Love At First Kick

65

It took him a good hour to calm down and stop hicking up.

He lifted his head to look at me.
His eyes were red and puffy. Even his lips were swollen. That's how much he cried. I didn't know it was humanly possible to cry this much.

'I'm sorry.' His voice was hoarse, broken. His throat is completely tired and dry.

'You have nothing to apologize for. You've done nothing.' I tell him, caressing his cheek gently

'That's the problem. I've done nothing. He even tried to hit you, and I didn't move a muscle. I'm such a useless idiot.' How does he still have any tears left?!

'Shhhh.' I quickly wipe them away with my fingers.
'It's okay, Jimin. And you did protect me.' I smile lightly at him

'Just because I stood there doesn't mean I did anything. You're the one that protected me instead. You did whatever to keep him away.' He sniffles

'It was obvious you didn't want him near. I would have knocked him out if needed.'

'I just get immobilised when I see him. I can't move.' He said it so quietly that I barely heard him

What the hell did this man do to him?!

'Rin, I'm about to tell you something I never told anyone but my mom. The real reason I moved here. The reason I do what I do.' He sniffles again

'You don't have to tell me anything if you're not okay with it.' I don't want to push him

'I want to. You deserve to know why you witnessed what you witnessed.'
I just nodded at him, sitting down on the floor in front of him.

'Do you remember when I told you that I moved here because he hit me with a bat?' He asks

'Yes.' I nod

'That was not the reason. It was just the last straw.' He sighs deeply, then starts talking again.
'That wasn't the first time he hit me.'

Oh.... don't tell me-

'Ever since I was a kid, he's been beating the living shit out of me. He never had a reason. He would just get up and hit me out of nowhere.'

He took another deep breath before he kept explaining.
'In the beginning, it would be a slap here and there. But it became more and more, and more often. By the time I was 14, he pretty much beat me every second day, with whatever he could find. I even ended up in a hospital with a concussion once because he punched me, and I hit my head on the table as I fell. He told them I fell playing outside with my friends.' He scoffed in disgust. 'I couldn't go out in the summer because I would be covered in bruises. He would lock me inside the house so I couldn't leave anyway.'

I felt my tears streaming down my face as I listened to him. I can't believe someone can be that evil. To abuse someone their entire life?!

'Then I turned 15, and I had enough. I couldn't tell anyone about it. He was terrifying to me. When someone beats you every day, you see them as the scariest thing in the world. I thought he'd kill me if I told anyone. Not even my mom knew. But after he broke one of my fingers, I decided it was enough.'

'I decided to learn how to fight so I could protect myself. I just wanted to become strong. To fight him off. I was tired of being scared and in pain all the time.'

'There was a Taekwondo club near my school, so I went after school one day. I saw a bunch of guys fighting, and it looked like I discovered Christmas. I fell in love with it then and there. I told my dad that all of my friends are going together and they think it's weird that I don't. I had to make something up because he wouldn't let me go otherwise. To my surprise, he agreed.'

'He had no idea what I was really learning and what the sport truly was. But it was the safest place for me. And it turned out I was pretty good at it. I progressed extremely fast, and I learned everything on the first try. He never knew what I could do, so he found it all funny when they wanted me to compete. He thought it's for kids or something. But then, with time, he picked up on the fact that I'm getting a lot stronger and that I'm not in pain as much when he hits me, which only pissed him off.'

'He started using things like boards, umbrellas, and bats to hit me. Those obviously hurt a lot more than a hand. And you know what happened to my foot, so I won't explain that again.'

I was just looking at him, watching him as he struggled to tell me all of it. You could see it was weighing on him for a long time. Even if he was just silent, the suffering, the pain and the fear were obvious on his face. He was a completely different person. He didn't look like the Jimin I know.

'The only problem I have now is the way I feel, still. I'm aware I could kill him if I decided to, but I just freeze when I see him. I feel like that 10 year old boy he kicked until I threw up blood. I can't shake the fear. But I'm also angry at the same time. If you weren't here, I would have ended up hurt again.'

'Oh, Jimin.' I was crying so much I could barely see him. He was a blurry mess in front of my eyes.
'I am so sorry.' I hugged him so tight that neither one of us could breathe. 'I'm so sorry you had to live through that. I am so sorry this happened to you.' I couldn't help but feel my heart break with every word he told me

I can't believe that he grew up to be such a kind-hearted person, even though he lived through all of that.

'It's not your fault, baby. It's not your fault.' He was holding me just as tight

'Jimin, none of this is your fault. I hope you understand that. You've done nothing wrong.' I told him as I put my hands on either side of his face, looking into his eyes

'I know. It took me a long time to realize it was him, not me. But I know.' He says, closing his eyes, letting a few tears roll down his cheeks

'What if he comes back?'

'There is no if. He will come back a million percent.' He says, looking scared again. 'I hope I'll be able to stand up for myself.'

'I'm not going to leave you for a moment until he leaves. I'll be right by your side.'

'You can't do that. I can't risk having you hurt. Not you. Not ever. You are everything to me in this world. If he ever hurt you because I'm too scared to help you, I would never forgive myself.' He was cupping my face, looking right into my eyes

'He won't touch me. I promise. I'm just here to help you stand up for yourself. I'm not gonna let you be afraid of a small man like himself. And if he tries anything, I'll make sure he regrets it.'

He just nodded slowly, trying to smile, but his lips were in a tight line.

'Come here.' We sat on that floor, just holding each other for what seemed like hours.

If I see that man again, I'm breaking something of his.