch.

She was alive. No one was trying to kill her. No one was strangling her. What had happened to her was nothing but a recurring nightmare. The nightmare was maybe an aftermath of what she found in the newspaper.

It was no longer raining but it was freezingly cold. Unlike in the big city where she used to live for almost two decades, the rain pours more frequently in Suncheon, a city in South Jeolla Province. Hence, when she learned that the rain had stopped, she hurriedly went out of the house to burn the page of the newspaper with her face in it. One can never burn the past but at least the traces of it can be.

Why did she have to suffer when she was the victim in the first place? How could the scales of justice tilt in favor of someone high and mighty? How can justice be unjust for the unfavored?

Hyun Bin was attending to his patients with immediate medical needs when a group of policemen entered the hospital doors. He was thinking that maybe an accident happened because usually that's the case. However, upon inquiry by the staff nurse, they were informed that they were looking for a lady who had been missing for almost three weeks. Certain that his presence was irrelevant to the investigation, he went back to his patient to give her a good stitch.

He put all his attention to what he was doing but still, he couldn't deny the fact that something triggered his memory. It was a total déjà vu - the police looking for a missing lady at the hospital. His hands were shaking. How could one similar situation remind him of the things that he had long forgotten?

The scenario kept repeating in his head even after his shift. He was trying to be brave to fight all the demons inside him however, he just couldn't. He bit his lip as he held back his tears. The guilt, the misery and the agony went back at that very instant.

His eyes clouded. He sped up his car on his way home. The very thing he needed at that moment was someone to hold him.

He took a deep breath before stepping in. Not to worry Ye Jin, he forced himself to smile and act bubbly. However, just like him, Ye Jin seemed to have a terrible day too. He didn't ask much but he gave a hug to let her feel that whatever it may be, he'd stand by her.