Nowhere To Hide

chapter 1 : Trying a Memory Escape

(just for your information, this is a demo of the book! Don't hesitate to state up what's wrong, what needs to change or even tips! This is my first book and english ain't my first language, thank you for your understanding ^^)

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SOUTH KOREA

South Jeolla : Yeosu (316 km from SEOUL)
Time : 9:37am 2011

- "And then, it found its hiding place."
   Ji-Soo and Ji-Hun looked at their mom with wide, innocent eyes and waited impatiently for her to continue the story. They didn't know it yet, but their innocence was already destroyed by the harsh reality that they faced every day outside of bedtime stories. Glass shattering was now heard from behind the door.

- "Okay! Time to play a little game now shall we?
- What was tha-
- We're gonna play hide and seek!
- Mother?
- I'm going to open the door and when I say "Hide" you run and hide, okay?
- Yes mother...."

   The older brother Ji-hun, knew what was happening unlike his little sister Ji-soo. They both get up, the mother gets to the door ready to act.
The doors open to a tall mysterious man, the mother pushes him as hard as she can, making him balance and falls on the ground.

- "HIDE, QUICK!"

   The little boy took his sister's hand and began to run to the kitchen despite running on broken glass. There was their secret hiding place, an empty cabinet difficult to access for adults.
   The girl gets in first so Ji-hun could have a vision of what was happening between the man and their mother.

   As the man fights with their mother, Ji-Soo hears the chaos outside of the kitchen cabinet, being scared but remains in her hiding place with her older brother. She starts to wonder what her mother is trying to hide from her and why she is fighting with this unknown person. As she hears their voices rising in anger, Ji-Soo tries to stay as quiet as possible in order for them to not find their hiding place. Ji-hun, watching the scene from a little entry of the cabinet's door, was just as scared as his baby sister. Seeing his mother being thrown on the floor pinched Ji-hun's heart.

- "Move Ji-hun move! You have to protect mama and Ji-soo, you can't stay there and watch! the boy thought. Don't be so scared and selfish!!"

   A scream. A scream belonging to their parental figure, their mother. And this scream was the straw that broke the camel's back.

   The little boy, got out of the cabinet. Despite his small size and his inexistent muscles, throws himself at the man, scratching and making him bleed. The grown man didn't hesitate to try and punch Ji-hun, even if he's just a confused and scared child ready to be the punching-ball to protect his loved ones. On the other hand, he used the small body of him to quickly crouch and dodge the hit. He used this time as an opportunity and went behind the tall man in order to kick him behind the knee, making him lose balance.
   Ji-hun's body moved by itself, making the boy stop in his tracks, being confused and vulnerable.
The little one's confusion gave the man time to catch his balance and took a grip onto the boy's neck to throw him against the nearest wall. He yelped in pain before being stunted for a short moment.

- "MY CHILD! YOU..." the mother screamed in anger and fear, tears streaming down her cheeks. The man cut her in her tracks, looking down on her with his cold, furious blue eyes.
- "He's just a kid who won't have time to live! Look at him. Useless and weak, not even capable of defending himself or his poor mother. At this rate he can only die quickly and stupidly!"
- "Who's this man?... Hurting us for what reason? Who is he to mama?"

   Ji-Hun's mind is flooded with questions and worries, and he begins to struggle to make sense of this chaotic situation. While this is happening, the man walks towards Ji-Hun's mother and crouches down in front of her.

- "Me and Father never wanted them", says the unknown as he adds "But you never listened to us and just went out with this man you met and had kids with him 2 weeks later!"

   The woman couldn't make any words come out of her mouth.

- "Why did you have to make the exact same mistake as our mother? WHY DID HAVE TO REPEAT THIS ENDLESS CYCLE OF ABUSE?!"
- "YOU ARE THE ONE REPEATING IT!" she confronted him. "I've never laid a single finger on my children but here you are. Always coming home just to do the exact same thing as mom and dad so in this story, YOU are in the wrong."

   Due to his sister's sudden outburst, he couldn't argue back. Him being compared to his abusive parents provoked madness in his head...

- "I will not tolerate you comparing me to those fuckers who did nothing but FUCK OUR MENTAL HEALTH UP!!" memories came back, tears rolled down on both, the mother's and uncle's cheeks. He took the woman by the collar for in the end, slammed her head on the ground over and over and over again. Ji-Hun starred in terror the abuse developing in front of his child's eyes until his gaze moved to the little cabinet, where his sweet little sister was hiding.
- "She must be so terrified! I have to do something for mama...."
   He took his childish legs and strength to go to the counter where a vase was with its dead flowers, wanting to save his mother and sister but failed miserably as he tripped from the man's injuries and hit his head hard on the floor. A good 45 seconds had passed when Ji-Hun finally shot his head up to constate how far the vase was, but it wasn't here any more. He took it before the child could.
- "Is that what you want?" He looked down at the shaking child, the man's eyes still red and puffy from the tears as he hit Ji-Hun directly in the face, making a thick and strong red stream of blood flow down his forehead. He didn't hear the impact or his mother's and sister's worried screams over the ringing in his ears. As Ji-Hun's vision dimmed, he felt heavier and heavier.

SOUTH KOREA
Seoul : Jongno-Gu (4.9 km from SEOUL)
Time : 4:38am 2024

   Ji-Hun blinks his eyes awake, and the first thing he notices is the sound of a clock ticking. He is 21 years old now, and this was all just a nightmare. He rubs his eyes in disbelief and looks at his surroundings. He's in his bedroom, and it's still the middle of the night. He sighs a breath of relief, realizing that he is safe and sound at home. He turned over in his bed for a good 37 minutes, attempting to fall back asleep but definitely couldn't so he just got up and dressed up to go to those stores open 24/7.

Time : 9:26am

   The now adult Ji-Hun has gone to work, he's the owner of a very popular 5 stars restaurant in the district of Jongno-Gu. This one is right next to a very...Unholy place and both of the owners met to be sure one won't disturb the other and story to meet our neighbors. They became close eventually, one around their 20's and the other going to their 30's and they had the "good" idea to find a way to merge both places for the customers who want to eat before having fun and other way around.

(1243 words for now, I'll update it in some time! My goal os 1700+ words by chapter sooo yeah! Hope you had fun reading this one bit, tell me negative and positive remarks, tips and everything you want! See you in a bit :D)