Heal

Chapter Ten

(a/n Dal-ha is mute and she has sensitive hearing but she can hear to some extent. P.S idk how to go describe communicating in sign language so I'll write in italics)
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𝙰𝚑𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚕-𝚑𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

Dal-ha used to worship the ground her
father walked on. She used to see through his flaws. She admired her father because he took care of them.
Even though she couldn't verbally express her feelings, she always had a way to show her appreciation.

It all came crashing down after seeing the man she loved hurt someone much smaller than him. A person they both considered family.
That day not only left her sister Han-eun traumatized it left Dal-ha traumatized too.
She saw her sister cry in distress and her father continuously inflict more and more pain on the younger girl.

That night and many more nights that came after Dal-ha watched her energetic sister crumple and become trapped in the darkness of the mind.
She kept all what she witnessed in her family and eventually lost her ability to speak. Because of the traumatic experiences she has come across at a tender age, Dal-ha did not have the power to use words as she struggled so much to be heard.

It was somewhat a great thing that Dal-ha did not go to a public school, her parents had feared that she would get bullied by her peers and opted for her to be homeschool.
Even though it was to Dal-ha's advantage, Dal-ha did not have any social skills and she was often lonely and the only thing that kept her company were the repetitive replays of the abuse she has witnessed in her family. Well, not only that but a man she has spoken to on the internet.

The door creaked open behind her.
Dal-ha spun around in her and faced her mother.
Dal-ha had little words to describe the woman that birthed her. The way she felt towards her mother was neutral. Neither hatred or great love. She hated her father for sure but her mother, she definitely had mixed feelings for her.

"𝐼 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ. 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚?" Her mother signed.
Dal-ha studied her facial features. Her nose and cheeks were bright red and her eyes were tired. Even the way she moved her hands to communicate with her daughter seemed to be a great chore for the mother.

"𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒." Dal-ha replied and her mother nodded before she rushed out of the room.

At the age of nine, Dal-ha knew things that were above her age. She knew so much that she was sometimes sad that she couldn't share the knowledge she had with anyone.
She had no relationship with her mother except her mother looked after her during the day. She hated even being next to her father and she had no relationship with her oldest sibling, Ui-jun. But, with Han-eun she had something. Something comforting.

Han-eun always looked out for Dal-ha sometimes more that Dal-ha wanted but she still appreciated that someone cared for her. More than anyone in her family but less than she really wanted.

Her mother came back in and gave her her meal before leaving again.
She opened her computer and typed in her username password.

She clicked on the unread message and read.

𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜.
𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟.
                                                                𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛
                                     𝐻𝑖 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢?
𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜
𝐼'𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑚
𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢.